February 6: “The Kingdom of Heaven” by Dr. Sharon Lee
Matthew 22:1-14
Weddings are great events. If you receive an invitation to a wedding, it means that you are special to the family of the bride or groom. They saved a space for you. They planned for you to come. They typ- ically went to great expense to prepare the wedding and include you in the festivities. They are expect- ing you to share the joy of the event.
God has prepared a wedding feast for His Son, Jesus Christ, who represents the groom in this parable. God expected His chosen people, the Jews, to be honored guests at this event, but many of them missed the importance of the invitation and failed to attend. He invited them several times, giving them many opportunities to come to the wedding feast. The invited guests were both casual by ignoring the invi- tation and violent by killing the messenger. How it must have disappointed the King who had such a special treat for them.
Wanting to celebrate the wedding of His son, God graciously opened up the event to others. Some commentaries remind us that the book of Matthew is one giant invitation to the Jews to enjoy the full blessings of the kingdom reign of Jesus Christ.
In this parable, Jesus is telling His Jewish followers that the invitation is to be taken seriously. He also made it clear that the invitation was going to be much broader than just to the Jews. The invitation to be part of the kingdom of God is for all peoples – even those on the street corners!
The whole focus of this week of Bible passages is to help us understand the Kingdom of God and what it means to be Kingdom People. God’s kingdom is much bigger than the Jews first imagined. His grace and mercy is boundless and extends to all people who accept His invitation. If we want to act like King- dom People, we need to understand the great gift God extends to us. We never want to be accused of taking His blessings too lightly or His invitation too casually.
God has prepared a place for you at His wedding feast, and He extends the invitation far and wide.
Have you accepted the invitation from God to be part of His kingdom? Are you willing to accept other guests to the kingdom as well?
Prayer for today: Generous and accepting God, help me to recognize the great gift of the invitation to be a part of Your kingdom. Help me to invite others to be a part of the kingdom. Amen.
