COMMUNION
commentary & context


max a forsythe
Christ covenant reformed (PCA)
4787 Palmer Road S.W. - Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-3315

Copyright 2004

Wisdom’s Table
For the Lord’s Day: the 29th of July 2001

Matthew 22: 1-14

Proverbs 9: 1-6

"And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, '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.  Again he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, See I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready.  Come to the wedding feast. But they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his 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 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.'  And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good.  So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.  And he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?  And he was speechless.  Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."

 "Wisdom has built her house;
        she has hewn her seven pillars.
She has slaughtered her beasts;
        she has mixed her wine;
        she has also set her table.
She has sent out her young women to call
        from the highest places in the town,
Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!"
        T o him who lacks sense she says,
'Come, eat of my bread
        and drink of the wine I have mixed.
Leave your simple ways, and live,
        and walk in the way of insight.'"


Introduction: A business acquaintance of mine was once invited to a close friend’s wedding. The date was mentioned nine weeks in advance and he agreed to be there. Some weeks later the official wedding invitation came in the mail. Unfortunately the time was in the middle of the afternoon instead of in the evening as expected. To really complicate things, the man’s only employee died suddenly and his wife was scheduled to be out of town. Sadly, he had to notify his friend of his inability to attend the joyous occasion. Given this set of circumstance, perhaps we want to sympathize with those who found it inconvenient to attend this king’s wedding. However, there really are some differences between the parable and the businessman’s experience. This was the king’s wedding and as parable’s in the New Testament usually relate to the coming of God’s Kingdom, this wedding is not only the wedding of the century, but even more than the wedding of the millennium! This wedding in the parable is the wedding supper of the Lamb of God at the end of the age!

Believe me, we need to find time to plan for it and make ourselves available early on in this life. It is not as if there weren’t early enough notice. The Proverbs passage before us today is an early harbinger of the great wedding feast yet to come. The first invitation preceded the parable by hundreds of years. And as we look closely at this passage we can well understand that Wisdom’s wedding is much like the one in Matthew, it is more than a neighborhood feast, more than just a national event.

 Development: In verse one of chapter nine, we see that a special house has been constructed for the great event. The hand hewn beams would have required much labor and would have had to been brought some distance for so grand a project. My barn at home is probably 150 years old, and the beams in it were hand hewn in the colonial era of our county. That process was a lot of work. You had to fell the trees, then cut them to length and working from the topside of a curved log, take a special axe and square off each of the four sides over several days. The biggest barn beams I ever saw were of walnut, they were forty feet long and eighteen by twenty-four inches in size. Because of the number of beams mentioned here, Wisdom’s house is a Temple like complex of some size, even queen size if you will. No small task indeed!

In verse two we see further the complexities of the extended preparations. One of the schools in our area is used often for dinner meetings. For almost a decade, the school has contracted out the meal preparation to a local Amish family. One afternoon when I was leaving school, the family was already working to prepare for the evening feast, all the grandchildren were in sight helping to fold the napkins and set the tables. The project was very labor intensive, as any of you know at Thanksgiving and Christmas time.

In verse three we see that the Queen’s messengers have been sent out across the city. It is even announced in the city square, uptown on the hill so that the whole city would know and be invited. The queen would call out to the whole city. Not many rulers are so rich as to invite all of its citizens. The hint is towards a feast larger than life, again we think of the wedding feast of the Lamb at the end of the age as being one, which would fit the grand description in this text.

I wonder if the messengers are not the members of the Church? At least the invitation is as wide as what the church should be about. Even in the Old Covenant, many pagans were curious about the God of the Israelites and came from every corner of the known world. Over the course of many centuries, the enemies of the Hebrews were all represented in Jerusalem. Even survivors of the hated Edomites came into the fold. The New Testament Church too must travel far and wide giving the invitation to one and all. Yes, even though we may not like the terms of the invitation, we must give it anyway: “Whosoever will, may come!” Unlike the king of our New Testament parable, it is not ours to judge. When the real wedding feast of the Lamb finally comes, our King of Kings too will judge the nations and individuals who refuse to come into the everlasting Kingdom of our God. Until then, our invitations must be sent out to every occupant and resident willing to open the envelope and hear the gospel invitation.

In verse four we see how wide that invitation really is, it is to the naive, to those who lack understanding, to everyone in every circumstance of life. Some years ago I went to a church growth seminar where it was pointedly emphasized that I must choose a specific group of people and focus my invitations on that group alone. I disagreed; I didn’t believe that that is the way Christ builds up His church. Another time, I talked with a professional advertiser about purchasing some advice. Again, the question was raised, what people group did I want to invite. Everyone was not a possible answer for the professional to deal with.
I still do not think that the invitation of the church must be managed to attract specific crowds. And I do not believe that in the new age mind set, if we build it, they will come. You may remember the Field of Dreams movie a decade or more ago. Well that particular field was a major tourist trap and the two families involved in the business there were not getting along. One family wanted to build modern facilities, with snacks and trinkets. The other wanted to keep things simple. It was just a little dirt ballpark in the middle of a farm field. I think it is sad that so many people will turn up for such a small object of importance and miss the greater feast that Wisdom would encourage people to come to!

Application: Look at Wisdom’s invitation: “Come eat ... and drink of the wine.” Isn’t that the same invitation that the Church gives today - to come to the Lord’s Table and participate in the wedding supper of the Lamb of God? Of course, the communion that we enjoy is only a fore taste of what must finally come when Christ shall come in glory. And for that feast, even the Son of God Himself stooped down in coming to earth to mix the New Wine of the New Covenant in His very own blood.

Our last verse today heightens our expectations and warns us of the folly in ignoring the invitation. “Leave your simple ways, and live, and walk in the way of insight.'” Only the naive will turn in to wisdom’s Temple, only those who lack understanding will accept the greater knowledge given freely by the power of the Holy Spirit. We should not be surprised that many with more earthly excuses will be found to busy. We should not be surprised if the messengers are chided, persecuted and even killed down through the ages. Even when God sent His very own Son, the earthy crowd would not have Him. They nailed Him to a tree and buried Him to be rid of the very groom who will great the bridal church at the end of the age. May we learn from these short verses in Proverbs that the wedding feast has been very long in planning? And in this meal offered by wisdom, there is life, there is escape from folly and in knowing our Lord Jesus Christ there is spiritual understanding. Come eat ... and drink, it is the wedding supper of our Lord that is to be anticipated. Do not be found busy or ignorant. Amen.


29 September 1996 & 29 July 2001
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 PREACHING RESOURCES

Kidner, Derek. Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries: Proverbs.
Santa, George F. A Modern Study in The Book of Proverbs.
Whybray, R.N. New Century Bible Commentary: Proverbs.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version.
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Permission granted to redistribute unedited versions with this notice.
http://www.tulip.org/Com/Com12.htm