TREASURY OF SERMONS
The Joyous Banquet of the Resurrected Christ
By Rev (Dr) Jeffrey Khoo
Text: Matt 22:1-14
Wedding banquets are not something strange to
the Chinese. I am sure most of us, if not all, have at one time or
other attended a Chinese wedding dinner. Usually it is a 10-course
dinner. You eat today, you diet tomorrow! Such dinners are happy
events.
You know, there is a great wedding dinner
coming! It is great because it is going to be the wedding dinner of
the Son of a King—a royal banquet. This banquet is not only going to
be great, it will be the greatest because it is the banquet of no
ordinary king, but the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and the
Prince of princes. And do you know what? You are invited! This
invitation is right here in the Bible. The Bible is an invitation to
this grand feast. How can I be invited? Let us study this parable of
the wedding dinner.
The wedding invitation is said to be given by
the King. Who is He? In v2, we read, "The kingdom of heaven is like
unto a certain king." The kingdom of heaven spoken of here is also
called the kingdom of God. It is a divine kingdom, a spiritual
kingdom. It is the kingdom belonging to God where God is King. And
this King "made a marriage for His Son," and sent out the wedding
invitation. Who is the King, and who is His Son? The identification
is clear. In light of the fact that the kingdom spoken of is that of
God, the King is God the Father, and the Prince is God the Son—the
Lord Jesus Christ.
The Son is going to get married. By comparing
Scripture with Scripture, we find that the Lord Jesus Christ has
been called the Bridegroom. He is called the Bridegroom no less than
6 times in Matt 9 and 25. He is called the Bridegroom most
explicitly by John the baptiser in John 3:28-36. This Bridegroom is
from heaven John said. The marriage of this Bridegroom and His Bride
is truly a marriage made in heaven! In 2 Cor 11:2, the Apostle Paul
called the Church a chaste virgin engaged to one husband, namely,
Christ.
Now, there can be no wedding and no marriage if
the Groom is dead. The Groom is not dead but very much alive. Jesus
died but rose again and never more to die. He died once for all for
our sins. That is why the cross is empty (unlike the Catholic cross
which still has a dead Christ hanging on it). We have a living
Saviour, and He is coming to take His Bride home.
There will be a wedding dinner. Where will it
be? Which restaurant? Well, it will be in heaven. Name of the
restaurant? I call it the Heavenly Restaurant of the New Jerusalem.
When will it be held? When Christ returns to receive His bride. Turn
to Rev 19:7-9. Here we have a glimpse of the marriage supper of the
lamb: "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the
saints. And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me,
These are the true sayings of God."
Now who are those who have been invited or are
invited? The Lord sent forth His servants to personally handout the
invitation to the dinner. Who are these servants? In the OT, you
have Moses and the prophets. In the NT, you have Jesus, the greater
Moses, and the Apostles. Today, we have our pastors, teachers,
evangelists, and every Christian who proclaim the good news of
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, who are sounding out the
invitation, "Come for the wedding dinner of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you are invited."
Who are those who have been invited? There are 2
groups. The first to be invited were the Jews. The Jews were, and
still are, a favoured people of God. In the ministry of Jesus, He
went first to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" (Matt 10:6).
Paul said that "the gospel of Christ is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also the
Greek" (Rom 1:16). They were the first to be invited, but v3 says,
"they would no come." When they rejected the first, the Lord gave a
second in v4, "Again he sent forth other servants, saying Tell them
which are bidden, Behold I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my
fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the
marriage." All the work has been done, and everything has been
prepared. They do not need to do anything but just come and eat.
Surely, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men
count slackness, but is "longsuffering to usward, no willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet
3:9). The Lord sent His prophets, and they slew them one after the
other. Now the Lord came Himself and they crucified Him. This
parable was really directed against the Scribes and Pharisees. Which
group do you belong to: Are you like the Scribes and Pharisees who
despise the invitation of God. The Lord gave the invitation, "Come
and dine," and "they would not come, . . . but made light of it, and
went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise" (v5).
The Lord is calling you to believe on Him today.
He is inviting you to His salvation dinner. Jesus is the only way to
heaven. Jesus is the only way, truth, and life. There is only one
Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. If you reject
this invitation what will happen?
Those who reject God’s invitation will bring
upon themselves the wrath of God. Verse 7 says, "But when the king
heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and
destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city." Those who
reject this invitation to be saved will be punished for their sins.
There is a judgment coming. This judgment is called the Judgment of
the Great White Throne. If your name is not found in the Lamb’s book
of life, it will be cast into the lake of fire. In this place, (1)
the fire is not quenched, (2) the worm does not die, (3) and there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This torment will go one day
and night without end.
Since the Jews refused the invitation, the Lord
sent his servants to invite the Gentiles to the banquet. Jesus told
the Pharisees, "That the publications and harlots go into the
kingdom of God before you" (Matt 21:31). Verse 43 says, "Therefore I
say unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given
to the nation bringing forth fruits thereof." So Israel today is
temporarily set aside. According to Rom 11, Israel is still the
natural olive branch. We Gentiles are wild olive branches bring
grafted into the olive tree. There will come a time when all gentile
believers are gathered in that God will graft the original, natural
branches back to the olive tree, for all Israel shall be saved. This
will happen when Christ returns.
The Lord is coming back real soon. The wedding
dinner is about to begin. All must be punctual because the
bridegroom will be punctual to the dot. Singaporeans need to learn
to be punctual for wedding dinners. Latecomers will not be
entertained. You must book your seats. Your name must be in the book
of life. You must get your wedding garment—the bride cannot appear
without her robe of righteousness. Do you have this robe of the
righteousness of Christ? If you come dressed in the robe of your own
righteousness, you will be cast out (v13).
Friends, you are invited to this majestic
wedding dinner of the risen Lord and Saviour. I plead with you,
accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour today. "For many are
called, but few are chosen." The gospel is preached to many people,
but few respond to it. I pray you may not be among the many, but the
few—those have been called and chosen.
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