A Determined King

Cody Hale

Matthew • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

Matthew 22:1–14

Parables

Parable of the Wedding Banquet

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Introduction

(On 03.19.18, an EF-3 tornado struck Jacksonville, Nance’s Creek, and Rabbittown. No fatalities, but massive damage, especially at JSU. JSU was on spring break.) This was week has been a difficult week for our community. It is doubtless that every, single person in this room was either affected or is close to someone who was affected by the tornadoes that hit our county. But you know, as hard as it is and has been and will continue to be in the days ahead, I also believe that this storm is an opportunity for us. On Tuesday, I spoke with multiple people who stood on ruins, which used to be their property. And as they stood on the rubble that used to be their homes, they used odd words to describe themselves. They didn’t talk about anger or bitterness or want an explanation for why it happened. I’m sure they’ve got questions, and I’m sure they’ve had hard moments. But, all of the people that I talked to used the words: “I’m blessed.” “We’re miracles.” “God is good.”

Times like these have a way of putting our lives into perspective, don’t they? They have a way of cutting through all of the ordinary noise so that we’re able to see what really matters. They awaken us to how fragile we are and how presumptuous we typically are that everything is just going to be the way we want it to be. So, I believe that this storm, this hardship, this time of difficulty is an opportunity for our community. It’s an opportunity because God is determined to bring glory to his Son, and He’s going to bring glory to his Son by bringing people like us into his Kingdom and offering them as a gift to his Son. And so, if our lives are in proper perspective, and we can see truly how small we are, and we can see truly how wonderful and gracious God is; then, we can offer him our lives, and be awakened to far more than a few moments of thankfulness. God can use this season of hardship to wake up his church and to give hope to those who were indifferent to him before.

God’s Word

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The Third Parable

Context: This morning, we come to the final of three parables that Jesus has been telling in response to the Temple leaders. It’s Tuesday of Passion Week, and we ended last week with the chief priests and Pharisees seeking a way to arrest him. They hate him, and they want him gone. They don’t just want him locked away. They want him dead. So, Jesus has been answering a question through these three parables that we find in verse 23: “Who gave you this authority?” “Who do you think that you are?” He’s been pointing out how hardhearted and blind the Temple leaders have been. They’ve memorized the word of God, but they haven’t understood it. They’ve heard from the Prophets of God, but they’ve not listened to them and have been hostile to them. Now, they are face-to-face with the very Son of God himself, and they reject him still. So, Jesus has already asked them: “What do you think is going to happen to you?”

The Generous King

“sent his servants to call those who where invited to the wedding feast” In this parable, Jesus moves away from the vineyard to the scene of a king with a soon to be married son. And so, Jesus tells us that this king is going to throw a great wedding feast for his son. At this feast, he will put on full display his love for his son and his generosity to others. He will spare no expense. No price is too high for the honor of his son. So, the best animals are prepared. The best guests are invited. We’re not talking sandwich platters and chicken fingers here. We’re talking Classic on Noble. I mean, we’re talking the best you’ve got to offer, and it’s all laid out there.

The Gracious King

“but the would not come” What’s interesting is that in this day it was very similar to ours in a lot of ways. You would receive an invitation, confirm that you would attend, and a meal would be made just for you. This has obviously happened in this case. So, the king has been gracious enough to invite many of the first in the Kingdom to come and celebrate with him the marriage of his son. Just being in the company of the king would raise your social status. But, it says that even though they had apparently already said they would go that when the help arrived to them to tell them that the meal was prepared that not a single one of them actually wanted to go, and nobody went to the feast. Now, we live in an era in which people will protest seeing the president because they disagree with him on something they deem to be important, and that’s the beauty of America, but this wasn’t America, and you didn’t do that here. You see, as generous and gracious as the invitation was to come and dine with the king was, it was still nothing less than a command. And, the crowd that Jesus was teaching that day would have been stunned by the people so defiantly refusing to go to the king’s banquet. This was just bad manners. This was treason! This was an insult to the dignity of the king! You could be imprisoned or executed for this!

“Again he sent other servants” Now, we’d expect the king to be done with these who have treated him with such contempt and disrespect, but he instead sends more servants to a second time to try to get them to come and join him for the wedding supper that he has prepared for his son. This time, he even has them go into detail about all of his generosity and all of his kindness. He’s like, “Make their mouths water when you go. You probably didn’t tell them right! Tell them about all of the chicken. Tell them how juicy it is. Tell them that it’s only filet mignon around here. There’s nothing vegan about this table. Tell them about the brisket that’s been smoked and the cheesecake that’s cooked to perfection. Tell them that this ain’t Cracker Barrel we’re talking about here! This is the table of the king! Go back, and get my guests!” So, in his sovereignty this king could have chosen justly and rightly to end the lives of those who have shown contempt for him, but he instead has chosen to be gracious and patient and pleading with them. Can you imagine a king pleading for guests like this? It’s unthinkable.

The Guests’ Rejection

“But they paid no attention” Everybody listening to Jesus would have been expecting the wedding guests to come to their senses. They would’ve been listening to Jesus telling this story, and they would’ve been expecting them to snap out of whatever delusion they’re living in and realize how generous and gracious their king is being with them. But, the exact opposite happens. And, I want you to think about how shocking this story is. This king has been kind to them. This king has been good to them. This king has been generous toward them. This king has been patient with them. He’s even coming to them a second time to invite them to his table. They’re response? “I’ve got to go and organize my sock drawer.” Well, tonight is family night, and I’m the reigning champion at charades. Gotta defend my crown!” Most of them just blow him off! And then, some of them aren’t even content with just blowing off the servants. They beat the servants and murder the servants who had came on behalf of the king to offer them kindness!

“the king was angry” The king will have no more of it. In what is likely a prophetic allusion to Jersualem, the king no longer says ‘my city.’ He calls it ‘their city.’ And, he sends his army to burn the city to the ground. Forty years after these words, Jerusalem would indeed be burned to the ground by a siege of the Roman army that killed over one million Jews. No longer could this generous and gracious king tolerate such rebellion and defiance in the face of his kindness.

A Gracious God Rejected By a Rebellious People

Do you see the picture here? God is the King who invited his people to eat from his own table. He rained bread from heaven. He poured water out of a rock. And yet, even though He was jealous for them and loved them and devoted to them, their eyes wandered, and their hearts grew cold and hard and their love for him faded until it died. This is what Jesus had found in the Temple. It was a shell of its former self. The building may have been prettier, and the crowd may have been bigger, but the devotion and affection and passion for the glory of their king was dead. They had rejected every servant, and now they would even kill his Son. They may have been stunned by the thought of such a treasonous rejection of a generous king in the story, but they themselves had committed treason against the King of Glory.

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Indifference and Murder is Rejection

“burned their city” There’s something important that I want you to notice here. Certainly, we would consider murder worse than indifference, right? And, in our story, it appears that a few murder the servants while most people are just indifferent. Most people it says just go back to work on their farms and in their homes and go about their lives. But, they are punished just the same, aren’t they? It says that the King burned ‘their city.’ Both indifference and hostility are two shades of the same thing: rejection of the king.

Nothing wastes grace like indifference. Indifference is an insult to grace. It looks at God's kindness and generosity and forgiveness, and says, "Who cares?" More people will be in hell because of indifference than any other reason. They were offered grace, but yawned it away because they were so consumed with what they wanted to do and where they wanted to go that they were indifferent to the generous offer of forgiveness that God had offered them. "Open sin may kill its thousands, but indifference and neglect to the gospel kill their tens of thousands." J.C. Ryle

Recently, I read the autobiography of Jack Barsky. He was a cold war spy for the Soviets in America. He was trained to have an American accent, to live an American lifestyle with an American family so that he could infiltrate American intelligence for the Soviets.

Recently, I read the autobiography of Jack Barsky. He was a cold war spy for the Soviets in America in the 1980’s. He was trained to have an American accent, to live an American lifestyle with an American family so that he could infiltrate American intelligence for the Soviets. Something strange happens to Jack though. Slowly, he finds himself loving America and capitalism and all the things that he had dedicated his life to. And so, when the Soviet Union collapsed, it was fine with him, and he continued living his American life and believed that he was home free. Until one day, on the other side of a toll booth, was a fleet of FBI vehicles that pulled him over. They had him dead-to-rights guilty of treason against the United States of America. And, he said the first words that the FBI agent said to him were, “Mr. Barsky, today doesn’t have to be the worst day of your life.” In exchange for information, they would offer him immunity, citizenship, and he would eventually come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior. Now, I want you to imagine that Jack Barsky looked back at the FBI agent that day and just yawned. Can you even imagine? Listen to me: We are guilty of cosmic treason against almighty God, and He has offered us pardon and citizenship and a seat at his table! How can we be indifferent?

APPLICATION: God is not indifferent toward your indifference. Indifference is intolerable to a worthy king. Don’t yawn again today. Don’t glaze over today. Come to this King, and enjoy his grace and generosity!

The Determined King

“invite to the wedding feast as many as you can find” Now, this is where our story takes unexpected turn. Even thought he King has been rejected by those He’s invited, even though they have yawned at him and even killed his servants, even though He has had to send his military in to carry out justice, He is undeterred in giving his Son a banquet. This King is determined to honor his Son! This King will present his Son with a feast that He deems worthy of his Son! His wrath does not extinguish his grace. The king does not withhold his grace; He becomes all the more determined to show it.

“Go therefore to the main roads” In fact, this king is so determined to honor his Son that he expands the guest list to the rest of the Kingdom. It went first to those who heard his decree and had his word, but now, He tells these servants to just go out and find people at the busy intersection on the streets. It could be that Jesus is alluding to the inclusion of the Gentiles, but He is at the very least showing that the last will be first and the first will be last. The Temple leaders had the word first, but they rejected and now they have been rejected. But now, He is building a Kingdom for which He is the Chief Cornerstone, and the King’s invitation is open to whomever will come. It is a universal invitation by the King into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Are We Burdened for Souls?

“as many as you can find” So, He tells his servants to find them! They have been sent on the King’s mission and sent with the King’s authority for the sake of the King’s banquet! Brothers and sisters, does this not sound like our mission?

APPLICATION: One thing that I don't sense much among us is a burden for the souls of our community. I don't sense much grind to go out and be missionaries right here with our friends and neighbors. I'm searching my own heart here because I point the finger at me more than anyone else for that. But, honestly, when was the last time, you sought the face of God for the salvation of someone specific? When was the last time you wept over the all of the babies in our community being born into homes that are far from God? When was the last time you sat down and thought about the fact that if you talked with them about Jesus God could change them and their family and every generation of their family thereafter as a result? When you see people, do you see their soul, or is just another face in the crowd? When is the last time you invited someone to church? You know, most research shows that if you invite a friend or neighbor to church consistently that they will actually come? Do you currently have any friendships with unbelievers for the purpose of winning them to the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Do you ever get to the gospel in those friendships? Who right now are you slowly, faithfully discipling toward a relationship with Jesus? I'm not sure that we can say with integrity right now that we are reaching our community. That sentence alone should keep us awake at night. Children, teenagers, moms and dads, young professionals, and grandparents are hell bound, and we're not doing enough to stop it. This is an urgent moment, church. Talk about 'Big Questions' series.

Not Universal Acceptance

“For many are called, but few are chosen” Jesus closes this parable with a warning that we would do well to heed. It is aimed not at the Pharisees and not at the Temple leaders, but at the church. He tells of one of those other guests that are gathered and that accepts the invitation to come. He is sitting at the King’s banquet, when the King arrives. Immediately, the King realizes that this man has compromised the integrity of the room. He is not dressed for banquet, and he is without an excuse, being speechless upon the King’s rebuke. He has come to the banquet clothed in his own filthy rags, not in the righteous gowns provided by the King. He had said, “Lord, Lord” but his heart was far from God. He came to the King, but He had not devoted himself to the King. He attended the banquet and assumed that nothing would ever be required of him.

APPLICATION: I wonder how you’ve come to the King. Have you tried to come to Jesus without devoting your life to Jesus? Have you tried to slide through the narrow gate that leads to life without having the obligation of walking that narrow path that Jesus says is difficult and treacherous. Has their been an inward-outward transformation in your life in which what you want and what you think is changing and transforming? Or, are you the type of person who says, “God will give himself to me, but I don’t have to give myself to God.” Listen to me: Faith without works is dead. And, if you stand before Jesus with nothing more than having confessed, “Lord, Lord” then you will one day stand before him clothed in your filthy rags, not his righteousness. And, you will be banished from his Kingdom, and you will never know the joy of being the chosen people of God. “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

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