The Gospel of Matthew Study Help (Matthew 22:1-14)

Jesus’ final week of earthly ministry

Questions to be answered in this study

1. What was the Pharisee’s ultimate goal in questioning Jesus?
2. Why was Jesus able to outwit these false teachers so easily.
3. What was the significance of Jesus being crucified at the time of Passover?
4. Why did the Pharisees hate Jesus so profusely?
5.  What was the primary purpose of the parables Jesus used against the religious leaders?
6. In what ways is the party at the return of Jesus different from all other parties?
7. What is the danger in being so caught up in the things of this present life?
8. What is the best way to deal with the present world and all its grief? 
9. Why did the man at the wedding feast in the parable receive such harsh punishment for the way he was dressed?
10. What does it mean if we have the desire in our hearts to meet Jesus at His great banquet in the future? 

Introduction

Today’s study takes place just two days before the crucifixion and death of Jesus. The Pharisees and the Sadducees once again confront Jesus in the Temple to discredit Him and expose Him as a fake. Their ultimate goal was to accuse Jesus before the Sanhedrin. Little did they realize they were actually carrying out God’s will.

It is easy to understand why Jesus was able to outwit these false teachers. He was the infinite Son of God, and they were finite worldly men. So far, the false teachers have questioned Jesus’ authority; they allowed John the Baptist to continue his mission even though they never knew the source of his authority. However, they are now attacking Jesus, and He did not defend Himself; instead, He attacked the scribes, Pharisees, and the Sadducees with one parable after another. Time and time again, the Hypocrites were humiliated, but their determination to put an end to Jesus grew; soon, they would bring charges against Jesus before Pilate, which led to His crucifixion and death. Jesus was crucified during the Passover, which demonstrates that He is the perfect Lamb of God without blemish sacrificed in our stead to pay for our sins

They hated Jesus because He was a threat to their authority and because of His growing popularity. It would seem that the wisest thing to do would be not to provoke these influential leaders. Nevertheless, Jesus does not seem to mind exposing them for what they are, and He knew that his refuting their hypocritical teachings was bringing about His death. From the beginning, Jesus was in control of the events leading up to His crucifixion; Peter revealed that on the day of Pentecost. “Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: 23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain,” Acts 2:22-23 (KJV). When they succeeded in killing Jesus, they thought they had won, but they were only instrumental in bringing about the plan of Almighty God. 

Now today, we begin chapter 22 as Jesus delivers another parable, and the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders continues to grow: 

Matthew 22:1-6, “And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, 2The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, 3And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.4Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. 5But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: 6And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.”

Jesus now is on His third parable, which is about a wedding feast; each of the previous two parables was directed to the religious leaders to expose them for what they were, and now the third one is also. The wedding feast is Jesus’ way of showing how to enter the kingdom of heaven. In the first parable, the religious leaders were like the second son who said he would do as the father asked but did not follow through. His was only lip service with no intention of doing the father’s will. In the second parable, the religious leaders were compared to the attendees of the vineyard. They were unfaithful servants who were all for themselves with no thought for the master of the vineyard. They killed the owner’s son, who came, at last, to collect what was the fathers. The second parable was why the religious leaders rejected Jesus’ authority and embraced their own. Their rejection was based on the threat Jesus posed to their authority and their means of wealth and power.

The third parable is about a wedding feast an example of how the religious leaders reject the father’s invitation to the kingdom of heaven. The parable is about a father whose son is getting married. So, the father prepares a feast in honor of him and invites others to come to the feast. When the father’s servants were sent out with the invitation, those invited rejected it and took it lightly, even abusing and killing some of the servants.

Weddings were essential occasions in Jesus’ day as they are in the present. The feasts were extravagant. Today, the average wedding costs more than $30,000, and some of the super-wealthy even spend millions. In those days, a wedding feast could last up to a week. It was an honor to be invited to a wedding feast, especially to the son of a king’s wedding feast. It would be expected that those invited would show great joy. But instead, those that were invited took the invitation lightly and refused to attend, and went about their business. Ironically, they killed some of the servants who brought them the invitation. The crowd must have been amazed that those invited would be so foolish as to reject such an opportunity. The parable’s point was that God the Father had sent the prophets, Jesus, and the apostles, as well as John and his disciples, to Israel with an invitation to be part of the kingdom, and they rejected it and even killed some of the prophet as well as John and Jesus. Their responses were inconceivable, inexplicable, and inexcusable, resulting in their missing the most incredible opportunity on earth. Up to this very day, Israel has not realized they missed the most fantastic wedding feast the world had ever known as well as the opportunity to be part of God’s kingdom on earth in their present time. When Jesus returns to earth, His kingdom will be celebrated with a great feast, and this time Israel will be attending. 

Isaiah describes that great event of the future:

“And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. 7And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations. 8He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. 9And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation,” Isaiah 25:6-9 (KJV).

I’ve been to some parties that turned me off on parties in general, but this party, that opens the kingdom of God on earth, is one that I’m looking forward to with great anticipation. It will be like no other you have ever seen because God is the planner. Those who attend this feist are the redeemed citizens of heaven who will never experience sorrow and death ever again but will always live in the joy and peace that comes directly from the Lord. This feast is the beginning of a glorious thousand years of life in God’s kingdom on earth followed by eternity in the heavenly age.

Listen to what the Apostle Paul says about the glory of this time: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him,” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (KJV). We have no point of reference or the keenest imagination that can tell us the glory God has in store for us. We will see and know things that have never been seen or known before. It will be our best life and not as one author entitled his book “our best life now.” Our best life now implies we don’t expect to be present then when life is more than the human mind can ever imagine.

If you could imagine all the good things possible in every life in history and add them together, they would never measure up in any way to life in God’s kingdom. Have you ever missed out on an event to find out later from others how good it was? Imagine what Israel turned down. Jesus offered them this glorious kingdom. They could have been free of all oppression, all sorrow, death, and every problem one faces in life, and they could have enjoyed the presence of Christ and His kingdom forever. Instead, they were indifferent to Jesus and His offer of something that the mind could never imagine. What an incredibly bad trade-off they choose. They choose the present sorrow-filled world with all its pain and suffering. That is what you decide if you reject Jesus and His salvation. It is sad for those who choose this world and forfeit their place forever in the kingdom to come. Today, millions of people are trying to make this earth their heaven and missing the opportunity of an absolute heaven.

It is easy to get caught up in this present life until we lose sight of what God has in store for us. We are now going into the third year of the Covid-19 virus, and the medical community is predicting that the first months of 2022 will be extremely bad, with hospitals pressed to the breaking point and deaths rising to a new all-time high. It is like we are living in one of those Hollywood horror movies. Many have lost their jobs and are in fear of losing their homes. It is hard to imagine what the world will be like when it is over or whether things will ever return to normal. Many are fearful of the future not only because of the pandemic but also of inflation, the bad choices the government is making, and the threat of another world war because of the recent aggressive actions of Russia and China. Nevertheless, we as believers can look up because the best is truly yet to come for us. 

Paul said in Colossians 3:1-4 (KJV), If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3For ye are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

The best way to deal with life is to keep our eyes and minds centered on the life to come and not the present. Like Israel, the current generation is so weighted down by the cares of this world that they are missing the joy of the world to come. 

The health crisis we presently face came on us suddenly and was unexpected, although Jesus warned us, in Matthew chapter 24, that difficult times would come before the end time. God is aware of what is going on in the world and has not forgotten us. He is in control and will be until the end, at which time He will bring in the kingdom and put an end to the trials of the world. Even though we live in darkened times, we are still the light of the world, giving hope to those who will believe.

As we return to the parable, we will see that one group kills the servants sent to represent the King and deliver the invitation; this infuriates the King, and he takes action against them:

Matt. 22:7-10, “But when the King heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. 9Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.”

Jesus is still describing the religious leaders who oppose Him. Satan used them to actively fight Jesus and His kingdom without realizing that he was helping to bring about God’s plan. These men were outwardly the most religious men of that day, yet they were the farthest from God. So, the parable ends with how the King responds. He sent his armies to kill the murders and burn their city; this was a foreshadow of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 when Titus and his Roman army marched on Jerusalem, as foretold by the prophet Daniel. Not only were the Temple and the city destroyed and the people displaced, but also Pharisaic Judaism came to an end and never returned, just as Jesus predicted in the parable.

The King turned to those outside the city, ordering his servants to go into the highways and hedges and bring them to the wedding feast. These were the oppressed, the outcast, and the worst of society; this represents the time after Israel rejected Jesus and His kingdom that the attention and the invitation were given to the Gentiles, us who would make up the future church. Now we are the ones who will fill the banquet hall and enjoy the great feast that will take place at the return of the Lord.

We read of this great future event in Revelation 19:6-9 (KJV): “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.”

The above is the marriages supper of the Lamb of God when He returns to earth to set up His kingdom. The church is the bride dressed in wedding clothes described as fine linen white and clean, representing the saints’ pure righteousness. Israel will be part of that grand celebration, although those in Jesus’ day on earth, for the most part, are missing because they rejected the offer of the kingdom and chose the present world instead.

Finally, the parable ends with Jesus referring to those who were not prepared, thus missing God’s glory when it is revealed:

Matthew 22:11-14, “And when the King came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13Then said the King to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 14For many are called, but few are chosen.”

During the time of Christ on earth, clothing was generally dirty and badly worn, often torn with holes. The King discovers a person dressed without the proper wedding apparel. New clean clothing was required for special events such as a wedding. New clothes were provided for all guests invited to the wedding. However, this man showed up wearing his everyday clothing because he did not accept the King’s invitation and therefore did not receive the new clothing, which showed his disrespect. The King asked the man why he was dressed in such a fashion, and the man had no excuse, so he was bound and put out into the darkness, which meant the night, but in symbol, it meant much more; it referred to the literal place of torment. The question is, why did this man receive such harsh punishment for the way he was dressed? The answer is because he did not have the clean white clothing, which represented the righteousness of the saints: Galatians 3:26-27 (KJV), “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” In other words, those who are saved have put on the righteousness of Christ, which is the result for anyone who has trusted in Jesus. Without the righteousness of Christ, we are dressed in rags and are dirty, which represents sin.

Today, we know only those who have the desire in their heart to meet Jesus at His great banquet have been invited. If you have that desire, you can now receive your new, white clothes, which is the righteousness of Christ, required to be present at that tremendous future banquet when Jesus returns; it is simple as ABC. To know precisely the way according to the Bible, CLICK HERE.