Matthew 22:8-10 New International Version (NIV)
8 “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. 9 So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ 10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. Thursday, September 24 - Matthew 22:8-10 “Both good and bad.” In the “Parable of the Sower” the farmer throws the good seed of the kingdom on good and bad soil. In the “Parable of the Wheat and Weeds” the good wheat is permitted to grow right alongside the bad weeds. In the “Parable of the Net” everything, both good and bad, is caught up in the “dragnet” of the kingdom (all of these can be found in Matthew 13). In this “Parable of the Wedding Feast” judgment never undermines God’s free gift of grace. Grace has always been and will always be the fundamental characteristic of the kingdom of God. Both the good and the bad are invited, freely, to attend the wedding feast. What leads to judgment is the rejection of that free, gracious gift. Our good and bad deeds neither qualify or disqualify us from entering the wedding feast. The only thing that matters is the invitation. God wants to celebrate what Jesus has done! And God has invited you, no strings attached. You are welcome in spite of all your goodness and badness. (The only “bad” thing that will not be tolerated, of course, is rejection of the invitation! But why would you do that!)