Matthew 22:7 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

NIV: The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

NASB: Now the king was angry, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.

CSB: The king was enraged, and he sent out his troops, killed those murderers, and burned down their city.

NLT: The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town.

KJV: But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

NKJV: But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.

Jesus' current parable (Matthew 22:1–6) started out nicely. A king spared no expense, inviting those He had specially chosen to attend a great banquet for his son. When the time came, the king sent out messengers to let the people know the feast was ready. That's when the story got ugly. Not only did the people refuse to go, but some also simply ignored even the king's second round of messengers. Worse, another group abused and killed them.

Now the king is understandably angry with His subjects. He sends out His army to destroy the people who killed his messengers. He even burns their city. The king will not allow an uprising to form against him.

For those who understood the meaning behind Jesus' parable, He was delivering a warning. Israel's religious leaders were represented in the story by those who murdered the king's servants. Over Israel's history, they had both ignored and killed God's prophets or stood by while others did so (Acts 7:52). The same had happened even to the last prophet, John the Baptist (Matthew 14:1–12).

God would not bear with that rebellion forever. Judgment was coming from God for the refusal of the religious leaders to recognize and honor God's Son. Many commentators believe the destruction of Jerusalem and burning of the temple by the Romans in A.D. 70 to be at least a partial fulfillment of this warning. Prior to Christ's earthly ministry, God had used other nations in judgment against Israel's rebellion (2 Chronicles 36:22; Isaiah 10:5–11; Habakkuk 1:6).

And yet, this is not the end of the parable. The feast is still ready, so the king decides to find other guests to invite since the first guests have refused.

Matthew 22:1–14 contains Jesus' parable of the wedding feast. Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king who threw a banquet for his son. The king's chosen guests refuse to come, to the point of violence against his messengers. So, the king fills the wedding hall with common people he finds out and about; some bad, some good. One guest is thrown out into the darkness, though, for trying to attend the feast without wearing a wedding garment. Jesus summarizes the message with the famous phrase, "Many are called, but few are chosen." This parable touches on Israel's rejection of the Messiah and salvation by grace. This touches on very similar themes to those of the parable of the great banquet (Luke 14:12–24), but with critical differences.

Continuing a dialogue with hostile religious leaders, Jesus tells a parable comparing the kingdom of heaven to a wedding feast which ends up being attended by those not initially invited. He answers trick questions about taxes, marriage, resurrection, and the Law of Moses. These responses are the source of common English idioms such as "render to Caesar…" and "many are called but few are chosen." Finally, Jesus asks how the Messiah can be both the son of David and the Lord of David. None can answer Him, so they stop challenging Him in public.

This chapter extends an exchange between Jesus and several groups of religious leaders in the temple. The previous chapter concluded with two parables about the failures of the religious leaders. This chapter begins with a third parable, about chosen guests who refuse to attend a wedding feast. Jesus then fields questions from several religious groups, who fail in their attempts to trip Him up. His wise and profound answers silence all of them. At this point, Jesus launches into a full-throated condemnation of the Pharisees in chapter 23.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.