During our daily meditations, we reflect on the moment when Christ will return in all His glory, and the wedding of the Lamb will commence (Revelation 19:7-9). In the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, the Lord spoke of a forthcoming time when King Jesus would come for His people, all those who have entered a covenant relationship with God through the substitutionary death of Christ.
The parable tells of a king, representing God the Father, who comes into the midst of His Son's wedding celebration and sees a man not wearing the provided wedding clothes. This tradition is highlighted in the story of Samson's wedding in Philistine territory, where Samson supplied the wedding guests with customary linen garments (Judges 14:10-13). Jesus shared a parable to illustrate what it will be like at the time of His second coming:
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 4“Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ 5“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. 13“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14“For many are invited, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:1-14; emphasis added).
The king in the parable represents God the Father, who bestows a robe of righteousness upon all His wedding guests. No one at the wedding feast will be better dressed than another—we will all be one in Christ Jesus, clothed in God's righteousness:
I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels (Isaiah 61:10).
The man who entered without the king's gift of wedding clothes illustrates that some will attempt to join the wedding banquet dressed in their own rags, representing their good works (Isaiah 64:6). The man in the parable deliberately rejected the king's offering. This dismissal of the wedding garment is an even greater insult than that of those who chose not to attend the wedding (Matthew 22:1-3). This man chose to insult the King in front of all His guests. Christ told this parable to those around Him as He taught, individuals pretending to be believers while attempting to trap Him with His words (Matthew 22:15). It serves as a warning to those who assume they are believers but have never surrendered their lives to the Son and been born again of the Spirit (John 3:3). Unfortunately, they will discover too late that the only way to attend the Wedding Feast in the Kingdom of God is by wearing the King’s provision of His righteousness in Christ. Perhaps today is your day to turn to Christ and don His robe of righteousness. If you don't know how, click the following link to read the study: How Do I Become a Christian? Keith Thomas
Taken from the in-depth series explaining the Parables of Jesus. This study is called The Parable of the Wedding Feast.
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