'The Feast'

To state the obvious, the King is God, the Son is Jesus, and the wedding banquet is the joining together of Jesus and His people, the church. A feast is at the center of the Kingdom. It isn’t just any feast. It is a covenantal wedding feast. Everyone plays an important role in the feast. The King is presiding over the covenantal feast. The Son and the bride are the ones being joined. Their vows are to love each other completely – all in, all out, and all the way. 

Then the King calls witnesses to the event.  “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.’  The guests have a two-fold role. First, they are witnesses to the event. There may be times that the parties wish they hadn’t made those vows, but there is no turning back. Not only were they made before God and the officiant, they were made before a whole congregation of people who came specifically to bear witness to the vows. 

Second, the guests have a proactive role to play. They are responsible to help the couple fulfill their vows. They aren’t passive, neutral, and disengaged witnesses. They aren’t passive because they are there to celebrate all of the life events of that couple and cheer them on. They aren’t neutral because they are committed to the welfare of the marriage. That is important!  The guests must not take sides but do what they can to help the marriage work. If one of the people complains about the other. The guests must call the complainer to account to take responsibility to change the situation to become healthier. They aren't disengaged because the guest needs to remind the couple of the blessings and reward of the couple’s life together. They always challenge the two to put in the effort, go the extra mile, make it beautiful all the way to the end. The guest’s focus is strengthening the marriage. The goal is marital fulfillment, not individual fulfillment.  

Putting this all together, you are the bride being joined to Christ. You are the guest witnessing and celebrating others giving their lives to Christ and helping them to grow. You are the witness who holds your brothers and sisters in Christ accountable to their vows. This is the purpose of the Body of Christ. 

Enjoy the Feast.

Jonathan