The Stories Jesus Told #4 - The Wedding Clothes
Matthew 22:1-14
Dr. Kurt Bjorklund
Part of The Stories Jesus Told (Part 2)—April 6 - June 30, 2024
April 25, 2024

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Message Notes and Group Study Guide

Date: April 27-28, 2024
Speaker: Dr. Kurt Bjorklund
Series: The Stories Jesus Told (Part 2)
Message: #4 - The Wedding

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Scripture

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

4 “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

5 “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. 6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. 12 He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless.

13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” —Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)

47 And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where “‘the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.’ —Mark 9:47-48 (NIV)

Notes

3 Objections

  1. God’s Displeasure and Rejection of the
    Reveal Answer
    (Matt. 22:8)

  2. The Existence of
    Reveal Answer
    Torment (Matt. 22:12-13; Mark 9:48)

  3. The
    Reveal Answer
    of Some and the
    Reveal Answer
    of Others (Matt. 22:14)

Study Guide

Step One: Icebreaker (Optional)
If you could create a new tradition for weddings, what would it be and why?

Step Two: Open
Ask someone in your group to pray to open your time together. Ask another person to read Matthew 22:1-14.

Step Three: Discuss

  1. What stood out to you the most in this weekend’s teaching? What was challenging, encouraging, or confusing to you?

  2. Why do you think the man was so surprised to hear the king’s response to him being at the wedding without the proper attire? What do you think Jesus was getting at here by sharing this man’s reaction?

  3. In what ways does the king’s response to the guest without the proper attire shed light on the nature of God’s holiness and justice?

  4. Talk about the verse “many are called, but few are chosen” within your group. What can be said about God’s character in response to this verse?

  5. What parallels can you draw between the guest’s lack of a wedding garment and the human tendency to rely on their own behavior/performance?

  6. Read Titus 3:5. How is this story that Jesus told something that can remind us of the hope found in this verse?

Step Four: Close in Prayer