Bymonline.org | August 2020
The Royal Wedding
Dr. Mrs. Lilian Stanley
An element of mystery surrounds this
story. Let's try to unravel it. Have in mind that
Jesus was talking to the religious Jews who
were the prime invitees. When they rejected
the offer, their place was given to the non-
Jews, people on the streets. The King is God
and the Son is Jesus Christ. There is more
emphasis on the wedding dinner than on the
wedding itself.
Jesus told a parable to the chief priests,
elders, Pharisees and the common people in a
succinct way (Mt 21:23,45). He compared the
Kingdom of Heaven to a king who threw a
wedding banquet for His Son. He sent out
servants to call in all the invitees. But they
wouldn't come. He wistfully sent another
round of servants tempting them with some
items in the menu. But they cared the less.
They went about their own work. Some
abused the servants and slaughtered them
heartlessly. So the king sent his army and
destroyed the thugs and their city.
The king felt let down when no guest
turned up for his son's marriage supper. So
he asked his servants to go to the streets and
invite anyone they might find. The banquet
hall became full. But the king spotted a man
without the wedding dress. When questioned
about it, he had no answer. The king ordered
that he be thrown in darkness. The
conclusion of the parable was that many were
invited, but only a few were chosen (Mt 22:1-
14).
Supposing you had received an
invitation from Queen Elizabeth to attend
Harry - Megan's wedding, with your friends
and relatives, with an offer that the flight
charges for all would be taken care of, how
would you feel and what would you do? It
would take some time for you to believe it is
true. Then you will carry the invitation from
person to person, to relatives and friends,
encouraging them to come along with you.
You will keep the invitation card in the showcase
and mark the date. You will cancel all
your programs on that day, however
important they may be. You will be
expectantly looking forward to that day.
Guess what the invitation card is? It is
the Holy Scriptures. The Jews had the
Scriptures and knew about the eternal life
and how God had lovingly invited them. Job
had accepted the invitation, for he said, “After
my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my
flesh I shall see God. I myself will see Him with
my own eyes - I and not another” (Job 19:26,
27). Elijah was ready and was taken up. But
as for many Jews, God had written for them
the great things of His Law, but they
considered it written for somebody (Hos 8:12).
In short, they did not respect the invitation.
Where there is a will, there is a way, isn't it? So
they did not “will” it. It was an act of defiance.
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