PARABLES OF CHRIST
THE WEDDING BANQUET
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 22:1-14
JUNE 13, 1999
The kingdom of Tyno Helig was destroyed and buried by the sea in the 6th century AD. The kingdom of Tyno Helig was ruled from Heilig Palace, which is said to be buried beneath the sea two miles off the coast of Wales in the United Kingdom of Great Britain. It was said that in the 6th century, the last and the worst King of Tyno Helig, King Glanawg, offended God because of his debauched lifestyle. God, in His wrath, it was said, brought the raging sea over the tiny kingdom, destroying it and reconfiguring the coast of Great Britain forever. Sailors and seafarers for centuries reported that they could see the ruins of Helig Palace just beneath the surface of the ocean a couple of miles from the coast of Wales.
So, in 1939, British archeologists went to that place and they examined beneath the sea and they found a 4-acre rock formation that was entirely natural. They found no ruins. They found no palace. Today, most historians believe that the kingdom of Tyno Helig was mythological like Plato’s Atlantis. Most historians believe today that the kingdom of Tyno Helig was fictitious, kind of like Hilton’s Shangri-La or Coleridge’s Xanadu.
There are people in the world today who view the kingdom of heaven like that. There are some people who view the kingdom of heaven as mythological. They view the kingdom of heaven as fiction. There are a few scientists who view the kingdom of heaven in this way—scientists who are wholly secular, scientists who view with extreme prejudice anything relating to the spiritual or the supernatural. They do not believe in the kingdom of heaven because the reality of that kingdom cannot be demonstrated by their epistemology. It cannot be proven by scientific method.
But if you’re a Christian, if you believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you must believe in the kingdom of heaven. All Christians in all parts of the world and every generation must believe in the kingdom of heaven, for the kingdom of heaven is the center of the message of Jesus Christ. The parables of Jesus Christ focus on the subject of the kingdom of heaven, as does our parable today, the parable of the marriage feast. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son.” In the Bible, this is normal imagery of the kingdom of heaven. The king represents God the Father. The Son represents His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. The marriage feast represents the messianic banquet. Of course, in the Bible, the church of Jesus Christ is called the Bridegroom.
This morning as we examine this parable and as we examine the kingdom of heaven, we will look at three groups of people because this parable describes three groups of people as they relate to the kingdom of heaven. We will examine each of them briefly. First of all, there is a group of people who reject the invitation to the marriage feast. This is the first group, the people who reject the invitation to the marriage feast. They reject the invitation to the kingdom of heaven. They do not respond to the invitation. They are too busy with their own interests. They are too busy. One returns to his farm, another to his business. Some are even hostile to the ambassadors of the kingdom of heaven and abuse them and kill them. So angry is the king in this parable that he sends his troops and destroys those murderers and burns their city.
Who is this group of people? Who are these people who reject the invitation and receive the judgement of the king? Most Bible scholars agree that this first group is represented by first century Israel. They believe that when Jesus told this parable, He had first century Israel in mind, because most of the Jewish people in first century Israel rejected the invitation to the marriage feast and rejected the person of Jesus Christ. In Matthew, chapter 11, we read how Jesus was in northern Israel, in the region of Galilee, and how He did many signs and wonders there, performing many miracles. He said, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” But the people would not believe. So Jesus pronounced judgement upon their cities. They were unbelieving Jewish cities.
So, in Matthew, chapter 11, we read these words where Jesus said, “Woe unto you, Chorazin! Woe unto you, Bethsaida! If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented in sackcloth and ashes. I tell you that on the day of judgement, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And what of you Capernaum? Will you be exalted to the heavens? No. You will be brought down to hell, for if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, that city would still remain to this day. And I tell you, it will be more tolerable on the day of judgement for the city of Sodom than for you.”
And so it was that Jesus pronounced judgement on Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum, three unbelieving Jewish cities. He pronounced judgement because of their unbelief. It’s a matter of historical record (and archeological studies confirm) that those cities fell into ruin and were destroyed. They never have been rebuilt, not even to this day.
We come to Luke’s Gospel, chapter 19, and we see the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into the holy city of Jerusalem. Jesus rides down the road that leads to the Kidron Valley, down the Mount of Olives, looking across the Kidron Valley to the walled city of Jerusalem. As Jesus looked at the city of Jerusalem, He wept. He begins to cry. He looked at that city and He said, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace. But they are hid from your eyes, and I tell you the day is coming when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you. Not one stone will be left lying upon another in you because you did not know the time of your visitation.” The King of heaven had come. They refused to believe.
Historians tell us that in 70 AD, just a few decades later, Titus and his Roman legions swept over the holy city of Jerusalem and destroyed it. They burned the city. As the temple on the Temple Mount burned with fire and the gold of the temple melted down the walls, the Roman soldiers in the greed began to take one stone from another and not one stone was left lying on another, in fulfillment of the prophecy of the Son of God, the King of Heaven, our Lord Jesus Christ.
It was in the final week of Christ’s life on this earth—before He went to the cross, during Passion Week—that Christ was walking from Jerusalem to Bethany. He was on his way to the home of His friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus. As He walked down that road, He saw a fig tree. He noticed that the fig tree was barren. He went to the fig tree, and He cursed it. The next morning, as they returned to Jerusalem, the disciples noticed that the fig tree had withered to the ground. It was a strange miracle, a strange demonstration of the power of Christ, but the message should be clear because the fig tree was a symbol of Israel. Israel was cursed because of its barrenness and unbelief. And so, this first group of people, those who rejected the invitation to the marriage feast, provides a warning to all people—all who would reject the Son of God, all who would reject the King of heaven, all who would reject the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you do this, judgement is coming. This warning is given to all people—Jew and gentile—in all nations, in all generations.
There is a second group of people in this parable. The second group of people are those who accept the invitation to the marriage feast. In the parable, Jesus says these words. “The king said to his other servants, ‘the wedding is ready but those who were invited were not worthy. Go, therefore, out into the thoroughfares and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.’ And the servants went out into the streets, and they gathered all whom they found, both bad and good, so that the wedding hall was filled with guests.” You see, the gospel is to go forth to all people. It came first to the Jews. It is now to be taken to the nations. It is to be taken to the thoroughfares. It is to be taken to the street corners of every city and every nation on earth. The gospel is an invitation to the marriage feast, and this invitation is given to all mankind, all the women and men of this world.
Many of you have heard of Emma Lazarus. Emma Lazarus was born in 1849. She was born in New York City. She was an American poet. Her poetry dealt with many themes—oftentimes with the theme of love, sometimes with the theme of death. In the year 1881, Jewish people in Russia began to be persecuted, and they began to flee Russia, and they began to emigrate into the United States en masse—impoverished, destitute, many of them beaten down, certainly rejected. Emma Lazarus was a Jewish woman. She had great compassion on all those Jewish immigrants who were coming into the United States. She also had compassion on all the people from all the nations who were rejected in those nations but found their home in the United States of America. And so, in response to this, in 1883, Emma Lazarus wrote her most famous poem called “The New Colossus.” You can see that poem on the pedestal on the base of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor. This poem, “The New Colossus,” has come to represent what Lady Liberty is all about, and in a sense, what this nation has stood for. This poem reads in part, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”
Emma Lazarus believed that the golden door was the entrance to the United States of America, and the United States of America was the promised land. And certainly, it is true that this great nation has been a blessing, a blessed homeland, to many rejected in other nations. But it is also true that throughout our history there have been times when our borders have been closed. It is true that today there are many people in this world for whom it is difficult—and indeed, for some it is impossible—to become a citizen of the United States of America. The truth is, this country, great though it is, is not the promised land, and there are indications that indeed we are a culture in decline. We are experiencing an erosion of our values and mores as a people and a nation.
The golden door is not the entrance into the United States of America, but, you see, the golden door is the entrance into the kingdom of heaven. The real promised land is heaven itself. It’s heaven that has given an open invitation to all peoples, all peoples in all nations, regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. It doesn’t matter whether you’re Jew or gentile. It doesn’t matter whether your skin is red, yellow, black, or white. It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor. The invitation is given. The invitation is given, but people must respond to the invitation to the marriage feast. They must come.
The second group of people are those people who responded to the invitation from the thoroughfares. From the street corners they came. The alarming message of Christ in this parable is that even in this second group, even amongst those who accept the invitation, not all are saved. Not all are saved. You see, this second group really represents the visible church. It represents nominal Christianity globally. Not all the people in the visible church have really accepted Christ. Not all people in the visible church really believe in Christ. Perhaps all in the visible church want to go to heaven. Perhaps all want salvation, but not all have embraced the lordship of Christ. And so, in this parable, Jesus tells us that the king comes into the wedding hall to look at the guests and he sees one guest without a wedding garment. He says to him, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” The man was speechless because he knew he was guilty, and he was judged, and he was cast out. Jesus said, “Many are called, but few are chosen.”
At this point, we need not discuss Calvinism and Arminianism, predestination and the biblical doctrine of election. All we need to understand is that in the visible church not all are saved. Some do not wear wedding garments. Some have not truly come into a relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus gave us that same message in the parable of the dragnet, which we examined months ago, where Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a dragnet which is drawn through the sea, gathering fish of every kind. And at the end of the day, the fish must be sorted.” And so it will be at the consummation of the age. The church of Jesus Christ gathers people, but at the end of the day, even in the church, there will come a sorting.
Now, there’s a third group of people in this parable and the third group of people are the servants. The third group of people are those people who bring the invitations. Though those invitations be rejected, though people be disinterested, though their own lives might be in danger, they still bring the invitations, and they bring the invitations to Jew and gentile. Even to the thoroughfares, they bring the invitations. This third group of people are the servants.
Of course, most Bible scholars agree—indeed, I would say all Bible scholars agree—that these servants are regarded as Christians. These are true Christians, servants of God, those entrusted with the gospel in every generation. Christians are servants of God, entrusted with the gospel, called into ministry. In the parable, Jesus uses two Greek words to describe this third group of people, two Greek words to describe these servants. There is the word “doulos” and there is the word “diakonos.” Doulos is used in the Bible to describe the Christian’s relationship to His Master. The word doulos means “bondservant.” It describes our relationship to Christ, for He has purchased us by His blood, and our lives are not our own.
The word diakonos which Jesus uses in this parable is a ministry word, and it is used to describe the Christian’s relationship with mankind. We are called to serve people in the name of Christ and with the love of Christ. In fact, the word diakonos, which is sometimes translated “servant,” is the primary word in the Bible for minister. When you look in your Bible and you see the word “minister,” most of the time the Greek word is this word, diakonos, because all Christians are called to be ministers. All Christians are called to be servants of the Master and are called to serve mankind in the name and love of Christ. We’re all called into ministry.
I shared with our staff and later with our elder board a vision that I believe Christ has given me with regard to our church. It’s the vision of a mobilized congregation, a mobilized laity, a congregation of women and men who have become servants and ministers. This is what Christ wants our congregation to be. Approximately 1,500 of you have entered into volunteer ministry or service in this church and through this church, but Christ wants hundreds and thousands more.
I just concluded my service with the national board of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. I completed two 3-years terms, six years on the board. It was a privilege for me to serve the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. They only have 551 staff nationally, and yet the FCA ministers in more than 8,000 high schools across this country. How do they do that? They do that with lay volunteers, Christians who have become servants, Christians who have become ministers. They do that through 8,000 volunteers in high school—mostly Christian teachers and coaches—and thousands of additional volunteers in their camps and conferences and colleges and universities. It is a lay-driven ministry, empowered by the volunteer service of everyday Christians. You see, this is how all ministries are meant to be. The Christian ministries of this world only have power to the extent that their people are sold out in service to Christ. Christ wants to raise up an army of volunteers in this church and wants to transform this community, impact our nation, and change the world.
In the corporate of America, there’s a phrase that is regularly used, and that phrase is “critical event.” In corporate America, companies want to know, “What’s the critical event?” For Coca Cola, the critical event is when someone buys a Coke. That’s the critical event. They’re trying to get people all over the world to buy Coca Cola. That’s what their marketing and advertising is all about. In Hollywood, in the motion picture industry, the critical event is the box office. When people buy tickets, that’s the critical event. That’s how movies are more or less weighed and judged. In movie theaters, the critical event is not when people buy tickets because there’s minimal profit there. In movie houses and movie theaters, the critical event is when someone buys a box of popcorn or a Coke or a box of candy because that’s where the markup is greatest and that’s where the profit is greatest. That’s the critical event. In restaurants across this country, at noontime, the critical event is when someone orders food. In many restaurants, at the evening hour, the critical event is when someone orders a drink because that’s where the greatest profit margins are. Corporate America, and indeed the corporate world, works like that. They want to know, “What’s the critical event?”
What is the critical event for the church of Jesus Christ? What’s the critical event for this church, Cherry Hills Community Church? I promise you, the critical event for this church is when a member of this congregation moves from being a spectator to being a servant and a minister. When they move from observation to participation, that’s the critical event, when they begin to enter into Christian service and become ministers. For non-Christians, the critical event is when they accept Christ. But for Christians, the critical event is when they enter into ministry. We want you as a congregation to understand this.
The greatest mobilization of people in American history took place during World War II. When Pearl Harbor was bombed, a sleeping giant awakened. This nation rose up, mobilized and empowered. It really began before the bombing of Pearl Harbor when, in September of 1940, this nation instituted its first peacetime draft. All able-bodied young men, 21 to 35, were draftable. This was done in anticipation of the possibility of war. After Pearl Harbor, the draft was expanded, and able-bodied men from 18 to 45 were draftable. Ten million men were drafted into military service during World War II. But even more incredibly, 5 million men simply stepped forward and volunteered. They just stepped forward and volunteered, risking their lives. They were every day people. Some of them were famous people, movie actors like Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda. They just volunteered for military service. They didn’t need to be conscripted. They just volunteered. They did this because they saw a clear and present danger, and they could see that imperial Japan had an insatiable thirst for power. They could see that Nazi Germany was globally dangerous and led by a madman named Adolph Hitler, so they stepped forward and volunteered. This nation was mobilized.
380,000 women stepped forward and volunteered for military service in non-combat situations. Millions of American women went to work in factories to fuel the war effort. This nation was mobilized like never before. The cost was great. More than one million American soldiers were wounded or killed in that war, but this nation shook the foundations of the political world and changed the course of history. It all happened because people could see the need was great. The situation was urgent. That’s why people were mobilized.
Do you understand how urgent the situation of the kingdom of heaven is on earth today? Do you understand that today there is a global battle taking place for the souls of men and women the world over? Do you understand that there is spiritual warfare taking place in every city of this world? Right here in Highlands Ranch there is spiritual warfare. In every city and every nation of this world there is spiritual warfare. The Apostle Paul writes, “We do not battle against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Christians are called to be salt and light wherever Christ has placed them. They’re called to serve and minister wherever Christ has placed them. The need is great.
Christians have served for 2,000 years, and the time is drawing short. We don’t know how many centuries are left. We don’t know how many decades are left. We know the time is drawing short, and we know the need is great, and you are needed. That’s why Gene mentioned the fact that we have 13 ministry centers at tables out in the lobby. We want to encourage you to go to those tables and find out where you can serve and where you can volunteer. We have so many opportunities for service in this church and through this church, service in this community and all over the world, opportunities for Christian service for those who would be in this third group. Doulos. Diakonos. Servants of God and servants of people in the name of Christ and with the love of Christ.
As we close, I want to tell you a little story. A couple of weeks ago, Barbara went out of town. She went with her sister, Jan, and they went to California to visit their sister, Bernie, and also to visit their mom and dad. She left on Saturday and came back the following Tuesday. For those three days, Drew and I were home by ourselves. We were home alone. When Barbara came back on Tuesday afternoon … Her flight came in late on Tuesday afternoon… on that Tuesday afternoon, I left the church early, went home, and Drew and I began to clean house in a panic because Barb was coming. We wanted her to be happy. We wanted everything to be ready. So Drew cleaned the kitchen and I worked in other places. We tried to get the house clean. As we were cleaning the house, I was thinking of an old Andy Griffith show I had seen. I love the old Andy Griffith Shows, Don Knotts playing Barney Fife. Some of the characters were just so great.
In this particular show, Andy Griffith and Opie are home and Aunt Bea has gone on a trip. She comes home. They had scrambled to clean the house. They get the whole house clean. When she comes back, everything is in order. She opens the door, and she asks how they are. They say that everything is great, everything is wonderful. She looks around. Everything looks great, but she looks disappointed. Andy could tell that she feels like things went too well without her. And so, he runs into the kitchen, and he begins to mess things up. He just throws everything everywhere and creates a mess, a horrible mess. When Aunt Bea opens the door, looks at the kitchen, and sees the mess, a smile comes to her face, and she feels needed.
Now, that show was made in a different era. That show was made in a different era and perhaps a more chauvinist time, okay? I know that my wife, Barbara, is not like Aunt Bea. When she came home, she wanted it to be REALLY clean, not just surface clean. She wanted it to be REALLY CLEAN. But isn’t it true that all people want to feel needed? Isn’t that true? Isn’t it true that all people want to be needed? Is it not true that in the house of Christ, all people are needed? Do you realize how needed you are in the kingdom of heaven and how needed you are in the house of Jesus Christ?
And so, we have this invitation that you would become servants and ministers for Christ. An inactive Christian in the biblical sense is an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. All Christians are called into action. All Christians are called to be servants. All Christians are called to be ministers. So we invite you into this third group, the group of servants for the sake of the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Let’s close with a word of prayer.