Jesus used parables, not to explain what he was trying to say, but to confuse people even more! (Matt 13:9-17). In doing so, he was fulfilling prophecy about his Messiah-ship, (Isaiah 6:9, Ezek 12:2, 17:1-2, Ps 78:1-2). Only his disciples got to hear the real meaning behind the story because they already believed in him.
Matt 22:1-14 is that familiar parable of the Wedding Banquet.
In this parable, the subject is the Kingdom. It has nothing to do with a bride even though Jesus is comparing a wedding to the kingdom. Remember, the kingdom is something that was very familiar to Israel, after all, they’d been waiting for this promise for centuries.
There are a number of prominent players here. We have a king, (God) his son, (Jesus) servants, (the prophets) who went forth calling other servants, (Israel), a remnant (believers and unbelievers on the scene in Jesus’ day), murders (the unbelievers who killed the King’s son), an army (future wrath against God’s enemies), and finally good and bad guests that found their way into the feast (both believers and unbelievers who are left at the end of the tribulation before entering into the Millennial Reign of Christ).
The entire parable illustrates the timeline of the rise and fall of Israel. How God gave the promise of a kingdom to Israel, spoke to them through his prophets, and then through his Son. Israel would not listen, rejected the message continually throughout their history, and we all know eventually killed Jesus. God gave them an extension of mercy after Jesus rose from the dead (this is the parable of the fig tree) and sent the prophet Stephen as a last-ditch effort for Israel to repent and believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They rejected and killed him as well.
Something very important is obscure in our text and often neglected. Can you spot it? It's that colon in vs. 7. “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
That colon represents a pause in the kingdom program, where God’s armies were going to destroy all those murderers and burn up the city…but that hadn’t happen yet. Israel was spared that destruction. Why?
Because, there was a secret hid in God since the beginning of the world, (Rom 16:25) where the revelation of the mystery (the dispensation of grace) would have been preached had Jesus not kept it a secret! That tiny, little colon is marked by over 2,000 years of grace!
But a pause is a pause is a pause. God will eventually pour out his wrath on his enemies at the end of the tribulation period and the earth will be burned up, destroying everything, making way for a new heaven and new earth hosting the righteous King ruling with Israel in the promised kingdom.
We’ll look at another parable on the kingdom next time. I hope you’re learning from this blog. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to message me!
