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Author: Stephen Weller
795 words, 4 minutes read time

Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen

Scripture: Matthew 22:11-14

In the previous lesson we witnessed the king’s servants going out to the roads and bringing those they found to the wedding feast and filling the wedding hall. God will likewise bring into his kingdom those he chooses, and the kingdom will be filled. In this lesson the king came in to look at the guests and sees a problem.

^{Mt 22:11} But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. ¹² And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. ¹³ 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.’

Those in attendance were invited but it was expected that they would come wearing a wedding garment. Commentators are not sure what the wedding garment is in this parable and express their opinions. What makes this difficult is that many of those invited were probably very poor, even homeless, and had no means of obtaining a proper wedding garment. Some think that the king also provided the garment and all that one had to do was to put it on. This is suggested from two texts: In Genesis 45:17 – 22 Pharaoh instructed Joseph to provide provisions for the journey of bring his family to Egypt, including a change of clothing; and especially Ester 6:8 – 9 where the king provided the robe for the one to be honored. In Ezekiel 16:10 – 13 there is reference to the Lord’s faithless bride, an unworthy people, that God provided a garment of embroidered cloth of fine linen and silk to be worn. Possibly Jesus could be alluding to imputed righteousness, which is explained by Paul in Romans 3:21 – 31 and 4:22 – 25 as righteousness that is through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

By not wearing the wedding garment, the man was highly insulting the king and placed himself in a dangerous position. The king comes to him and says, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” to which the man had no answer. The king calls his attendants and instructs them to bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness; a place of great suffering.

This great suffering is expressed by the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” which is a common description of eternal judgment. It is described as a fiery furnace in Matthew 13:42 and 50. It is a place of everlasting destruction away from the presence of the Lord (2 Thessalonians 1:9); a place of eternal fire (Matthew 25:41). It is a place that we want to be sure we don’t go. Let us be sure we are among those described in Isaiah 61:10 ESV: “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.”

^{Mt 22:14} For many are called, but few are chosen.”

Many were invited to the wedding feast, but of those called not all will be there because they were not chosen. The gospel is heard by many, by those who will believe and by those who will not. This is known as the doctrine of a “general calling.” I personally reject this doctrine and embrace the calling described by Paul. Again, the gospel is heard by many, but God selects those he wants to adopt into his family, and he touches those individuals in such a way that it results in a positive response to the gospel. The gospel is proclaimed, but only some are effectively called and those who are will respond with true faith. This is clearly presented in Ephesians 2:1 – 10 where our old nature is described and then we read, “But God . . . made us alive.” Our salvation is God’s doing. I am not sure it is even possible to reject God’s call once he chooses us.

Conclusion

We all deserve justice and thus eternal punishment, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4 – 5 ESV). No one who desires salvation will be rejected, but yet God in his sovereignty makes the choice of who will be his people.