Sunday Devotional - Change Clothes
Annie Armstong Easter Video
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Greetings church family! I miss seeing all of your faces, and I miss gathering together with you on Sunday and Wednesday nights. I don’t know about you, but I need a little good news to help get me through this lingering Covid- 19 season…
Today we continue our journey through the gospels, looking at Matthew 22:1-14. In this passage, a man gets harshly kicked out of a wedding celebration because he was wearing the wrong clothes. Go ahead and pause right now and read Matthew 22:1-14 and then we’ll walk back through the passage together.
Ok, this parable tells a story that gives us insight into the Kingdom of Heaven. The wedding feast represents Heaven. The king represents God, the king’s son- Jesus, the slaves are His servants, at this time the reference referred to the prophets God had sent throughout history to the nation of Israel, but today we could see the slaves representing ministers of the gospel- not just pastors and missionaries- but even you and others who are followers of Jesus, who have been tasked with the responsibility of sharing the gospel. Those invited in the 1st and 2nd round of invitations (verses 3 and 4) represented the Jewish nation of Israel, and today could easily represent many to whom the gospel is presented and thus rejected. Those in the highways, to whom the 3rd round of invitations were sent (verse 9) represented the gentiles- people from the rest of the world: Africa, Asia, Greece, Italy, etc. Today these people could be represented by any person on the face of the earth, all are invited to the wedding feast of Jesus.
Now there’s several things I want to point out, first I love the reminder in verse 2 that the wedding feast is for the son- it’s for Jesus. As believers, we celebrate that we’re going to Heaven and we take joy in our personal salvation, but it’s not really all about us and our eternal security. Yes, we have accepted the invitation to follow Jesus and we look forward to the wedding feast of the Lamb- the great party in Heaven that we will one day experience, but let us not forget that the wedding feast is all centered and focused on Jesus- for who He is and what He has done, who has given us the opportunity as lowly servants and invitees to partake in such a spectacular celebration.
Notice in verses 3 and 4 the persistence of the king- God the Father. To those in verse 3 who were “unwilling to come,” in verse 4 He sends out a second wave of invitations- not to new recipients, but again to those of verse 3 who were already invited. God is patient and to many who have already heard the gospel and rejected it- there is still hope for them as God continues in His attempt to woo their heart. Don’t give up on friends and family who have rejected Jesus, as the Father invites again, may you too invite again and again those you know, to pursue a relationship with their Father.
Then see in verses 5 and 6 how fitting this description is even in today’s world. So many today continue carrying on with life as usual after hearing the gospel. And in other places around the world, after hearing the gospel, violence is the result.
In verse 7 we see those who defiantly rejected the king’s invitation, who mistreated and killed the king’s servants, we see that the king judges them and then in verse 8 He pronounces them as “unworthy.” In one sense, we are all unworthy of His gospel salvation, but in another sense, we are all worthy of His gospel salvation because He has declared that He is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” (1 Peter 3:9) No sin disqualifies you from attending the wedding feast, except for the sin of rejecting Him. And that rejection, is what will make you unworthy of attending.
Verse 9 foreshadows the great commission Jesus would soon give to all His followers, that they should “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matt. 28:19) and then in verse 10 note that Jesus’ slaves went out and “gathered together ALL they found, both evil and good.” I’m so glad Jesus put this detail into this narrative. We all could be considered evil to a certain degree. God exiled Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden for just 1 sin- we too would be considered evil and unfit for God’s presence even after just 1 sin, but obviously there are many in this world who display their need for the gospel in more significant ways, and their evil is more visible or plentiful, or their reputation is an evil one. But the king doesn’t react in verse 11 saying “You invited evil people here?” No, it appears there’s not a problem with particularly evil people being invited into the Kingdom by these slaves, and there shouldn’t be a problem with you or I inviting particularly evil people into the Kingdom either.
But there is something the king objects to in verse 11. There was a man who had received the invitation and showed up for the wedding feast- but He wasn’t dressed in the appropriate wedding clothes. In verse 12 the king approaches him tenderly, even calling Him “friend,” and asks why the man wasn’t dressed in the proper attire. And the man was speechless. In verse 13 the king has him bound and tossed out, the spiritual meaning being that someone like this would be sent to Hell.
Now your first reaction might be that this seems a little out of character from the king who sent out multiple invitations, and who was cool with inviting anyone from the street- whether evil or good. Why does He all of a sudden blow up over a guy not wearing the proper attire? At least the guy showed up, right? And what if he was one of the guys found on the street, literally who lived on the street and didn’t have any clothes other than the clothes on his back, and couldn’t afford anything more? Why was the king so stern? To explain this, there’s a cultural nuance of this time in history that we need to understand. Often in this culture, during this period of time, when a king gave a wedding feast, those who were invited, all received special garments to put on for the celebration. Sometimes the king’s attendants even washed the guests, anointed them with oil, and then helped them get dressed before sitting them down at the king’s table. Often, the garment worn on such an occasion as this was a long white robe, and all the guests would be cleanly dressed, wearing the same beautiful white clothing. Wearing this white robe, no one could differentiate between a blacksmith, a soldier, a doctor- everyone was dressed the same, providing equality and beauty to the group of guests attending.
Under these circumstances, the man not dressed appropriately had no excuse for not wearing the right clothes. Rather him not being dressed appropriately would seem to indicate that He refused to put on the garment that the king had given for all guests to wear. The man being speechless in verse 12, would seem to support that there was no excuse and that there had been opportunity for him to put on the right clothing. This man rejected the king. This is why the king reacted so strongly. The man had shown up at the wedding feast in defiance.
You see- as persistent, caring, and loving God is, there is only one way to join in on His celebration in Heaven. You have to change your clothes. You can’t wear the same thing you’ve always worn, you have to take off the clothes of a former life, you can’t do things like you have always done them, you can’t show up unchanged. The bible calls this “changing of clothes” repentance. It’s turning from doing life your way, and now trading it in to do your life God’s way. It doesn’t matter how good or evil you see yourself as, we each have to personally repent and put on the white rob of God’s righteousness.
There is a movement among Christians today, a movement that in a way, offers and invites people to the reward of Heaven and the wedding feast of the Lamb, that speaks of God’s goodness, mercy, and blessing- yet fails to include humankind’s role of repentance. Know that a gospel which leaves out repentance is a gospel that will get you to the wedding feast, but will have you kicked out for not wearing the right clothes.
At the end of the parable, in verse 14, Jesus closes the passage out by saying “For many are called, but few are chosen.” All are invited, and notice in this passage who are the ones doing the inviting? It’s the king’s slaves, His servants. The ones who do the inviting is you and I, and notice who then does the choosing? The king does the choosing. God makes the final call, and that call is based on the decision of the individual to repent, and exchange their clothes for a righteous white rob, offered freely by the King.
Family, as we are temporarily forced to function through websites and social media, this really could be an opportunity for those who don’t know the Lord or who aren’t part of a church family, to be drawn in. But it’s going to take you and I inviting them. I encourage you to make it a priority this week to share a link with a friend, to invite them to check out what God’s doing even as the church is not meeting together, to send some encouragement in the Lord to someone who might need it.
Thank you, church, for who you are and I can’t wait to see you soon!