Matthew 22:11-13 (NIV) “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

You may have read the parable that Jesus spoke to the people who were at the Temple about the king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. The invited guests refused to come, with some of them even insulting and killing some of the messengers who made the announcement to the people that the banquet was ready. The king was furious and sent his army to kill the murderers and to burn down the town. Then he gave instructions to his servants to go out and invite everyone that they could find, good or bad. When the people arrived, there was one man that was not dressed appropriately because he didn’t have wedding clothes on. When the king saw that the man had no excuse for why he was inappropriately dressed, he had his servants throw him out into outer darkness.

To understand the story, you need to know that back in Jesus’ day, people who were privileged enough to be invited to an event at a king’s palace were provided with festive garments to wear as they came in. This man obviously refused to wear the clothing that was provided. By appearing at the banquet without the clothes that were graciously given to him, he showed disrespect to the king. It was arrogant to refuse to accept the king’s standard. But what was Jesus getting at with this parable? He was referring to the clothes that He has provided for everyone who is invited to share in His Kingdom. On our own, we are not dressed properly to enter into the perfect and sinless atmosphere of heaven so we need to put on the clothes of righteousness that Jesus provided for us by dying to pay the penalty of our sins on the Cross of Calvary. As we repent and surrender our lives to Him, our sins are forgiven and washed away and we are given His righteousness to wear instead of the filthy rags that we had on before we were cleansed. Refusing the garment of righteousness and thinking that you can still be a part of the eternal banquet that is prepared for the children of God is akin to trying to get into heaven in your own righteousness and on your own terms.

The king in this parable was quick to have the man thrown out into outer darkness because he had graciously been provided with every opportunity to be dressed appropriately for this grand event, but he stubbornly refused to wear what was required. Don’t reject the mercy and grace of God by thinking that you can get into heaven by your own merit. Doing good things is not nearly enough to atone for all the sinful things that we have done and continue to do when we don’t receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The only way to get into the great wedding feast that will be celebrated at the end of time (Revelations 19:7-8) is to confess our sins, ask God to forgive us and then live our lives in obedience to God’s Word by being empowered by the Holy Spirit. Make sure that you wear the clothes that Jesus has given you so that you won’t miss out on the greatest celebration of all time!

Pastor Joey Vazquez