"I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen." (Luther's Morning Prayer)
Friday, February 2, 2024 - Day 33 (Through the Bible in a year readings for today: Exodus 29,30 Matthew 22:1-22)
WEEKLY WEDDING REHEARSALS
“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come... And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests...
“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’... ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’” (Matthew 22:2-13 ESV)
While this account clearly uses the imagery of a wedding feast, my thoughts went to an event that occurs before most weddings. Most couples want to be prepared for their big day, so a rehearsal is usually planned for the night before the wedding. After all, it is the beginning of the rest of their lives.
The point of the parable is for us to take seriously Christ’s call to follow Him. In other words, Jesus is calling us sinners to repent and believe. However, this is not a one-time event.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith... (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)
What does it take to be part of the eternal wedding feast in heaven? The answer is a broken and contrite heart that trusts in God’s promise of salvation through the death of Jesus. The writer to the Hebrews describes the Christian life as an endurance race. And this brings us to the concept of a wedding rehearsal.
As a wedding rehearsal enables a couple and their wedding party are ready for their big day, so regular worship and attendance at the Lord’s Table helps us to be ready for THE big day, Judgment Day. But the poor soul who was not allowed into the wedding banquet, was not prepared. He did not have a wedding garment.
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
Bold shall I stand in that great day,
Cleansed and redeemed, no debt to pay;
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.
(Jesus, Thy Blood and Righteousness,
Lutheran Service Book, #563, stanzas 1&2)
Heavenly Father, thank You for covering me with the righteousness of Jesus and providing the covering of saving faith so that I will dwell with You in heaven. Please bless my weekly “eternal wedding rehearsals” so that my faith remains firm in Christ. In Jesus’ saving name. Amen.
Pastor David Paape
Daily Bible Reading Chart covering the entire Bible in one year.
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