In the parable of the Wedding Feast we are again confronted by a particular type of parable known as a kingdom parable. Most of Jesus' parables are illustrations, stories that teach a truth, whereas the kingdom parables are riddles, hidden mysteries; they proclaim the gospel in a hidden way. The kingdom parables announce that the kingdom of God is at hand, but the message is muffled, and this because the hearers have already rejected the gospel. As such, the kingdom parables are signs of God's judgment, in fact, they often proclaim judgment. The dawning of Christ's reign is good news for those who accept it, but bad news for those who don't. In the parable of the Wedding Feast we are reminded that the "marriage of the lamb", the reign of the messiah, is at hand. The final invitations are out and the messiah is even now sorting out those who are worthy to attend. When Jesus openly proclaimed the gospel, he would end his message with "repent and believe the gospel." Now is the moment of decision, so if we want to be worthy to attend, then now is the time to repent and believe.

v1. Jesus again communicates with his audience by speaking in riddles. His hearers, particularly the Jewish authorities, no longer deserve a clear word from God.

v2. The parable concerns the dawning of God's reign in his messiah, and makes the point that this may be compared to the situation where a king puts on a wedding feast for his son.

v3-10. The first part of the parable describes the wedding preparations now completed and the call sent out to the invited guests. Twice the call goes out, but the guests refuse. "They completely disregarded the invitation", even treated the kings servants disgracefully. Of course, the king is enraged and sends troops to deal with the guests and then sends his servants down to the marketplace to invite everyone and anyone to the banquet.

It's very easy to allegorize, to spiritualize, the different elements in this story. The wedding feast becomes the heavenly celebration of God's elect, the servants become missionaries, prophets, even Jesus. Yet, this is not the way we are to treat kingdom parables. They make one point, "the kingdom of God is at hand", Christ's reign has begun. The day is now and the invitation is out there, so a "I cannot come" response is less than wise.

v11-13. The parable goes on to describe the typical sorting-out scenario that goes with the establishment of God's reign in Christ. The "not worthy" are out in the cold, and "there was nothing he could say." The wailing and raging serves to describe the condemned, as apposed to the approved, who face no more weeping or mourning. So, how do we get approved? Repent and believe.

Again, the possibilities for spiritualizing this story are endless. The pietist argues that the wedding robe is obedience, etc., while the quietist argues that it is forgiveness, etc., with numerous possibilities in between.

v14. This pithy saying serves to round off the parable. It compares the remnant of those approved and therefore, God's elect, "the chosen ones", with the totality of those invited.

Most Christians have a problem with assurance. In simple terms, we are not sure of our salvation. There is this constant fear that when the roll gets called up yonder we may not be there, or if we're there, we may not get to stay there. Will we get to hear "well done thou good and faithful servant"?

A parable like the Wedding Feast and the way it gets handled by most preachers, is often the source of the problem. I have indelibly marked on my mind the sense of despair I felt as a young person facing the prospect of my wedding garment not being worthy of the heavenly celebrations. Like the apostle, my righteous has always been filthy rags, in fact, increasingly so as I have grown older. Then, of course, my reading reinforced my fear. It probably all depends on what Christian literature we read, and in my case it has tended to be of a conservative nature. So, I took in the words of the great ones, men like F.F. Bruce, one of my heros, who said of this parable, and particularly the piece on the wedding garment, that it was "a suitable pendant to any parable of grace, as showing that, while the door of the kingdom is open to all, personal holiness cannot be dispensed with."

My personal holiness is a rather tattered cloak indeed. So, is my end the outer darkness?

One way through the problem is to get into a bit of reinterpretation. In the ancient church a person's worthiness was determined by their wedding robe having been washed by the blood of Christ, and later, by pushing a sacramental view where the robe becomes a baptismal robe. There are plenty today who suggest that Jesus actually provides the robe and all we have to do is put it on. The wedding robe is his forgiveness or his righteousness. My assurance might have been a bit stronger if my ministers had gone down at least one of these roads, for at least the sentiment was right. So then, by what means are we approved in the sight of God, and let me add, eternally approved? There is only one way to get into the wedding feast and not find ourselves thrown out, and that is by simply turning to Jesus (repent) and trusting him for our salvation (believe). How simple is that!

1. What is the particular function of a kingdom parable?

2. What message does the parable of the Wedding Feast convey?

3. On what grounds can a believer be sure of their salvation?