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Copyright © 2012 J. Neely. All rights reserved.
Chapter 33 - Wedding Feast
Matt. 22:3-6
3 And [kai] sent forth [apostello] his [autos] servants [doulos] to call [kaleo] them that were bidden [kaleo] to [eis] the wedding [gamos] : and [kai] they would [thelo] not [ou] come [erchomai] .
4 Again [palin] , he sent forth [apostello] other [allos] servants [doulos] , saying [lego] , Tell [epo] them which are bidden [kaleo] , Behold [idou] , I have prepared [hetoimazo] my [mou] dinner [ariston] : my [mou] oxen [tauros] and [kai] my fatlings [sitistos] are killed [thuo] , and [kai] all things [pas] are ready [hetoimos] : come [deute] unto [eis] the marriage [gamos] .
5 But [de] they made light of [ameleo] it, and went their ways [aperchomai] , one [men] to [eis] his [idios] farm [agros] , another [de] to [eis] his [autos] merchandise [emporia] :
6 And [de] the remnant [loipoy] took [krateo] his [autos] servants [doulos] , and entreated them spitefully [hubrizo] , and [kai] slew [apokteino] them. KJV-Interlinear
3 'And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. 4 'Again he sent out other slaves saying, 'Tell those who have been invited,' Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast. ' 5 'But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, 6 and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. NASB
Now we know that this is a feast, but not just any feast. It is important to know and understand the magnitude of this feast. This is not just any feast, but a wedding feast, and not just a any wedding feast of a commoner or a servant, but a feast, a wedding feast given by the King, the highest ruler of the universe, for His Son, the Crown Prince and heir apparent of the universe and heaven, and all that exists.
To be invited to such an affair would be the highest honor that anyone could ever receive. And such is our invitation to salvation.
The feast is a feast of which prophecy was spoken centuries ago, Isa. 25:6. This is a time of fat foods, the finest wines and beverages, the best of the best. Not a time for diets, but definitely diet busters. It was ceremonial, 1 Cor. 5:8, an honoring of the Son. The day of the feast is a 'good' day, Est. 7:17. It is a day of sacrifice, and of slaughter (lots of food), Jas. 5:5. It is a day of memorial and thanksgiving for the one whom it honors - the Son.
The feast it a feast of celebration and laughter, of choirs (billions of angels) and singing, and of rejoicing, Ecc. 10:19. It is a feast of filling with all manner of foods, fresh from he Kings table, specifically for the guests. Strangers do not partake.
The feast is a day of great happiness, a day when the King hears and grants every petition of request, in honor of the Son and guests. It is a feast of intimate fellowship of honor and integrity and truth between the King and His guests by way of His Son. It is a feast where all the riches of the kingdom are rolled out and displayed, and shared. Each guest comes to the feast with virtually nothing except the clothing given them by the king, and there at the feast receive much, much more than they could ever accumulate in a thousand lifetimes.
If you received such an offer, an invitation to attend such a feast (party) with all expenses paid, with all the trimmings and blessings that go with it. To go to such a party and rub elbows with the highest ranking, most powerful and wealthiest person in existence, and knowing that your requests would be granted. Then would you even hesitate to accept? Let alone go? Of course not. Any sane person would accept in a heart beat and would be anxious to attend.
But ...
God has offered such a feast to all of humanity. Since the time of Adam, the Son was offered as a sacrifice to received a bruised foot and then to smash the head of the serpent. The sacrifices spoke of His work of salvation. The Israelites spoke the words over and over, again and again, Deu. 6:4, 'Hear O Israel. The Lord is God. The Lord is one.' The Son is God. The Son is unique. The Son became a man, a descendant of David, but the Lord of David. He is the offspring of the seed of the woman. He is God and man combined in one person, the unique person of the universe.
The invitations were refused, in mass. For centuries many people rejected the Son, who was and is the Plan of God the Father, therefore they rejected the Father by rejecting His plan. They rejected His wisdom by replacing it with a wisdom of their own design, therefore they rejected the scriptures.
Not only did they reject God and the scriptures, which speak to His plan of His Son coming to earth in the form of a man and giving himself up as a sacrifice for all of mankind, but they became even violent against Gods messengers, and persecuted and even killed them. They even killed the Son for whom the feast to which they were invited, was to be given.
They became indifferent and went about their business, as though they had more important things to do.
God sends all people an invitation announcing that the feast is ready. It was planned in eternity past, was prepared for in time and was certain and even set on the calendar of God, because of its certainty. God gave all His instructions, clear and precise, as to how each person was to accept and respond to His invitation of salvation, 'Believe in the Son,' Acts 16:31, and of the spiritual life, 'Walk before me and be perfect,' Gen. 17:1. It was explained in many other passages, but has been rejected time and time again because people are either negative, too busy, indifferent, or just not interested.
Even today, the Kings message has and is being rejected. His criteria for the spiritual life is rejected as even those who have believed in Christ, turn negative and form their own criteria for their own personalized spiritual life or they just are not interested in a spiritual life per se, being too busy for such things in their life.
Too many people will come across the opportunity to study the Bible and to live a Christian life, but they come up with excuses like, 'I'm to busy for that now. I'll look into it later.' And they turn their indifference and apathy into the greatest bad decision and loss, of their life.
For many, the Christian life is just not that important, or they will bounce from one church or study to another, never really finding what they are looking for. While all the while, that golden invitation is right in the palm of their hand. And once accepted, the rules of living also are right before them to be learned and applied to their lives.
But who would care to discipline their lives to such an undertaking? Only the wise. Only the persistent. Only those who are willing to stick it out because they know that in the long run, Gods plan for their lives is far better than anything that they can come up with on their own.
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