Parable of the Wedding Feast

Starting in Matthew 22 is the parable of the Wedding Feast. When I first read this parable if went right over my head. It is a very familiar passage but for some reason I couldn't quite grasp its true intention. So the next day I read it again and didn't come any closer to understanding it. So I prayed that God would reveal to me what he meant in the scripture and re-read it but still couldn't understand it. I took a day off from reading and thought about this scripture. So today I though I am going to re-read it but now I'm going to underline the key words. This time I believe I understand what it means by taking it part by part.

Matthew 22:2 The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,

:3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come.

:4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, "see, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding." '

:5 "But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.

:6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them spitefully, and killed them.

:7 But when the king heard about it he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

:8 Then he said to his servants, "The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy,

:9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding."

:10 "So those servants went out into the highways and gathered together all whom they found,
both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.

:11 But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

:12 "So he said to him, 'Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.

:13 Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

:14 For many are called, but few are chosen."

I am going to recap this scripture with what I feel God revealed to me.

First God calls his servants, to go spread his word and invite as many people as possible to partake in the blood sacrifice of his son for the forgiveness of our sins.
The first people invited were people known by the king, people with great influence in his kingdom but they were not willing to accept the invitation. He then sent other servants telling these guests all the blessing He has in store for them, Fatted calth and oxen and all things are ready come to the wedding. But they made light of it. And went their way back to their job and their house to continue their life as usual.

Some people rejected the invitation to the point they treated God's servants spitefully and killed them. At this point God is going to send his armies against them and destroy those murderers and burn up their existence.

The blessing has already been prepared, Jesus already sacrificed his life but the ones who the king knew wouldn't answer the call.

At this point God will call others and then some will come others will not. It says the they found both good and bad and the wedding hall was filled.

We then see in verse 12 it isn't good enough to accept the invitation and the call then show up. We need to prepare ourselves for the wedding so we are not thrown out.

And lastly, "For many are called but few are chosen." We need to prepare ourselves for the wedding day and answer the call so we are chosen. It isn't good enough to just show up, to just be there. If we are not prepared we will be cast out into outer darkness.

This is what I feel God revealed to me that in our own lives we are called and not everyone answers the call, a lot of people don't want to take time away from their every day lives to live for God. There will only be so long until God stops calling us because of our continual rejection and moves on else where. This isn't necessarily exclusively the meaning of this scripture, but it is what I feel God has shown me to answer his call and step away from my daily routine.