Not All Are Chosen

The Point of the Gospel

Parables con’t

The Wedding Banquet {Matthew}

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son and sent servants to those who had been invited to tell them the banquet was ready. They refused to go. The king ordered more servants to go to the guests and tell them that oxen and fat cattle had been prepared for the dinner. They ignored the servants and went about their business or, worse, mistreated or killed the servants.

“Enraged, the king sent his army to destroy the killers and burned their city. He said to his servants, ‘Those invited did not deserve my banquet. Go to the streets and invite anyone there.’

“Both good and bad people filled the wedding hall. The king noted that one man did not wear wedding finery. ‘How did you get in?’ the king asked. The man was speechless.

“The king ordered him bound hand and foot and thrown out into the darkness where there will be weeping and gritting of teeth. For many are invited but few are chosen.”

The Great Banquet {Luke}

Jesus went to eat at the house of a prominent Pharisee and noted people picking the places of honor at the table. He said, “If you take the best seats and someone more distinguished comes in, you will be humiliated when the host asks you to give up your seat for him. Instead, take the least important place and you will be honored in front of the fellow guests when your host sees you and asks you to take a better place. Everyone who places himself above others will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

A man in the house said, “Blessed is he who eats at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.”

Jesus said, “A man prepared a great banquet and invited many. He sent his servants to tell the guests all was prepared. They made excuses not to come—one had bought a field he needed to go see, another had bought oxen and needed to work with them, and another had just gotten married.

“The servants reported back to the master who became angry and ordered his servants to go out and invite the poor, crippled, blind, and lame. One servant told him this had been done but there was still room. The master ordered them to go out to the roads and lanes and fill his house. He said, ‘Not one of those first invited will get a taste of my banquet.’”