¹ And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying,
² "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son,
³ and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come.
⁴ Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.'
⁵ But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business,
⁶ while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.
⁷ The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
⁸ Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy.
⁹ Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.'
¹⁰ And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.
¹¹ "But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment;
¹² and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless.
¹³ Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.'
¹⁴ For many are called, but few are chosen."

• vv.1-2 indicate God is the King, Jesus is the prince and the servants are the apostles. The Old Testament portrays the final salvation in the image of a banquet ( Is 25:6).
• (v.3) The request were first sent out to the Jews. After their refusal, the invitation is extended to everybody.
• (v.4) "A second time" implies that God is always waiting for us to participate in his salvation. We always have a second chance.
• (v.5) The word "ready" was mentioned three times. This implies God's patience and love for us.
• (v.11) There is a reference regarding the Last Judgment day.
• (v.13) We see God's power and our need to repent. To join Him at his after life banquet, we need to live according to the Gospel.

God invites each of us to participate in His salvation program. To respond to this invitation, we have to live according to His will.

1. Imagine myself participating the wedding banquet. What do I observe around me? What is my attitude? What are other people's attitudes?
2. Remember the last time I receive God's call. How did I respond?
3. What do I concern most in my life? My job? My financial condition? My career? My spiritual life?
4. What do you think about God's compassionate love and His perseverance to receive us?
5. How do I plan my life to live in serving God and others?

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A synthesis by the Vietnamese Christian Life (Dong Hanh) Community