September 20, 2026

Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are called, but few are chosen.” —- Matthew 22: 1-14 (NLT) In Matthew 22, Jesus tells a remarkable story about a king who prepares a wedding feast for his son. The king sends invitations to people who have already been invited, telling them that everything is ready and asking them to come and celebrate. Yet, instead of responding with gratitude, they make excuses and refuse to attend. Some are so hostile that they seize the king’s servants, mistreat them, and kill them.  The king then sends his servants into the streets and tells them to invite everyone they can find. The wedding hall eventually becomes filled with guests, both good and bad. However, when the king comes in to see the guests, he finds a man who is not properly dressed for the wedding. When the king asks him how he entered without a wedding garment, the man is unable to give an answer and is thrown out of the feast. Jesus concludes this difficult parable with the words, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” These words should make us stop and examine ourselves because the parable reveals several different ways people respond to God. Some openly refuse Him. Others appear to accept Him but want the benefits of His Kingdom without surrendering their lives to Him. Then there are those who genuinely receive the invitation and respond to the King with faith, repentance, and allegiance. So, let’s take a closer look at these three groups and examine how each one responds to God and where each response ultimately leads. Those Who Refuse God’s Invitation The first group represents people who hear God’s invitation but deliberately refuse it. In the parable, the king sends his servants to tell the invited that the wedding feast is ready, but Matthew says that they “paid no attention and went about their business” (Matthew 22:5). One went to his farm, another went to his business, and others treated the king’s servants shamefully. Their problem was not that they did not receive the invitation. They received it, understood it, and consciously chose not to respond. This can happen in many different ways today. You do not have to openly declare that you hate God or reject the gospel to refuse His invitation. Sometimes rejection looks more like indifference or constant postponement. You know that God is calling you to take your relationship with Him seriously, but you keep telling yourself that there will be time later. You may tell yourself that you will seek God after you have established your business, raised your children, achieved financial security, enjoyed your youth, or accomplished your personal ambitions. God is not necessarily being denied; He is simply being continually postponed. The danger is that your life can become so occupied with legitimate things that you gradually have no room for God. Your work may be important. Your family may be important. Your ambitions and responsibilities may be important. But when these things consistently take priority over God, they can become more than responsibilities; they can become substitutes for Him.  Jesus illustrated this danger in Luke 12 when He described a wealthy man who spent his life planning how to accumulate more possessions and then told himself that he had many years to enjoy them. But God said to him, “You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life” (Luke 12:20). There are also people in this group who are hostile and irritated by the message or invitation. They mock believers, argue against the Bible, and resent anyone who talks about repentance. Some do it openly. Others do it quietly by stopping the conversation whenever Jesus comes up.  The tragedy of the first group is that they were invited to something far greater than anything they were pursuing, yet they considered their ordinary affairs more important. They had a place at the king’s feast, but they preferred their farms and businesses. In the same way, you can become so absorbed in building your life that you fail to recognize that God is inviting you into something eternal. The warning is that none of these things should become more important to you than the One who gave you life in the first place. Jesus’ message is therefore urgent. God’s patience should never be mistaken for an endless postponement of judgment. Hebrews 3:15 says, “Today, if you hear God’s voice, do not be stubborn.” If you know that God