The Banquet is Ready, Are You?

Sermon Notes

Matthew 22:1-14

I. The banquet is ____________(v. 1-7)

A.____________of the King (v. 2-6)

1.____________(v. 5)

2.____________(v. 6)

B.____________ of rejecting God (v. 7)

 II. The ____________ is served (v. 8-13)

A.____________ invitation (v. 8-10)

B. An ____________ found out (v. 11-13) 

III. A poignant ____________ (v. 14)

Going Deeper

1. Dan Doriani provides the context of Matt. 22:1-14:
   “When Jesus enters Jerusalem with public acclaim and follows this with a
   symbolic judgment of the temple and its leaders, the leaders challenge
   him in return. They tell him to silence the children who praise him and ask
   by what authority he acts. Jesus, recognizing these as signs of a broader
   rejection of his mission, replies with three parables.” Matt. 22:1-14 is the
   third parable. Read it.
   Read the previous parable (Matt. 21:33-44). Compare and contrast with the
   wedding banquet parable (Matt. 22:1-14). How are these parables different?
   How are they similar? What is Jesus saying about the religious rulers?
2. Read v. 5. They reject the king because of indifference. Douglas
   O’Donnell warns us: “Don’t let your occupation preoccupy your soul. Don’t
   lose your life by making a living.” How might our work distract us from
   the Kingdom of God?
3. Read v. 6. Dan Doriani says: “The disinterested guests portray the
   many Israelites who ignore Jesus and his announcement of the
   kingdom. The hostile invitees signify the Jewish leaders who hate Jesus
   and plot his death. So the parable depicts the rejection of Jesus, a
   rejection that is disappointing in some ways and outrageous in others.”
   In what ways have you been indifferent or hostile toward God?
4. Read v. 7. Is this troubling to you? Why? Dan Doriani says: “Without
   repentance, sinners taste God’s wrath.” Go deeper by reading
   Ex. 32:11; 2 Chron. 24:18; Ezra 8:22;  Pss. 59:13 ; 78:59; Jer.
   7:20; Rom. 1:18; 12:19; Eph. 5:6; Rev. 14:10.
   Verse 7 foretells the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Throughout the
   Bible we see God use foreign armies as His instruments of judgment (see
   Prov. 21:1; Isa. 10:5-11; 44:28-45; 45:1; Jer. 25:9; Dan. 4:17).
   Douglas O’Donnell: “We live in a culture that gets so angry with the notion
   of an angry God, who thinks a God of justice to be unjust, who hates the
   idea of a loving God being wrathful. Our kinder, gentler culture thinks
   they want, as C. S. Lewis put it, ‘not so much a father in Heaven as a
   grandfather in Heaven—a senile benevolence.’” Do you agree? Why or
   why not? Is a God of wrath troubling to you?
5. Read v. 8-10. What does the king do? R. T. France says:
   “[This parable] speaks of people who do not live up to expectation and so
   lose their place of privilege, to be replaced by a more surprising group; the
   first are last and the last first.”
   Dan Doriani says: “If God calls ‘both bad and good,’ his invitation has no
   terms or preconditions. There is nothing one can do in order to obtain an
   invitation to the feast.” How is this good news?
6. As believers in Christ we are to put on the new self. Read Colossians
   3:12-14. What are we instructed to put on? How will you apply this today?
7. Read Matt. 25:31-46 Parable of sheep and goats. How does this parable
   relate to Matt. 22:11-13?
   Craig Keener says: “Professing Christians who insult God’s grace by
   presuming on it, failing to honor his Son, will be banished to outer darkness
   and weeping with gnashing of teeth (Matt 8:12; 13:42; 24:51; 25:30).”
8. John Calvin says: “There is no point in arguing about the marriage
   garment, whether it is faith or a holy and godly life; for faith cannot be
   separated from good works and good works proceed only from faith.”
9. Frederick Bruner says: “True faith in God’s imputed righteousness
   moves believers to want to be righteous personally—not as a basis for
   standing before God (only Christ can give that), but as an evidence of
   wanting to please the Father who was gracious enough to invite. The gift
   of the Holy Spirit, given with faith, moves believers to want to be holy.”
   Do you want to be holy? How is that desire applied in your life?
10. Douglas O’Donnell says: “Every disciple who openly professes Jesus as
    Lord (“Lord, Lord”) will stand before the King and Judge. Jesus Christ will
    have judicial robes on. The question is, will you have the proper attire?”
    Do you have the righteousness of Jesus? If you have never received Jesus
    as Savior and Lord you can pray right now and ask Him to forgive you,
    come into your life and save you for eternity!