Tuesday of Holy Week
”What are you wearing?”
Our good works cannot get us into heaven.
Key Verse: Revelation 19:9 (NASB)
And he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’”
Bible Passage: Matthew 22:1-14 (NASB)
And Jesus answered and spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king, who gave a wedding feast for his son. And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come. And again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.” ’ But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business, and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them. But the king was enraged and sent his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and set their city on fire. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’ And those slaves went out into the streets, and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests. But when the king came in to look over the dinner guests, he saw there was a man not dressed in wedding clothes, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without wedding clothes?’ And he was speechless. “Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; in that place there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”
Lesson Thought
It is now Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus is teaching and telling parables to His disciples on the slope of the Mount of Olives, just east of the city of Jerusalem. One of His parables is about a wedding banquet that a king gave for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to personally invite his guests. The king sent out fine invitations, but amazingly the guests were not willing to come to the king’s banquet! So the king commanded his servants to go out to the main highways, highways similar to Route 10, Route 46, and Route 80, and invite whoever would come. The banquet hall quickly filled up with guests. As the king walked among his guests, he noticed one of his guests was not wearing wedding clothes. The custom of the time was for the wedding host to provide the proper wedding clothes for his guests. The king had done this, sending wedding clothes with his gracious invitations. However, this particular guest didn’t bother to wear them and just came in his own clothes. So the king commanded his servants to throw the guest into prison. What is Jesus teaching in this parable? The king, who is God the Father, is throwing a wedding banquet for His Son, Jesus, in heaven. In order to attend this wedding banquet, the guests must wear the wedding clothing provided for them by God the Father. This clothing is the righteousness of Christ, not the clothing of self-righteousness.
Application: what does this lesson say to us today?
1) Why would God the Father provide “clothes of righteousness” for us? What do you think these are? What do they look like? Would God really punish someone who refused to wear the clothes that He has provided?
2) How do we get the clothes that God has provided for us? Can anyone wear them? Does one size fit everyone?
Family Activities: putting the lesson into action
1) Have family members brainstorm about who the people are who make up a wedding party, such as the bride, groom, maid-of-honor, best man, bridesmaids, ushers, flower girls, ring bearer, etc. Imagine if the bride came to the wedding in a bathing suit, or if the bridegroom came to the wedding in a pair of jeans with big holes in the knees, or if the maid-of-honor came in her pajamas. Talk about why these clothes would be inappropriate to wear in a wedding
2) Talk about the “clothes of righteousness” that God has provided for His children. What do you think they look like? Discuss what “self-righteous” clothes would look like? Thank God for His “clothes of righteousness.”
Suggestions for further study
Revelation 19; 20:10-15
Philippians 3:9
Ephesians 4:24
Colossians 3:10-15
Jim Bates
