Many Are Called, But… (Matthew 22:1-14)

This story is a continuation of Jesus’ indictment of the religious community. There are two types of people in the story. First, the invited who don’t want to attend. These are the people who care about status. About the “who’s who.” In reality, everyone is invited to be a part of the Kingdom of God. But you have to want to be there. There is an element of religion that is only concerned with what the crowds think. It’s cool to be on the list, but they don’t want to give up their own desires and plans to enter God’s Kingdom.

The second type are the humble. They know that they don’t deserve to be in the Kingdom. This is the attitude needed to gain admittance. But you can’t be there without being changed. The man who refused to change at the feast is the type of religious man who understands grace but thinks that he has no role to play. He thinks the mercy won for Him by Jesus’ sacrifice is all there is to the Gospel. The first group exhibited the error of pride. The unchanged man displays the error of arrogant religion. It is true that we do nothing to earn our salvation, but we cannot remain the same once we are saved.