I’ve Been Invited to the Royal Wedding!

Yup!

I’ll be there.

In front of the TV this Saturday morning at 7am that is.

I actually would like to attend a royal wedding.

I realize there is a lot of drama behind the scenes, and what appears to be a “fairy tale” is somewhat of an illusion.  I am not suggesting Harry and Meghan aren’t in love, or that marrying a prince is a bad thing.

I’m just pointing out it’s not the only thing, and that nothing is exactly as it appears.

Unless we are talking about another royal wedding.

In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus told a parable about a king who planned a wedding feast for his son. He sent out the invitations and when the time for the feast came, no one showed up.  In fact, some of his servants were abused and killed as they tried to deliver the invitations.  The king was furious!  He punished the “no-shows” and sent his servants out to invite everyone to come to the feast.  As a result, his hall was filled.

Sadly, one poor guy didn’t wear appropriate attire and was escorted out into “darkness.

Guess he missed the memo.

The standard interpretation of this Parable is that the king represents God and the son Jesus. The “no-shows” are the self-righteous spiritual guides of the day (Pharisees and Teachers of the Law).  They were jealous of Jesus’ popularity and refused to honor Him in any way.  The one guest who was cast out is someone who failed to grasp the significance of God’s grace, thus committing the same self-righteous sin as the Pharisees – just in a different way.

The point of the Parable of the Wedding Feast, is that we are all saved by grace when we accept the invitation of the King. None of us are righteous, but we are made righteous by the Son through His sacrifice on the cross.  Through Jesus, we all receive an invitation to the party!

If my wife and I were invited to the royal wedding, we would find a way to go. I’m thinking it isn’t going to happen because it is already Tuesday and the invitation hasn’t arrive yet.

It’s just an honest oversight, I am sure. It’s ok.  We’ll catch up with Harry and Meghan later when things settle down.

Besides, we have been invited to the other royal wedding Jesus described in Matthew 22. And we plan on attending!  We are already clothed with the grace of Jesus, and we have discarded all of our self-righteous rags.  They were a gift from our Creator King, and we wear them every day in preparation.

You might say we are walking around in Designer clothes, waiting for the feast to begin.

I wonder if there will be any shrimp at Jesus’ wedding feast.

Maybe some farmed freshwater seafood from the River of Life.

Top that Queen Liz!