Matthew 22:8 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy.

NIV: "Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

NASB: Then he *said to his slaves, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

CSB: "Then he told his servants, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

NLT: And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor.

KJV: Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.

NKJV: Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.

The time has come, in Jesus' parable, to celebrate the wedding of the king's son (Matthew 22:1–7). The oxen and calves have been slaughtered. The feast is prepared. The king, though, has no guests. The original guests he invited to the wedding refused to come, to the point of murdering the king's messengers. The king now describes those originally invited guests as "unworthy." This is meant as a parallel to how Israel's leaders rejected God's prophets and were subject to judgment.

Religious Jews of that era understood the idea of God drawing clear distinctions around what could be in His presence. Under the Old Testament law, that even extended to excluding certain people from aspects of worship. This included those who disobeyed God's law, but also meant those with various health issues. Some in the Jewish ruling class prided themselves on their spiritual worthiness before God and their ability to keep the law and extra rules more than others.

Especially in context with the prior parables (Matthew 21:28, 33), it's becoming clear that Jesus meant to represent Israel's religious leaders with the guests who refused to come to the king's feast. Those listening must have been shocked by the claim made in this verse. The king calls those very people "unworthy," with their favored status revoked due to their own refusal to honor the king's son.

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.