How many times total are indicated in the parable that the people were invited / called to the wedding feast, and what is the significance of that number? Cf. 1Ki 18:33-35, Luk 23:22, Mat 26:34, 44-45, Joh 21:17, 2Co 13:1. What preparations go into a great festival to which many people are invited, and what do those preparations represent in terms of the kingdom of heaven to which God calls men from their fallen state? Consider all of history since man’s fall until the time of Christ including the call of Abraham and setting apart of the Jewish nation from among all nations, the giving of the law and the temple service, the proclamation of the prophets, and God’s repeated acts of judgment and mercy and deliverance: in what way were all these things a part of those preparations for the kingdom that Christ had just two days earlier triumphantly made His entrance into Jerusalem to establish? Cf. Rom 9:3-5, Gal 3:19, Heb 8:1-2,5 etc… How does the king in Mat 21:4 describe the culmination of all those preparations, and with what final plea does he bid them to come? Cf. Isa 55:1, Rev 22:17. Did the invitation to come to the wedding feast remain extended indefinitely to the religious leaders to whom Jesus was addressing this parable? See Mat 22:8. Is that feast still prepared for us today? See Mat 22:9. Should we suppose from the example of the religious leaders that that invitation to come will remain extended to us indefinitely? Cf. Heb 3:7-8,15, 4:7 and note[1].
What does Jesus say in Mat 22:5 was the final reaction of those who were originally invited to the feast? Note that “paid no attention” = “made light of it” (KJV); the Greek word used means to be careless about, neglect, give no regard to; see 1Ti 4:14, Heb 2:3 for the same word. How is this like so many today, even so many who consider themselves to be God’s people, as did the religious leaders to whom Jesus was addressing this parable?[2] Is there anything in regard to the things of God and His call in our lives that we are guilty of making light of, being careless about, disregarding, or neglecting?[3] Besides these religious leaders, what other examples do we have in Scripture of people who did not take seriously the call of God in their lives? Cf. Gen 19:14, 25:32-34, Exo 9:21, 2Ch 30:1,6-11, 36:15-16, Psa 106:24, Pro 1:7,24-32, 29:1, Isa 28:22, Luk 17:28-30, Act 2:13, 17:32, 2Pe 3:3-4.
What indication does the parable give for why those who were invited made light of the king’s feast and all his preparations? See Mat 22:5; cf. Luk 14:16-20. How is that like people today? Is it like us? I.e., are we too busy with our farm or is our business more important to us than our souls that we use these as an excuse to neglect coming to the feast God has prepared?[4] What does this remind us about the danger to our souls of the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desire for other things? Cf. Mar 4:18-19. What is the Scriptural command to which we must give heed in regard to such things if we are to come to the feast? See 1Jo 2:15-17. Consider again that it was not the case that those who were invited could not come, but that they would not come: God was willing, even pleading, for them to come, but they would not (cf. Rom 10:21); what remorse must be theirs in eternity for neglecting that which is eternal for that which is temporal? Cf. Mat 8:11-12, 16:26, 2Co 4:18. To what extent does the parable say some were resistant to come? See Mat 22:6. How is that not unlike the response of many today who make light of the King’s invitation when pressed concerning it? What does this remind us about the cost of true discipleship in this world as we call others to the wedding feast? Cf. Mat 10:22-25, 21:35-36, 23:34, Joh 15:20, 2Ti 3:12.
1. Behold, the dinner is prepared, the oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; the Father is ready to accept us, the Son to intercede for us, the Spirit to sanctify us; pardon is ready; peace is ready, comfort is ready; the promises are ready, as wells of living water for supply; ordinances are ready, as golden pipes for conveyance; angels are ready to attend us, creatures are ready to be in league with us, providences are ready to work for our good, and heaven, at last, is ready to receive us; it is a kingdom prepared, ready to be revealed in the last time. Is all this ready; and shall we be unready? Is all this preparation made for us; and is there any room to doubt of our welcome, if we come in a right manner? Come, therefore, O come to the marriage; we beseech you, receive not all this grace of God in vain, 2Co 6:1. Matthew Henry↩
2. Making light of Christ, and of the great salvation wrought out by him, is the damning sin of the world… Multitudes perish eternally through mere careless-ness, who have not any direct aversion, but a prevailing indifference, to the matters of their souls, and an unconcernedness about them. Matthew Henry.↩
3. Please consider the Christian woman’s head covering Paul argues for in half a chapter of the New Testament (1Co 11:1-16): how different might our nation and its families be today if instead of making light of the symbol God gave for Biblical headship professing Christians everywhere gave heed to it as a reminder and testimony of God’s divine order in creation for happiness in our homes?↩
4. The business and profit of worldly employments prove to many a great hindrance in coming to Christ: none turn their back on the feast, but with some plausible excuse or other. Matthew Henry↩