Title: The King's Feast/Matthew 22:1~14
Contents
We don't know what heaven is like because we've never been there to see it.
That's why Jesus often said, "Heaven is such a place," whenever he had a chance.
However, Jesus did not explain the kingdom of heaven with the road facilities of that country, the surrounding environment and the weather, etc.
Just like the story of today's text, he introduced us with a focus on what life in heaven is like.
Today's story begins by saying that life in heaven is like a banquet house. The feast house is a delightful and joyful place. Especially the wedding will be even more so. Therefore, the story of Jesus who compares life in heaven to a wedding feast is very meaningful.
Why? Think of the first place where Jesus officially began the work of God.
It was not the home of any sick person, nor was it the home of a sinner. It was the house of the wedding feast in Cana of Galilee.
A problem occurred during the wedding feast, and the moment the pleasant atmosphere was destroyed, Jesus solved the problem.
The feast could go on again, and the joy could go on. Therefore, Jesus wants us to always rejoice in life in this world, and He is telling us that He is the source of that joy. People think that believing in Jesus is the beginning of suffering. There are so many things we shouldn't do that we think that living is not fun, and we live by sticking to hard doctrines. In other words, it is an ascetic misunderstanding of Christianity. But God has invited us to the banquet house. You are inviting us to give you joy and joy that cannot be experienced in the world.
Invitees and their reactions
The place where the feast was held was the kingdom of heaven / The king was God / The son who was getting married was Jesus! / Looking at verse 3, the invitation was sent first. And on the same day, he sent his servants and invited them again. However, they all said that people did not want to come to the banquet. I didn't tell them that I couldn't go because I had been invited to go here and there, but rather that I was silent the whole time and then the servants went to pick me up on the same day and said that I couldn't go. The servant returned and reported the situation to the king.
The king did not give up and sent another servant to invite him, but this time he sent other servants. It was a better impression than the previous one, and he selected and sent a more capable species. And he invited them by explaining the details of the feast.
Verse 4 says, “I prepared a supper by slaughtering my cattle and fattened animals.” come out? You can see that they are very active and earnestly invited.
This third invitation is finally getting a response.
After receiving the first invitation, they all crumpled it up and threw it away, and when the second servants went and invited them, they all refused to come.
It would be nice if the reactions that barely came out were positive, but what about it?
One went to his field. Another went to see his business.
He said he left without looking back. The cold scene where the cold wind blows is recorded realistically in verse 5. In a word, the attitude of these people is to ignore the king's banquet and make fun of it. Going to the fields, going for business is more important, better, and more enjoyable.
Of course, you can go to the field and enjoy watching the crops grow well, or you can have a happy time while plowing the field easily by driving the latest tractor you bought yesterday. But you don't know. It means that the joy and joy of the feast house is a joy that the world cannot give, nor can the world know.
God invites us through this kind and meticulous consideration.
He is inviting people who can't taste the joy of the banquet house, do not enjoy it, and do not want to associate with the people of the banquet house, by telling them the details of the feast. However, the pleasure of a feast has nothing to do with me if I do not go there myself, knowing that a feast is being prepared and that some food is prepared. Our life of faith should not be like this.
But here are people who have a different reaction. The servants who had been invited were captured... made unfree, humiliated... insulted, humiliated, and eventually killed. The reaction of these people is to destroy, destroy, and actively persecute.
Distorting the Word of God and shaking the church. The Jews captured Jesus, insulted him, and killed him. Is it possible that I am persecuting and destroying Jesus Christ today?
Now, in verse 7, the king's response is given. But there is one thing we must remember here.
The king was simply disinterested in his invitation and was dealing with those who ignored him and those who specifically persecuted him. He sent an army to annihilate all those who killed his servants. So, would you say that living indifferently is a matter of living a long life?
Verse 7 says that the king burned the whole village. The houses and property of those who went out to the fields and those who went out for business were burned down. It became empty, and it was in a miserable condition. God's invitation cannot and should not be rejected. God will keep inviting me until I respond. So I can't refuse even with indifference or ignorance, annoy me, and I can't rebel against my liking Because it is clear in today's story what the end of those who were invited many times and turned down will be, and this story also applies to us today.
God did not leave Jerusalem as they ignored Jesus and even killed him.
It happened 40 years after the tragic crucifixion, in which Jerusalem was put into ruins at the hands of the Romans, and people were killed or taken into slavery. In particular, documents have been found today that record the moment when the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by fire, and it is said that a very cold wind blew violently inside the temple, and a voice was heard saying, "Glory has gone. My glory has gone."
1 Samuel/ Eli When the priestly family fell down because of their sins, the last remaining daughter-in-law was lifted up. "The glory of the Lord God has departed..." Where there is sin, indifference, neglect, and persecution of the Lord's body, the glory of God will depart. There is no joy where the glory of God has departed. There is no peace. There is only sorrow, there is only darkness.
It must not be the tragic loss of the glory of God from me personally, in our churches, in our homes, and in a nation. Now let's get back to the story.
The king does not give up the feast until the very end. He sent the servants back and instructed them to invite everyone they met along the way. It is not to force them to come, or to have them come by the authority of the king, but as in verse 9, “Come--invitation” to the end.
Now it's finally time for a full and enjoyable feast to begin. But then things happen. A man without a robe was seated and thrown out. Hands and feet were tied up and thrown into darkness.
Dear saints,
I pray that your life of faith will be filled with joy and joy when you go to a banquet house.
I hope that you will respond to all God's invitations and enjoy great joy and joy that you have never known in the world.