The Parable of the Wedding Feast
Jesus Christ once told a parable that the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who held 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. Again he sent other servants to tell those invited that the feast is ready so they should come. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized the king’s servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
Then the king he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good, and brought them and the wedding hall was filled with guests (Matthew 22:1-14).
If I may ask, why did the king say that those who were invited earlier were not worthy? You might have some answers such as they ill-treated the servants of the king and killed them, etc. The answer to why they were not worthy is that those who were invited had other businesses to attend to which was more important to them than the king’s feast; hence their refusal to come to the feast.
Having told this parable, Jesus has laid the foundation of a very important doctrine He was yet to teach His disciples. Another time, Jesus taught His disciples, saying,
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:37).
The love one has for his family is the strongest love in a person’s life, that is why Jesus used the family to cite an example in Matthew 10:37. In the context of Matthew 10:37, father, mother, son, and daughter could be anybody in your life who is so important to you.
What at all does it mean to love father, mother, son, or daughter more than Jesus? Perhaps these questions will help you to understand. If you are to choose between the word of God and the advice of your parents, which one would you go for? What if your family and friends are strongly against your decision to follow Jesus, would you apostatize for their sake? Are you living your life to please God or to please people such as your parents, husband, wife, friends, etc.? He who loves man more than God lives to please man and respects man’s word more than God’s word. Loving father, mother, etc. more than Jesus can be termed as loving Jesus less.
The event of the fall of man is one good example of loving God less. When God created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden, He gave them the command that they should not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And they obey for a time. One day Eve was deceived by the devil and she ate of the forbidden fruit. And she took some of it and gave it to her husband. Adam received it and ate it; by so doing, he proved that he loves his wife more than God for he listened to his wife to disobey the command of God. All Christians who are like Adam prove themselves not worthy of Jesus Christ.
Jesus continued His teachings, saying, “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:38).”
A cross was a symbol of suffering and death. It was a symbol of suffering because before anyone is crucified, he is made to carry his own cross from Jerusalem to Golgotha and it was no small task. Even Jesus, when they were going to crucify him, could not bear the weight of His cross; hence, Simon of Cyrene was called to carry the cross on His behalf.
The cross was also a symbol of death because when the person bearing the cross gets to Golgotha, he is crucified on the same cross he bore. Therefore taking up your cross and following Jesus can be explained as being willing and ready to suffer even to death for the course of following Jesus Christ. How loyal are you as a Christian; what would you die for? If you are not willing and ready to die for the course of following Jesus, you mean to say that Jesus is not worthy of you; then you are also not worthy of Jesus.
To this day, quite a lot of professing Christians cowardly turn away from the faith when they face persecution to the point where they are in danger of losing their job, property, life, position, etc. These are the Christians who could not take up their cross to follow Jesus Christ. In the Bible, Jesus referred to such Christians as believers who have no root. We might call them the rootless Christians, for they are not well established in the faith and they remain as Christians as long as all is well with them, but when domestic or public persecution gets in their way, they apostatize. Such Christians have proved themselves not worthy of being regarded as disciples of Christ Jesus. (See: Categories of Christians)
Meaning of not worthy of Christ
If you are not worthy of something, then you do not deserve to receive it or you are not the right person to receive it. When someone tells you that you are not worthy of him; he means to say you do not deserve him or you are not the right person for him.
When Jesus says you are not worthy of Him, He means you do not deserve to be His disciple or you are not the right person to follow Him as a disciple.
By extension, if you are not worthy of Jesus, you are also not worthy of all that pertain to Jesus such as salvation, spiritual gifts, and other blessings.
Am I guilty of not worthy of Jesus Christ?
When Jesus was talking about the subject of not worthy in Matthew 10:37-38, Jesus was particularly talking to His disciples and everything He said, He was referring to them. Today we Christians are the disciples of Jesus Christ and the message in Matthew 10:37 is for us. So which Christians are described as ‘not worthy’? According to the interpretation of the Parable of the Wedding Feast and Matthew 10:37-38:
- A Christian becomes ‘not worthy’ if there is something or someone in his life he loves or deems more important than Jesus Christ.
- A Christian becomes ‘not worthy’ if he is not willing nor ready to suffer and die for the course of following Jesus Christ.
What happens to those who are not worthy of Christ.
In this corrupt human society, people happen to get away with prizes, rewards, and awards they are not worthy to receive and this happens through bribery and corruption, racism, favoritism, etc. However, in the judgment of God, there is fairness; you will not be given something you are not worthy to receive; hence, Jesus said,
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you (Matthew 7:6 ESV).
Still, in the judgment of God, you shall lose whatever you have received if, later on, you prove that you are not worthy to receive it. Examples:
- God snatched the kingdom from Saul and his descendants when He realized Saul was not worthy of it for he was proud and disobedient (1 Samuel 15:11, 23).
- In the parable of the talents, when the master saw that the servant who received one talent was lazy, wicked and unworthy, he stripped him of that one talent and gave it to the servant who had ten talents for he had proved himself worthy (Matthew 25:24-30).
- One day Jesus sent his twelve disciples out to evangelize. And He told them, “And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you (Mt 10:12-13).”
Therefore, if someone comes to accept Jesus to become a Christian and receives the Holy Spirit, and salvation, and spiritual gifts, and other blessings, and later on, he proves himself not worthy, he shall lose Jesus – I mean, he shall lose the Holy Spirit and shall be stripped of his salvation, the spiritual gifts, and all the other blessings he has received.
Does a person receive salvation because he is worthy of it?
According to the Bible, it is by grace we are saved (Ephesians 2:8). This is true and it shall continue to be so. The Bible also says, “For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).”Despite our weaknesses and sins, God is in the course of calling all mankind to salvation and many are those who would hear the salvation call and convert, but, eventually, only a few will be saved.
Why? Will God be unjust to the majority and intentionally choose to save just a few? No. What would happen is that many of those who would hear the call to salvation and come to follow Christ will later prove themselves not worthy of salvation because of their deeds and their bad choices such as making Jesus second to their parents, etc., pursuing a sinful course of life, etc.
As for the few who shall be saved, they are those who have proved themselves worthy; that is they have resolved to follow Jesus for better, for worse. And their relationship with Jesus is the most important thing in their lives. Even if they fall into sin, they rise again and keep up with Jesus, faithfully following Him.
God expects Christians to be worthy
Truly, we did not receive salvation because we were worthy of it, but we received salvation by God’s grace through the faith we had in Jesus Christ. As part of our salvation, we were made and regarded as children of God and disciples of Jesus. However, now that we have received salvation and we are in Christ, we have to prove ourselves worthy – worthy of Christ and worthy of the salvation we have received from Him.
Indeed, it is expected of us to be worthy before the Lord. Apart from Jesus who taught the subject of worthiness, Apostle Paul also taught his fellow Christians to prove themselves worthy before the Lord. These are the teachings of Jesus and Paul about worthiness:
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, Eph 4:1
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Col 1:10
That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory. 1Th 2:12
Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 2 Th 1:5
Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power: 2 Th 1:11
Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. Rev 3:4
Conclusion
Imagine your boss looked at you and said it to your face that you were incompetent for the job and that you were dismissed. I think that is going to hurt you a lot. I’m afraid to say that something worse than that is likely to happen to a Christian who love Jesus less than their job, parents, friends, etc., and Christians who would deny their faith in the face of persecution, and Christians who compromise on their faith to seize a worldly opportunity to fame, riches, power, etc. All of such Christians would be counted as not worthy of Christ and the Christian faith. The good news is, it is in our power as Christians to decide to be worthy or not.
Food for thought
- Have you ever said someone is not worthy of you before? If yes, what exactly did you mean?
- What do you risk losing if you are not worthy of Christ?
- If a Christian is not worthy of Christ, what must he do to be worthy?
- Are you worthy of Christ? If yes, why do you think so?