METHODIST CHURCH NIGERIA
DIOCESE OF OSOGBO
TWENTY-EIGHTH (28TH) SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME/EIGHTEENTH (18TH) SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY, 11TH
OCTOBER, 2020.
GOD’S WORD TO GOD’S
PEOPLE.
THEME: Invitation to the
wedding feast of the Lamb
Ipe si ibi igbeyawo Odo-Aguntan
TEXT:
Matthew 22:2&3
“The
kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son,
and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding and
they were not willing to come”
“Ijoba
Orun dabi oba kan, ti o se igbeyawo fun omo re. O si ran awon omo-odo re lo pe
awon ti a ti pe tele si ibi iyawo: sugbo won ko fe wa”
The
parable of the wedding feast which is titled; “THE REJECTION OF THE KING” belongs
to the fourth major section of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded
by St. Matthew section, which starts with chapter 21 and ends at verse 14 of
chapter 22, Jesus Christ, our Lord, revealed the iniquities of the children of
Israel and gave the reasons why the Jewish religious leaders rejected him and
his messages. He specifically explained how the nation Israel had rejected the
Holy Spirit and his call made through the Apostles. This invitation of the Holy
Spirit, calling on the nation Israel first, and all others last to attend the
wedding feast of the Lamb of God, and the subsequent reactions of Israel and
others who were called shall be the focus of our meditation today as we x-ray
the parable of the wedding feats contained in Matthew 22:1-14.
In the
parable of the wedding feats, it is obvious that God is the King who is
arranging for the marriage of his Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ and
the Church as his bride (Eph. 5:22-33). The period described in the parable
seemed to be after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ and the
coming of the Holy Spirit. It is also clear that the servants sent out to
invite the already informed guests are prophets while the invited guests remain
the children of Israel. All other guests are the gentile world. God, the
Father, is still inviting the people of Israel to come, not minding what they
had done to Jesus Christ his Son. This fact is further established with the
study of the first seven chapters of the Acts of the Apostles that the
invitation to the wedding feats was first to no other people other than the
Jews (Acts 2:5, 10, 14, 22, 36; 3:25, 6:7). One may however ask; How did the
Jewish leaders respond to the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit through the
Apostles? Our study of the Acts of the Apostles shows that the Jewish leaders
rejected the word of God and persecuted his massagers the same rulers who
demanded for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, permitted John to be killed,
ordered the killing of Stephen and later one of them, Herod, killed James (Acts
12:1f) It must be noted that Israel rejected God the Father the moment they
refused to obey John the Baptist’s preaching and rejected God the Son when they
arrested him and crucified him on the cross. But in his grace, patience and to
fulfill his promise (Joel 2:28&29), God as well poured his Spirit on the
early Church to be his witnesses. Truly, the early believers witnessed with
great power that Jesus Christ was alive and could still save the nation Israel
(Acts 2:32-36, 3:19-26) God performed many miracles performed by the Apostle through
them to confirm to the house of Israel that he sent them. It is unfortunate
that despite all the miracles, Israel still rejected the Holy Spirit sent by
God (Acts 7:5).
Brothers
and Sisters in Christ, we need to know that the ministry of the Holy Spirit
still continues in our own generation through men and women chosen and sent by
God to invite all and sundry to the final wedding feast of his Son. The Spirit
of God is bearing witness through the word to the person and work of Jesus
Christ. It is the Spirit who convinces us of sin (John 16:7-11), so let us not
resist the Holy Spirit as in the days of Stephen (Acts 7:51). Let us yield to
the work of the Holy Spirit among us and respond positively to the call of God.
Leave all the unprofitable works of the flesh and the sin which easily entangles
us and be obedient to what the Spirit of God is saying to the Church today. It
seems that the King who was arranging wedding feast has also prepared wedding
garments for all who would attend the feast. If that is true, then our God has
special attire for whosoever shall honour his invitation and come to the
wedding feast of the Lamb and his Church. We must therefore accept whatever God
gives to us as the requirement for us to be acceptable at the wedding feats. There
is no other thing than the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Matt. 6:33) and
holiness without which no one shall see God (Heb. 12:14) Let us not be like the
man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for the wedding feast in our text (Matt.
22:11-14) and thus was bound hands and feet and thrown into the outer darkness.
Enough of self-righteousness and holy than thou, give positive response to God’s
call, obey what he is saying through the Holy Spirit and accept the
righteousness of Christ, let us make it our own and remain holy unto him who
says; “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matt.
5:48) We have no excuse to be guilty of Spiritual blindness, guilty of
hypocrisy and guilty of deliberate disobedience to the word of God. Come, the
Lord is calling you for everything is ready.
Let
us pray
Rt.
Rev. A.K.O. Ogunrinde, JP, FICT.
Bishop, Diocese of Osogbo.
OS-CAN Chairman.
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