THE INVITATION TO
THE GREAT BANQUET
The Greek word for “church” in the New Testament is ekklesia, which is derived from kaleo and means “to call.” Kaleo can be understood as used in a classroom, when the teacher calls a student to the front of the class. The expression church has much the same meaning: its focus is also on people being called out, especially from among the nonbelieving. All who make up the church have been called.
Everyone is invited,33 but not everyone answers Christ’s call. For some, the voice of the Shepherd is drowned out by the cares of this life. They simply avoid the challenge of resisting sin34 and exercising faith with all the other things Christians do that seem so laborious to them. Others fail to find fellowship with Jesus because they have fallen into the deception of false teaching.
Religious Groups of Christ’s Time
One looking into the history of religious sects at and around the time of Christ can draw parallels to the mindset of many Christians today. Two thousand years ago, there were several devout groups in Israel. The Pharisees and Sadducees were the largest denominations, and they were mentioned in the New Testament on several occasions. In the days Jesus walked the earth, most of Israel was keeping the Old Testament covenants. They observed the Sabbaths. They kept the feast days.
The nation of Israel was looking for a deliverer35 as promised in the Scriptures; to free them from Roman rule. Four hundred years had passed since Israel had seen a prophet. Then the day came when John the Baptist began baptizing in the Jordan River. John had no phylacteries36 upon his forehead nor did he look as spotless as the lawyers and scribes who came to see him. John’s elegance was from within.
Israel’s visible church had all the outward splendor of a sanctified group;37 many were well dressed and freshly bathed, but some of the most distinguished ones were lacking what really counted—inward attributes like “justice, mercy, and faithfulness.”38 When John saw “many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: ‘You brood of vipers’” (Matt. 3:7). These men were the highest-ranking leaders in Israel, but John weighed them on a scale of truth and found them lacking. These men attended the synagogue weekly and kept all of the required ordinances, and they were the most prominent of Israel’s upper class. Yet John told them to repent of their wrongdoing and then be baptized; they refused. Instead of taking John’s advice,39 they publicly discredited him.
When Jesus spoke to them, he said, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are” (Matt. 23:15). Christ claimed these Pharisees were ungodly men. He went on to say, “On the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matt. 23:28).
If the scribes and Pharisees had been humble, God-seeking men, they might have repented and found righteousness.40 The irony is that they were so devout in their outward practices, they mistakenly thought they were sanctified. They were missing the meaning of the Old Covenant laws; these teachers of Israel needed to do some learning themselves. All of their observances41 were pointing to Christ, yet when they looked him in the face, they failed to recognize him. The scribes and Pharisees were members in Israel’s visible church, but many weren’t really a part of the true congregation. When Christ reproved them, explaining that genuine righteousness is from within, they quickly dismissed his words.
How many men and women today who are active in religion42 wouldn’t recognize Jesus if he showed up at their doors? How many people today would also quickly dismiss his words,43 trusting beyond hope that mere ritual would save their souls? Among the visible church there are those who have failed the grace44 of God. Instead of growing to maturity, they remain bound in religious ceremony.
A Smaller Body within the Large Assembly
Even within the sanctified church, different people have different levels of commitment. I’m not speaking about salvation here: Christ’s blood covers a multitude of sins—his grace is sufficient for us. Nevertheless, in the church at large, some are hot and others are lukewarm.
In the book of Revelation we find seven letters written to seven churches. Many scholars believe these churches represent church ages throughout history, with the seventh church representing the last church on earth. Let’s read the letter to this church:
The Church in Laodicea
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. (Rev. 3:15–19)
The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
On several occasions Jesus spoke of a heavenly marriage feast. He said, “Many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 8:11). Jesus alluded to this feast in parable after parable. He painted pictures of this event from many different perspectives. One man, after hearing of the marriage feast, said to Jesus, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God.”45 Jesus replied, saying: “A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests . . .”.46 Christ went on to explain how the guests whom this man originally invited made excuses as to why they couldn’t attend. So he had his servants go out in the streets and fill his house with anyone who would heed the call, including the poor, the crippled, and the blind. The lowerclass people of the city gladly accepted the invitation, and ultimately the house was filled. Finally the man cried out, “Not one of those men who were [originally] invited will get a taste of my banquet.” 47 This great feast is symbolic of an event that is on the horizon. The servants are gathering guests at this very hour. The Master’s house will be filled.
Outward Appearances
In this world by all outward appearances, many of us look unworthy to be invited to the Master’s house; in the eyes of many religionists, we’re the ones who are poor, crippled, and blind. Yet we’re the ones who obey the Master’s call. We’re the ones who forsake the cares of this world and set out on a journey to spiritual perfection. Therefore the Master of the house (Jesus Christ) will reward us.
In another rendition of the great marriage feast, Christ adds
more details:
Then he said to his servants, “The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.” So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. “Friend,” he asked, “how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man was speechless. 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.” For many are invited, but few are chosen. (Matt. 22:8–14)
Through the illustrations of a natural wedding banquet, Jesus is teaching us spiritual principles: The most obvious point Jesus expressed in his parables was that the cares of this life sidetracked many of the invited guests. This theme is presented many times. It’s a stinging admonition and call to repentance for every man, woman, and child who unwittingly avoids God’s invitation. The nation of Israel was implicated as the original invited guests; however, the sayings of Jesus are still relevant today. Now anyone with a callous heart who ignores the call of God may find himself or herself outside of Christ’s fellowship.
“Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son’” (Matt. 22:1–2). Surely the king in this parable represents God; the king’s son represents Jesus Christ. Jesus also said: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you,
‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:8–11).
Principles are being taught here. Christ wasn’t all that worried about our precise etiquette during a wedding feast on earth. The guests’ seating arrangement at the feast in his parable is an example of the coming kingdom. Jesus is teaching us eternal values, exhorting us to achieve our best standing in both this life and the life to come by humbling ourselves and becoming subservient to our peers.
The Wedding Parable Is a Model
Envision a bride-to-be having a dream about her wedding day, yearning to be swept away from her ho-hum existence; suddenly a shining prince on a white horse sweeps her into his arms and takes her into a paradise land with crystal-clear waters and wondrous surroundings. She dreams on. In this wonderland they will live forever young with a depth of love that has no bounds. This bride’s dream shadows the actual paradise waiting on the horizon for the ones Christ loves. A man and woman in wedded bliss are a natural model that has a supernatural counterpart.
From the very beginning, God’s plan was to live in48 and dwell49 with his human children. God has longed to cherish his children. Through Christ, God will fulfill his plan. Jesus will ride up on a white horse50 as a shining prince51 and receive his bride52 unto himself: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Rev. 19:9).
Jesus Christ—a Greater Solomon
In the Song of Solomon, where it reads “My beautiful one, come with me,” this is an illustration of the Rapture of the church. Solomon had many wives. The Scripture reads, “Sixty queens there may be, and eighty concubines, and virgins beyond number; but my dove, my perfect one is unique, the only daughter of her mother, the favorite of the one who bore her.”53 In the figurative language of the Song of Solomon, King Solomon represents Jesus Christ. The various classes of women in our text may represent the entire visible church; “the favorite of the one who bore her” is most likely a representation of a smaller number of people. In this illustration Solomon asks only one bride to come away with him, the perfect one—this designation may signify that this group of people has developed more spiritually than the general assembly. Listen to what the general assembly cries out as Solomon takes his bride from among them: “Come back, come back, O Shulamite; come back, come back, that we may gaze upon you” (Song of Sol. 6:13).
Will Jesus Catch Away a Halfhearted Church with Filthy
Garments?Some theologians are absolutely convinced that every man, woman, and child who has confessed Christ as Savior is guaranteed a position in the early Resurrection and Rapture. However, based on clear Scripture, this may not be the case. There are problems with this understanding, not only in the interpretation of our last text, but also in the less figurative words of Paul.
Jesus called Paul on the Damascus road as an apostle. Paul became an apostle of exceptional character. The Apostle Paul penned one-third of the New Testament under the inspiration of God. He dedicated his life to the furtherance of the Gospel. There’s no doubt that Paul was a dedicated Christian; yet he was concerned about his own standing in Christ concerning the Rapture. He knew by revelation from the Holy Spirit that not every Christian would be found worthy of the first resurrection, and Paul, through the guiding of the Spirit, wrote out his concern for our enlightenment. His request to God is clearly stated. Paul is speaking: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead” (Phil. 3:10–11). Sometimes the NIV does not bring out the full meaning of the original Greek language in which the New Testament was written. This is the case with our last passage. Two different words are used for the word “resurrection” in these verses. The word in verse 10 is anastasis, which literally means “a standing up again.” This word is used for resurrection thirty-nine times in the New Testament. In verse 11, speaking about the resurrection Paul is striving for, the word exanastasis is used. This word is used only once in Scripture—in this verse; the emphasis is on standing up as well as rising or ascending.
Even though our modern Bible does not bring out the full meaning of the Greek, by using common sense we can circumvent the incomplete rendering of this text. For example, what resurrection could Paul be referring to? There are only two in Scripture. Is it possible Paul thought he might miss out on both? This is unlikely, seeing that apparently everyone who is not a part of the first resurrection will take part in the second. The most likely answer is that Paul was striving to be accounted worthy of the “first resurrection,” 54 which is the standing up and ascending of the faithful, which we call the Rapture.
The Letter to the Laodiceans—Revisited
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15–16). What might this saying of Jesus symbolize? Quite frankly, the words “Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with me”55 and “I am about to spit you out of my mouth” are opposed to each other. The most popular understanding of this last text is that this is a rebuke to the last church on earth.
Jesus is setting standards for his brothers and sisters to follow. Jesus is admonishing all those who have a shallow commitment to him to enter into a deeper relationship. There is no question Christ was addressing a church in this rebuke, for this Scripture is taken from a letter addressed to a church. Earlier in Revelation Jesus was seen standing among them56 symbolically speaking.57 The problem with this church is that these people are sure they are in need of nothing, yet they lack intimacy with Jesus. They are immature; they are not striving to walk worthy of the calling like the more mature ones because they thought they were toeing the line.
End Notes
Chapter 3
The Invitation to the Great Banquet
33 Rev. 3:20 NIV
34 “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles”
(Heb. 12:1 NIV).
35 Mal. 3:1 NIV
36 Matt. 23:5 (a small scroll containing the law pressed against the forehead of
the wearer with a headband).
37 “In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on
the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness” (Matt. 23:28 NIV).
38 Matt. 23:23 NIV
39 Mark 11:30–31 NIV
40 “and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes
from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness
that comes from God and is by faith” (Phil. 3:9 NIV).
41 “Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. Why not?
Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works” (Rom.
9:31–32 NIV).
42 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You
have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of
men” (Mark 7:6–7 NIV).
43 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27
NIV).
44 Heb. 12:15 NIV
45 Luke 14:15 NIV
46 Luke 14:16 NIV
47 (Luke 14:24, author’s insert NIV).
48 “the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you” (Rom.
8:11 NIV).
49 “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and
they will be my people” (2 Cor. 6:16 NIV).
50 Rev. 19: 11 NIV
51 Rev. 1:15 NIV
52 Rev. 21:2 NIV
53 Song of Sol. 6:8–9 NIV
54 Rev. 20:5–6 NIV
55 Song of Sol. 2:13c NIV
56 “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I
turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was
someone like a son of man” (Rev. 1:12–13 NIV).
57 “The seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Rev. 1:20 NIV).