The King Confronts the Guest Without a Wedding GarmentBibleWorld
22:5Matthew 22:5
But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
The verse tells of a king who made a marriage for his son and sent servants with a second call that dinner was ready with oxen and fatlings killed. To make light of it is to treat that gracious royal invitation as unimportant and go one's own way, one to field work with farm and plow and another to trading and business, absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building and other ordinary pursuits. The first guests who so refused represent God's chosen people, the Jewish nation, who had long been called by prophets yet rejected Christ and the righteousness He offered. Such slighting is deeper guilt than refusing a common supper, bringing exclusion from the table and, for scorning the king, destruction of the murderers and their city, with no second invitation after probation closes. The feast is the gospel marriage supper of the Lamb, open to all of every class who will come, but entering requires the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness, received by personal faith and obedience, without which profession is presumption and loss.
Parable Setting and Terms
The verse belongs to the picture of a certain king making a marriage for his son and sending servants to call those who were bidden, followed by a second announcement that dinner is ready with oxen and fatlings killed, which the bidden guests treat as unimportant while going their own ways to farm work and to trading. The call to the feast is a king's invitation proceeding from One vested with power to command and conferring high honor, yet the honor is unappreciated and the king's authority is despised. Refusal here is a deeper insult with deeper guilt than refusal of the householder's supper, bringing more dreadful punishment than mere exclusion from presence and table, even to the sending of armies to destroy the murderers and burn up their city.
Going to his farm means field work with two oxen yoked together to a plow in an open field, and going to his merchandise means turning instead to one's own pursuits in trading and business. The marriage in the parable represents the union of humanity with divinity, while marriage itself is a divine institution in which innocent joy is pleasing to Christ and which serves to illustrate important truths. The King is calling His own to a heavenly wedding hall where the feast is prepared, and that invitation had been sent for many centuries, yet the world paid little heed to it and went about worldly pursuits and pleasures instead.
Making Light Described
To make light of the call is to treat the king's gracious invitation to the wedding feast as unimportant, turning away each to his own pursuits instead of accepting it. One goes to his farm and another to his business, choosing ordinary concerns, worldly pursuits and pleasures over the honor offered. Their worldly interests keep them from the feast, showing that they value earthly concerns above eternal things and fail to recognize the blessing in the invitation. The same absorption in ordinary work and business by hearers of God's word is rejection of the gospel invitation, yet the final call to the marriage supper is still to be given to those who have not heard it. The warning is to heed the invitation and make ready to enter the wedding, for those who respond faithfully will share the promised reward.
Going to farm and to merchandise means being wholly intent on securing worldly gain, absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building. Farms, trade and other work are given priority and business transactions are made of such importance that eternity is left out of the reckoning. Those so occupied turn away from the invitation to the kingdom, though Christ may call men from their occupations to warn the world. Such refusal shows lack of respect for the master of the feast, as of those turned back from the Lord who have not sought nor inquired for Him, thinking their own wisdom sufficient and speaking as though oracles of wisdom.
Their excuses show temporal matters taking priority over eternal things, with pleasure, social influence and daily pursuits keeping them from accepting Christ's call and receiving His righteousness. Making light and going away to farm and merchandise is refusal of the general invitation continued even when servants are sent to invite personally and assure that all things are now ready. Then all with one consent begin to make excuse, pleading circumstances and supposed duties for failure to comply and giving no more favorable response than the first guests. Though the feast was prepared for their benefit, they reject it for lesser personal interests, and such refusal leaves them shut out so that seeking admission after the door is closed comes too late. Their excuses portray neglect of preparation for eternal life that can influence others to remain unready.
The neglect pictures false confidence that there is no urgency and that worldly interests must be protected, while preparation for the marriage supper is neglected. Care for earthly things is thus allowed to keep souls from accepting God's call, whereas those who trust God's care and persevere in doing His will are promised righteousness, glory and entrance into His kingdom.
First Guests Who Refused
The first invited guests are God's chosen people, the Jewish people, who refused the invitation and made excuses, and their rejection opens the call of mercy to the Gentiles. The king's first call goes to the higher classes, his chosen people, the princes of the land, who are wholly intent on securing worldly gain. That first giving of the gospel invitation comes to those in the higher walks of life, to the shepherds of the flock and divinely appointed teachers as a word to be heeded. Those in the highways are the higher classes in the highways of life, whom it is difficult to reach because few believers can obtain association with them.
God had repeatedly sent prophets to them, but they did not heed them, yet the truth continued to be presented so they would have another opportunity to respond. Had they accepted the call, they could have joined the messengers in inviting others. Their refusal shows lack of respect for the master of the feast, for they are turned back from the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired for Him. They think their own wisdom sufficient and speak as though they were oracles of wisdom, absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, making business transactions of such importance that eternity is left out of the reckoning. They were intent on worldly gain and did not respect the master enough to accept his invitation.
In the parable's application to the Jewish nation, they had received the invitation and its privileges but rejected Christ and the righteousness He offered. Few great men and worldly-wise men believe because this present world is their god. Christ as Sin-bearer opened the way to eternal life for all who desire it above every earthly consideration and sent the invitation to great men at the cost of His own precious blood, but they listened to the wily foe and adopted his varied excuses and framed foolish excuses to avoid the obligation. They refused the heavenly benefits and refused Him who could give real value to their characters, bring them back to allegiance to God and His commandments, place His own image and superscription upon them and change them into obedient loyal children, make them truly great and valuable, and turn their crosses into crowns. They would not take the marriage contract and partake of the marriage supper or associate with Christ, and did not believe the promise to make man more precious than fine gold, for God allows everyone to choose his own Lord, and that choice leaves few worldly-wise men in the ranks of Jesus.
Judgment on Refusal
Slighting the householder's supper brings only exclusion from tasting the supper, but scorning and slaying the king's servants is a deeper insult bringing a more dreadful rejection than mere exclusion from presence and table, even the sending of armies to destroy the murderers and burn up their city. The call to the feast is a king's invitation proceeding from One vested with power to command and conferring high honor, yet the honor is unappreciated and the king's authority is despised. Making light of the invitation and turning away to farm and merchandise belongs with that scornful treatment of the servants, showing the gospel invitation rejected by the Jewish people and the call of mercy then going to the Gentiles.
The invitation is an act of gracious benevolence, with the wedding garment purchased and provided as the robe of Christ's righteousness. To despise that invitation, to unite with despisers of God in indulging appetite for beer and wine and stronger drink, or to come into Christ's presence in one's own defiled garments as good enough, insults the Lord and abuses His benevolence. God's dealing with such wrongdoers in separating them from His presence and casting them out is just and not arbitrary, but exactly what His Word imposes. Christ's long emaciating fast in the wilderness of temptation on the point of appetite and His treading the winepress alone broke the power of Satan and brought divine strength and power so that man can conquer appetite and every unholy passion.
Those invited to the marriage supper reject the invitation for lesser personal interests, though the feast was prepared for their benefit. Their refusal leaves them shut out, and seeking admission after the door is closed comes too late. Such excuses portray neglect of preparation for eternal life and can influence others to remain unready. Those invited to the marriage feast may slight the invitation and turn instead to their own pursuits, thereby rejecting the warning and offer of pardon and salvation and turning from light and truth. When probation closes, they will receive no second invitation.
Wedding Garment Explained
The wedding garment is Christ's righteousness, truth as it is in Jesus, the white linen of a clean pure character, the garment woven in the loom of heaven which is the imputed righteousness of Christ, and no one has a garment of his own that gives honor or position at that supper. Having a place at the King's feast, which is God's kingdom in heaven, requires perfection, for God's law is a transcript of His own character and the standard of all character showing what kind of people will compose His kingdom, Christ's life on earth was its perfect expression, and those claiming to be God's children must become Christlike in character and obedient to the commandments so God can trust them to be of the number who compose the family of heaven, clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ's righteousness with right to join the blood-washed throng. Worthiness to sit at the marriage feast comes only from Christ's robe alone, accepted by believing in Christ and receiving Him as personal Saviour, returning to loyalty and to perfect obedience to all God's commandments, no longer living the old citizen life lived in ignorance but with changed speech and conversation and faith standing not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. It is offered even to the lowliest, and salvation for that feast is not because of superior intellect or refinement of ideas but through the grace of God, with no walls keeping any living soul from salvation and wonderful possibilities for everyone who has faith, making the sons and daughters of Adam members of the family in heaven, the obedient predestinated from the foundation of the world as God's elect and peculiar people to the praise and glory of His grace, power, and wisdom.
Belief about Christ is not the same as receiving Him as personal Saviour and bringing Him into daily life, for those who hear and assent to the truth but remain unchanged in habit and practice are represented by the guest without the garment. Professing to believe and speaking God's Word are not enough if Christ's character is absent and the Word is not obeyed, and accepting the truth in name without practicing it and neglecting service and failing to seek and save the lost reveals the truth has not entered the heart and leaves one accountable for opportunities and abilities not faithfully used. Many profess to have accepted the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb yet have not put on the wedding garment, having a form of godliness without the inward working of the Holy Spirit in life and practice, seeming active in service and ready to give counsel about the work that is not always from above, and such need to search their own hearts thoroughly and arouse themselves into humble, sacred nearness to God; profession without transformation dishonors Christ and is not acceptable to God. Making light of the invitation and going one's own way instead of preparing to meet God's standard is presumption in matters where eternal interests are involved, measuring character by human ideas rather than agreeing with the standard God has given, and continuing in sin, which hinders God's promise and results in loss of the soul, so escape requires a firm stand for Christ, surrendering to God what is already His own, and accepting the righteousness of Christ in order to have on the wedding garment.
Guests refuse because they pride themselves that they will buy and sell and get gain and think they cannot afford to lose any worldly advantage for the heavenly feast, knowing that coming means putting off their common citizen's dress and wearing the robe of Christ's righteousness, thus showing they are His church married to Christ as His bride. Making light by going to farm or merchandise means becoming so engaged in business that preparation is neglected, leaning on others instead of making God the dependence, holding stubborn self-will, finding the humility and meekness of Christ unattractive, and failing to obtain the experience needed to be clothed in His righteousness, and coming in citizen's garments instead of the spotless robe prepared for guests does the greatest dishonor to Him who invites and provides it. Unless there is decided change they will cherish traits unfitting them for seeing and understanding the working of the Spirit of God, be led by another spirit, and stand with the foolish virgins who have no oil in their vessels with their lamps and with the man who came without a wedding garment. This making light pictures the church refusing the richest blessings from heaven proffered to bring understanding of its true state and to bring it to the supper in the message of justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, instead holding aloof and harmonizing only in part while clinging to the old citizen's dress rather than accepting the dress prepared by Jesus Christ.
Christ has prepared a banquet and longs to bestow peace and happiness and joy, providing the wedding garment, the robe of His righteousness spotless as the pure white lily, the richest gift that can be bestowed on mortal man. Men of the world who make light and go to farm and merchandise, caught in the din and confusion of this earth, will appreciate heaven as repose from it all, and they must give their whole attention to securing this gift and must not be passed by as hopeless but be urged, taken hold of, and brought in to the banquet. The banquet represents the treasures of God's Word, and a carnal spirit cannot appreciate or enjoy these spiritual gifts without Christ's righteousness as the proper wedding garment. The invitation to the supper is a final call that must be answered by receiving the white robe of Christ's righteousness, warning that neglecting the invitation and remaining unrepentant may lead to coming to the marriage supper without the garment required to share in it, and its message is a repast of truth to be heard with earnest interest.
Nature of Gospel Invitation
The wedding feast is the gospel feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb, offered in the invitation Come, for all things are now ready. To partake of the feast is to accept Christ as personal Saviour and to wear His distinguishing dress, the wedding garment, which is truth as it is in Jesus, the robe of Christ's righteousness, the white linen of a clean pure character. That character no longer lives the old citizen life lived in ignorance, but shows changed speech and conversation, with faith standing not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. The heavenly banquet was prepared by God sending His Son into the world to die in behalf of men, that through faith in Him they should become one with God. The invitation and promises are not made to a few but to all who will come, with no walls built to keep any living soul from salvation, and wonderful possibilities provided for everyone who has faith in Christ. Coming means accepting Christ as personal Saviour and returning to loyalty and to perfect obedience to all God's commandments, and all who are willing to be saved by Christ are the elect of God, the obedient predestinated from the foundation of the world, whose effectual salvation as a peculiar people chosen from among men is to the praise and glory of His grace, power, and wisdom.
The invitation is an act of gracious benevolence with abundant provision, with the wedding garment purchased and provided as the robe of Christ's righteousness. God bids souls to the marriage feast and sets before them in His Word, full of marrow and fatness, a banquet that will satisfy every want. He waits for their response, for every heart may and can respond to His offered grace and bestowed love if it will, but not every heart responds. God cannot work for the soul that does not respond, so the issue rests wholly with themselves. It requires decision and effort to seek Him with all the heart in order to receive an outpouring of His Spirit as on the Day of Pentecost.
The call is a persuasive gospel invitation to people of every class, including those met in the highways. It is to be carried to people of worldly reputation, whose acceptance of the truth can help the work and open access to others. Accepting the invitation requires personal faith in God as Saviour and Father, trust in His promises, and obedience to His will. The same refusal seen in making light of the gracious invitation to God's heavenly feast and choosing one's own affairs instead is seen when people assent to truth but do not obey because a spouse or the approval of others holds them back.
Urgent Call to Readiness
In the setting of the last gospel invitation the verse warns that invited people treat the call to the marriage feast as unimportant and choose their own affairs instead, neglecting the call while pursuing ordinary work and business. The final call to the marriage supper is still to be given to those who have not heard it.
Treating the King's invitation lightly by turning aside to land, trade, indulgence and the cares of this life overcharges the heart and leaves a person unready. So neglected, the close of probation and the coming of the Son of man in an hour not expected comes unawares. To make light of the call is to risk being found at the King's feast without a wedding garment, unwatched, naked and shamed. The warning applies now, when probation is fast closing and the end is near, requiring watchfulness and keeping garments ready.
Time is short and everyone must be prepared for the marriage supper of the Lord by accepting the robe of Christ's righteousness which is the wedding garment, so as not to be found without it, and by having the peace of Christ. Satan works and will work in great power with the children of disobedience as agents to destroy the soul, so the devil must be resisted that he may flee. The warning is to heed the invitation and make ready to enter the wedding to share the promised reward. Their excuses reflect false confidence that there is no urgency and that worldly interests must be protected, while they neglect the invitation to prepare for the marriage supper, and the verse warns against letting care for earthly things keep people from accepting God's call. Those who trust God's care and persevere in doing His will are promised righteousness, glory and entrance into His kingdom.
Making light by going to farm or merchandise means becoming so engaged in business that preparation is neglected. Those who do this lean on others instead of making God their dependence, hold stubborn self-will, find the humility and meekness of Christ unattractive, and fail to obtain the experience needed to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Coming to the marriage feast in citizen's garments instead of putting on the spotless robe prepared for guests does the greatest dishonor to Him who invites and provides the robe. Unless there is a decided change they will cherish traits that unfit them for seeing and understanding the working of the Spirit of God, be led by another spirit, and stand with the foolish virgins who have no oil in their vessels with their lamps and with the man who came to the feast without a wedding garment.
The invitation is an act of gracious benevolence, with the wedding garment purchased and provided as the robe of Christ's righteousness. To despise the invitation, to unite with despisers of God in indulging appetite for beer and wine and stronger drink, or to come into Christ's presence in one's own defiled garments as good enough, insults the Lord and abuses His benevolence. God's dealing with such wrongdoers in separating them from His presence and casting them out is just and not arbitrary, but exactly what His Word imposes. Christ's long emaciating fast in the wilderness of temptation on the point of appetite and His treading the winepress alone broke the power of Satan and brought divine strength and power so man can conquer appetite and every unholy passion.
Carrying Invitation Outward
Those who do not treat the invitation lightly show they wear the wedding garment, the robe of Christ's righteousness, and they carry to others the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb, proclaiming in message and life the rich repast of truth and the redemption prepared by Christ's atoning death. To make light by going to farm or merchandise is to live to please self and to absorb means to flatter vanity instead of working as Christ worked, and the wedding invitation is to be carried outward rather than neglected in such self-pleasing and vain use of means. The work of bringing people to the supper calls for prayer, faith, and determined unselfish labor, moved by love for others to seek to bring them to the feast. In that labor the invitation must not be lowered to win converts, but people are to be called up to God's standard.
The call to the marriage supper must be proclaimed and those willing to come gathered in, for turning to one's own affairs is neglect of the gospel feast. That carrying of the invitation reaches to Cooranbong and nearby places, where souls are expected to respond, and to every family in Battle Creek, where souls are bidden to the feast and set before a banquet in the Word full of marrow and fatness to satisfy every want. The issue rests wholly with themselves, requiring decision and effort to seek Him with all the heart in order to receive an outpouring of His Spirit as on the Day of Pentecost.
Those in the higher walks of life are to be first sought, since the gospel invitation first comes to them, to shepherds of the flock and divinely appointed teachers as a word to be heeded. Those of higher rank have been too much neglected and are to be sought with tender affection and brotherly regard, including men in business life, in positions of trust, men with large inventive faculties and scientific insight, men of genius, and men to whom many talents have been entrusted. They are to hear the call in a manner different from the past, with earnest personal effort asking whether they are ready for immortal life, and with a gracious invitation giving them a fair chance to hear, weigh the evidence, and consider the truth. Influential and wealthy people are included in this call to the feast rather than passed by.
Men of the world with God-given powers of organization are needed to carry forward the work for the last days, not all as preachers but to take management of institutions where industrial work is carried on and to act as leaders, captains, educators, faithful financiers, and presidents of conferences. They are men who look ahead and discern what needs to be done and stand solid as a rock to principle in the present crisis and in future perils. The same neglect of the king's invitation is seen when those who have received opportunities and Bible truth turn to their own interests through love of ease and selfish indulgence and fail to serve others and to seek and save the lost. Such failure to live the truth and practice it, accepting it in name while lacking Christ's righteousness as the wedding garment, reveals that truth has not entered the heart, and they are accountable for talents, opportunities, and abilities left unused.
Refusal also warns that people can be so occupied with familiar religious efforts and interests that they neglect the call while souls who never heard remain spiritually hungry, so the invitation must be carried to other classes and those who accept Christ must live in obedience wearing the garment. That outward call should have reached the Southern field, whose people should have been called to the gospel invitation instead of being left while others attended to their own affairs. It includes the freed people of the South, to whom failure to bring the invitation to all classes persisted despite available light and opportunities. Giving priority to farms, trade, or other work turns away from the invitation, yet Christ may call people from those very occupations to warn the world.
The verse tells of a king who made a marriage for his son and sent servants with a second call that dinner was ready with oxen and fatlings killed. To make light of it is to treat that gracious royal invitation as unimportant and go one's own way, one to field work with farm and plow and another to trading and business, absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building and other ordinary pursuits. The first guests who so refused represent God's chosen people, the Jewish nation, who had long been called by prophets yet rejected Christ and the righteousness He offered. Such slighting is deeper guilt than refusing a common supper, bringing exclusion from the table and, for scorning the king, destruction of the murderers and their city, with no second invitation after probation closes. The feast is the gospel marriage supper of the Lamb, open to all of every class who will come, but entering requires the wedding garment of Christ's righteousness, received by personal faith and obedience, without which profession is presumption and loss.
Parable Setting and Terms
The verse belongs to the picture of a certain king making a marriage for his son and sending servants to call those who were bidden, followed by a second announcement that dinner is ready with oxen and fatlings killed, which the bidden guests treat as unimportant while going their own ways to farm work and to trading. The call to the feast is a king's invitation proceeding from One vested with power to command and conferring high honor, yet the honor is unappreciated and the king's authority is despised. Refusal here is a deeper insult with deeper guilt than refusal of the householder's supper, bringing more dreadful punishment than mere exclusion from presence and table, even to the sending of armies to destroy the murderers and burn up their city.
Going to his farm means field work with two oxen yoked together to a plow in an open field, and going to his merchandise means turning instead to one's own pursuits in trading and business. The marriage in the parable represents the union of humanity with divinity, while marriage itself is a divine institution in which innocent joy is pleasing to Christ and which serves to illustrate important truths. The King is calling His own to a heavenly wedding hall where the feast is prepared, and that invitation had been sent for many centuries, yet the world paid little heed to it and went about worldly pursuits and pleasures instead.
Making Light Described
To make light of the call is to treat the king's gracious invitation to the wedding feast as unimportant, turning away each to his own pursuits instead of accepting it. One goes to his farm and another to his business, choosing ordinary concerns, worldly pursuits and pleasures over the honor offered. Their worldly interests keep them from the feast, showing that they value earthly concerns above eternal things and fail to recognize the blessing in the invitation. The same absorption in ordinary work and business by hearers of God's word is rejection of the gospel invitation, yet the final call to the marriage supper is still to be given to those who have not heard it. The warning is to heed the invitation and make ready to enter the wedding, for those who respond faithfully will share the promised reward.
Going to farm and to merchandise means being wholly intent on securing worldly gain, absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building. Farms, trade and other work are given priority and business transactions are made of such importance that eternity is left out of the reckoning. Those so occupied turn away from the invitation to the kingdom, though Christ may call men from their occupations to warn the world. Such refusal shows lack of respect for the master of the feast, as of those turned back from the Lord who have not sought nor inquired for Him, thinking their own wisdom sufficient and speaking as though oracles of wisdom.
Their excuses show temporal matters taking priority over eternal things, with pleasure, social influence and daily pursuits keeping them from accepting Christ's call and receiving His righteousness. Making light and going away to farm and merchandise is refusal of the general invitation continued even when servants are sent to invite personally and assure that all things are now ready. Then all with one consent begin to make excuse, pleading circumstances and supposed duties for failure to comply and giving no more favorable response than the first guests. Though the feast was prepared for their benefit, they reject it for lesser personal interests, and such refusal leaves them shut out so that seeking admission after the door is closed comes too late. Their excuses portray neglect of preparation for eternal life that can influence others to remain unready.
The neglect pictures false confidence that there is no urgency and that worldly interests must be protected, while preparation for the marriage supper is neglected. Care for earthly things is thus allowed to keep souls from accepting God's call, whereas those who trust God's care and persevere in doing His will are promised righteousness, glory and entrance into His kingdom.
First Guests Who Refused
The first invited guests are God's chosen people, the Jewish people, who refused the invitation and made excuses, and their rejection opens the call of mercy to the Gentiles. The king's first call goes to the higher classes, his chosen people, the princes of the land, who are wholly intent on securing worldly gain. That first giving of the gospel invitation comes to those in the higher walks of life, to the shepherds of the flock and divinely appointed teachers as a word to be heeded. Those in the highways are the higher classes in the highways of life, whom it is difficult to reach because few believers can obtain association with them.
God had repeatedly sent prophets to them, but they did not heed them, yet the truth continued to be presented so they would have another opportunity to respond. Had they accepted the call, they could have joined the messengers in inviting others. Their refusal shows lack of respect for the master of the feast, for they are turned back from the Lord and have not sought the Lord nor inquired for Him. They think their own wisdom sufficient and speak as though they were oracles of wisdom, absorbed in buying and selling, planting and building, making business transactions of such importance that eternity is left out of the reckoning. They were intent on worldly gain and did not respect the master enough to accept his invitation.
In the parable's application to the Jewish nation, they had received the invitation and its privileges but rejected Christ and the righteousness He offered. Few great men and worldly-wise men believe because this present world is their god. Christ as Sin-bearer opened the way to eternal life for all who desire it above every earthly consideration and sent the invitation to great men at the cost of His own precious blood, but they listened to the wily foe and adopted his varied excuses and framed foolish excuses to avoid the obligation. They refused the heavenly benefits and refused Him who could give real value to their characters, bring them back to allegiance to God and His commandments, place His own image and superscription upon them and change them into obedient loyal children, make them truly great and valuable, and turn their crosses into crowns. They would not take the marriage contract and partake of the marriage supper or associate with Christ, and did not believe the promise to make man more precious than fine gold, for God allows everyone to choose his own Lord, and that choice leaves few worldly-wise men in the ranks of Jesus.
Judgment on Refusal
Slighting the householder's supper brings only exclusion from tasting the supper, but scorning and slaying the king's servants is a deeper insult bringing a more dreadful rejection than mere exclusion from presence and table, even the sending of armies to destroy the murderers and burn up their city. The call to the feast is a king's invitation proceeding from One vested with power to command and conferring high honor, yet the honor is unappreciated and the king's authority is despised. Making light of the invitation and turning away to farm and merchandise belongs with that scornful treatment of the servants, showing the gospel invitation rejected by the Jewish people and the call of mercy then going to the Gentiles.
The invitation is an act of gracious benevolence, with the wedding garment purchased and provided as the robe of Christ's righteousness. To despise that invitation, to unite with despisers of God in indulging appetite for beer and wine and stronger drink, or to come into Christ's presence in one's own defiled garments as good enough, insults the Lord and abuses His benevolence. God's dealing with such wrongdoers in separating them from His presence and casting them out is just and not arbitrary, but exactly what His Word imposes. Christ's long emaciating fast in the wilderness of temptation on the point of appetite and His treading the winepress alone broke the power of Satan and brought divine strength and power so that man can conquer appetite and every unholy passion.
Those invited to the marriage supper reject the invitation for lesser personal interests, though the feast was prepared for their benefit. Their refusal leaves them shut out, and seeking admission after the door is closed comes too late. Such excuses portray neglect of preparation for eternal life and can influence others to remain unready. Those invited to the marriage feast may slight the invitation and turn instead to their own pursuits, thereby rejecting the warning and offer of pardon and salvation and turning from light and truth. When probation closes, they will receive no second invitation.
Wedding Garment Explained
The wedding garment is Christ's righteousness, truth as it is in Jesus, the white linen of a clean pure character, the garment woven in the loom of heaven which is the imputed righteousness of Christ, and no one has a garment of his own that gives honor or position at that supper. Having a place at the King's feast, which is God's kingdom in heaven, requires perfection, for God's law is a transcript of His own character and the standard of all character showing what kind of people will compose His kingdom, Christ's life on earth was its perfect expression, and those claiming to be God's children must become Christlike in character and obedient to the commandments so God can trust them to be of the number who compose the family of heaven, clothed in the glorious apparel of Christ's righteousness with right to join the blood-washed throng. Worthiness to sit at the marriage feast comes only from Christ's robe alone, accepted by believing in Christ and receiving Him as personal Saviour, returning to loyalty and to perfect obedience to all God's commandments, no longer living the old citizen life lived in ignorance but with changed speech and conversation and faith standing not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. It is offered even to the lowliest, and salvation for that feast is not because of superior intellect or refinement of ideas but through the grace of God, with no walls keeping any living soul from salvation and wonderful possibilities for everyone who has faith, making the sons and daughters of Adam members of the family in heaven, the obedient predestinated from the foundation of the world as God's elect and peculiar people to the praise and glory of His grace, power, and wisdom.
Belief about Christ is not the same as receiving Him as personal Saviour and bringing Him into daily life, for those who hear and assent to the truth but remain unchanged in habit and practice are represented by the guest without the garment. Professing to believe and speaking God's Word are not enough if Christ's character is absent and the Word is not obeyed, and accepting the truth in name without practicing it and neglecting service and failing to seek and save the lost reveals the truth has not entered the heart and leaves one accountable for opportunities and abilities not faithfully used. Many profess to have accepted the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb yet have not put on the wedding garment, having a form of godliness without the inward working of the Holy Spirit in life and practice, seeming active in service and ready to give counsel about the work that is not always from above, and such need to search their own hearts thoroughly and arouse themselves into humble, sacred nearness to God; profession without transformation dishonors Christ and is not acceptable to God. Making light of the invitation and going one's own way instead of preparing to meet God's standard is presumption in matters where eternal interests are involved, measuring character by human ideas rather than agreeing with the standard God has given, and continuing in sin, which hinders God's promise and results in loss of the soul, so escape requires a firm stand for Christ, surrendering to God what is already His own, and accepting the righteousness of Christ in order to have on the wedding garment.
Guests refuse because they pride themselves that they will buy and sell and get gain and think they cannot afford to lose any worldly advantage for the heavenly feast, knowing that coming means putting off their common citizen's dress and wearing the robe of Christ's righteousness, thus showing they are His church married to Christ as His bride. Making light by going to farm or merchandise means becoming so engaged in business that preparation is neglected, leaning on others instead of making God the dependence, holding stubborn self-will, finding the humility and meekness of Christ unattractive, and failing to obtain the experience needed to be clothed in His righteousness, and coming in citizen's garments instead of the spotless robe prepared for guests does the greatest dishonor to Him who invites and provides it. Unless there is decided change they will cherish traits unfitting them for seeing and understanding the working of the Spirit of God, be led by another spirit, and stand with the foolish virgins who have no oil in their vessels with their lamps and with the man who came without a wedding garment. This making light pictures the church refusing the richest blessings from heaven proffered to bring understanding of its true state and to bring it to the supper in the message of justification by faith and the imputed righteousness of Christ, instead holding aloof and harmonizing only in part while clinging to the old citizen's dress rather than accepting the dress prepared by Jesus Christ.
Christ has prepared a banquet and longs to bestow peace and happiness and joy, providing the wedding garment, the robe of His righteousness spotless as the pure white lily, the richest gift that can be bestowed on mortal man. Men of the world who make light and go to farm and merchandise, caught in the din and confusion of this earth, will appreciate heaven as repose from it all, and they must give their whole attention to securing this gift and must not be passed by as hopeless but be urged, taken hold of, and brought in to the banquet. The banquet represents the treasures of God's Word, and a carnal spirit cannot appreciate or enjoy these spiritual gifts without Christ's righteousness as the proper wedding garment. The invitation to the supper is a final call that must be answered by receiving the white robe of Christ's righteousness, warning that neglecting the invitation and remaining unrepentant may lead to coming to the marriage supper without the garment required to share in it, and its message is a repast of truth to be heard with earnest interest.
Nature of Gospel Invitation
The wedding feast is the gospel feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb, offered in the invitation Come, for all things are now ready. To partake of the feast is to accept Christ as personal Saviour and to wear His distinguishing dress, the wedding garment, which is truth as it is in Jesus, the robe of Christ's righteousness, the white linen of a clean pure character. That character no longer lives the old citizen life lived in ignorance, but shows changed speech and conversation, with faith standing not in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. The heavenly banquet was prepared by God sending His Son into the world to die in behalf of men, that through faith in Him they should become one with God. The invitation and promises are not made to a few but to all who will come, with no walls built to keep any living soul from salvation, and wonderful possibilities provided for everyone who has faith in Christ. Coming means accepting Christ as personal Saviour and returning to loyalty and to perfect obedience to all God's commandments, and all who are willing to be saved by Christ are the elect of God, the obedient predestinated from the foundation of the world, whose effectual salvation as a peculiar people chosen from among men is to the praise and glory of His grace, power, and wisdom.
The invitation is an act of gracious benevolence with abundant provision, with the wedding garment purchased and provided as the robe of Christ's righteousness. God bids souls to the marriage feast and sets before them in His Word, full of marrow and fatness, a banquet that will satisfy every want. He waits for their response, for every heart may and can respond to His offered grace and bestowed love if it will, but not every heart responds. God cannot work for the soul that does not respond, so the issue rests wholly with themselves. It requires decision and effort to seek Him with all the heart in order to receive an outpouring of His Spirit as on the Day of Pentecost.
The call is a persuasive gospel invitation to people of every class, including those met in the highways. It is to be carried to people of worldly reputation, whose acceptance of the truth can help the work and open access to others. Accepting the invitation requires personal faith in God as Saviour and Father, trust in His promises, and obedience to His will. The same refusal seen in making light of the gracious invitation to God's heavenly feast and choosing one's own affairs instead is seen when people assent to truth but do not obey because a spouse or the approval of others holds them back.
Urgent Call to Readiness
In the setting of the last gospel invitation the verse warns that invited people treat the call to the marriage feast as unimportant and choose their own affairs instead, neglecting the call while pursuing ordinary work and business. The final call to the marriage supper is still to be given to those who have not heard it.
Treating the King's invitation lightly by turning aside to land, trade, indulgence and the cares of this life overcharges the heart and leaves a person unready. So neglected, the close of probation and the coming of the Son of man in an hour not expected comes unawares. To make light of the call is to risk being found at the King's feast without a wedding garment, unwatched, naked and shamed. The warning applies now, when probation is fast closing and the end is near, requiring watchfulness and keeping garments ready.
Time is short and everyone must be prepared for the marriage supper of the Lord by accepting the robe of Christ's righteousness which is the wedding garment, so as not to be found without it, and by having the peace of Christ. Satan works and will work in great power with the children of disobedience as agents to destroy the soul, so the devil must be resisted that he may flee. The warning is to heed the invitation and make ready to enter the wedding to share the promised reward. Their excuses reflect false confidence that there is no urgency and that worldly interests must be protected, while they neglect the invitation to prepare for the marriage supper, and the verse warns against letting care for earthly things keep people from accepting God's call. Those who trust God's care and persevere in doing His will are promised righteousness, glory and entrance into His kingdom.
Making light by going to farm or merchandise means becoming so engaged in business that preparation is neglected. Those who do this lean on others instead of making God their dependence, hold stubborn self-will, find the humility and meekness of Christ unattractive, and fail to obtain the experience needed to be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. Coming to the marriage feast in citizen's garments instead of putting on the spotless robe prepared for guests does the greatest dishonor to Him who invites and provides the robe. Unless there is a decided change they will cherish traits that unfit them for seeing and understanding the working of the Spirit of God, be led by another spirit, and stand with the foolish virgins who have no oil in their vessels with their lamps and with the man who came to the feast without a wedding garment.
The invitation is an act of gracious benevolence, with the wedding garment purchased and provided as the robe of Christ's righteousness. To despise the invitation, to unite with despisers of God in indulging appetite for beer and wine and stronger drink, or to come into Christ's presence in one's own defiled garments as good enough, insults the Lord and abuses His benevolence. God's dealing with such wrongdoers in separating them from His presence and casting them out is just and not arbitrary, but exactly what His Word imposes. Christ's long emaciating fast in the wilderness of temptation on the point of appetite and His treading the winepress alone broke the power of Satan and brought divine strength and power so man can conquer appetite and every unholy passion.
Carrying Invitation Outward
Those who do not treat the invitation lightly show they wear the wedding garment, the robe of Christ's righteousness, and they carry to others the invitation to the marriage supper of the Lamb, proclaiming in message and life the rich repast of truth and the redemption prepared by Christ's atoning death. To make light by going to farm or merchandise is to live to please self and to absorb means to flatter vanity instead of working as Christ worked, and the wedding invitation is to be carried outward rather than neglected in such self-pleasing and vain use of means. The work of bringing people to the supper calls for prayer, faith, and determined unselfish labor, moved by love for others to seek to bring them to the feast. In that labor the invitation must not be lowered to win converts, but people are to be called up to God's standard.
The call to the marriage supper must be proclaimed and those willing to come gathered in, for turning to one's own affairs is neglect of the gospel feast. That carrying of the invitation reaches to Cooranbong and nearby places, where souls are expected to respond, and to every family in Battle Creek, where souls are bidden to the feast and set before a banquet in the Word full of marrow and fatness to satisfy every want. The issue rests wholly with themselves, requiring decision and effort to seek Him with all the heart in order to receive an outpouring of His Spirit as on the Day of Pentecost.
Those in the higher walks of life are to be first sought, since the gospel invitation first comes to them, to shepherds of the flock and divinely appointed teachers as a word to be heeded. Those of higher rank have been too much neglected and are to be sought with tender affection and brotherly regard, including men in business life, in positions of trust, men with large inventive faculties and scientific insight, men of genius, and men to whom many talents have been entrusted. They are to hear the call in a manner different from the past, with earnest personal effort asking whether they are ready for immortal life, and with a gracious invitation giving them a fair chance to hear, weigh the evidence, and consider the truth. Influential and wealthy people are included in this call to the feast rather than passed by.
Men of the world with God-given powers of organization are needed to carry forward the work for the last days, not all as preachers but to take management of institutions where industrial work is carried on and to act as leaders, captains, educators, faithful financiers, and presidents of conferences. They are men who look ahead and discern what needs to be done and stand solid as a rock to principle in the present crisis and in future perils. The same neglect of the king's invitation is seen when those who have received opportunities and Bible truth turn to their own interests through love of ease and selfish indulgence and fail to serve others and to seek and save the lost. Such failure to live the truth and practice it, accepting it in name while lacking Christ's righteousness as the wedding garment, reveals that truth has not entered the heart, and they are accountable for talents, opportunities, and abilities left unused.
Refusal also warns that people can be so occupied with familiar religious efforts and interests that they neglect the call while souls who never heard remain spiritually hungry, so the invitation must be carried to other classes and those who accept Christ must live in obedience wearing the garment. That outward call should have reached the Southern field, whose people should have been called to the gospel invitation instead of being left while others attended to their own affairs. It includes the freed people of the South, to whom failure to bring the invitation to all classes persisted despite available light and opportunities. Giving priority to farms, trade, or other work turns away from the invitation, yet Christ may call people from those very occupations to warn the world.