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The characters introduced are, a king, his son, servants, and guests. The parable
centres around a marriage feast. This parable contains the first reference to a marriage
feast in the N.T., and apart from this the word occurs but once more in Matthew, namely,
in 25: 10. It is the same word that comes in Rev. 19: 7, 9, and is connected by the
added word "supper" of the latter verse to the parallel parable of Luke 14: 16.
The king's son of course is Christ Himself, and the marriage feast is the marriage
supper of the Lamb (Rev. 19:). It will be seen that the servants of the king go out three
times, twice to the same people, and once, after the destruction of their city, into the
highways. Those to whom the servants went the first time are called, "them that were
bidden." The expression is almost a title, and is rendered, "the persons invited," by
Darby. The chief thought is that the servants did not give the original invitation, but that
it had been given already. They went out to invite them that had been invited. This
message met with refusal. Again the king sent the message of invitation, adding the
words:--
"Tell them that have been invited, behold, I have prepared my dinner, my bullocks and
the fatlings having been killed, and all things ready, come unto the marriage."
These added words are by no means accidental. These two invitations, together with
their differences, give us in parable form the ministries that occupy the period
commencing with John the Baptist and ending with the close of the Acts of the Apostles.
"Them that were bidden" are the people of Israel. Readers of these pages will not need
citations from the Scriptures to prove or to demonstrate this statement. John the Baptist,
the last of the prophets according to the Old Testament order, announces the good news,
"The kingdom of the heavens hath drawn nigh," and further is spoken of as "the friend of
the Bridegroom." The Lord Himself, the twelve, and the seventy continue this witness.
We know how sadly true the words of the parable are, "they would not come." The
second invitation commences with the Acts of the Apostles. There, Peter and the twelve,
and those associated ("them that heard Him," Heb. 2: 3, 4), went forth again with the
invitation, this time being able to add, "all things are ready."
The message of Matthew differs from that of the Acts in this particular. Matt. 10: for
instance shows us the servants going forth to proclaim the good news, but
Matt. 16: 21, 22 makes it clear that those who carried that invitation could not have said
"all things are ready," for not only was Peter ignorant of the fact that the Lord must
"suffer . . . . . and be killed and be raised again the third day," but he even urged the Lord
to abandon the idea. Peter's attitude in the Acts is very different. Every recorded address
that he gives has the suffering, the death and the resurrection of the Lord as its basis:--
"But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all His prophets,
that Christ should suffer, He hath so fulfilled, Repent ye therefore" (Acts 3: 18, 19).
The initial ministry, that of John the Baptist, was to "prepare the way of the Lord"
(Matt. 3: 3), "prepare" being the same word as "ready." It was also "to make ready for
the Lord a prepared people" (Luke 1: 17). Note, not to make everyone ready, but to make
ready a prepared people. In Rev. 19: 7 we read:--