Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-02-05
SCHOOL LESSON |
THE MARRIAGE FEAST.
Matthew, 22.1-14.
Golden TeXt-"Go out into the
highways and hedges and con-
strain them to come in. Luke,
1923.

last public address would be COM
to the popular rabbi for the last time !
During the few days that remain be- |
fore the plot to put Him to death
shall be carried out Jesus Will give
Himself wholly to His apostles ana
intimate IritnuS. tie knew tina the
corrupt bargain had been maze be
tween the CHEF prizes S and ,he rhar.-
sees with Judas 90 pat Him TO C,atn.
Among the parallels OF condemnation
which lie delivered upon that da.
tins one OF the king 5 marriage feast
is recorded by Matthew only in h $
gospel. Resemblance between this
p&ranle and the one of the great sup
per recorded by Luke have caused
some to declare that they We're iden-
teal The great supper parable was
spoken upon IA Sabbath at an earlier
da e in q PharIsee'S home. while this
was delivered upon Tuesday of Pass
over week in 'he temple. The former
illustrated the grace of God while
this parable portrayed the condemna-
tion o: he Lord.
The eccies astical leaders were evi-
dentl: aroused by the other parallels
of judgment. They showed their
hatred and desire for revenge by their
looks and crit cisn. The parable of
The kings W tlGi: g fest gr"u out
OF inc controversy Wn.Fn mac tSiSltI
for some tir.c between ;h.n and
Christ. VIII" now. as He nrared the
erd took The offensive Of dclivcvins.
His parallels of condemnat ION. which
served rs Il w2~ring to them to
change their PROGRAM or 10 prepared
for their do: IN :nlacfin.~ ,narrir e
as hem" .'.ers took two favori'o
images Of tn, cd Testament which
the prophets del cred to Use WIG
they wished to 2ic'u~r the jovs ar
blessings of tn" golden 20" in ~
nations life when the '0n" lcok"'
for Nessianic Fi0C wou'd ",,rear ~
all the nations would how "or, II
coronation snlendor. Feast -"'~ So
s'ive Of fov and marrias" o. f. low
ship. Ore of The most sublime pic
tures Of the redeemed in heaven rem
rescrts the marriage of he Lamb and
the church.
While this is a parable Of Judgment
it reveals The grace of Cod ir pre-
pairing a marriage feast a"d inviting
the same Jews who in the parable
of the husba ndmen He predicted
would reject Him as their Messiah.
and making them the honored guess
Christ is predicting tn" results that
He recognized would cert9iaiy hap
pen when after Hts "ruaie.,jon and
resurrection, the Gospel would be Of
fered to them. T. fore ellis Of their
rejection Of the Offer. of divine grace
and its subsequent deg ructicn o
Jerusalem under Titus end of a greet
multitude of people. The second part
of the parable refers to the offer and
acceptance of the gospel by the Gen
tiles.
The divine offer of grace is rep
resented to be like a king who made
a marriage feast for his son whom
they little realized was Jess. and
that the wine Of the Maria sc feast
was to be His own blood. secd for
~ 7an n no nj
invitation. which revealed the grace
of God one can see that the Jews
are Gods chosen peoDla. The servants
who were frs sent were thu nroph-
eta. whose mission ended with the
coming of John the Rantist The
second invitation was extended by
the Lord Jesus Christ personally and
then through the APOSTLES aud the
seventy. whom lie sent forth among
the tribes of Israel. The third call
Masters orders to the Jews first for
His campaign to win the world |
through the gospel was to be !
preached first in Jerusalem, then in |
Judea before it was carried into Sa /!
maria and the uttermost parts of the /!
world to every creature. This was !,
the program followed by the early |
church and especially Paul.
A kings invitation is favor and !
also a command. In the east we'd |
tlUB function is ot SItdttE lHlpOT-
lance than with us. 1t was of su- |
preme Importance. yet, when the |
messengers returned. after deliver !
ing the wedding invitations. it was |
only to report refusal. due to in
difference The first to be invited
were the leading Jewish officials. |
whose declination Influenced the COM |
mon people, when they received their |
invitations. to Join in deliberately /
refusing to come. The second invi- !
mand. which they treated contemp- !
tuously. They counted their bust /
ness of greater Importance than the !
call of God. Without as much as ex- i
pressing regrets, they turned to their
various activities. The farmer went !
to his farm and the merchant to his ;
business. making light of Gods offer !
of grace, mercy and pardon. Their |
ways wishes and will was of more /
consequence to them than the will |
of God. They did not recognize their !
day of visitation. They desDised the |
grace of the eternal God. They sim !,
ned against His love for them. Christ !
saw that the end was their doom, |
due to their refusal of the repeated |
invitations of divine grace and |!
mercy. The spirit that led men to /
cruelty the Lord and destroy His |
messengers as they did. in the early |
days of Christian history called for |
condemnation. There remained moth |
ing else for Him to do but to send |
forth His armies and destroy those |!
which was done when the Romans !
came upon Jerusalem, burned and |
sacked the city, murdered thousands |
of the inhabitants and scattered all !
the rest. |
Christ pictures the extension of the |
universal invitation to the Gentiles
and their acceptance in the second !
part of the parable. 1t was motley |
crowd that was gathered from "the !
parting of tho highways" by the !
kings servants. They made no dis !
elimination as they Approached the |
forks in the road for they ordered
them all to come to the feast. They
came and became the guests Of the
king. While it was prophetic of the
coming Of the Gentiles into the di-
vine favor, it was also prophetic of
missions. The churches are today the |
servants of the Lord Jesus in ex-
tending His invitation to all men
throughout the world to share in the
privileges of the gospel. The hope
Of the nations rests in their accept
Jesus in solving the problems of the
hour.
tiauity among the nations, as record
ed in the acts of the apostles in the
planting of the churches of Christ in
all the strategic centers of the world,
shows how the highways of COM
merce, culture and capital were won
for Christ. The work is now being
pushed among all nations and it is
our duty to see that every creature
shall be given personal 1nVltatlon
to accent Jesus Christ. as Savior and
Lord. We know that in the end
great multitude will be gathered out