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PARABLE OF THE BANQUET – SALVATION OFFERED
LORD’S DAY, MAY 3
Mark 1:23-34

Memory verse: Matthew 22:3

 

“And sent forth his servants to call
them that were bidden

to the wedding…”

 

PARABLE OF THE BANQUET – SALVATION OFFERED
 
The king is God the Father. The son is the Lord Jesus Christ. The servants (“doulos”- slaves) are the prophets who bring the Gospel (verse 3-10). The wedding banquet is salvation. The servants (“diakovos”-minister) are the angels. The guests are the Jews and the Gentiles. The wedding garment is the garment of the righteousness of Christ. These are the meanings of the key elements in the parable.
 
The King sent His servants to call them who were bidden to attend the wedding banquet. To invite someone to have a prepared meal together in one’s home was the highest form of intimacy and fellowship in the Middle East in the time of Christ. How much more when it was the King, and in His palace! The King sent forth the servants with the focus on the wedding banquet, not the act of sending, but the purpose. These guests must consider themselves very important to the King, or He would not invite them. The King expected these guests to be grateful and count themselves privileged to be allowed to attend such a grand, once-in-a-lifetime wedding banquet. How could anyone be so proud or foolish as to reject such a grand, once-in-a-lifetime experience of eating the King’s food and being in the King’s presence? It was not everyday that any commoner could feast in the King’s presence and eat the King’s food for free. They were not asked to bring anything or to pay anything. Everything was freely provided for. All the guests needed to do was to come! The best food had been provided for them to eat to their heart’s content!
 
Is this how you see salvation, as an offer from God to have fellowship with Him? Is there any other way to see a privileged offer that is better than this one? Note that the offer of salvation is to undeserving sinners like us. We must never see salvation as a favour that we do for God. It is the greatest honour that God can do for any of His creatures, and He does it only for us finite, sinful mortals who have sinned against Him from the moment of our existence in our mother’s womb. Despite all we have done against Him, He sent His servants to offer salvation to us.
 
THOUGHT: How grateful am I to be saved by God in Christ?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, help me to show my deepest gratitude to Thee by living faithfully for Christ till the end, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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