Read: Matthew 22:1-14
Everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast. (v. 4)
What’s the best meal you’ve ever eaten? My guess is you didn’t pick your favorite meal based solely upon taste. Unforgettable meals often involve friends, family, fun, and good food. The best meals are filled with love, fellowship, and joy.
In this parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast. The invitation to the kingdom of God is an invitation to a meal of fellowship with the King. Jesus’s call to repentance—to turn around and face God—is a call to joy. This is why Jesus’s message is called “good news”!
Many are invited—the list is long and made completely by grace. But in this parable, we see a double invitation—those who receive it must accept the invitation and show up when the call comes. When we hear the good news, we are invited to say yes to Jesus. We are called to respond in faith. But the Christian life doesn’t end there. That’s where it begins.
When the King calls, when invitation to discipleship and joy gets personal, that’s when we must drop whatever we’re doing and go where the King says, wherever he calls us to go. We’re called to a life of joy where the King and his kingdom changes, sanctifies, and shapes every area of our life. Faith that says, “Yes, I want to come to the party” is faith that shows up when the King calls.
As you pray, thank Jesus for his invitation to the heavenly banquet.
About the Author
Stephen Shaffer is the pastor at Bethel Reformed Church in Brantford, Ontario.
