Yeshua again used parables in speaking to them: " The Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding feats for his son, but when he sent his slaves to summon the invited guests fo the wedding, the refused to come. So he sent some more slaves, instructing them to tell the guests, 'Look, I've prepared my banquet, I've slaughtered my bulls and my fattened cattle, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding!' But they weren't interested and went off, one to his farm, another to his business; and the rest grabbed his slave,s mistreated them and killed them. The king was furious and sent his solders, who killed those murderers and burned down their city.
"Then he said to his slaves, 'Well, the wedding feats is ready, but the ones who were invited didn't deserve it. So go out to the street corners and invite to the banquet as many as you can find.' The slaves went out into the streets, gathered all the people the could find, the bad along with the good; and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Now when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who wasn't dressed for a wedding; so he asked him, 'Fried, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?' The man was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, 'Bind him ahnd and foot, and throw him outside in the dark!' In that place people will wail and grind their teeth, for many are invited, but few are chosen.
Yeshua has been making strong points about the hypocrisy of the cohanim, but now he gradually begins to turn it a different direction. He is beginning to show that these were the people who were given the message and understood the "invitation" but missed it. The servants were sent (again referring to Yochanan) but they rejected the servants. They even killed the servants! Once again, royal wrath is inevitable.
Here again we see the people for who the message was originally intended lose their place. The invitation goes out to everyone, anyone who can see, hear and know about the celebration. The feast is filled with all kinds of people, the bad and the good.
This could end the parable, and fit with the theme of all the previous parables, but Yeshua makes a new and very interesting point by continuing. It is more than just showing up that makes the attendees worthy of the celebration. The man, found among the new attendees, is underdressed, he is still clothed in what he wore outside. The king, who offered him entrance, expected him to forsake the appearance he had in the outside world, and so not hinder the glory of the feast.
This is another kind of rejection of the king. Where the initial invited guests reject him outright, the man who came with the crowd expected to get in as he was, with no change. This is another look at repentance, though from a different angle. perviously we have seen the cohanim portrayed as the unrepentant ones in the stories, and they are here as well, but not directly. Their unrepentant is one of simply not wanting to repent at all. The Second man comes in, wants to join in the east but is unwilling to forsake everything that made him an outsider.
This is a good picture of heaven. More specifically this is a picture of who will be in heaven, and on what terms. Heaven is the King's celebration. It's his party. He invited the people of Israel, and they rejected him. For their rejection, he scattered them, and we are seeing their return now, but the picture is still pretty clear. Those invited after are the peoples of the world, the church. They hear the message and show up, and in order to get in, the King offers them a new look, one worthy of the glory of the party.
It may seem unfair to us when G-d send's people to hell. Bear in mind that after death, its either heaven or hell, there are no alternatives. THis parable shows us that Heaven is G-ds party. Perhaps exclusions on our terms are unfair, but heaven is not for us to define. If we want to get in, we can't take our dirty selves with is, it would only make the party dirty. G-d ask that we be clean and spotless before we enter, and he has every right to, because the party is His. But praise his name, for he has provided for us a way to be clean. Let's get ready for the party, and never be dirty again.
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