A Certain King Made a Marriage Feast (Jelinski wedding)

Opening Prayer and the Radical Nature of Marriage

0:00 Let us all pray. Our Father, we come into your presence in the name of Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. And we do so not as form or ritual or the mere mouthing of religious words, but we come to you because you are the living and the true God, the God who does hear and answer the prayers of his children. And we come thanking you for this happy occasion that brings us together. We thank you for the confidence we have that you have ordained marriage for the good of man, the creature, and for your glory. And we come pleading that your own blessing would rest upon this marriage ceremony today. We pray particularly for Beth and for Chet, that this may be a happy as well as a sad one.

1:01 We ask you to give us a solemn hour to them as they exchange vows that will be spoken not only to one another, but into the ears of the very God before whom they must stand in the last day. Give to us all then a sense of solemn joy as we witness their vows, as we share this hour with them. And above all, may your presence be known and felt amongst us. We ask through Jesus Christ our Lord.

1:31 Amen.

2:18 It is my joy to comply with that request. And I would direct your attention for a few moments this afternoon to one of the many passages in the Word of God which set forth various aspects of this blessed relationship that we call marriage. Because marriage is so radical a relationship, and it is just that, a man leaves father and mother, leaves to his wife. A woman leaves.

2:48 Her father and mother leaves to her husband. And the scripture says that they enter into a relationship so deep, so pervasively permanent, that our Lord Jesus Christ himself said, Those whom God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. And marriages are a part of every culture, whether you go down into the bush in the interior of the Amazon, or over into the stony...

3:19 ...aged tribes of West Irian, formerly called New Guinea, or you go to what we would call a highly cultured and civilized place of the earth, you will find that though there are differing marriage customs and differing ceremonies surrounding the matter of marriage, that in every culture, men and women commit themselves to this relationship.

3:45 And it's right and proper that they should do so, because marriage is not some kind of an accidental relationship that just intruded itself in the evolutionary process over the passing of millions of years. The scriptures make claim that God himself instituted this relationship. And as long as man is man, there will be that reaching out to find fulfillment in the relationship of marriage. And so in every culture, there are marriage customs.

The Parable of the Wedding Feast: A Royal Provision

4:16 And this was true of the Jewish. This was true of the Jewish culture, of the culture in which our Lord Jesus Christ lived. And so our Lord picked up some of those customs of Eastern marriages and used them as teaching models to convey wonderful truths of a higher concern. And I want to read one such parable from the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ.

4:39 In the 22nd chapter of Matthew's Gospel, we read these words. And Jesus answered and spoke again in parables. And he said unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven, that is, the realm of God's relationship to men through Jesus Christ, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king who made a marriage feast for his son. And he sent forth his servants to call them that were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come.

5:10 Again he sent forth our servants, saying, Tell those who were previously invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast. But they made light of it, and went their own ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.

5:34 But the rest lay hold on his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. But the king was angry, and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned them, and they were killed. Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready. But they that were previously invited were not worthy.

5:55 Go therefore into the party of the highways, and as many as ye shall find, invite them to the marriage feast. And those servants did go out, and they gathered together all as many as they could find, and both bad and good, and the wedding was filled with guests. But when the king came in, him to behold the guest, he saw there a man who did not have on a wedding garment. And he said unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?

6:28 And the man was speechless. And the king said to his servants, Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness. There shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth, for many are called, but few chosen. Now, this interesting parable or story from the lips of our Lord Jesus sets forth some very wonderful truths under the figure of this great marriage feast spread by a king in honor of his own son who was being married.

7:03 And there are a few thoughts that I would underscore from this parable in your hearing this afternoon. The first one is this, that this was a royal provision. This passage says that a certain king made a marriage feast for his son. Now, because he was a king, he had at his disposal the entire wealth of the kingdom.

7:24 This was no little snack kind of a reception that we often have. Here was a king who could say, My oxen were. I mean, this wasn't just a choice piece of beef. This was the whole thing, cut up, and broiled, and baked, and barbecued, and all of the rest.

7:44 More than one ox. They killed more than one entire ox and my fat ones. That is, there was mutton, there were ribs of lamb, and all of the rest. Here was a royal provision that was marked by bounty and lavishness.

7:59 You see, when the feast was spread, the king did not send some people out to try to raffle off some tickets. He didn't send some people out to try to see if they'd come for $5 or $10 a head, which would have been a bargain in terms of the length. He didn't send courses that were provided. This was a royal provision that was marked by not only its bounty, but by its graciousness.

8:22 You see, the king was under no obligation to make so lavish a feast, and then to make attendance at that feast free. But it was locked up in the largeness of the king's heart to make so lavish a feast, and then to make that feast free to all who would have held themselves up. Now, Jesus said, the kingdom of heaven is like this. Now, what was he referring to?

8:50 Well, it is the simple but wonderful truth that in this king and the bountiful feast provided for all those in his kingdom is a wonderful picture of what God has done in the person and work of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. In other words, this is a picture of what we might call the gospel of the kingdom of heaven. You see, the book of Acts speaks about the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, and you can read it in this chapter. It tells us that the king was going to make a big, big feast.

The Bad News of Sin and the Good News of God's Lavish Feast

9:17 We say that the kingdom of heaven is going to be a gospel feast. This Bible that I hold in my hands is a book that contains some very sad news. It tells us that every one of us, men, women, boys, and girls, are not what we once were. In our first father and mother, Adam, we were perfect.

9:33 There was no sin. There was no rebellion to God. There was no pride. There were none of those things that are dishonorable to God as well as ruinous.

9:40 And there was no pride in it. No pride. to us. But this Bible tells us that sin entered the human race and every single one of us from our conception in our mind's view are sinners. King David, that great man of God said, behold, I was shaken in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me. Not referring to the act of sexual intercourse by which conception occurred. God says that that relationship is sanctified and holy. But David is saying, when I was conceived in my mother's womb, that which was conceived was a sinner. And our Lord Jesus Christ himself said that. He said, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. For from within out of man's heart perceived. And then he missed all the sins that in our day people say are the result of social tensions and bad environments. No. Jeremiah, the old prophet, understood

10:41 it. When he said, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately weak. Well, you see, that's bad news. That all of us, without exception, are sinners under the wrath of God, estranged and alienated from God. But the good news is that the God who was not obligated to do a thing for us, that God has prepared a lavish feast. He has provided everything that we need in order to be right with God. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need.

11:13 And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need.

11:15 And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need.

11:17 And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need. And that's what we need.

11:19 in Jesus Christ a wonderful, a lavish feast of the forgiveness of sins, pardon for all our iniquities, acceptance into the fellowship and friendship of God, the promise of his presence now and of his glorious presence in the world to come. Now when we read the scriptures and do something more than treat the Bible like some kind of a magic charm that sits on a stand in the house, blow the dust off and the priest or the rabbi or the preacher is coming, if we take the Bible seriously enough to read it, we find that the Bible speaks again and again of forgiveness of sin, pardon for our iniquities, being justified, that is accepted as righteous in God's sight. It uses the terms redemption, sanctification and all those terms are justified. There are just different courses in this wonderful feast of good things that God has prepared for guilty, needy sinners. That's why John could say God so loved the world that he gave his already begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting

12:37 life. We read this parable and say, my, what a gracious king, that he should provide not just a little snack, not just a minimal snack, but a little snack. And we read this parable again, that he should provide a lavish feast and then freely offer that feast to all. But my friends, there's something more amazing than that. Almighty God against whom you have sinned and I have sinned, whose wrath we deserve, that God has sent his only begotten son to become a man, to live on this earth and then to go to that awful place called the cross and there to receive, not just the abuse of men, but the good things of the world, the good things of the world, the good things of the world. And it's so good that God is But worse than that, the frown of his own father until God the Father poured his wrath upon his son. And if you're familiar with the gospel records, you'll remember that Jesus cried, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

13:33 Well, you see, the Father was spreading the gospel feast. And if he was to put that wonderful course of forgiveness on the table, it had to be forgiveness that was justly provided. God did not make it sin. He did not simply turn, as it were, a blind eye to our sin.

The Repeated Invitation and Royal Command of the Gospel

13:52 God had to punish our sin. And in his son, he punished our sin that he might spread the table with forgiveness and say, forgiveness is yours because my sin. Our son died for sin. But then in the second place, notice in this parable, not only the royal provision, but the repeated invitation. You see, the king could have provided a feast and then told the servants, throw up the windows, let the smell of that barbecued beef float around the town.

14:21 And if anyone comes to the door and is sort of drooling and they've got hunger pains and makes an inquiry, can I come in? And tell them, yeah, sure, anybody's welcome. Now, that would have been fine. But he didn't do that.

14:32 Remember in the parable? Remember what he did? The first thing he did, he said, send the servants out to those who had a previous invitation and tell them everything's ready, come. That had reference to the Jewish nation who had the prophets who preached to them.

14:47 But remember what happened? They ignored it. He said, send out the servants again. Tell them, come, the feast is ready. Well, then they turned their back on it and even abused the messengers.

14:57 But the king was so determined to have people in his marriage feast, he said, look, go on out into places where... He wouldn't think there'd be people to come. Go into the highways and hedges, tell them to come. And it says, the servants went out again. Now, what is this? This repeated invitation of the servants, come to the feast.

15:17 Well, it's a wonderful picture of what God is pleased to do for us. You see, God has not only sent his son to die for sins, raised him from the dead and seated him in his right hand, and in Christ spread this feast peace, of forgiveness and peace and pardon and acceptance with God, he has commissioned his servants to go out and tell everyone, come to the feast. He originally commissioned the apostles and said, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. And now that task is the task of the church and for servants of Christ who claim no special commission from heaven but who simply stand in the name of Christ and tell others the feast is ready, come to the gospel feast for forgiveness and pardon and eternal life and everything you could ever need for time and for eternity. And you see, the thing that is so moving with this parable is that that invitation was repeated again, again and again. And so today, my great joy on this occasion of the feast of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the feast of the Lord Jesus Christ, of Beth and Chet's wedding, is to say that the God who has sent his Son this very day invites you to come and to embrace the salvation that is in Jesus Christ.

16:44 But may I remind you that in this parable it was a king inviting his subjects. Now when a king speaks to his subjects, they are going to obey his what? It's treason. You see, the king, though gracious, and lavish in his provision, did not cease to be a king when he sent the servants out, bidden them to come.

17:08 You see, it was a royal provision, but it was a royal commandment. And my friend, I would not be true to your soul if I said, would you just please, if you were disposed to do so, give some consideration to the gospel? No. I will say to you that the God of heaven who made you, the God of heaven who sent his Son to die for sinners, that God commands you to come to his Son.

17:35 That God commands you to take seriously this gospel feast of forgiveness and pardon and peace with God. This God is concerned that you take that invitation seriously. And that leads us very naturally in the third place to notice not only the royal provision, the repeated invitation, but the differing responses that they gave. Isn't that great?

Differing Responses and the Royal Reckoning

18:00 It says in this passage that some of them made like it. They said, ah, yeah, the king's made a big feast, big deal. So what? That's his feast.

18:08 That's his gift. Fine, I've got business to do. So the guy goes off to his shop. That's what Jesus said.

18:13 He went off to his merchandise. Another one, he just says, ah, feast, shmeet, so what? He made like it. He mocked it.

18:22 You know what God did to that? The passage says the king was angry. And he sent his servants and said, take those murderers that have abused my servants and destroy them. Destroy them and destroy their city.

18:35 The same king that provided the feast destroyed those that refused the invitation.

18:43 My friend, this is exactly the truth that the Bible teaches, that if you will not heed the gospel invitation to come to Jesus Christ, to leave your sins, to get out of the God business, running that life that isn't yours, it's God's by right creation, thinking your own thoughts and doing your own thing, if you will not relinquish all of that and give yourself to Jesus Christ to be his for time and eternity, if you make light of the gospel invitation to come and give yourself to Jesus Christ and partake of all these dainties, these bounties in Christ, Almighty God will have a day of reckoning with you as he did with his people.

The Wedding Garment: Christ's Righteousness as the Only Way

19:28 And that's a frightening thing. Instead of sitting in a feast in joy, they were cut off by the anger of the king. You say, this is my final remark, what about that fellow who didn't have a wedding garment? That really wasn't fair, was it?

19:43 It says the king came in and he looked at the man who had the wedding garment and said, friend, how come no wedding garment? And it says the man is speechless. Well, you've got to understand a little bit of oriental custom. If you provided a feast such as the king provided, you also had a royal tailor who would make up these garments that would be made out of the finest of the royal cloth and would be available to the king.

20:06 And they were available for every single person who came to the wedding feast. So rich and poor alike put on the same kind of a garment so poor people didn't feel embarrassed and the rich people who might struggle, you know, with their sequins gowns and all their finery, they couldn't go around struggling and saying, well, I'm a little better than this one. Everyone was leveled by that garment that was provided out of the king's tailor's room. So it was inexcusable to be sitting at a table eating the feast without a garment because the king who provided the feast also provided the garment.

20:40 That's why when the king said, friend, how come no garment? He was speechless. You see, he couldn't say, well, I'm sorry, king, you know, things were kind of tight this week and I went shopping for special wedding suits and couldn't afford one. Well, it would have been unreasonable for the king then to have punished him.

20:56 But he punished him because he treated with disdain the standard of sitting at the king's table. And that's a beautiful picture of how God deals. There's only one way that we can ever sit at God's banquet table and that's to be clothed with the garment of Christ's righteousness. You see, God doesn't look at us and say, well, look, that person's got ten pounds of good and three pounds of evil.

21:21 I think I'll let them in. And that person there's got just nine pounds of evil and no, no, no, no. There's a place where every one of us is absolutely level and that's before the cross of Jesus Christ. We must stand with God.

21:36 We must stand before that cross acknowledging that we are sinners, that we have nothing to commend ourselves to God and that we desire to be clothed with the covering for our sins that comes from the hand of God himself.

21:52 And that's the only way we can ever appear before God. And that's why this man is ashamed and then he's cast out of the warmth and love and light of the banquet house into outer darkness. And so will be if we refuse the offer of mercy in God's dear sight. So we have this ancient wedding custom of an Easter wedding, this royal provision made by the king, the repeated invitation that goes out, but then in these varying responses there is a royal reckoning and almighty God will deal with us as the king dealt with them.

Final Exhortation: What Will You Do with God's Provision?

22:32 I ask you as you sit here today, as we've meditated upon this passage for a few moments, what have you done with God's provision in Jesus Christ? All the things he's provided in you some, to which he invites you to partake by repentance and faith that is turning from your sin and living your own life and doing your own thing and embracing Jesus Christ and giving yourself up to love him, to serve him and to trust him. My friend, listen. An hour has come when nothing will matter.

23:08 But what you did with that royal feast of gospel privilege, and what a joy it is this day to repeat that invitation, come to the marriage feast. That doesn't mean join this church, join that church, partake of this sacrament. No, no, no. It means to have deals with Jesus Christ, to have heart deals with him, and then remember that the king himself will appoint a day in which he'll deal with us in terms of how, how we have embraced or refused the invitation to that gospel feast.

23:44 May God use the occasion of this wedding to fill our minds with these thoughts of these greater concerns of our relationship to him. Let us pray. Our Father, we do ask that you would graciously write upon our hearts these words that we have considered from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ and continue with us now as we pray. As before our eyes and into our ears will come the expressions of the commitment that Chet and Beth are to make to one another, hear our prayer and be with us, we plead in Jesus' name.

24:28 Amen. Amen.