In the previous blog, we saw that the king sends out his slaves to summon those who had already been invited to the wedding. Those summoned represent Israel. The Kingdom had been promised to them, and when the King arrived, the call went out to receive Him. Yet their reaction is briefly summarized: “they would not come.”
However, the call does not end there. The king sends out slaves again. Everything is ready, and the invitees are summoned once more.
Other slaves
Matthew 22 (based on ISA)
4 Again he sent other slaves, and he said: Tell those who were invited: Behold, I have prepared my midday meal; my oxen and the fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding.
It is explicitly stated that the king sends slaves again, and this time they are other slaves. In the previous parable — that of the wicked tenants — we saw a similar pattern. The owner sent his slaves to the farmers, but they were mistreated and killed. Subsequently, he sent other slaves again — even more than the first group — but the same thing happened to them (Matt. 21:35–36).
prophets, John the Baptist, and apostles
For centuries, God had sent His prophets to Israel. But with the arrival of John the Baptist and Jesus, the message goes out that the Kingdom has drawn near. Later, the apostles are sent out as well. They, too, proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom to Israel. Thus, the call continues to be heard.
Even after the death and resurrection of Christ, Israel is still called to reflect and turn back. Shortly after Pentecost, Peter says to his fellow countrymen:
Acts 3 (based on ISA)
19 Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
20 and that He may send the One appointed for you beforehand, Christ Jesus,
21 whom heaven must receive until the times of the restoration of all things, of which God spoke through the mouth of His holy prophets from of old.
The Messiah had been rejected and crucified by the people, yet even then, the door remained open. Israel was once again called upon to reflect and turn back. Had the people heeded the call, God would have sent the Messiah from heaven, and the foretold times of restoration would have begun.
That makes the King’s words all the more remarkable:
“…everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”
Everything necessary has been prepared. The invited guests need only heed the call and come.
they paid no heed
Matthew 22 (based on ISA)
5 But they paid no heed and went awa — one to his field, another to his merchandise.
The first time, we read that they did not want to come. Now the call goes out again, but they pay no heed. They simply go on with their own affairs. One goes to his field, and another to his merchandise.
It shows how little value they attached to the king’s invitation. Everything was ready, but other matters claimed their attention. The invitation to the wedding was ignored.
This aligns with what we saw earlier in the parable of the two sons. The religious leaders had not believed John the Baptist, whereas tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him. Even when they saw that, they did not subsequently repent and believe him (Matt. 21:32). The call had gone out and the evidence was right before their eyes, yet they paid no heed to it.
the slaves killed
However, not everyone stops at indifference.
6 And the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.
Some ignore the messengers; others turn against them. We saw this in the previous parable as well. The tenant farmers beat the owner’s slaves, killed them, and stoned them (21:35). The parables run almost parallel on this point.
In Acts 7, Stephen points to this very pattern when addressing the leaders of Israel:
Acts 7 (based on ISA)
51 You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! Just as your fathers did, so do you!
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become the betrayers and murderers.
Stephen directly connects the past with his own time. Their fathers had persecuted the prophets who announced the coming of Christ. Subsequently, they had killed Christ Himself. And those who were sent to them afterwards were also persecuted. Stephen experienced this firsthand: after speaking, he was cast out of the city and stoned.
Jesus Himself also summarizes this history shortly thereafter:
Matthew 23 (based on ISA)
37 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings; but you were not willing.
38 Behold, your house is left to you, desolate.
Once again, we find the same words here as at the beginning of our parable: you were not willing. God sent His messengers, but they were rejected and even killed.
their city
Judgment follows:
Matthew 22 (based on ISA)
7 And the king became angry, and he sent his armies, and he destroyed those murderers, and he set their city on fire.
The king becomes angry because of what was done to his servants. He sends his armies, destroys the murderers, and sets their city on fire. It is obvious which city is meant. Jesus speaks these words in Jerusalem to the leaders of the people. A chapter later, He says to Jerusalem: “your house is left to you, desolate” (23:38).
And when the disciples subsequently point out the temple buildings to Him, He says:
“Not one stone shall be left here upon another that shall not be thrown down” (Matt. 24:2).
Jerusalem Destroyed
A few decades later, in the year 70, Jerusalem was destroyed by Roman armies, and the temple, too, went up in flames. Strikingly, the king in the parable refers to the armies carrying this out as his armies. They were Roman armies, yet in the parable, they serve as the instrument through which the king’s judgment is executed. Thus, the destruction of Jerusalem was a judgment upon the rejection of the Messiah and of those whom God had sent to the people.
We had already seen this judgment foretold in the previous parable. When Jesus asked what the owner would do to the wicked tenants, the answer was that he would bring those wretches to a wretched end and lease the vineyard to other tenants (21:40–41). Jesus then states that the Kingdom will be taken away from them and given to another nation (21:43).
The parable of the royal wedding continues along these same lines. Those originally invited have refused, the messengers have been rejected, and their city faces judgment.
Yet the wedding goes ahead. The refusal of the invited guests does not thwart God’s purpose. The king then says:
“The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come” (:8).
Consequently, the servants are sent elsewhere. They are to go to the street corners and invite everyone they find there. The original invitees would not come, but the wedding hall will be filled nonetheless.