Jesus’ Source for the Wedding Motif

from Google Images

I have been studying of late the eschatology of Jesus’ Parable of the Wedding, found in Matthew 22:1-14. In it a king extends his invitation to attend his son’s wedding to certain people, but they refuse his offer to be his guests at the wedding. I have demonstrated in my previous study that this parable points to the Lord’s judgment upon the Jewish nation in 70 AD when Jerusalem was conquered by the Roman armies, who also destroyed the Temple (Matthew 22:7). The wedding feast was then to occur afterward.

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The Wedding Feast

from Google Images

I am currently involved in a study of the eschatology of the parables of Jesus. In Matthew 22 Jesus told The Parable of the Wedding Feast. In it Jesus tells a story of a king who made a wedding for his son, and he sent out his servants to those who had been invited. A quick read might overlook the fact that the servants were sent out to the invited guests to extend the second invitation, and this symbolizes the two covenants God made with Israel.[1] This was a common practice among those living in the ancient Middle East. The custom is put forth in the book of Esther chapters five through seven. Although the first banquet was enjoyable, it was merely the forerunner of the second and most important banquet, and it was at the second banquet that the heart of the person making the feast was made known (cf. John 3:16; cf. Esther 7:1-6; Acts 7:13).

 

Is ‘Oops’ in God’s Vocabulary?

from Google Images

I have been involved in an eschatological study of Jesus’ Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46). In it Jesus tells a story of wicked vinedressers who kill the servants of the lord of the vine, finally slaying his son in an effort to steal the vine for themselves. The parable depicts the Jewish authorities as the wicked tenants or vinedressers, and Jesus as the son of the lord of the vine, and the lord is God and the vine is his Kingdom (Israel). Jesus’ point was the Kingdom would be taken from those wicked tenants (the Jewish authorities listening to Jesus) and given to a nation that would produce the fruits (Matthew 21:43), which clearly depicts a 70 AD fulfillment.

 

The Messianic Temple

from Google Images

I am presently considering the eschatology of The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) in light of the fact that the Jewish authorities understood the parable to point to them (Matthew 21:45). If this is so, and Jesus doesn’t say otherwise, then the parable could point only to 70 AD for its fulfillment. This would put Jesus’ so-called Second Coming (Matthew 21:40) and the establishment of the Kingdom of God, with Jesus as King, in 70 AD. Unless one is able to offer a reasonable counter argument, showing why this couldn’t be true, why shouldn’t we believe the clear intent of the parable?

 

The Rejected Stone

from Google Images

In recent studies I’ve been drawing from The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46) in an effort to show the nearness of the eschatology of the New Testament. The Old Testament prophets prophesied of the time in which the New Testament disciples lived (1Peter 1:10-12). Moreover, Jesus, himself, drawing on those prophecies, predicted his Second Coming would occur in those days in which his then present audience lived (Matthew 16:27-28). So, when we look at the eschatology of Matthew 21:33-45, Jesus was speaking of those very same Jewish authorities who listened to him and rightly understood that he was speaking of them (Matthew 21:45).

 

Martyr Vindication

from Google Images

In my most recent study, I mentioned The Parable of the Wicked Tenants (Matthew 21:33-46). According to that parable, the authorities taking care of (governing) the vine (the Lord’s heritage or his people) were responsible for killing the servants (prophets) of the lord of the vineyard (the God of Israel), and for which they would be eventually judged (Matthew 21:40, 43). So, in this parable Jesus introduced a common theme found throughout the New Testament, and that is the theme of the vindication of the martyrs. Later, Jesus would accuse the Jewish authorities of being guilty of all of the blood of all of the righteous from Able (Genesis 4) to Zacharias (2Chronicles 24:20-22).[1] In other words they were guilty of all of the righteous blood that had been shed under the Old Testament (Matthew 23:35).

 

Parable of the Wicked Tenants

Days before he was crucified, Jesus told a parable in the presence of the Jewish authorities, which told of a man who owned a vineyard and leased it out to tenants. When it was near the time for the fruit to be ripe, he sent servants to receive his portion of the fruits. However, the tenants mistreated them, beating some and killing others. The master of vineyard then decided to send his son, believing the tenants would respect him, but when those wicked men realized the son had come, they decided to kill him and steal the vineyard for themselves (cf. Matthew 21:33-39).