Title: Are You Wearing the Proper Clothes? Mathew Ch. 22:1-14.
 Certain events, places of work, sports – require you to wear proper clothing, uniform.
 Here in Ch.22, Jesus is using another Parable in talking to the Priests and Teachers of the Law
(Pharisees), and He is using the Parable of the Wedding Banquet.
 This is why I said certain events, in this case require proper clothing.
 In this Parable, King represents God the Father, the Son – Jesus
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying:  2  “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a
wedding banquet for his son.  3  He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to
come, but they refused to come.
 The key here is that they did not want to come. They gave a Just a flat out “no” is what they
said. Its not that they could not come, they willingly made a choice not to come!
4  “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my
dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding
banquet.’
Note: Think about what just took place:
 1 st Here is a King who sent out an invitation, people rejected Him
 Not just rejected Him “The King” but His Son
o Example. Parents – Now most parents can take rejection, but when someone rejects your child
or children, then things get more personal because in the eyes of the parents, your children are
everything to the parents. Same in this case with God the Father, since Israel rejected Jesus,
then punishment was coming for Israel.

5  “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business.  6  The rest seized his
servants, mistreated them and killed them.  7  The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those
murderers and burned their city.
8  “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.  9  So
go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’  10  So the servants went out into the streets
and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with
guests.
Note: The wedding banquet was full. Picture these people that were invited. They were amazed because the
King had invited them to the wedding banquet even though their background or status did not fit the narrative.
11  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding
clothes.  12  He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13  “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14  “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Now let’s break down what we just read:
 Verse 1-4: God had given the people of Israel 2 invitations
The first invitation – Jesus is talking about the Jewish People – He came to them first (Israel), preached to
them, did miracles, and still they did not believe/receive Him, they Rejected Him.
2 nd Invitation: Verse 4 – All things are ready is the message of the gospel

 God has made it ready for you; come and receive. The still rejected the King’s (God the Father)
invitation a second time.

What do we receive when we accept Jesus into our life by faith?

o Salvation
o Forgiveness of your sins
o Purpose! – I now live for Him!

Verse 5:
But they paid no attention and went their ways:
The reaction of those invited (Jewish people), they rejected Him.
 That is still happening today.
 Many reject Jesus even in the days we live in.
Verse 5 says: They paid no attention; others went back to their business.

 They were caught up in their own things, themselves and that still happens today.
Verse 6-7 – The rest of the people seized and killed the King’s servants. What does it mean?
 Those that were invited (Jewish People and Religious Leadership (Pharisees) killed the
servants of the King.
 Therefore, the King was upset and destroyed those that killed His servants and their city
o This was a prophecy that Jesus was giving – Because the Jewish people had rejected
Him, had killed God’s servants and Son (John the Baptist, disciples) – they would face
judgement.
o 40 years after Jesus’ death, Titus Roman emperor destroyed the Temple, killed many
Jews, enslaved, and many scattered.
o God brought Judgment/punishment to Israel because they rejected Jesus.

Verse 8-10 – He made the invitation to all
 Gentiles: Non-Jewish decent, you and me, good and as well as the bad people were invited! Now we
as Gentiles receive an opportunity to be a part of God’s family.
 If the Jewish People did not want to accept Him, then Jesus made the invitation to all

Verse 11-14
 Now the Wedding banquet was full.
 One person was not wearing the proper robe/clothes that the King had given to those who were invited!
Verse 11:
11  “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding
clothes.  12  He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was
speechless.
Note: The King noticed the man was not wearing the proper clothes – What does that mean?
 In Bible times, if you were invited to a wedding by a King, you did not wear your own wedding robe, the
King would provide one for you!
 Wearing your own choice of robe or what you wanted was an insult to the King, because He had
already provided one for you!
Note: What happened to this man that was not wearing the proper robe/clothes?
13  “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where
there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14  “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
What do verses 11-14 mean? The King noticed this man not wearing the proper robe/clothes, this man
was thrown out of the wedding!
 The “Proper Clothes/Robe in Verse 11 – symbolizes the righteous of Jesus.
 If you are not clothed with the Righteousness of Jesus, you are not allowed to enter heaven!
 You cannot access God the Father without Jesus. There is no other way!
o John 14:6 – Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the
Father except through me.

How Do We Receive the Righteousness of Christ/ How do you make sure you have the proper clothes –
Robe on?
 By faith in Jesus, responding to the Gospel, repenting of sin, and pursuing a relationship with Jesus.
 We must live for Jesus, not our way, His way. Not your robe, His robe!
 VERSE 11: The man “was left speechless” – Why because he either rejected the rob that was given to
him by the King and wore what he wanted. In other words, he tried to do it his way and not God’s Way!
 As we continue to mature in Christ, His righteousness continues to transform us and is displayed our
life. The power of the Holy Spirit begins to transform you!
Here is the knowledge and what we need to put into practice with this parable:
 Without a relationship with Jesus, without knowing Him, you will not make it into heaven!
 Those that try to live the Christian life their way, one foot in the world, one foot in for Jesus, there will be
punishment.
 Those that reject Jesus/the Gospel, there will be punishment, and that punishment is hell, eternal
damnation, eternal separation from God!

The Key: This is a hard truth to hear. As brothers in sisters in Christ, we need to be honest with ourselves and
ask the question, are we truly living for Him?
Many are Called, But Few Chosen:
 We need to have the proper clothes/robes on. We need to be clothed with Jesus.
 We need to have a prayer life, have communion with Jesus, and read His Word.
 It’s time to examine ourselves and ask the Holy Spirit to chip away, remove all distractions that keep us
from knowing Jesus at a deeper level.
Jesus is our righteousness. Look what Isaiah says:
Isaiah 61:10 – “I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with
garments of salvation and displayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his
head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels”.
Another scripture reference on how we became the righteousness of God:
2 nd Corinthians 5:17-21
17  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: [a]  The old has gone, the new is
here!  18  All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of
reconciliation:  19  that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins
against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  20  We are therefore Christ’s
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf:
Be reconciled to God.  21  God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become
the righteousness of God.

We need to have on the proper robe and be clothed with Righteousness! That robe is Jesus!