Exploring the Wisdom Embedded in Biblical Parables: The Parable of the Wedding Feast

1 Timothy 2:3-4: “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The Parable of the Great Banquet by Brunswick Monogrammist, 1525

Summary:

The Parable of the Wedding Feast in Matthew 22:1-14, conveys a message about God’s invitation to salvation through a story of a king who throws a wedding banquet for his son. Despite sending multiple invitations, the invited guests refuse to attend, and some even mistreat and kill the king’s messengers. In response, the king punishes the perpetrators and extends the invitation to everyone, both good and bad, filling the banquet hall. However, a guest without proper wedding attire is cast out, symbolizing that not everyone who appears to accept God’s invitation is genuine. This parable underscores themes like God’s desire for all to reach salvation, human free will to reject this call, the importance of true faith, justice for unbelief, and the prophetic element of the final union of Christ and the Church. It encapsulates several core theological principles that are echoed throughout the Bible.

The Parable of The Wedding Feast

Matthew 22:1-14: “And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, See, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find. And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Analysis of the Parable

It is probably fair to submit that the truth of one’s theology is only enhanced by core concepts that are repeated in scripture. That is to say, if something is accurate, the fact that it is reiterated several times throughout the Bible gives it a particular validity. Furthermore, a non-contradictory quality also enhances its integrity. This is true of the common themes in the Bible; they are repeated and, although nuanced, are never conflicting. These same themes are the subject matter in the various parables Christ used to train His disciples. And, whereas Christ used some straightforward and dramatic stories, many other verses expand and confirm these truths. The Parable of the Great Banquet is a perfect example of this proposition.

Much like Luke 14:15-25’s Parable of the Great Banquet, the Parable of the Wedding Feast is a simple analogy. A King, who represents God the Father, plans a wedding feast for His Son, representing Christ, and extends invitations via servants who depict believers sharing the gospel of salvation to various members of society. Unfortunately, the invitations are ignored and refused, with even some of the messengers slain. Additional invitations are extended to others in society, which are accepted, and the banquet, or Kingdom of Heaven, is fulfilled.

There are several doctrines that are revealed in this parable, which we can review below.

God desires all of humanity to be saved and is grieved by their rejection.

It is certainly in keeping with the truths of the Bible that the King in the Parable, God the Father, is desirous of inviting as many guests as possible, which 1 Timothy 2:4 also records, “[God] who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Likewise, Matthew 23:37 shows heartfelt remorse over those who reject His invitation when it states, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” As examined in other posts, rejecting God’s desire remains a free-will decision of man.

God extends a salvation invitation to all people.

In keeping with the stipulation that God desires all to be saved, it is common for someone to bring up the “what about the poor pygmy in Africa who never hears the gospel” argument. Yet, Romans 1:19-20 dispels this excuse when it states, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

God commissions believers to share this offer of salvation.

In addition to perception through nature, Christ Himself gave one last command in Matthew 20:18-20 enlisting all believers to become evangelists, “And Jesus came and said to them, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Obedience to such a command is not a work for salvation but rather a work of salvation, as Romans 3:28 states, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.”

As men hated God, so too they hated His ambassadors.

Evangelism would only be rational, for what person who truly believed in the salvific truth of the gospel would not be willing to share that fact. Yet, to do so is seldom lauded or appreciated, as John 15:18-19 records, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” Christ was martyred because of His claim of divinity and offer of salvation, as were all of the apostles except John. Many today and throughout history have also been murdered. This is as depicted in the Parable, which records, “…while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.” Even without physical death, standing firm in the faith of Christ Jesus is not without detrimental consequences.

God is a God of justice and will extract retribution.

Many misconceive God’s genuine love of mankind from verses such as John 3:16, where He “so loved the world that He sent His only son…” And as I noted earlier where, He “desires all to be saved,” and even how He wishes He could have “…gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.” However, this misunderstanding leads to a false theology of universalism, where everyone goes to heaven. But the Bible is very clear about God’s justice, as it explains in Romans 2:5-8, “but because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed. God will repay each person according to what they have done.’ To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.” This Parable displays this same justice when it states, “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”

Some, chosen before the foundation of the world, will accept the gospel message and receive salvation.

Ephesians 1:4-5 is very clear about those who accept the invitation as illustrated in the Parable and states, “For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will.” Note the contrast between man’s choice to reject Christ and God’s pleasure and will to predestine some for adoption.

Also, note the distinction between those initially invited, landowners and businessmen, and those ultimately coming from “the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good.” This is also a biblical concept expressed in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” This, again, stresses the concept that salvation is a sovereign work of God and not a merit-based system of man.

Some will deceive themselves hoping to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Parable has an interesting side note: “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.” This also plays into the validity of another biblical truth and hearkens back to the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, which illustrates that many will deceive themselves into thinking they are saved because they call themselves Christians, when, in fact, they continue to deny Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

This concept is also consistent with Matthew 7:13-14, reiterating, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”  It is also invariant with Matthew 7:21-23 which warns, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”

This story of a wedding feast is, in fact, prophetic and is known as the Marriage Feast or Supper of the Lamb.

Finally, it is interesting to note that the Parable itself, the Wedding Feast, is prophetic of the Marriage Feast or Supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19:6-9, where the Son, Christ Himself, is the groom and all church-age believers are the bride: “Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: ‘Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.’ Then the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God.’”

Although many analogies fall apart at some point, the Parable of the Wedding Feast holds together as an excellent illustration of a number of biblical doctrines. These principles are, in turn, supported by other verses which, again, are without contradiction.