Recall that because those who were originally invited to the king’s wedding feast for his son were not worthy, the king commanded his slaves to go to the main highways and invite as many as they found there (Mat 22:9). What does “as many as” indicate about the pre-qualifications necessary to attend for those whom the king’s slaves would find? What words in Mat 22:10 emphasize the king’s meaning and desire, and how does this reflect the essence of the gospel message that Christ proclaimed? See Luk 4:18-19, 5:20-26, 14:21-23, Act 10:43-45, 13:38-39. To be clear, what do the words in Mat 22:9-10 remind us is the one and only thing necessary to be received into the wedding hall to partake of the feast which we understand to represent the joys of heaven—the one thing that those who were originally invited would not do? What word do we use to describe the unmerited favor that God extends to those who have nothing to commend themselves and no right or privilege to attend such a great and momentous occasion but are invited and received anyway? See Eph 2:8-9. Although God is willing to receive into the wedding hall as many as will come, both evil and good, what does the remainder of this parable indicate about His willingness for those who would come to remain in their sins? See Mat 22:11-13; cf. Rev 19:7-9, Luk 24:46-47. What New Testament examples do we have of both “evil and good” who were gathered into the wedding hall, and the evil repenting of their sins? See Luk 23:39-43, Act 10:1-2, 13:43, 19:18-19, 1Co 6:9-11, Eph 2:1-2, etc… What does this again teach us about the nature of God’s grace: does it simply overlook sin, or deliver us from it? See Tit 2:11-14, 3:3-7.
What does Mat 22:10 say was the result of the king’s slaves obeying his command and gathering together all they found?[1] Considering the refusal to come of those relatively few who were originally invited, what is the significance that the wedding hall was then “filled” with so many who had not been invited? See Rev 7:4ff,9; cf. Rom 11:11-12, Gen 49:10 (“peoples” = Greek “nations” or “Gentiles”), Psa 2:8, 22:26-28, Isa 2:2-3, 49:6, Jer 16:19.
What does the NASB call those in Mat 22:10 who came to the wedding feast? How does the parable literally describe them? See the text note. Besides the communion and covenant relationship with God that dining with Him represents, what does the description of those who filled the wedding hall as “reclining” at the table also indicate about the nature of the kingdom of heaven (Mat 22:2)? Cf. Jos 21:43-45, 1Ki 4:25, 8:56; see also 1Ch 22:9[2], 2Ch 20:30, Joh 14:27, Rom 14:17. Consider those Jews who refused to come to the feast God had prepared and enter into His rest by entering into the new covenant that the marriage feast in the parable signifies; what warning does their example also give us as Christians? See Isa 30:15, Heb 4:1-11.
What does the parable say in Mat 22:11 that the king did after the wedding guests had been gathered? What does it mean that he came to “look over” those who were reclining at the table, and why is it significant? Note that the Greek word used means to view attentively, “to observe something with continuity and attention, often with the implication that what is observed is something unusual” (Louw-Nida Greek Lexicon); cf. 1Ch 28:9, Jer 17:10, Rom 2:16, 1Co 4:5. What was the unusual thing that he noticed? What do those wedding clothes represent that upon close observation the man did not have on? See Rom 13:14, Gal 3:27, Eph 4:24, Col 3:12-14. Was it the case that the man had no access to the wedding garments described so that the king’s expectations were unreasonable, requiring of the guests he had earnestly bidden to come something that they didn’t have and had no means of obtaining? See Isa 61:10, Rev 19:7-8. By what means is it “given” to those who would come to the wedding feast to clothe themselves in righteous acts? See Luk 24:49, Act 5:32, Rom 1:3-4, 5:5, 8:11-14. What does this again remind us about the nature of God’s grace that not only offers forgiveness of sins but also delivers us from it by means of the same resurrection power of the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead?