An exposition of The Gospel According to Matthew
by David L. Cooper, Th.M., Ph.D., Litt. D.
Installment twenty-two

AS WE SAW in last month's study, the Pharisees attacked Jesus and challenged His authority for doing the things in which He was engaged. In reply our Lord asked them to tell Him from what source was the baptism of John the Baptist--from heaven or from men. Seeing that they were trapped they declared that they did not know. In reply our Lord asserted that He would not tell them by what authority He was performing His works. Then, in order to expose their hypocrisy and lay before them their condition, He spoke three parables--as we have already seen. The first one was that of the two sons (21:28-32)-the second, the parable of the vineyard (21:33-46); and the third one the parable of the marriage feast of the king made for his son. Last month we studied the first two of these parables. It is now for us to begin the present investigation by study of the third one.

The parable is as follows. The kingdom of heaven is compared to a king who made a marriage feast for his son. When he planned the festivities, he sent out his servants to invite certain guests to attend the ceremonies. Later he sent other servants to those who had been bidden, telling them that the banquet had been prepared, and that all things were ready; therefore they were to come to the feast. But when these heard the announcement that the time had arrived for them to attend the festivities, they showed indifference and a lack of concern and interest in the entire affair. They therefore went their several ways: one, to his farm; another to his merchandise; and still others ill-treated the king's servants and killed them. The king therefore became angry and sent his troops to fight against them and to burn the city of those murderers.

Then he said to his servants that the wedding was ready but that those who had been bidden were unworthy. They were therefore to go out into the highways and the byways and make this announcement that the wedding feast was to be held and that everyone who wished might attend. Those servants, thus instructed, went forth and brought in people of every type, both good and bad, and had the bridal-hall filled with guests.

Finally the king came in and looked over the company assembled and found one man present who did not have the wedding garment on. The king therefore addressed him, asking him why he had not the wedding garment on. The man was speechless because he realized that there was no reason why he should appear without the garment proper for the occasion. The king therefore told his servants to bind him, hand and foot, and to cast him forth into the outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Our Lord concluded the parable by saying that these facts set forth the additional truth that many would be called but few would be chosen.

(The reader should study very carefully Matthew 22:1-14 in order to grasp the great truths to which I shall now call attention and which are set forth in this parable.)

Our Lord compared the kingdom of heaven to this marriage feast of which I have just spoken. What is the significance of the expression kingdom of heaven? John the Baptist announced that the kingdom of heaven had come to hand. Jesus took up the same refrain and proclaimed the same thought. Later the Twelve, when they went out on the restricted commission, made the same announcement. Finally the Seventy, in the latter Judean ministry, proclaimed this same glorious fact. The kingdom of heaven had come to hand in the days of John the Baptist and in the days of our Lord, but what was it that had come? Jesus, as we have already seen in Matthew 13, gave us a fine description of this institution known as the kingdom of heaven. When one studies those parables, he will see that the kingdom of heaven, as set forth in this passage, is none other than Christendom. It began with the sower, Christ, who first sowed the seed of the kingdom. It continues through the present dispensation and is brought to its consummation at the second coming of Christ, when it will be like the dragnet which is pulled ashore and out of which the good is separated from the bad. In view of all the facts set forth in the Gospel Records, we must conclude that the kingdom of heaven, as used by Matthew, is none other than Christendom which continues throughout the present dispensation.

There was a certain king who made a marriage feast for his son. Since this is a parable and was so designated by our Lord, who is the king of this passage? The answer is apparent--God the Father. Who is the king's son? Instantly one replies that he is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

According to our Lord's statement, the king made a breakfast, or a meal to be eaten in the forenoon, as a banquet for his son. The word used in the original indicates what we in America think of as breakfast, which is usually eaten somewhere between nine and twelve o'clock in the forenoon.

In Palestine during our Lord's earthly ministry, timepieces were not possessed by everyone; in fact, there were very few of them in existence. The custom was for the host to send his servants to invite the prospective guests to a feast. Then later, when the banquet was prepared, they went and made the announcement to the guests that everything was ready, and that they were to come immediately to participate in the feast. Our Lord, speaking in terms of these well-known facts, said that God had made the announcement regarding the wedding feast for His Son. The servants through whom He made the first announcement and thus gave the invitation to the guests were none other than the prophets of whom we read in the Old Testament. When however the time arrived for the invited guests to come and engage in the marriage festivities, the servants who made the announcement that all things had been prepared and that the guests were to come and enjoy the feast were none other than John the Baptist and the Apostles and probably the seventy who worked under the direction of the Lord Jesus during the later Judean ministry. The banquet of the parable, of course, signifies the spiritual feast of good things of which those who accept Christ become partakers. This morning banquet was set first and fully on the day of Pentecost. The Jews were invited to sit down to the banquet table and to partake of these rich spiritual things which we have by accepting Jesus as our Lord, Saviour, and Messiah.

Those who had been invited were not, according to the parable, interested in accepting the invitation; hence, when the announcement came that everything was in readiness and that they should immediately come, they went their own ways, following their special interests and desires. This is set forth in verse 5: "But they made light of it, and went their ways. . . ." In the original the words, "They made light of it," are the translation of a participle which literally means they were not concerned. The same form of this word appears in Hebrews 2:3 and is translated, "If we neglect." In both of these passages our translators would have done well, had they rendered this participle of the original as ".....they were not concerned." They were not interested; doubtless many of them made light of the invitation--some even may have scorned it. All of this is implied in the original as possibilities.

Only a handful of those who were invited by the prophets to the breakfast banquet accepted the invitation. Of course, three thousand did so on the day of Pentecost, but this number was infinitesimal in comparison with the entire nation.

When the invited guests took such a hostile attitude as they did toward the king and his invitation, his wrath was kindled and he sent his troops against their city to destroy it and to slay those murderers. This item of the parable found its fulfillment in the Lord's sending the Romans to overrun Palestine, to destroy Jerusalem and to scatter Israel abroad. Thus by the overthrow of the nation, Israel was scattered abroad, and the national worship was terminated.

Then the king sent other servants who were instructed to go into the highways and byways-and to give the invitation to one and all, both the good and the bad. This phase of the parable was fulfilled in the fact that, after the overthrow of Jerusalem, the church that was scattered abroad went throughout the gentile world and proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many accepted, outwardly at least.. the truth. From 70A.D., the time of the overthrow of the Jewish nation, until the present time the invitation has been given to those in the highways and byways of the world, calling them to come and partake, not of the breakfast as the first were bidden to do according to verse 4, but to come and partake of the great dinner at the end of the dispensation. The latter meal is eaten after darkness has come. This fact is seen by the statement in the latter part of the parable. The king comes into the bridal-hall and sees a man-who does not have a wedding garment on. He gives instructions to his servants to cast this one forth into the darkness without. This fact implies a meal different from the first one.

The evening meal is served after dark. This fact differentiates the meal to which all are invited from that special morning meal to which only the guests who were previously invited were called.

As stated above, the Jews were invited to the morning meal. If Israel as a nation had accepted, her peace would have been like a river and her righteousness as the waves of the sea (Isa. 48:17-19). (For a full exposition of Isaiah 48--one of the most important passages in the Old Testament-- see chapter V of my volume, "The God of Israel.") Since Israel would not accept the invitation to embrace the salvation which was offered to her by the Messiah when He first came, the stroke of, judgment fell upon her and her city, Jerusalem, was destroyed, and she was scattered throughout the world. Then the world-wide invitation went forth as never before to all nations who are invited now to partake of the evening meal in connection with the festivities of the marriage of the Lamb. That there is a difference between the first meal to which the invited guests were asked to come and the latter one to which all nations are invited, see the remarks of Dr. John A. Broadus in the American Commentary on Matthew, chapter 22.

When all the guests were seated at the banquet table, the king came in and observed one who did not have a wedding garment on. He was speechless when he was asked why he did not have on the wedding garment. This shows that there was no reason for his not having it. This was not a feast to which the poor were invited who could not provide the wedding garment. The facts of the context show that the man could have had a wedding garment had he so desired. He was absolutely to blame and he suffered the consequences of his deeds and actions.

We must not confuse the point that was made by our Lord with the doctrine of imputed righteousness which is set forth so very clearly in the Pauline Epistles. As just stated, this man was responsible for not having made the preparation necessary to an occasion of this kind. Whether or not the garment was provided for the guest is not the question. The sole point is the fact that the man could have had the wedding garment on but did not; therein lies the crux of the entire situation.

When we look at the Pauline doctrine of imputed righteousness, we can see that this glorious truth fits in perfectly with the parable--even though that was not the special point that our Lord had in mind. Man is in a lost and undone condition. He cannot save himself. His righteous acts are as filthy rags in God's sight. If the penitent believer will look to the Lord and trust Him to clothe him with the robes of Christ's righteousness, the Lord will instantly impute righteousness to him; and he will be clothed with the righteousness of our Lord. All who are not thus clothed will be cast into the outer darkness eventually.

After Jesus spoke these parables, the Pharisees went out and took counsel how they might ensnare Him. They sent some of their disciples along with the Herodians, members of a political party, who came to Jesus and said, "Teacher, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, and carest not for any one: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?"

Jesus knew their motive and asked his opponents why they were making trial of Him. In addressing them, He called them hypocrites. Then He asked them to show some tribute money. As He looked at it, He asked whose image and whose superscription were inscribed on the coin. They replied that it was Caesar's. Instantly our Lord said, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's." Thus they were unable to draw anything forth from His mouth by which they would be able to condemn Him.

It is proper and right that we should render to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar; that is, we should give to civil government the taxes and customs which are due them; on the other hand, we should give to God all that belongs to God. As we meditate on these things, we should remember that we are not our own; neither are any of the things which we possess our own property. They have only been entrusted to us by the Lord. We are to use what He places in our hands as faithful stewards. If we will be faithful over that which belongs to God, then He will commit unto us that which is our own, the true riches.

On that very day the Sadducees who denied that there was any such thing as the resurrection came to Jesus and asked Him this question: "Teacher, Moses said, If a man die, having no children. . . . Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first married and deceased, and having no seed left his wife unto his brother; in like manner the second also, and the third, unto the seventh. And after them all, the woman died. In the resurrection therefore whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her." (Matt. 22:24-28)

In reply Jesus said that the Sadducees made a serious mistake in not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. People today make a fatal mistake by not studying and understanding what the Scriptures teach and by not trusting God and allowing Him to strengthen them in the inward man. God knows all things and has revealed certain events and truths to us in His Word. If we are wise, we will endeavor by honest, conscientious, faithful study of the Word to determine what is the revealed will of God. We will furthermore trust Him and let Him empower us in our lives that they may count for Him.

Then the Lord called attention to the fact that in the resurrection men and woman neither marry nor are given in marriage but are as the angels in heaven; that is, they are like the angels in that they do not marry. By referring to the resurrection in verse 30, our Lord was speaking of the Millennial Age. The dead in Christ are raised before the Tribulation, when Jesus descends from heaven to the air to catch up His saints (I Thess. 4:13-18). At the end of the Tribulation, the saints who will be killed at that time will be raised (Rev. 20:4,5).

Our Lord called the Sadducees' attention to the fact that Moses spoke of the resurrection: "But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living." Long after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead, God spoke to Moses at the burning bush and said that He was the God of those three patriarchs. By this statement He was affirming that they were alive, even though they had died in the flesh. This truth shows that there is bound to be a resurrection. The spirits of these men will reunite with their bodies at the time of the resurrection here spoken of. There is therefore the resurrection of the dead.

After Jesus silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees came to Him and asked Him which was the greatest commandment of the law. In reply our Lord called attention to the fact that man is commanded to love God with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his mind. This of course is the greatest commandment found in the law of Moses. The second one is like the first; namely, that man shall love his neighbor as himself. These two commandments embrace all the teachings of Moses and the prophets. If anyone in realty fulfills these commandments, he will be carrying out all that Moses and the prophets enjoined upon Israel.

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus put a question to them, saying, "What think ye of the Christ? Whose son is he?" In reply they said that He was the son of David. Then our Lord asked how could that be; for David declared, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I put thine enemies under thy feet." This is a quotation from Psalm 110:1. David, whose descendant the Messiah is, acknowledged that this one was his Lord, his superior. In what sense then could He be his son? The Pharisees could not answer this question. Everyone who has both the Old and New Testament, and who believes them, can answer this question accurately: He is David's son in that He is a descendant of the great king of Israel; He is David's Lord in that He is one of the Holy Trinity.

From this time on no one asked Christ any other questions.