Jesus said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For MANY ARE CALLED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.” (Matthew 22:8-14)
The time has come, in Jesus’ parable, to celebrate the wedding of the king’s son (Matthew 22:1–7). The oxen and calves have been slaughtered. The feast is prepared. The king, though, has no guests. The original guests he invited to the wedding refused to come to the point of murdering the king’s messengers. The king now describes those originally invited guests as “unworthy.” This is meant as a parallel to how Israel’s leaders rejected God’s prophets and were subject to judgment.
Religious Jews of that era understood the idea of God drawing clear distinctions around what could be in His presence. Under the Old Testament law, that even extended to excluding certain people from aspects of worship. This included those who disobeyed God’s law but also meant those with various health issues. Some in the Jewish ruling class prided themselves on their spiritual worthiness before God and their ability to keep the law and extra rules more than others.
Especially in context with the prior parables (Matthew 21:28, 33), it’s becoming clear that Jesus meant to represent Israel’s religious leaders with the guests who refused to come to the king’s feast. Those who listen must have been shocked by the claim made in this verse. The king calls those very people “unworthy,“ with their favored status revoked due to their own refusal TO HONOR THE KING’S SON.
Your Personal Pastor -Bill Stockham