Matthew 22:1-14
Reflect
In this passage, Jesus uses a story to teach what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He describes it as a wedding banquet a king holds for his son. When his invited guests refuse to show up for the party, he extends the invitation to anyone he can find who is willing to come. As the banquet is underway, the king notices a man who is not wearing wedding clothes and throws him out. At first glance it seems unfair to expect guests you have invited from the street to be properly dressed for such an occasion. But if I exchange my cultural lens for a Biblical one, I can see more clearly what is going on here. In that time period, if you were invited to a wedding banquet it was known that the king would provide a garment for each guest. The guest in this story didn’t forget to dress appropriately or get caught off guard, he simply didn’t receive the garment offered to him by the king. When the king invited him to the banquet he didn’t expect the guest to provide his own wedding garment. He only expected the guest to receive what he was given. Our garment to receive is the righteousness of Christ. We don’t have to keep our street clothes on or work hard to earn favour from the King. He has given us a garment to wear to the feast.
Erin Gibbard
Pray
- Pray that God’s Spirit would work powerfully and effectively in all the various activities taking place on our church calendar this weekend.
- Pray for our Young Adults & Worship Arts Pastor, Daunavan Buyer, his family and his interns, Stephen Alksne, Julia Brown, Jessica Hancock, and Grant Mix.
- Pray for our Congregational Life Pastor, Christine Okken and her family.