
A Religious Heart
Finding Freedom
April 9, 2023
1Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. 3He 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.
6The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. 7The 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. 9Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, 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. ‘Friend,’ 12he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ 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.’ —Matthew 22:1-13
WHY DID JESUS TELL THIS STORY?
It was the most religious people, who had the deepest resistance to Jesus.
WHY IS A RELIGIOUS HEART SO DANGEROUS?
- A Religious Heart is a Hard Heart
7 You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
8‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. —Matthew 15:7-8
2.A Religious Heart Divides the World into Good People & Bad People
9Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. —Romans 3:9
10As the Scriptures say,
11 “No one is righteous— not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
12All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one.” —Romans 3:10-12
3.A Religious Heart is Wearing the Wrong Outfit
11“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ 12he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. —Matthew 22:11-12
23And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, 24it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. —Romans 4:23-24
25He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God. —Romans 4:25