The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

Have you ever jumped on a dance floor at a wedding, attempting to get the party started only to open your eyes after that sweet dance solo and see that you were, well, solo? It’s embarrassing and frightening to find yourself in this kind of public place of rejection. Thankfully, though I’ve torn up many dance floors in a past life, I did not experience this embarrassment. In the time of Jesus, the rejection to the king’s invitation in this parable went deeper than embarrassment.

The king in this parable of Jesus sent two invitations. According to the culture, this was not unique. It was customary to invite selected guests to a wedding feast. Per the proper manners of the time, an invitation was not to be rejected, especially one from the king. Because of the food prep, and the unpredictability of its readiness, a second invitation would be sent notifying the invitees that the party was ready.*

What was unique in this story was the lack of response from the invitees, their complete disregard for such a prestigious honor, and their unconcern for retaliation at their shameful treatment and murder of the king’s messengers. When the listeners of the parable heard Jesus say, “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city,” they would have thought this right and appropriate.* Such a response of the king had merit.

How often do we see things that God does in Scripture and think, “that wasn’t very nice?” This parable reminds us: the invitation of God into His family awaits all. The unfathomable reality is not that people reap the consequences to their rejection of His invitation and the maltreatment of His messengers. The reality that makes no sense is that any would reject the invitation in the first place.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to remember all that He has done to bring you into His family. Perhaps He is inviting you to extend that invitation to someone else. Maybe today God is asking you to join the family; the invitation isn’t enough - it must be accepted.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 546–550, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 22:1–7).) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).