Matthew 22 contains the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. In this parable you can see the history of God’s relationship with the Jewish nation, and its habitual rejection of God’s authority and prophets.
Verses 1-14:
Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: ”The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
“But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ’Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
“Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
The parable follows the basic history of Israel. God has invited Jewish people to inherit his Kingdom, but reject God and turn to worship other gods. God is patient and again invites them through His prophets. Some of the people simply ignored God’s invitation, but others actually are offended and attach God’s prophets. After Israel’s and Judah’s continual rejection God uses the Assyrians, Babylonians, and now the Romans to punish the Jews. Now God decides to extend his offer to the Gentiles through the blood of Jesus Christ. Many people who were once estranged from God are now invited into fellowship with God.
The guest that was not wearing wedding clothes represents a person who is just calls himself a Christian, but in reality is just trying to blend in and does not submit his life to Jesus. He is sort of a “Gentile Pharisee”. As you can see, guest has rejected Christ just as most of the Jewish nation has done. The outcome for such is hell. Many are invited to enjoy the blessings of fellowship with God through Jesus, but only those who accept Christ as Lord are chosen.
Again, Jesus’ words tell us of the importance of accepting his salvation. He is very clear on what the alternative is. God has given every person a choice to follow Him or to turn away and try to make our own path. Choose Jesus. He died to bring salvation to all who follow and believe.