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2025 Study of Matthew’s Gospel

THE PARABLE OF THE WEDDING BANQUET

Matthew 22:1-22

Key Verse: 22:1-2

1. Read verses 1-2. According to this parable, what is the kingdom of heaven like? Who do the king and the son represent? Why did God prepare the wedding banquet for his son (Rev 19:6 and 7)?
2. Read verses 3-7. Who do the invited guests and the king’s servants represent? What was their first response to the king’s invitation? How did the king react to the refusal, and what does this teach us about God (Deut 7:6-8)? How did the invited guests respond to the king’s second invitation, and what does this tell us about sinful man? What did the king do?
3. Read verses 8-10. How did the king fill the wedding hall? Who do these guests represent? What does the king’s decision tell us about God’s salvation work (Rom 11:11)? What does this reveal about God's grace and the nature of the church?
4. Read verses 11-14. What do wedding clothes symbolize (Rev 3:5; Rom 13:14; Isa 61:10)? Who does the man without wedding clothes represent? What happened to the man without wedding clothes? How can we prepare wedding clothes for the heavenly banquet? What does verse 14 mean?
5. Read verses 15-22. How did the Pharisees and Herodians try to trap Jesus? How did Jesus answer? What does this teach us about our responsibility to our nation and God? Think about responsibility and commitment as a dual citizen of this world and the kingdom of heaven.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Matthew 22:1-22

Key Verse: 22:1,2 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.

What is the most memorable moment in your life? You may have numerous, precious and meaningful moments in your life, such as the birth of your child or your grandchild, starting a new job, moving into a new family home, or a graduation. But I believe the best moment for many of you would be your wedding. Do you remember the day when you got married? For me, I got married just 5 days after arriving to New York City. I wasn’t prepared well for the wedding. I had to borrow a tuxedo from a shepherd at Columbia Fellowship. But thankfully, my wife prepared everything well and we had a great wedding ceremony in the beautiful St Paul’s Chapel on the Columbia University campus. Today’s passage is about a parable of the wedding banquet. May God give us spiritual wisdom to understand this parable from Jesus.

Part I: Many are invited, but few are chosen

Let’s read verses 1 and 2: Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. After speaking two parables to the chief priests and the Pharisees in the previous chapter, Jesus told them another parable, which is the parable of the wedding banquet. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son” There are many weddings happening here and there every day, but a royal wedding is a special one. The whole country celebrates the wedding of the royal family. If you are old enough, you would remember the wedding between Prince Charles and Diana Spencer in 1981, which was called the wedding of the century. You may also remember the wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton in 2011. Many famous and important guests including politicians and celebrities were invited to these weddings, and I believe all of them felt extremely honored to attend those royal weddings.

In Jesus’ parable, the wedding for the king’s son represents the wedding of God’s son, Jesus to his bride, the church. Revelation 19:6 and 7 state, “Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready”. The wedding between Jesus and the church will be the greatest and the most glorious wedding for all sinners.

The king wanted to invite many precious guests to his son’s wedding banquet, so he sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come. What was the response from the guests who were invited by the king? Surprisingly, they refused to come. How could you refuse the king’s invitation to his son’s wedding banquet? Was it because the wedding banquet was scheduled for Monday morning when everyone was busy. No, I don’t think so. The king must have been disappointed and puzzled by this situation. The king could have considered their rejection rebellion and could have punished them immediately, but he was patient with them because he deeply loved them. Then what did the king do after their refusal?

Let’s look at verse 4: “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet. The king sent out more servants and advertised delicious food prepared for the banquet dinner to those who had been invited. The king’s oxen and fattened cattle had been butchered, and everything was ready. Who could resist this invitation? So, did they change their mind and come to the wedding banquet?

Let’s read verse 5: “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business”. The people were still not interested in the wedding banquet, and they were busy with their own business. How sad and miserable would you feel if this happened to you? But this was not just a made-up story in Jesus’ parable. A similar event happened to Jesus when he was born. In Matthew chapter 2, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem to find and worship the newborn king of the Jews. When King Herod and others in Jerusalem heard this, they were disturbed, which means that people in Jerusalem were upset and unhappy about the birth of Jesus, instead of celebrating it. Jesus who is our savior king was ignored and despised by sinners, from the time of his birth into this world. We may be busy with many things every day. We may have important exams or jobs with approaching deadlines. I also see many busy people walking around who are always looking at their phones even while crossing the street. However, nothing is more important than Jesus. When we are invited and called by God, we must prioritize his invitation and calling over everything.

Let’s look at verse 6: “The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them”. In Jesus’ parable, people not only refused the king’s invitation but also mistreated and killed his servants. Here, the king’s servants represent the prophets sent by God. Many prophets including Jeremiah, Elijah, and Zechariah were persecuted and even killed by the Israelites. Jesus said in Matthew 23:37, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

How do you feel when you are rejected by others? You may have experienced various rejections by various people in various situations. For example, when you tried to invite someone to Bible study or worship service, I believe you may have experienced numerous rejections. Any rejection hurts, but when you are rejected by someone whom you really love and care about, it is especially painful. In Jesus’ parable, the king represents God and those people invited to the wedding banquet represent the Israelites. The Israelites were specially chosen by God. Deuteronomy 7:6-8 state, “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession. The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” God loved and took care of his people, the Israelites as their God and shepherd, but they failed to love God and disobeyed him.

Then how did the king respond to these people who rejected the king’s invitation and mistreated and killed his servants? Let’s read verse 7 together: The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. This was the tragic consequence of their rejection and rebellion against the king. We must remember our God is merciful and patient, but he is also our righteous judge. Our God will punish those who disobey him and commit sins. Our God has power to save and destroy anyone in this world. Therefore, we must listen to God carefully and obey his words wholeheartedly. In Deuteronomy 11:26-28, God said to the Israelites, “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.” There will be God’s blessing when we love and obey our God, but there will be God’s curse and judgement when we don’t love God and disobey him. The Israelites were once blessed by God as a chosen people. But when they disobeyed God and worshiped their own idols, they were punished by God as we can learn from the history. However, this doesn’t mean God’s failure. In Jesus’ parable, although no one responded to the king’s invitation, the king did not cancel his son’s wedding banquet. Let’s read verses 8 to 10: Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

The king sent out his servants to invite people on the streets. These people were not on the original list of guests for the wedding banquet, but the blessing came to them because those proud people rejected the king’s invitation. The people on the street represent the Gentiles. The Israelites were spiritually proud and stubborn, so they refused to accept Jesus as their Messiah. This opened the door for God’s blessing and salvation to the Gentiles. In Romans 11:11, Apostle Paul said, “Because of the transgression of the Israelites, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious”.

Those people on the street gladly accepted the king’s invitation to the wedding banquet, unlike the people who were originally invited. Although we don’t deserve to be saved, we are invited by God and saved by grace through our faith in Jesus Christ. Now the king’s wedding banquet for his son was blessed with many guests, but the king found a problem. Look at verses 11 to 14. When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man who was not wearing wedding clothes. When we attend a wedding, we try to wear the best clothes to honor and respect the bride and bridegroom, but this man was wearing something else, perhaps shorts and sandals. Given that wedding clothes were provided by the host for those who did not own the clothes, it was intentional and disrespectful to wear some other clothes. The king asked him, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants to tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Although all kinds of people on the street were invited to the wedding banquet regardless of their backgrounds and past, they were required to wear wedding clothes. Verse 14 says, “For many are invited, but few are chosen”. Not all who are invited by God can enter and dwell in the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who truly repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their savior are allowed to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Revelation 3:5 states, “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels”. The wedding clothes represents Jesus Christ. Only when we clothe ourselves with Jesus Christ who shed his blood and died on the cross, we can receive God’s righteousness and be justified to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. It is a great blessing that we, the Gentiles, are invited and chosen by God, but we must stay humble, so that we don’t make the same mistakes that the Israelites had made. Apostle Paul warned the Gentiles in Romans 11, “Do not be arrogant, but tremble. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either.” God wants to invite and save as many people as possible because he loves the world. John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.

I still remember the day when I was invited to a Bible study by my Bible teacher. It was a spring day when I was a freshman at college. I was a little sick because I got a cold and I was walking on the campus. When I was invited to a Bible study, I was busy, so I told my Bible teacher that I would stop by the church later. It was surprising that I didn’t reject the invitation given that I had been against Christian churches for many years, and I never liked talking to random strangers on the street. Even now, I try to avoid talking to any strangers who approach me on the street. But I believe the Holy Spirit moved my heart on that day. A few weeks later, I went to the UBF center together with my friend who was also invited by another Bible teacher, but I was afraid of going into the building, so I let my friend enter the building first, and stood outside for about a half hour. Then I finally decided to walk into the building, but I couldn’t find my Bible teacher. However, others in the UBF center welcomed me and talked to me in a very friendly way. Some days later, I was able to meet my Bible teacher who invited me and started Bible study. My Bible teacher’s invitation to Bible study and my decision to accept the invitation changed my life and led me to meet Jesus as my savior and good shepherd. May God bless us and help us invite many students at Queens College, QCC, St John’s University, Stony Brook, NYU, and Columbia University to Bible studies, so that many more people may be saved through Jesus Christ.

Part II: Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.

Look at verse 15: “Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words”. It seems that the Pharisees didn’t like Jesus’ parables, so they planned to trap Jesus in his words. After serious brainstorming and asking AI how to trap Jesus in his words, they finally got a good idea to trap Jesus, so they sent their disciples to Jesus along with the Herodians. Although the Pharisees and the Herodians didn’t agree with each other in their political view, they joined forces to attack Jesus. When they came to Jesus, they started with some flattering words, “Teacher, we know that you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by others, because you pay no attention to who they are. Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not?”

This was indeed a tricky question that could make him easily fall into a trap. If Jesus said, “No, don’t pay the imperial tax to Caesar”, it could be interpreted that Jesus was encouraging people to rebel against the Roman Empire, and he could be punished by the law of Roman Empire. However, if Jesus said, “Yes, you have to pay the imperial tax to Caesar”, he would offend many Jews who wanted to pay taxes only to God and he could be misunderstood as a Roman collaborator. But Jesus was much smarter than all those Pharisees and Herodians, and knew their evil intent, and said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” They replied, “Caesar’s,” Then Jesus said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

The denarius was a coin used as tax money at the time. It was made of silver and featured an image of the emperor. The denarius belonged to Caesar who ruled over the Romans Empire including Judea. Here, Jesus pointed out that we Christians belong to two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world and the Kingdom of Heaven. Many of us have the citizenship of United States, while others have the citizenship of South Korea, India, and many others. As a good and responsible Christian, we must respect the law and systems of this country. Romans 13:6 and 7 state, “This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor”. We have mandatory legal obligations and voluntary civic responsibilities as citizens. We must respect and follow all federal, state, and local laws and should not commit crimes. We are required to pay federal, state, and local taxes and sometimes serve on a jury.

In addition to the citizenship of this world, we Christians have another citizenship of the Kingdom of Heaven. Philippians 3:20 states, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ”. We are the citizen of the heavenly kingdom where our king is Jesus Christ. Therefore, we must give God what is God’s. In fact, everything on the earth and in the universe is owned by God because he created everything, including heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”. Our life and everything that we have came from God. Therefore, we must be fully devoted to God and give our praise and worship to God. We should give offerings to God and serve him wholeheartedly as citizens of heaven.

In summary, we sinners are invited by God to the wedding between Jesus and the church and we must accept his invitation with a thankful and willing heart. I pray that we may all wear the wedding clothes, Jesus Christ during the wedding banquet, so that we may be finally chosen by God through our faith in Jesus and live an eternal life in his kingdom with our king, Jesus.