Weddings and faith from Matthew 22
The Wedding Feast Matthew 22
"Life is a Banquet, and the Cake is for you!" That is what I got in the mail from Farmer's Insurance to remind me I was having a birthday on Saturday. But this could be also applied to how God is preparing and has prepared for us a beautiful end to our journey of life at His feast. We celebrate that in Holy Communion every week but one day we shall be with Him forever. The King had prepared for those who were invited a beautiful banquet .
We note that his servants had invited people to the wedding. Vs 5 says they made light of it, but the idea of the greek there is that they just simply ignored it, took no notice. It is not the idea of spurning it ( or making jest at it as the Kjv sounds). How much this sounds like so many people today! The invitation to Christ and His kingdom has been sent out but people just pass it by. "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" I Tim. 2:4
1. Because they had an apathetic attitude towards spiritual things, " they would not come." vs 3 This reminds me of the people who lived off Florida Merritt Island & did not wish to evacuate from the hurricane Matthew. Their roof blew off and they called emergency, but they already said they would not rescue anyone who did not evacuate!
Today our Lord says to come unto Him and to take His yoke upon us and we shall find rest unto our souls, but people do not . Matthew 11:28 . Don't we read this every week in our Communion Service? PB p. 76
People ignore the banquet and the feast . They pass it by, and it was never on their calendar or to do list anyway. Do they know what they are missing?
2. They made excuses. This sounds like the similar parable in Luke 14:15 . Here the excuses are worldly as they are in Luke too.
" They went their ways , one to his farm, another to his merchandise..." Matthew22 : 5
If we do not want to do something we will find a reason to not do it, no matter who the invite comes from. Here the King was inviting but that did not matter apparently.
Recently I finished a book called, He Leadeth Me which is the story of a Jesuit priest who ended up being thrown in prison in Russia after Poland was invaded for 23 years. He tried to be faithful to God, and was always looking for ways to do services of communion to parishoners who traveled long distances to receive it. But even though he often felt in despair he knew that God had a purpose in him being captured and serving several churches in Russia.
"An Easter mass is a joyous one to begin with but the enthusiasm of the people that night I shall never forget. Tired as I was after more than forty-eight hours without sleep , hurrying from place to place , I felt suddenly elated and swept along....the crowds were so great it was impossible to distribute Communion, because no one could move. Communion had to be distributed after Mass. The service ended at 3 a.m., but at nine o' clock the next morning I was still distributing Communion to a constant stream of people...I felt that at last, in God's own good providence, I was beginning to live my dream of serving his flock in Russia." Fr. Walter J. Ciszek S.J.
Certainly they were not making excuses to be with Christ in the Church and in the prayers of the people of God. They were seeking any way they could to be faithful despite what the culture of atheism was telling them to do.
3. Conclusion. God desires that we possess the wedding garment of faith and love in His Son and for others so that we may enter into the joy of His presence on day forever. vs 12-13. God will not accept our good deeds but will see His wedding garment of righteousness, the garment of faith to enter with joy one day. Gregory the Great says it this way regarding the wedding garment :"
For if we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love?...Only God's love brought it about that His only Begotten Son united the hearts of His chosen to Himself. John says that ' God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for us.' " in Forty Gospel Homilies.
"Life is a Banquet, and the Cake is for you!" That is what I got in the mail from Farmer's Insurance to remind me I was having a birthday on Saturday. But this could be also applied to how God is preparing and has prepared for us a beautiful end to our journey of life at His feast. We celebrate that in Holy Communion every week but one day we shall be with Him forever. The King had prepared for those who were invited a beautiful banquet .
We note that his servants had invited people to the wedding. Vs 5 says they made light of it, but the idea of the greek there is that they just simply ignored it, took no notice. It is not the idea of spurning it ( or making jest at it as the Kjv sounds). How much this sounds like so many people today! The invitation to Christ and His kingdom has been sent out but people just pass it by. "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" I Tim. 2:4
1. Because they had an apathetic attitude towards spiritual things, " they would not come." vs 3 This reminds me of the people who lived off Florida Merritt Island & did not wish to evacuate from the hurricane Matthew. Their roof blew off and they called emergency, but they already said they would not rescue anyone who did not evacuate!
Today our Lord says to come unto Him and to take His yoke upon us and we shall find rest unto our souls, but people do not . Matthew 11:28 . Don't we read this every week in our Communion Service? PB p. 76
People ignore the banquet and the feast . They pass it by, and it was never on their calendar or to do list anyway. Do they know what they are missing?
2. They made excuses. This sounds like the similar parable in Luke 14:15 . Here the excuses are worldly as they are in Luke too.
" They went their ways , one to his farm, another to his merchandise..." Matthew22 : 5
If we do not want to do something we will find a reason to not do it, no matter who the invite comes from. Here the King was inviting but that did not matter apparently.
Recently I finished a book called, He Leadeth Me which is the story of a Jesuit priest who ended up being thrown in prison in Russia after Poland was invaded for 23 years. He tried to be faithful to God, and was always looking for ways to do services of communion to parishoners who traveled long distances to receive it. But even though he often felt in despair he knew that God had a purpose in him being captured and serving several churches in Russia.
"An Easter mass is a joyous one to begin with but the enthusiasm of the people that night I shall never forget. Tired as I was after more than forty-eight hours without sleep , hurrying from place to place , I felt suddenly elated and swept along....the crowds were so great it was impossible to distribute Communion, because no one could move. Communion had to be distributed after Mass. The service ended at 3 a.m., but at nine o' clock the next morning I was still distributing Communion to a constant stream of people...I felt that at last, in God's own good providence, I was beginning to live my dream of serving his flock in Russia." Fr. Walter J. Ciszek S.J.
Certainly they were not making excuses to be with Christ in the Church and in the prayers of the people of God. They were seeking any way they could to be faithful despite what the culture of atheism was telling them to do.
3. Conclusion. God desires that we possess the wedding garment of faith and love in His Son and for others so that we may enter into the joy of His presence on day forever. vs 12-13. God will not accept our good deeds but will see His wedding garment of righteousness, the garment of faith to enter with joy one day. Gregory the Great says it this way regarding the wedding garment :"
For if we say it is baptism or faith, is there anyone who has entered this marriage feast without them? A person is outside because he has not yet come to believe. What then must we understand by the wedding garment but love?...Only God's love brought it about that His only Begotten Son united the hearts of His chosen to Himself. John says that ' God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son for us.' " in Forty Gospel Homilies.
Comments
Post a Comment