Day 94: Choose Jesus
Please read the Bible verses for today:
Matthew 22:1-14
Today we will be reading the third and final parable that Jesus specifically told for the ears of the teachers of the law and chief priests.
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
In this story, the king is God the Father. The king is throwing a banquet for His son. The Son is Jesus Christ. The king sends out his servants to bring in the invited guests- the teachers of the law and the Jewish people, but they would not come. The king then decides to invite anyone who would want to come, the 'bad as well as the good.' These people represent the Gentiles. Now for the last guy who came in without wearing wedding clothes, I believe he was thrown out of the banquet, heaven, for thinking he could come in without being born-again, without accepting Jesus as His Lord and Savior. The one and only way to Heaven is believe in Jesus Christ as Lord, that is the only requirement. I believe the 'wedding clothes' is representing putting on our salvation in Jesus. If you do not believe you will not enter Heaven.
I believe Jesus told this story to the teachers of the law and even to the Jewish people, to tell them that they must accept Him, Jesus, as their Messiah. They cannot think that they cannot reject Jesus and still get into heaven because they are Jewish or because they are 'holy.' This is a story for us today too. We cannot think that because we are good we can enter heaven. Being good is not God's requirement for heaven. God requires us to believe in Jesus as the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day as is alive today in heaven. That is what God requires. If you would like to pray a prayer of faith in Jesus, the prayer is below.
Pray with me:
Father, I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins, rose again and is alive in heaven today. Come into my heart and make me new. Write my name in the Book of Life that I may see you one day in heaven. Father, I pray for the Baptism of the Holy Spirit too. I pray that Holy Spirit will come and open my eyes to the Word of God that I may understand the Bible. I pray my ears will be open to hearing your voice so I can hear and obey you.I want to know you more and live for you. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
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