Matthew the apostle wrote how, “Jesus answered and spoke unto” the chief priests and elders in Jerusalem” “again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go you therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid to the marriage”, and in chapter twenty-two and verse ten of his book Jesus told how the servants of the king, “gathered together all as many as they found” where we read:
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
The verse reads, “So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, ...” Matthew began with the words, “so those servants” which means “therefore the king's servants whom he instructed to go into the highways” “went out” or “departed and left” “into the highways” or “to the exit ways and outlets of the open roads and courses out of countries and the entrances into cities”, “and gathered together” which means “and collected, brought together and assembled” “all” or “each, every, the whole and everyone” “as many as they found” which means “as far and great of people as the servants of the king discovered, discerned and recognized”. Matthew shared how the king's servants obeyed his charge and traveled throughout the countryside and cites and “assembled” people together to be a part of the king's “wedding feast”.
The verse continues, “... both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” Matthew added the words, “both bad” which means “those people who were full of labors, annoyed, harassed, stressed and filled with toils” “and good” or “and those people who were useful, salutary, pleasant, agreeable, joyful and happy”: “and the wedding” or “and the marriage festival and feast” “was finished” which means “was completely and furnished” “with guests” or “with people who would lean, lie and sit down to meat at the table”. Matthew wrote how the servants of the king gathered both “bad and good” people and invited them to the “wedding feast”. Therefore, they “filled” the “wedding festival” with people.
When we meditate upon Matthew's words in this verse, we see how the king's servants “assembled” people from everywhere, and whether they were “good or bad”, they were still invited to his “wedding feast”. God desires every person to be in a relationship with Him through His Son Jesus, and this invitation is open to both “bad and good” people. If they will yield their lives to Jesus as their “Savior and Lord”, they shall attend the greatest “wedding feast” that has ever been. Let all who read these words accept God's invitation today.
Next time Matthew shares how Jesus told how the king saw, “a man which had not on a wedding garment”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until
tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book
“Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the
marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the
Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms
Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County"
in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com
; http://www.barnesandnobles.com
; download to e-books, and find it locally at
www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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