I came across a news article about a man named Shafiqullah who lives in Afghanistan. He had planned for his wedding to have about 700 guests, including both his and the bride’s side of the family. But, on his wedding day, he was surprised to see that, NOT 700 people were present, but close to 1300 people. The extra 600 people were all what we would call “wedding-crashers.” Now, in case you don’t know, a wedding-crasher is someone who shows up at a wedding, but they weren’t invited. They might even be total strangers to the bride and groom. But, they come anyway and act as if they are invited guests just to take advantage of the food, drinks and party gifts. They are unwelcome freeloaders who couldn’t care less about the wedding couple. Rather, they are there solely for their own greedy and deceptive self-interests. When he looked out and saw that the crowd was almost double the size he intended, Shafiqullah was shocked. He said: “It was amazing, but also disturbing as these were people I had never seen before in my entire life.” But, in his culture, Shafiqullah was in a bind. He explained it this way: “If I didn’t serve them, it would have caused me dishonor and taken away all happiness from my wedding day.” He didn’t have any choice but to immediately have the caterers scramble to bring extra food and drinks. So, the cost of his wedding almost doubled to around $30,000. That’s a lot of money here in this country, but it’s a small fortune in Afghanistan. And, the sad thing is that this practice of wedding-crashing is quite common in Afghanistan.
In the capitol city of Kabul, there is a road near the airport that offers very popular accommodations for weddings. So popular, in fact, that young men have made it a practice to gather in large crowds and descend as a hoard of wedding-crashers upon almost any wedding that’s scheduled. And, in Afghanistan, the men and women are separated into two different parties. So, these male wedding-crashers aren’t attending as uninvited guests to meet women. Rather, they are drawn by the huge banquets of lamb, chicken, fruit and desserts. They have even adopted their own wedding-crashers’ motto: “With a wedding every night, there is no need to go hungry.”[1]
This report about wedding-crashers reminds me of one of Jesus’ Parables. But, the host in Jesus’ parable wasn’t an ordinary person like Shafiqullah. Rather, he was the great King of all the land. The parable is found in Matthew’s Gospel, and it goes like this:
1 “[Jesus] said, 2 ‘The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! 4 So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ 5 But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. 6 Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. 7 The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. 8 And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. 9 Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’” Matthew 22:1-9 (NLT2)
Now, that’s the first part of the parable. I will come to the second part in a few minutes. As you might guess, the King in the parable represents God. The invitations that were sent out were God’s call, over the course of history, for humanity to be restored and come back to Him. The Great Wedding Party refers to the amazing Heavenly Banquet awaiting those who respond to God’s call. They respond by having faith in God, and trusting in the blood of Jesus, His Son, to cleanse them of their sins. So, with those points in mind, let’s review some of the other details of the parable.
The King sent his “servants” with an initial invitation to the wedding party. These “servants” represent the prophets of the Old Testament continuing on to John the Baptist in the New Testament. They were God’s servants who delivered His message of salvation to an uncaring world. The problem was no one responded to God’s R.S.V.P. This would have been a great shock to the original audience who heard the parable. No one could possibly be so arrogant as to refuse an invitation from the King! Despite the lack of response from the invited guests, the King was gracious and gave everyone a second chance. So, he reissued the invitations and sent out more servants to deliver new invitations to the Great Wedding celebration planned for his son.
But still, the invited guests refused to come to the King’s wedding. They had things that were more important to do. Some had to go to their farms to do such crucial things like “shucking their corn.” Others had business affairs that they gave priority over attending the King’s celebration. They rejected that message to them that asked: 36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Mark 8:36-37 (NASB) But, this time the crowd was not only rude in their response—they turned violent as well. They grabbed the King’s messengers, insulted them, tortured them and even killed them.
Even a loving and gracious king can only stand so much. So, the King sent his army to the city where many of these disloyal citizens lived. And, he destroyed the city. Many New Testament scholars believe this was a prediction of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It was then that the Roman army flattened the Temple and completely destroyed the city.[2] Perhaps, that is the case. But, it also likely points to a time well into the future when Jesus is going to come again into this world. And, when He comes, He is going to lay waste to all those people who have made Satan the king of their lives.
Despite the rejection of those to whom those earlier invitations were sent, the King’s planned party would still go on. Now, he instructed his servants to go out far and wide to every street corner and invite anyone they met to come to the Big Party. Let’s stop right there because this part of the parable bears a powerful message. You don’t have to come from a Christian family. You need not have been a church-goer from the time of your youth. It doesn’t matter who’s your mama or daddy. You may be rich or poor, short or tall, fat or skinny. Maybe your life has been an absolute mess. That’s alright too. God’s invitation to come to Him is an offer made to EVERYONE. No one is left out. And, EVERYONE must respond. In fact, everyone DOES respond. You will either have faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and submit to Him as Lord and Savior, or you won’t. There are two classes of individuals who won’t accept Jesus. First, there will be those like the ones in the parable who actively reject Him. In addition, they directly ridicule, abuse and persecute His followers.
Then, there is a second group who decides against following Jesus. Oh, they don’t overtly reject Jesus or necessarily abuse His followers. They just sit on the fence thinking that they are making no decision at all. They consider themselves as “neutral” when it comes to Christ. Or, more commonly, today you will hear them say, “I’m not a Christian, but I am spiritual” (whatever that is supposed to mean). The problem is that there is no such thing as being “neutral” or maintaining a status of mere “spirituality.” People like that, who sit on the fence without committing one way or the other—they ARE MAKING A DECISION. Ultimately, their decision falls in the category of deciding against Christ.
The sad thing is that there are nominal Christians—some even attend church regularly—who are like this. They don’t deny Jesus, but they are not fully committed to Him either. You might refer to their decision for Him as being a “lukewarm” decision. In fact, there are entire denominations today that are “lukewarm” when it comes to Christ. They are lukewarm because they pick and choose which parts of the Bible they will accept and which ones they will reject. They reject God’s Word on a wide variety of issues ranging from abortion to human sexuality. But, as we discussed last Sunday, Jesus is the Word made Flesh[3]—the Logos that includes God’s commands as set forth in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. So, when these errant congregations, led by their false preachers and teachers, reject significant portions of God’s Word, they are rejecting Christ Himself. Jesus has a message for those “lukewarm Christians.” It is a message that is just as relevant today as it was when it was given 2,000 years ago. Pay attention—particularly if this message is applicable to you. This is what Jesus had to say in the Book of Revelation to the Church in Laodicea: 15 “You are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were one or the other! 16 But since you are like LUKEWARM water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!” 17 You say, ‘I am rich. I have everything I want. I don’t need a thing!’ And you don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also BUY WHITE GARMENTS FROM ME so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see.” Revelation 3:15-18 (NLT2)
You see, Christians who are like these members of the Church in Laodicea need to buy a new garment. Make sure you are not a member of that worldly church because one day you are going to be standing outside the entrance to the Great Banquet Hall of God. There you will be standing before, not just any king, but the KING OF KINGS—the Judge of all humanity, Jesus Christ! And, as you are standing there, He is going to inspect your garment very thoroughly. That’s where the second part of Jesus’ parable comes into play.
Continuing on in Matthew 22:10-14, Jesus brings the parable to a conclusion as follows: 10 “So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests. 11 But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. 12 ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. 13 Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” 4 [Then, Jesus ended by saying:] 14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:10-14 (NLT2)
Here, we see that everyone who responded to the king’s invitation to the wedding party came to him in the wedding hall. Those who failed to respond were left out. They could have attended the greatest party ever, but decided (of their own free will) that they had better things to do (like shucking corn and so forth). So sadly, they missed this most wonderful celebration of all. Those who responded by coming to the party represent all those who, during their earthly lives, responded to Jesus’ invitation to repent and receive Him as their Lord and Savior. And so, the “wedding hall” represents their place of eternal celebration in God’s Heavenly Kingdom.
Now, notice that one man tried to be a wedding-crasher. But, here’s the thing: There won’t be any wedding-crashers allowed in Heaven. Of course, in this parable, the man finds this out the hard way. The King (again, representing God) asks the man, “Friend, how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?” You need to understand that the use of the word “friend” here does not mean the man was on good terms with the king. In fact, within the context of this parable, it means quite the opposite. It was like saying, “Buddy, what’s up with you? Who do you think you are showing up here dressed like that?!”
You see, in ancient times, when a rich person or a king gave a wedding party, he would provide pure white wedding robes for all the guests to put on when entering the wedding hall.[4] Symbolically, putting on the wedding robe refers to one’s decision to accept Jesus as your Savior. Notice that in the parable, some of those who responded to the king’s invitation were relatively “good people.” The “bad people” who responded were “bad” in the sense that they had lived in greater depravity than others. But, the good, the bad and the ugly all have one thing in common. Their sinful lives are like filthy rags in the eyes of God. This is true for all of us as well. Everyone who comes to Christ comes in filthy rags. The Prophet Isaiah said: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we put on our prized robes of righteousness [i.e., our so-called “good deeds” or “works”], we find they are but FILTHY RAGS” in God’s sight. Isaiah 64:6a (TLB) All of us need to be covered with the white robe of the righteousness of Christ. We can only wear those pure robes through our faith in Him.[5] So, figuratively speaking, you get to put on that “white garment” Jesus spoke about in Revelation 3:18 when you come to Him in faith. But, here’s the amazing thing: You actually don’t have to “buy it” because it has already been “paid for.” It was “paid for” by the blood of Christ when He died on the Cross to provide you with the opportunity to attend His Heavenly Banquet. Paul explains: 22 “Because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. 23 And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded 24 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. 25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.” Romans 4:22-25 (NLT2)
But, the man the king singled out wasn’t wearing the required white robe of a wedding guest. This arrogant wedding-crasher had apparently decided that the king would let him enter the party in the worldly clothes he’d become so accustomed to. But, as I said before, the king doesn’t allow wedding-crashers who insist upon keeping their filthy worldly clothes. So, the king had the man thrown into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” In the New Testament, that language is an unmistakable reference to Hell.
There is a country song by Eric Church entitled, “Sinners Like Me.” I like the song, but one of its verses is troubling. The verse goes like this: “On the day I die, I know where I’m going to go / Me and Jesus got that part worked out / I’ll wait at the gates ‘til His face I see / And stand in a long line of sinners like me.” There is a certain humility in those verses that is commendable. But, I am concerned about the part that says, “Me and Jesus got that part worked out.” If by that, he thinks that he can negotiate His salvation in some kind of bargaining session with Jesus, then he’ll be no better off than the wedding-crasher in Jesus’ parable. In clinging to sinfulness, many say to themselves: “Jesus loves me so I know he’ll overlook my sin.” Yes, Jesus does love you. But, Jesus is also Holy. And, a Holy God cannot overlook sin. Otherwise, He wouldn’t be Holy. So, the lesson is pure and simple: You can’t get into Heaven on your own terms. You can’t go strolling in wearing the clothes of your choice. Jesus’ white robe of righteousness is the only wardrobe that will do. That is the only way you, me or anyone else will be allowed to enter Heaven. There is no other way. If you truly surrender your life to Him, then you can wear the white robe Jesus has waiting for you. Or, you can test out whether your worldly wardrobe is fireproof when you land in Hell. (In case you are wondering: No, your worldly robe isn’t flame retardant. Rather, it is highly combustible!) Jesus is sending you an R.S.V.P. today. But, you can’t just let it sit there. You have to respond affirmatively.
This reminds me of a story told by Ruthanna Metzgar. She is a professional singer who was invited to perform at a posh wedding event given by a millionaire for one of his children. After she sang at the wedding ceremony, the reception was held on the top two floors of the luxurious Columbia Tower in Seattle, Washington. As she approached the reception hall, she thought to herself what a fabulous event this was going to be. Everything was going to be first class. Now, to get into this reception, you had to approach the maître d’ who checked off each guest’s name as they entered the doors of the reception area. So, when she approached the maître d’ and gave her name, and that of her husband, she waited as he carefully checked the guest book. But, she was shocked when he looked up and said: “I’m sorry, but your name isn’t here.” So, she explained that she had just sung at the wedding and had been invited to the reception. But, the man responded: “I am sorry, Madam, it doesn’t matter who you are or what you did. Without your name in the book you cannot attend the banquet.” Then, he turned to one of the waiters and bluntly instructed him to escort Ruth and her husband out of the building. Before she turned to leave, Ruth could see past the maître d’ all those tables piled with shrimp, smoked salmon, caviar and tasty hors d'oeuvres. She could see the beautiful ice sculptures and colorful decorations. She could hear the wonderful music of an orchestra that was on hand to play the entire evening. She could see the men in their dazzling tuxedos and the women wearing all their finery. She remembers thinking, “Wow, this place is almost like Heaven!” But, the waiter tugged at her arm and sent her and her husband away. As they were driving home, her husband broke the silence and asked, “Sweetheart, what happened?” Ruth knew what had happened. She answered: “When the invitation arrived, I was busy. I never bothered to send back the RSVP. Besides, I was the singer. I thought that I could surely go to the reception without returning the RSVP!”[6]
That’s the way it’s going to be in Heaven. St. Peter is going to be like the maître d’ and he is going to say to many: “I am sorry, Madam [or Sir], it doesn’t matter who you are or what you did. Without your name in the Lamb’s Book of Life you cannot attend the banquet.” The only way your name can appear in the Lamb’s Book of Life is if you truly respond to Jesus’ invitation. Have you answered Jesus’ invitation? He has sent one to everybody. But, those who fail to respond to His R.S.V.P. will be denied access to the Greatest Party ever. It’s one that will last forever. And, you really cannot afford to miss it. Maybe it’s time to respond today by changing that lukewarm relationship with Christ and start being on “fire” for Him instead of facing the fires of Hell. Throw off those worldly rags so that you will receive His white robe of righteousness. Believe me—you could never be better dressed to attend the Greatest Party ever!
Darvin Satterwhite, Pastor
Forest Hill Baptist Church
June 22, 2025
©2025 All Rights Reserved as follows:
Anyone is at liberty to use this sermon or any portions thereof for educational or religious purposes, with or without credit. The pastor believes the material presented herein to be true to the teaching of Scripture, and desires to further, not restrict, its potential use as an aid in the study of God’s Word. The publication of this material is a grace ministry of Forest Hill Baptist Church in Louisa, Virginia.
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[1] Joseph Goldstein, “At Afghan Weddings, His Side, Her Side and 600 Strangers,” NY Times (April 18, 2015), cited in PreachingToday.com, https://www.preachingtoday.com/search/?query=wedding&contentFilter=Illustration (accessed June 15, 2025).
[2] Clinton E. Arnold, ed., Matthew, Mark, Luke, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary—New Testament, (USA: Zondervan, 2002), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 134.
[3] John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (NIV)
[4] MacArthur, John F., Jr. The MacArthur Study Bible: New American Standard Bible. “Matthew 22:11, Fn. “Wedding Clothes,” Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2006.
[5] Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by God's grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God's gift, so that no one can boast about it.” (TEV)
[6] Randy Alcorn, Heaven (Tyndale, 2004), pp.31-32, cited in PreachingToday.com, https://www.preachingtoday.com/search/?query=wedding&contentFilter=Illustration (accessed June 15, 2025).
