READ MATTHEW 22

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.” (Matthew 22:2, 3)

Why would people turn down an invitation to attend a wedding feast at the palace?  Everything was paid for.  The festivities were all planned.  The food was prepared and was certain to be delicious.  They had been given advance notice.  It was for the King’s son for crying out loud!

Obviously these belligerent rebels didn’t want anyone ruling over them.  They resented the king’s authority so much that instead of being honored by the invitation they just ignored it.  Later when pressed for an answer some even responded with violence.  “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner:  My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready.  Come to the wedding banquet.’  But they paid no attention and went off–one to his field, another to his business.  The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.” (Matthew 22:4-6)

To kill the King’s messengers is about as dumb as it gets.  No king is going to tolerate that kind of insubordination.  But it illustrates that we shouldn’t be surprised today when some resent invitations to meet the King of kings and learn about spiritual truth.  The heart is still, “deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.”

Several years ago David Barton was scheduled to conduct a series of lectures at our church.  Dr. Barton has gathered a wealth of information about America’s spiritual heritage and always presents the material in a very captivating and inspirational manner.  Since our nation’s Christian history is a subject that is ignored in most public schools and in some cases is countered with the false notion that America was founded as a spiritually neutral nation, I decided to invite all the school teachers within a thirty mile radius of our church to his first lecture.

We provided a free meal in the fellowship hall with David Barton meeting privately with the educators and then reserved a section in the auditorium for all teachers for the main session.  I made it clear in the invitation that our intent was to honor school teachers and express support for their difficult task and give them an opportunity to hear one of America’s foremost experts on the spiritual history of America.

To my surprise two nights later my letter was the lead story in the local news.  The president of the county teacher’s union accused me of violating the separation of church and state and threatened to file a lawsuit.  How dare I invite public school teachers to come to a church program?  She snapped, “If they want that sort of teaching they should enroll their students in a Christian school!”  How silly.  How sad.

Only a handful of teachers actually responded and most who came were devout Christians who came to be supportive.  I don’t mean to imply that every teacher who didn’t respond was in spiritual rebellion – none of us can attend every function to which we’re invited – but it was puzzling to experience such a hostile reaction over just a simple invitation.

Jesus Christ commissions us to go into our world and extend invitations to His banquet.  Even though the response may disappoint us, we are to keep on inviting in order that we might persuade some because the day will come when the King’s patience will be exhausted and those who sneer at the truth will have no more chances.

“The king was enraged.  He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.  Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’  So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” (Matthew 22:7-10)  Successful witnessing is simply sharing Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.

 

** If you are enjoying this study through the book of Matthew with Bob Russell, be sure to check out Bob’s “Falling In Love With Jesus Again” Bible Study DVD and resources for your small group or church.