Few of us in Britain, and probably few in the entire world, can have failed to realise that a significant event happened in London on 29th April – namely the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Following on from this global event, the family service theme was that of ‘a Royal Wedding’, but the wedding in question was not the one celebrated at Westminster Abbey!
Mark preached from Matthew 22:1-14 on the parable of the Wedding Banquet, which talks about the wedding God Himself is planning. Recently, Look North (a local news programme) has featured interviews with relatives of Catherine Middleton who had been invited (unexpectedly, from their point of view, given that they were not close relatives) to the wedding in London. This parable talks about how those invited to the wedding did not want to attend, with the result that the guests who did attend were not necessarily those you would expect.
God has issued an open invitation to the world, not only to attend a wedding, but to be participants in it, for we are waiting for the great wedding feast between Christ and His bride, the Church. Many people don’t want to know about God, shunning this invitation in the way that the guests did in the parable; the Jews, to whom Jesus came initially, did not recognise Him as God’s Messiah. But for all who will accept the invitation, there is a wedding celebration ahead which will make the royal nuptials in London pale into insignificance. All the lavishness and grandeur seen on Friday will be as nothing compared to the celebration that is ahead (Revelation 21). May we accept this invitation and be privileged to share in that wedding.