Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Matthew 22:1 - 22:4
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The Parable of the Marriage Feast.
v. 1. And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
v. 2. The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
v. 3. and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding; and they would not come.
v. 4. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fat-lings are killed, and all things are ready; come unto the marriage.
A vivid description of the elaborate preparations for an Oriental wedding-feast, to point a moral in the matter of the kingdom of God. For Christ always had a definite purpose in telling His parables, in most cases to teach the proper qualification for becoming a member of His great kingdom. "Learn first of all that the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of Christ, our Lord, where the Word and faith are present. In this kingdom we have the life in hope and are, according to the Word and faith, pure from sins and free from death and hell, though we are still retarded by this old hull and lazy flesh. The hull is not yet torn away, the flesh is not yet removed; that is still to be done, then there will be for us nothing but life, righteousness, and salvation. " In its external form, in its appearance in this world, this kingdom is like unto a man that was a great king, a mighty ruler, who prepared a marriage-feast for his son. Such a wedding-festival was not an affair of an hour or two, but often lasted for days, Jdg_14:17. At the appointed time, servants were sent out to announce that fact to those that had received an invitation, probably the princes, the rich and powerful people of the kingdom. This second calling seems to agree exactly with Eastern custom, Est_6:14. The result, whether by common consent or by individual meanness, was a flat refusal. But the king was patient. He sent other servants with a more urgent message for the invited guests. They are given the very words to commend the feast, to stimulate desire for its offering. The attention of the invited guests should be called to the fact that the midday meal, with which the festivities began, was even now fully ready for them. The oxen and the fatted rams had been slaughtered and cooked, nothing of the usual delights of the table was missing. The wealth of the king had overlooked nothing in the endeavor to honor both himself and his guests.