Are You Coming for Dinner?
Matthew 22:1-14
Outline:
I- Choice
II- Care
III- Character
A wise Korean general summoned his troops. “Those of you who have been submissive to your wives fall in line on my left. Those who have not, fall in line on my right.” The left line was a almost a mile long, while there was only one person stood in line on the right. “Corporal, tell me what is your secret that you have made your wife submit to you? “Sir, I don’t really know but my wife told me to stand here.’
February 2012 is a special month. Not only because it has 29 days this year, but also because we see more dating, going to dinner, and discussing love on this month. Filipinos are world class lovers. For those of you who are married tell your spouse that you love them.
I heard these “pick up” lines from a fiery, feisty, female senator from the Philippines. I thought it was funny so I want to share these with you: Girl: Where are we dating? Boy: In the cemetery. Girl: Why there? Boy: To show to you that my love is until death.
Boy: Is geometry your favorite subject? Girl: Why? Boy: Because whatever angle I look at you, you are so beautiful.
Love is like an LBM. You cannot stop it when it strikes.
Are you coming for dinner?
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again by parables and said:
Mat 22:2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,
Mat 22:3 “and sent out his servants to call (Kaleo 516x to invite) those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing (thelo-to desire) to come.
Christ Object Lessons, 308.2: “Our Lord had sent out the twelve and afterward the seventy, proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand, and calling upon men to _______ and ________ the gospel. But the call was not _________.”
(Both these rabbinical stories and Jesus’ parable of the wedding banquet reflected the customs of ancient Jewish society. The priests and elders could never say, “That’s impossible, Jesus! You’re just making that up to be mean!” What the king did and what he expected from his guests exactly matched what everyone knew about good manners and obeying the rules.
The two-part invitation, to begin with. It took a long time to prepare a royal feast, and the king would give notice of it well in advance. He’d invite his princes, his noblemen, and the head men and chief elders of all the towns under his rule. As we saw from the Jewish writings, the king would send a beautiful festal garment, often made of shining white linen, to each guest. They were expected to keep it safe and clean until the day they were summoned. When you accepted the garment, you were committed to go.
Then, when everything was ready, the king would send his servants around to his invited guests, saying, “Come to the feast! Put on the wedding clothes I sent you and celebrate the marriage of my son!”)
Mat 22:4 “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.”
Mat 22:5 “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.
Mat 22:6 “And the rest seized his servants, treated [them] spitefully, and killed [them].
Mat 22:7 “But when the king heard [about it], he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
Mat 22:8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
Mat 22:9 ‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’
Mat 22:10 “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.
Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.
Mat 22:12 “So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’”
Christ Object Lessons, 309. 2: “And of those who accepted the invitation, there were some who thought only of __________ themselves. They came to share the provisions of the feast, but had no desire to ________ the king.”
Matt 22:12, “he was speechless.”
Mat 22:13 “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.’
Mat 22:14 “For many are called, but few [are] chosen.”
Christ’s Object Lessons 310.1: “But not _______ who profess to be Christians are true disciples. Before the final reward is given, it must be _______ who are fitted to share the inheritance of the righteous.”