I am approaching this morning’s sermon with a bit of trepidation – with a bit of concern. As always, I want to get it right and to give you the truth, but sometimes I have less confidence than usual. There are two reasons for my concern this morning: First, this is a parable, and parables always present certain challenges, which I will get to in a moment. And then the subject of this particular parable is the “kingdom of heaven.” After fifty years of Bible study, and with a book or two in my library and under my belt, I’m still not bold in my definition of that kingdom. I will come back to that again as well.
But let’s start differently – with a fancy word I heard in Bible school many years ago – “Hermeneutics.” “Hermeneutics” refers to the branch of knowledge that deals with the interpretation of texts – like the Bible. It is the science of studying in order to explain what the test is saying. “Hermeneutics” is not about what the Bible says, but how to discern and learn what the Bible says. It provides the rules to follow in our Bible study.
In my opinion, the first rule of “Biblical Hermeneutics” is that the Bible means what it says. We should not look for allegorical, mystical, esoteric or hidden meanings when we read the Bible. It should be taken literally unless the context suggests otherwise. Take for example the word “serpent” which came up in our lesson last Wednesday. At God’s command, when Moses threw his shepherds’ staff down, it miraculously became a snake, not a demon, not the Devil who beguiled Eve, and not an image of Pharaoh who worshiped such serpents. Sometimes the Bible does speak in allegories, parables and illustrations, but that is not very often. And most of the time, it tells us when this or that is a parable or some other kind of illustration. As here.
Another important rule of “Hermeneutics” is to never use a parable as the foundation for an important doctrine. Parables should be used only to illustrate doctrines which are clearly taught in other scriptures. And this is why the Lord Jesus said here, “The kingdom of heaven is LIKE… a certain king…” Parables are often rather indistinct, leaving the door open to various interpretations and meanings. So we use them to illustrate rather than to pontificate. “The three-horned beast of Daniel 7 is…”
Now, going back to my initial statement: My problem with “the kingdom of heaven” is that nearly everything we’re told about that kingdom comes to us through Jesus’ parables. “The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed GOOD SEED in his field.” “The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of MUSTARD SEED.” “The kingdom of heaven is like unto TREASURE hid in a field.” “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a NET that was cast into the sea.” “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto TEN VIRGINS, which took their lamps and went fort to meet the bridegroom.” Only if we assume that the term “the kingdom of HEAVEN” means the same thing as “the kingdom of GOD” do we find any substantial instruction which does not come from a parable.
I say all of that to point out that I’m not going to make a detailed application of all that is contained in this story. But I am proceeding with the premise that the “kingdom of Heaven” refers to the rule of the God of heaven. With a hundred scriptures behind me, I will tell you that Jehovah is the sovereign King of this world. And He has sent His Son into the world for several reasons, the first of which is to call and save sinners. God wants all the people of this globe to love and serve Him through His Son – to come to His wedding… And to this end He sows the good seed in His field, and casts His net into the sea and sends forth His servants with invitations come to His son’s wedding. I believe all those things all refer to the preaching of the gospel.
The people who joyfully and properly come to the wedding are blessed citizens of the kingdom of God. But at the same time, those who refuse to come, refusing to trust, are also residents in that kingdom. The King of that kingdom has every right to “send forth his armies…” to burn up their rebellious cities. And He has the right to judge those who try to come to the wedding in their own righteousness, refusing to wear the proper wedding garment – which He willingly supplies. The laws of the kingdom have been laid down for all the residents to read and apply, but very few actually do. So the king is fully justified to say to His servants: “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Why do I bring all this to your attention? Because you are described somewhere in this parable. This is about US – you and me – in the light of God, the King, and His Son, Jesus Christ. You have been invited, and many of you have joyfully accepted that invitation, coming to the Saviour. But others have rejected the invitation, and will ultimately, and eternally, regret their decision. YOUR eternity is linked to how you respond to the invitation which the Holy Spirit is extending to you to join in a great relationship with God the Son.
Along with this primary lesson, there are at least a dozen other sermons contained in these fourteen verses. Perhaps one day someone will publish “Twelve Sermons by C.H. Spurgeon on the Kingdom of Heaven” to go along with the dozen other little books of “Twelve sermons by Spurgeon.” But I can assure you that I will not be preparing a book like that with my messages or those of anyone else. And yet, this morning, I would like to focus and apply one small statement from verse 5. The invitation had been given, “but they made light of it.” What does that mean, “but they made light of it,” and how does it relate to us?
The meaning of the term.
In today’s vernacular, “to make light of something” might be “to dis” it. But that is not what the Greek word meant back in Jesus’ day. Some of these people might have laughed at the invitation and ridiculed those who delivered it, but that is not actually what the Bible means here. The English words “made light of” are from a word in Greek which is used in four other verses. In Hebrews 8:9 the Lord said, “and I REGARDED them not.” When the people of Israel refused the Lord’s invitation and “continued not in (His) covenant… “I REGARDED them not, saith the Lord.” He didn’t give them a second thought. He didn’t bless them. He certainly didn’t redeem or save them. He turned from them in the same way that they turned from Him.
In the other three scriptures, this word, “to make light” is translated in some form of “neglect.” As in I Timothy 4:14 – “NEGLECT not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.” “Don’t make light of that gift, ignoring what which the Lord has given to you for His service.” And in II Peter 1:12, the apostle uses the word negatively, vowing to his friends, “Wherefore I will NOT be NEGLIGENT to put you always in remembrance of these things…”
The final use of this word is so clearly related to our scripture in Matthew 22, that I’d like you to turn to it. Hebrews 2:1 – “(You) ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which (you) have heard, lest at any time (you) should let them slip.” How many times have you heard the gospel during your life? Or any other Biblical truth for that matter. How often has the Holy Spirit convicted you of your need of the Saviour? Paul says, “Give heed to what you have heard. Don’t let God’s voice slip away from your heart or mind.” “For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast (permanent), and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward…” If every disobedience to the commands given to us by angels was judged by the God who sent them… How shall we escape, if we NEGLECT so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” How can we hope to escape the wrath of the King, when we ignore His invitation to come to the Saviour? How can we escape when we “make light” of God’s offer; when we turn to other things? “How shall we ESCAPE, if we NEGLECT so great salvation,” which has been so faithfully shared – but has been so willfully rejected?
The words “to make light of” simply mean: “to ignore” or “to neglect.” There doesn’t have to be any disrespect towards the gospel or the King’s servants. There doesn’t have to be any ridicule, or anger, or retaliation, or persecution. “To make light of” simple means, “to walk away from it.” “But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.”
To borrow from another of the Lord parables: “They all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come” – Luke 14. In the case of this second parable, all these excuses were offered politely and without any animosity – “I pray thee, I pray thee, please have me excused. My wife wouldn’t like it if I came to your feast.” Yes, in Matthew 22, others took the King’s servants and abused them, persecuting them and killing them. But I’m not talking about them. I’m speaking only of those who “made light” of the Lord’s offer.
Why did they do that? Why did they behave that way?
Of course, to answer this question I have only my imagination, because the Lord Jesus doesn’t tell us. But we don’t have to think very hard to come up with some reasonable explanations. If they only knew what it was they were turning down and neglecting, they’d quickly change their minds. They were walking away from an eternal feast, returning to a hard scrabble farm that may never produce another carrot or potato. They were turning to a business which this economy could crush during the next fiscal down-turn. If in this life only we have hope, we shall live – and die – miserably. If they only knew from what they were turning and to what they were returning.
If people knew what a loving, gracious, merciful God, Jehovah is, the whole world would come running to Him. There are many who, in their limited wisdom, think they know the Lord. They see children dying with leukemia and cancer, and they blame God. They see the homeless freezing to death under a railroad bridge, and they curse God for the weather. They hear about people, in the name of religion, slaughtering other people for their religion. If they only knew the rest of the story; if they only understood that Jehovah is always absolutely just. His judgment against those wicked cities lays on the people of those cities, because they refused the King. If they knew to what lengths He has gone to prepare this feast, they would accept His invitation. The righteousness and justice of God are as much a part of salvation from sin as it is in the punishment for sin. People’s lack of understanding is one reason for their disrespectful neglect.
And another reason is their lack of faith. The gospel invitation is an honest offer. It was worthy of all acceptation and trust. When the King says “come,” it is without respect to educational level or strength of intellect. If they had the ability to understand the word “come,” they should have turned to Him. It didn’t matter if they were publicans or a Pharisees, Republicans or Democrats, men or women. It didn’t matter if they were children or old men. It didn’t matter if they were harlots or patriots. “Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.” I suppose they didn’t even have to be hungry or understand how starving they were – “come.”
Why did they make light of the King’s invitation? Wasn’t it because they thought of themselves more highly than they should have? Wasn’t there, as there almost always is… wasn’t there an element of pride? There were no words of unworthiness on their part. No one said, that the King must have been mistaken to invite him. No one said, “but I don’t have a wedding garment.” It was just the opposite. The implication was that their farm or their business was more important than the invitation of the King. In the second parable, the man had a trophy wife, and she was more important than the King of kings. How ludicrous. How inconceivable. How sad. Come to the wedding and bring your wife with you.
When the first two invitations were rejected the King broadened His appeal.
“Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good; and the wedding was furnished with guests.” The Lord has told His servants, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to EVERY creature.” “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in (the Son’s name) among ALL nations…” indiscriminately.
I hope you have already noticed the words: “So those servants … gathered together all as many as they found, both BAD and GOOD…” Again, the gracious King has not confined His invitations to people who were worthy. None are worthy. I don’t know if there is much meaning in the arrangement, but the “bad” were put before the “good.” And who created those designations: “bad” and “good?” Aren’t those human designations? The King knows that there are none good, none that seek after God. To the King they were all just hungry guests who needed to be fed.
What came as a result of these people’s neglect?
Letting the parable speak for itself, three things befell those who rejected the invitation. When the King heard that some people had murdered His servants, they felt His fiery wrath. “He sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” Do I need to talk about man of Luke 16, who “died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments…?” Whether I am justified or not, I see a parallel between the judgment of these people, that man in Luke 16, and the final judgment of all unbelievers. “He died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments.”
And then there was the wedding crasher, who tried to invade the banquet without the righteous robe of the invited guest. It appears he was proud enough of his self-righteousness to walk right in and sit in one of the upper seats at the table. He didn’t RSVP, and he didn’t pick up the wedding garment which the King had tailored for all the guests. Like the Pharisee praying in the temple, or like Cain at his family’s altar, he expected to be well-received without consideration of the wedding rules. Many more sermons could be preached about these people. Many more should be preached.
But there was also a larger majority who simply “made light” of the invitation and went about their business without consideration of the King or His son. We aren’t told in this parable what happened to those people, except for the fact they missed the King’s gracious blessings. But, right or wrong, to finish the story I could to turn to Revelation 20 to look for an application. On the last day, at the final judgment, the dead, small and great, will stand before God. All the dead. The sea will give up the dead which are in it and death and hell will deliver up the dead which are in them. And the books will be opened. In particular there will be the guest registry for the wedding of the King’s son. “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire?” It doesn’t take great hatred against the King or His Son to find one’s self in eternal judgment. All it takes is neglect. All it takes is a simple “making light” of the wonderful offer of divine grace.
As I close this morning, I revert to a word which I have used several times over the last few weeks. The King’s invitation was a simple “come.” “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” “If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.” “Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.”
Perhaps you have heard the King’s offer before. Perhaps it has been many, many times. Will you again, make light of the Lord’s gracious invitation? Will you again neglect the Lord’s offer? You might die at sea in pursuit of your merchandise, or you might die laying under your tractor, as you try to harvest another meager crop. But the sea and the grave will offer up their dead, and you will stand before the King. Is your name engraved in guest registry of the wedding? Is your name in the Lamb’s book of life? The Holy Spirit is saying this morning, “All things are ready; come unto the marriage.” Will you say by faith, “Yes, Jesus I come, Jesus I come?”