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The parable in verses 1-14 is again a parable that cannot be applied fully in the human sense, because it is unreasonable for one to kill his slaves; the king cannot be so free as to socialize with the poor people; and he would never send an army to kill the ones he has called.
Verse 1:"And Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying." "Again" means that this verse is a continuation of the previous parable. This parable is very much related to the parable of the wicked vinedressers, which refers to God's rejecting of the Jews because they had rejected the Lord. The next parable refers to the acceptance of the Gentiles by God after He had rejected the Jews. However, not every Gentile will be saved.
Verse 2:"The kingdom of the heavens has become like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son." "The kingdom of the heavens has become like a king." It does not say "the church," but "the kingdom of the heavens." Hence, the sphere here includes the unsaved. The church (the universal church, not the local church) includes only all the saved believers. It does not include the unsaved. (The similar parable in the book of Luke exclusively touches the matter of the gospel. The nature of the parable there is different from the nature of the one here. From this we can say that they refer to different things.) A wedding signifies the establishing of a covenant. The feast signifies the riches of God prepared for man. No bride is mentioned here because the bride is not the goal. (The church is likened to a bride only in this age. In the future the Lamb's wife will be the New Jerusalem and not the church. The Lamb's wife is a type, while the New Jerusalem is an actual description. An actual description cannot be considered a type nor can it be used to typify something else. For example, the seven golden lampstands are a type; they equal the seven churches as an actual description. The seven churches equal seven actual churches at the time.)
Verse 3:"And he sent his slaves to call those who had been called to the wedding feast, yet they would not come." The slaves refer to the disciples of the Lord and of John the Baptist. "Those who had been called" are the Israelites. God sent the slaves to invite the Israelites to come and enjoy the riches of God. Such is the ministry of the twelve apostles and the seventy disciples and of the disciples of John. "Yet they would not come." They would not believe their testimonies.
Verse 4:"Again, he sent other slaves, saying, Tell those who have been called, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatted cattle have been slain, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding feast." "Other slaves." At Pentecost the apostles and the disciples testified to the Jews the second time. They worked all the time in Jerusalem and did not even go into Samaria. Therefore, God allowed persecution to come upon them to scatter them among the Gentiles (Acts 8:1, 4). When Paul first began to work, he was the same; he worked only among the Jews until all the Jews in the diaspora [dispersion] had rejected the Lord. At that point he declared his turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46-48). Verse 3 only gives the call, and then in verse 4 it says, "My oxen and my fatted cattle have been slain," which means that the Lord Jesus has already died and resurrected. (The Gospel of Luke does not stress His Messiahship; hence, it does not mention this matter.)
Verses 5-6:"But they disregarded it and went off, one to his own field and another to his business, and the rest took hold of his slaves, treated them shamefully, and killed them." "Disregarded it." This was the situation at Pentecost. Although three thousand and five thousand were saved, that was still a small number. It was only a small remnant. Josephus said that the day when the Lord was crucified there were three million people in Jerusalem. "Field" signifies agriculture, whereas "business" signifies commerce. "Took hold of his slaves...and killed them." They killed Stephen, murdered James, and imprisoned the apostles (Acts 7:58-60; 12:2-4). "The rest" are those who were neither in agriculture nor in commerce. This means the chief priests, the scribes, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, etc. Both verse 4 and verse 5 were fully fulfilled.
Verse 7:"And the king became angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city." This was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when Titus destroyed Jerusalem; blood was shed all over the streets.
Verse 8:"Then he said to his slaves, The wedding feast is ready, but those who have been called were not worthy." "Those who have been called" refers to the Jews. The riches of God cannot be wasted just because of their refusal.
Verse 9:"Go therefore to the crossroads, and as many as you find, call to the wedding feast." The previous called ones were preassigned. We, the Gentiles, seem to have received our salvation by accident and by grace. "As many as you find." Whoever believes shall have eternal life; the Gentiles received the grace.
Verse 10:"And those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both evil and good, and the wedding feast was filled with those reclining at table." "Both evil and good." The calling today does not depend on how good or bad a person's past history was. The riches of the gospel have nothing to do with the good or evil in the past. The final goal of the gospel is the glorifying of His Son.
Verse 11:"But when the king came in to look at those reclining at table, he saw there a man who was not clothed with a wedding garment." "He saw there a man." This is to stand before the judgment seat. Within the realm of the kingdom of the heavens, the gospel has been preached everywhere. However, not all will be saved. "A man who was not clothed with a wedding garment." In Oriental countries the wedding garment is not prepared by the guest. The wedding garment signifies Christ as our robe of righteousness. We are clothed with Christ (Rom. 13:14; Gal. 3:27). God has clothed us with the robe of righteousness (Isa. 61:10). This wedding garment was prepared for us by God; "all things are ready" (v. 4). Unfortunately, this man thought that his clothing was good enough (self-righteousness); he was unwilling to take it off and was unwilling to change. He did not rely on the righteousness of Jesus.
Verse 12:"And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment? And he was speechless." The Lord did not ask why he had beaten others, lied, or transgressed against the law prior to this. He only asked why he had no wedding garment. The Lord does not ask for our past history; He only asks whether or not we have the righteousness of Christ. The word "speechless" proves that this man knew that this was wrong, and yet he transgressed intentionally. Although the man was poor, the king had already made the provision. The man might have considered himself unworthy, but the king had the garment. The only problem was that he would not remove his own garment and put on the king's.
Verse 13:"Then the king said to the servants, Bind his feet and hands, and cast him out into the outer darkness. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth." The fruit of not depending on Christ is perdition. The darkness here is different from that in chapter twenty-five.
Verse 14:"For many are called but few are chosen." There are many people in the realm of the kingdom of the heavens, but the number of saved ones is small. Do not think that because there was only one person, that must be the Jews. Within the church today there are more tares than wheat.
Verse 15:"Then the Pharisees went and took counsel how they might ensnare Him in His words." The following verses are the record of how the Jews tempted Jesus. They could not find anything that they could hold against Him concerning His conduct. Hence they tried to find it in His words. Today men do the same thing.
Verse 16:"And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Teacher, we know that You are true and that You teach the way of God in truth and do not fear anyone, for You do not regard the person of men." The Pharisees and the Herodians (those who pleased the foreigners, the traitors of the Jews) formerly opposed one another, but now they joined together to tempt the Lord. "Their disciples." Only the blind students would come under the tutelage of blind instructors. "You are true." First they flattered the Lord because they were afraid that He would lie and that they would not be able to entangle Him. "And do not fear anyone." This means, "You, Jesus, will speak the truth to us, the Pharisees and Herodians, regardless of Caesar." "Do not fear anyone" means the same thing as "do not regard the person of men." Even before Pilate He would speak the truth.
Verse 17:"Tell us therefore, What do You think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?" "What do You think?" They did not say that this ought to be done or that this was according to the law. By asking, "What do you think?" they thought that they could trap Him. "Is it lawful...or not?" Both ways posed a trap. One way would make the Lord a traitor to Israel, while the other way would make Him a rebel to Rome.
Verses 18-19:"But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, Why do you tempt Me, hypocrites? Show Me the coin for the tribute. And they brought to Him a denarius." He exposed their hypocrisy and their evil plot right then and there. He did not have silver or gold. "Show Me the coin for the tribute." Only those who give tribute will have Caesar's money; the Lord did not have it.
Verses 20-21:"And He said to them, Whose is this image and inscription? They said, Caesar's. Then He said to them, Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar and the things that are God's to God." The question and the conclusion of the Lord are not only full of wisdom, but they are also full of instructions. (1) The believers should not become involved with politics, because the things that are Caesar's should be rendered to Caesar. (2) The believers ought to pay taxes, because the things that are Caesar's should be rendered to Caesar. (The saved ones themselves are the possessions of God; hence, they should not be used for the government.) (3) The reason that the Jewish nation was in captivity was that they had not rendered the things of God to God. On the contrary, they had worshipped idols; therefore, God had to punish them. "Render then the things that are Caesar's to Caesar" is the instruction of the entire book of Jeremiah. At first the Jews thought that they would not render the things of God to God or the things of Caesar to Caesar.
Verse 22:"And when they heard this, they marveled. And they left Him and went away." One cannot help but marvel at such wisdom. If any reader does not feel that this is marvelous, he must be worse than the Jews.
Verse 23:"On that day some Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to Him and questioned Him." The two parties departed and the Sadducees appeared on the scene; this is like a round-the-clock war. The Sadducees believed that there is no resurrection and that a person is completely terminated after he dies. Hence, they believed that there are neither demons nor angels. Men are prone to develop hypothetical problems to entangle others, just as the Sadducees of old did.
Verses 24-28:"Saying, Teacher, Moses said, If anyone dies and does not have children, his brother as next of kin shall marry his wife and raise up seed to his brother. Now there were seven brothers with us. And the first married and died, and having no seed, he left his wife to his brother. Likewise also the second and the third until the seventh. And last of all the woman died. In the resurrection, then, whose wife will she be of the seven? For they all had her." The supposedly difficult problem, "Now there were seven brothers with us," was absolutely fictitious.
Verse 29:"And Jesus answered and said to them, You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." "You err." This was the Lord's judgment concerning them. The phrase "not knowing the Scriptures" indicates that they had no spiritual knowledge. The phrase "nor the power of God" indicates that they had no spiritual experience. These are the reasons for making mistakes. Hence, a believer ought to have both knowledge and experience.
Verses 30-32:"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read that which was spoken to you by God, saying, `I am the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob'? He is not the God of the dead, but of the living." "For in the resurrection" refers to the rapture. "Neither marry nor are given in marriage" does not refer to the angels. The Lord not only pointed out resurrection; what He was saying was: "You say that when a person dies, he is terminated. If that is the case, God should have introduced Himself in the section concerning the bush as `the God of the dead,' and such a God could never have encouraged Moses." The logic here was that God is the God of Abraham; since Abraham is a dead person, this would make God the God of the dead. However, He is not the God of the dead. Therefore, although Abraham is dead, he will become alive again (cf. 8:11). Jacob and Isaac also will be resurrected. Concerning resurrection, see 1 Corinthians 15:50-58.
Verse 33:"And when the crowds heard this, they were astounded at His teaching." Their being astounded is the indication of defeat. They thought that it was a difficult problem. However, the Lord still was able to answer it. "Astounded" means to marvel.
Verses 34-35:"But the Pharisees, when they heard that He had muzzled the Sadducees, gathered themselves together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him." The phrase "gathered themselves together" indicates that they regrouped because they sympathized with one another's similar defeats. The lawyer was so proud that he would not admit to being humbled by the Lord's eloquence.
Verse 36:"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" The lawyer asked the Lord, "Which is the great commandment in the law?" because a person cannot emphasize one commandment and neglect another (cf. James 2:10).
Verses 37-38:"And He said to him, `You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the great and first commandment." "The great and first commandment," because it includes the entire law. To violate one of the commandments of the law equals not loving God with "all."
Verse 39:"And the second is like it: `You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" "Neighbor" refers to anyone besides oneself. The neighbor can also refer to the Lord Jesus. See the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:30).
Verse 40:"On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." The two commandments encompass the entire law. The former includes all laws in relation to God, and the latter includes all laws in relation to man. The Ten Commandments were originally divided into two parts, those related to God and those related to man.
Verse 41:"Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus questioned them." "Jesus questioned them." It seems as if the Lord was saying, "You have asked Me enough questions. Let me now ask you one question."
Verse 42:"Saying, What do you think concerning the Christ? Whose son is He? They said to Him, David's." "What do you think?" This is parallel to verse 17. This question seems to be one for a three-year-old child. The Lord did not ask a difficult question, because He was afraid that they would not answer (see Matt. 21:27).
Verses 43-45:"He said to them, How then does David in spirit call Him Lord, saying, `The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies underneath Your feet'? If then David calls Him Lord, how is He his son?" "The Lord said to my Lord." The first "Lord" is Jehovah, and the second "Lord" is the Messiah. The Lord desires to show us that according to the flesh, Christ is the Son of David. Yet according to the Spirit, He is the Lord of David. The Pharisees knew the Lord only as the Son of David. They were like today's modernists. Thank God that He is also the Lord of David.
Verse 46:"And no one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone from that day dare to question Him anymore." The reason they could not answer was that they knew the answer yet were unwilling to answer.
