Welcome to the
Books of the Book series.
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We're exploring
the Gospel of Matthew.
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I'm Glenn Russell, professor
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of religion at
Andrews University.
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I'm here with a good friend
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and Bible
student Ranko Stefanovic,
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professor of New Testament
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at Andrews
University Theological Seminary.
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Ranko, it's a joy exploring
God's word together with you.
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Yes, Glenn. It's great
joy to me to be with you.
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Glenn, you are a teacher.
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And I know you spent
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a lot of time with young people
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to prepare them
for pastoral ministry
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there in the college in
the department of religion.
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To our young people
who really need education
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in order to be
involved in ministry.
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Well, we need the
right kind of education.
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You know, it's important
to have zeal for the Lord.
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The first thing must
be a commitment to Christ,
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desire to follow Him.
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But as I work with our students,
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I'm just so inspired
working with young people
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who have a passion for Christ.
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They want to serve Him
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and they want to
know more about His word.
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They want to
study scripture deeply,
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because they'll be
the one who'll be sharing
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with the church members,
sharing with the community.
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Yes, they need to have zeal,
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but they need to have knowledge
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that goes with it and
that's a powerful combination.
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Knowledge without
a passion for Christ,
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knowledge without a heart
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surrendered to Jesus
is dangerous. But a heart
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that is surrendered to Christ--
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And transformed
by the Holy Spirit.
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And a mind that is transformed
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by the Holy Spirit,
it's a powerful combination.
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Yeah, we live today in the world
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that we have so
many different teachings
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that people invented.
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We really are dealing
today with many complex issues
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that people are making
with regard to the Bible.
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And the purpose of our education
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is to inform our young people
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about the
current issues etcetera.
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And to sit there
at the feet of Jesus
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and to learn how really to study
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and to deal with the Bible,
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so that our young
people are equipped
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when they leave
our institutions,
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educational institutions,
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they can preach
the word powerfully.
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Not for the purpose of arguing
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and providing
arguments. That's right.
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And simply to make the
gospel down to the earth
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to help people, to feel the need
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for the gospel
and for Jesus Christ.
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And you know what a joy
it is when a student comes
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and prays with you, or
you pray with them. Yes.
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And to explore
scripture together
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where we're both learning,
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because God is
teaching us through His word.
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Let's continue doing that
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and let's invite God to
bless our study together,
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and let's pray.
Lord, we've met You
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as our Lord and Savior.
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We've seen You come
through the stories of
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and the teachings of scripture.
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We've seen Jesus, our Messiah
introduced in its baptism,
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tested in the temptations,
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teaching the
people, healing the people.
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And now as He
moves towards the cross,
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may our hearts and ears
be especially attentive.
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Lord, may we be
receptive to Your spirit
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and to You in Jesus
name I pray, amen. Amen.
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Ranko, we were in
Chapter 22 of Matthew.
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These are the last
days before the cross.
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We should be sure we
remember the time period.
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So we have to keep in
mind that with Chapter 21,
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Jesus entered
Jerusalem there. Yes.
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We saw that the first thing
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that Jesus did
there in Jerusalem.
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He was greeted by
people like a majesty,
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however His
appearance was not of a majesty.
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It was a humble servant Messiah
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riding a donkey entered there.
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But then He
enters in the temple,
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He cleansed the temple.
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And for this point
on there in Jerusalem,
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everything what
we have Chapter 21,
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Chapter 22, and
Chapter 23, He's surrounded
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by the Pharisees
and the Sadducees,
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challenging Jesus
from moment to moment,
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keeping Him so busy.
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By the way this is the
context of these chapters
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that we are going out to say.
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So we're moving from the parade
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and all the
praise to the cross. Yes.
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And now we see an
intensifying conflict
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that you've mentioned. Yes.
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Let's go to Matthew Chapter 22.
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We see Jesus,
whatever Jesus is saying
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to that people are listening
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as He is debating
with the Pharisees,
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Jesus try to challenge them,
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to bring them to repentance,
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to their realization
what they were doing.
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Keep in mind, Jesus
always try to save our people.
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We read in the text the
Son of Man came to save.
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And time is
running out for His return.
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His time running out.
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Actually and the
time is running out
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for their
repentance. That's right.
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So we see at the beginning
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of Matthew Chapter
22, another parable. Yes.
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And let's remember
what you said earlier
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that every parable
communicates some truth,
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but it also hides some
things for people to explore
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and search their hearts about,
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He has enemies-- And
this stands out to me.
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This is the one. That's
right. Can you read it Glenn?
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Why don't you read this parable?
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All right, "And again
Jesus spoke to them in parables,
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saying." Now we're going
to verse 2 of Chapter 22,
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"The kingdom of heaven
may be compared to a king
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who gave a
marriage feast for his son.
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And when his servants were sent
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to call those who were
invited to the marriage feast
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but they would not come.
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And again he sent
other servants saying,
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'Tell those who are invited
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behold I have
made ready my dinner.
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My oxen and fat cows were killed
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and everything is ready.
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Come to the marriage feast.'
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But they made
light of it and went off,
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one to his farm,
another to his business.
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While the rest
seized to servants,
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treated them
shamefully and killed them.
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The king was angry.
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And he sent his troops,
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destroyed those
murderers and burned their city.
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Then they said to his servants,
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'The wedding is ready,
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but those who are
invited were not worthy.
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Go therefore to
the thoroughfares
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and invite to the marriage
feast as many as you find.'
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And those servants
went out into the streets
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and gathered all whom
they found both bad and good.
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So the wedding hall
was filled with guests.
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But when the king came
in to look at the guests,
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he saw there was a man
who had no wedding garment.
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And he said to him,
"Friend, how did you get in here
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without a wedding garment?'
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And he was speechless.
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Then the king
said to the attendants,
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'Bind him hand and foot,
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and cast him into
the outer darkness;
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there men will weep
and gnash their teeth.'
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For many are
called, and few are chosen."
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Again another
statement that's familiar for us
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"many are called
but few are chosen"
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but now we
understand a little better
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in light of this parable.
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Actually the entire point
of this parable is verse 14,
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"Many are called
but few are chosen."
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So let's try to see few details
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what this parable is all about.
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It's about what?
What is the event here?
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It's the wedding.
What is the wedding?
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When according to the Jewish,
ancient Jewish practices,
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a young man will go
to the gentleman's house.
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The wedding will take place.
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The wedding is a
moment, an occasion
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when you have a
bridegroom and the bride,
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they joint together.
This is the main point.
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They are some getting
ready, it takes place.
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But the main point
is who is the bride
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that Jesus was talking about?
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Who are
also--who are those guests?
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By the way, this
is the same concept
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is found in the
Book of Revelation.
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Yeah. We see the church.
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The church is both of the bride
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and the church is also the guest
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that are invited to wedding.
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So we have here two
different imageries.
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Okay, so who are these people?
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It's evidently
the Jewish people.
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They were waiting
for the bridegroom,
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for the Messiah to come.
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He came, he came, why?
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Marriage to be
united with his people,
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because they
were waiting for Him.
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Actually what
happened? What happened?
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The call was made.
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The marriage is here.
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The wedding is here.
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The feast is
ready. Did they care? No.
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What do we have to mention?
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I mean it's tragic-- Verse 5--
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This invitation comes.
And you know in the east
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many times time is a
little less exact. Yeah.
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And so some of thought
well, it's not quite time.
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It takes a long
time to prepare the food.
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We'll do some other
things. We'll procrastinate.
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But now they go beyond
procrastination to rejection.
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And even more, some of them
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they ceased those servants,
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they mistreated them
and even killed them.
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Do you see what
the parable can do?
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This is exactly the
history of the people
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of Israel killing the prophets.
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You know, all those, you know,
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things that they were doing,
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the messengers etcetera.
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Actually Jesus told them a lot
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but they couldn't accuse Him,
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because Jesus ignored
to make a direct speech
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in addressing
the situation there.
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But it seems that
and may I just pause
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for a moment remind
us let's not try to take
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every detail of this
and make it an allegoric,
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because Jesus is not
saying that God is like a king
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who will slaughter people
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who don't accept His invitation.
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The main point is
an invitation has come.
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They come and
also the consequences
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for the rejection. That's right.
00:10:02.52\00:10:03.86
Jesus makes very,
very clear not only here,
00:10:03.87\00:10:06.54
there's also another place
00:10:06.55\00:10:07.55
where Jesus makes
there will be consequences.
00:10:07.56\00:10:09.82
But then Jesus goes beyond that.
00:10:09.83\00:10:12.48
And what is that? You know,
He is a masterful storyteller.
00:10:12.49\00:10:15.33
And I just want to say
to you viewers, take time
00:10:15.34\00:10:18.33
to read the
scriptures and the stories.
00:10:18.34\00:10:21.05
You'll be amazed at how He--
00:10:21.06\00:10:23.40
Jesus was able to
draw our attention.
00:10:23.41\00:10:25.46
And so many times you think,
00:10:25.47\00:10:26.47
the story could stop there,
but it goes little further.
00:10:26.48\00:10:29.25
It's not just that He
brings others in, the Gentiles.
00:10:29.26\00:10:32.50
But now someone is
in who shouldn't be.
00:10:32.51\00:10:35.51
So what is in the next point?
00:10:35.52\00:10:38.50
It's interesting that
he comes in and he notes
00:10:38.51\00:10:40.96
that there's a guest
there without a garment.
00:10:40.97\00:10:42.92
So the wedding feast is ready,
00:10:42.93\00:10:45.38
but what is the
problem? There're no guests,
00:10:45.39\00:10:48.31
there're no participants there.
00:10:48.32\00:10:49.96
So he instructs the
servants what to do,
00:10:49.97\00:10:54.59
go to streets,
go to the corners,
00:10:54.60\00:10:57.19
go to those homeless people--
look all kind of people go,
00:10:57.20\00:11:01.03
bring them all, because I
need the guest in my house.
00:11:01.04\00:11:05.08
I need a guest
there in the feast.
00:11:05.09\00:11:08.38
Go to those who are unworthy,
00:11:08.39\00:11:09.86
because the worthy
have not responded.
00:11:09.87\00:11:12.66
And he says, "And
the wedding hall."
00:11:12.67\00:11:14.59
Verse 10, "And the wedding hall
00:11:14.60\00:11:16.66
was filled with
the dinner guest."
00:11:16.67\00:11:19.36
And I know if he had
here at the end of the story
00:11:19.37\00:11:21.91
and say, "You'll see those
00:11:21.92\00:11:23.94
who did not accept
Jesus, they were rejected."
00:11:23.95\00:11:28.94
Now the Gentiles
were added to it.
00:11:28.95\00:11:31.26
But this is not
the point of the story.
00:11:31.27\00:11:33.13
Unfortunately
people can read something
00:11:33.14\00:11:35.36
that Jesus never intended,
00:11:35.37\00:11:36.91
because this is
the real conclusion,
00:11:36.92\00:11:38.64
what do we have
in verses 8 and 12?
00:11:38.65\00:11:41.12
He have a guest who's come.
00:11:41.13\00:11:42.47
He is at the weeding
but he is not wearing
00:11:42.48\00:11:45.42
the wedding garment. And?
00:11:45.43\00:11:47.66
And Ranko, maybe just a
word about the background,
00:11:47.67\00:11:51.82
why would that have
been an offensive thing
00:11:51.83\00:11:53.96
to be there
without a wedding garment?
00:11:53.97\00:11:55.75
Because evidently,
according to this story,
00:11:55.76\00:11:59.48
everybody had to be
in the same garment.
00:11:59.49\00:12:02.00
You see the
problem is when you have--
00:12:02.01\00:12:04.28
can you imagine you have people
00:12:04.29\00:12:05.65
who were originally invited,
00:12:05.66\00:12:06.89
some of them evidently
came in the rich robes,
00:12:06.90\00:12:10.40
but can you
imagine when you bring
00:12:10.41\00:12:11.95
all those homeless people,
00:12:11.96\00:12:13.53
those people live
there on the street.
00:12:13.54\00:12:16.12
I mean the
difference would be obvious,
00:12:16.16\00:12:18.90
but when you provide
the garment to all guests,
00:12:18.91\00:12:21.33
sometimes I saw
some pilgrimage etcetera
00:12:21.34\00:12:23.59
everybody is
dressed in the same dress.
00:12:23.60\00:12:28.55
Then it makes
everybody equal there.
00:12:28.56\00:12:31.48
If nobody is there
because of the prestige,
00:12:31.49\00:12:34.95
because of special, you
know, place in the society.
00:12:34.96\00:12:38.84
Everybody is there
equal at the wedding feast.
00:12:38.85\00:12:41.90
And that's a critical point,
00:12:41.91\00:12:43.00
because his garment is
provided as a gift. Yes.
00:12:43.01\00:12:46.61
But he likes his own better.
00:12:46.62\00:12:48.00
Yeah, so what is
the point of this story?
00:12:48.01\00:12:50.20
You know, we
should not fall into trap.
00:12:50.21\00:12:52.70
You see, some
people rejected you see.
00:12:52.71\00:12:55.02
Other people came,
they were accepted.
00:12:55.03\00:12:56.83
No, no, all those
originally accepted
00:12:56.84\00:13:00.87
and came and those
who later were added,
00:13:00.88\00:13:04.32
all of them were there
not because they deserve it,
00:13:04.33\00:13:08.51
but because what the
master prepare for them,
00:13:08.52\00:13:11.25
it was that
garment, that garment
00:13:11.26\00:13:13.90
that make them equal,
00:13:13.91\00:13:15.66
that to make them
welcome there into feast.
00:13:15.67\00:13:20.91
The feast, an invitation
to be there at the feast
00:13:20.92\00:13:24.56
was really the
gracious act of this king,
00:13:24.57\00:13:27.30
you know, of this master.
00:13:27.31\00:13:28.88
What a great lesson to us?
00:13:28.89\00:13:30.59
You know, when we
go to rest of the Bible
00:13:30.60\00:13:34.46
very often garment
especially the white rope.
00:13:34.47\00:13:38.85
It's a symbol of
Christ's righteousness.
00:13:38.86\00:13:41.73
And the things that God
can do for human beings.
00:13:41.74\00:13:45.30
You see, so many times we try
00:13:45.31\00:13:47.17
to compare
ourselves with others,
00:13:47.18\00:13:49.99
or to compare
people with another people.
00:13:50.00\00:13:52.61
But all those who will one day
00:13:52.62\00:13:54.75
find themselves
in the king of God.
00:13:54.76\00:13:57.11
It's not
because of our goodness,
00:13:57.12\00:13:59.41
not because of who we are
or because what we deserve.
00:13:59.42\00:14:04.54
It's because what
God has done to us.
00:14:04.55\00:14:07.73
In the eyes of
God, everybody is equal
00:14:07.74\00:14:12.76
because what Jesus did for us.
00:14:12.77\00:14:15.03
This is the
beautiful lesson given to us.
00:14:15.04\00:14:17.33
What a glorious God we
serve and we're gonna explore
00:14:17.34\00:14:19.77
little bit more
about the compassion,
00:14:19.78\00:14:21.43
the grace of
God, and the response
00:14:21.44\00:14:23.70
of the people in
the Gospel of Matthew
00:14:23.71\00:14:25.37
when we come back after a break.
00:14:25.38\00:14:26.97
We'll be right
back. Please join us then.
00:14:26.98\00:14:29.15