Scripture Reading: Matthew 22: 1-14
Memory Verse: Matthew 22: 12 “And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment? And he was speechless”.
Jesus used parables to explain many of His teachings especially concerning the Kingdom of God. In one of His many parables concerning the Kingdom is the Marriage Feast which teaches us a lot of lessons in these last days. The King is God the Father, the Lord God Almighty who arranged a marriage for his Son, Jesus Christ. The marriage is the union between Christ and his Church, Ephesians (Eph 5:23-27; Rev 19:7-9).
The invitation originally went to Israel as the invited guest. They rejected the invitation to the wedding banquet and killed many prophets, Jesus and the apostles and many other messengers of the king. The rejection of Christ by the Jews led to the opening of the kingdom to the Gentiles including you and I. This would have happened in any case, but the conduct of the Jews expedited and facilitated the process, (Act 13:46).
The invitation is the call for repentance and to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and personal Saviour in order to escape the impending judgment of God. The invitation is an offer of opportunity to enter the kingdom of heaven.
The king’s fresh command to the messengers to go to the street corners and invite anyone found is the grace period opened to us who were not considered fit for this great banquet. The invitation is for all but the question to ask yourself is, “Are you in your right garment? The invited guests are those who have been called into the Church, taken individually.
The robe of righteousness is ours, and yet not ours. The wedding garment is the righteousness of the saints because it has been given to them. “To her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen” (Rev 19:8). Righteousness is not gained by any works of the law, “by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in the sight of God” (Rom 3:20). “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Isa 64:6). We must seek it of him, for without that robe of righteousness we cannot sit among the guests at the marriage feast.
Yet, thank God, we may find a place among the guests of the King, but can we be identified by Him as being part of the guests to the wedding? We must “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 13:14). We must appear before the King, “not having our own righteousness, which is of the Law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” We must bear the fruit of repentance and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and must show in every aspect of our life as a true believer.
Meditation
- Have I considered the great invitation extended to me by the king, God Almighty?
- How prepared Am I in honoring such an invitation?
- Is the garment of righteousness I am wearing offered to me by Christ or I have put on my own righteousness?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, give me the grace to avail myself to your invitation and help me not to rely on my own righteousness and understanding but rather to surrender my all to you. Amen.
C.K. Appiah