Whose Voice Will You Obey?

 

THE FIRST DAY — THE KING COMES TO THE TEMPLE 

Jesus, the King is coming and He does not come merely to enter the city, He comes to the Temple. 

The people have welcomed Him with the cry:

“Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord.” (Mark 11:9-10)

The King has entered Jerusalem.

But Mark gives us a detail that the other Gospels do not give us in the same way. Jesus enters Jerusalem, enters the Temple, and He looks around. He does not immediately begin overturning tables. He looks. He watches.

“And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.” (Mark 11:11)

Jesus comes into the Temple, examines the scene, and then He leaves, and returns to Bethany that evening. The King has seen the house. This is the end of the first day.

THE SECOND DAY — BETHPHAGE AND THE FIG TREE

Now we come to a name that becomes almost impossible to overlook: (Baythfage) Bethphage (mentioned in Mark 11:1). 

So, the next morning, Jesus and His disciples are walking from Bethany toward Jerusalem. They pass through Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives.

The name Bethphage is traditionally understood as a name connected to figs, often rendered “house of unripe figs” or “house of early figs.” 

Now the Gospel places a fig tree directly in Jesus’ path, and Jesus is hungry.

Mark tells us:

“And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.” (Mark 11:13)

The setting has now begun to speak. Jesus has come from Bethany through Bethphage, the place whose name is connected to figs, and now He sees a fig tree before Him. The tree has leaves. From a distance, it looks alive, it looks as though there should be something there to receive. But when Jesus comes near, He finds only leaves, no fruit.

Mark is very careful to tell us something that we might otherwise pass over too quickly, “for the time of figs was not yet.”  Mark wants us to see something more, something is being demonstrated to the disciples, and Mark has deliberately placed that demonstration on the road to Jerusalem, immediately before Jesus enters the Temple.

Then Jesus speaks to the tree:

“No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.” (Mark 11:14)

Notice the wording. Jesus speaks about fruit being eaten: no one is to eat fruit from the tree.

Jesus speaks, the disciples hear Him, and then Jesus continues toward Jerusalem.

The name Bethphage has already placed the idea of figs on the threshold of the scene, then Mark gives us a fig tree covered in leaves but without fruit. Jesus speaks judgment over it, and instead of explaining the tree immediately, Jesus leads us into Jerusalem and into the Temple.

We are being made to watch two things at once: a tree and a Temple.

THE FIG TREE AND THE TEMPLE 

The fig tree is covered with leaves, but is fruitless.

The Temple should be filled with religious activity and holiness, but instead, Jesus finds it filled with merchandise.

“And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.” (Mark 11:15)

Now you can see the sequence. Yesterday Jesus entered the Temple and looked around. Today He returns and this time He acts. He begins casting out those who bought and sold in the Temple. He overturns the tables. He overturns the seats of those selling doves. He stops the movement of merchandise through the Temple. And then He tells them why.

“Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Mark 11:17)

Jesus is not merely expressing anger. He is bringing prophetic testimony into the Temple. Isaiah had already spoken:

“Mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.” (Isaiah 56:7)

Jeremiah had warned Israel against practicing wickedness in the Temple:

“Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 7:11)

Jesus stands inside that house and declares that what should have been a house of prayer has become a den of thieves.

The fig tree was fruitless and the Temple is exposed. A tree and a Temple.

The tree had leaves; the Temple had activity.

The tree had no fruit; the Temple had lost the purpose for which it existed.

Matthew gives us another part of the scene:

“And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased.” (Matthew 21:14-15)

Jesus is healing the broken, children were crying out to Him, people were recognizing Him, and the religious leaders were indignant. 

The King has entered His house, examined it, and has exposed it. The men who are supposed to recognize what God is doing are beginning to oppose the One God has sent.

“And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there.” (Matthew 21:17)

When evening comes, Jesus leaves the city, the King returns to Bethany, but the word spoken over the fig tree remains.

This is the end of the second day.

THE THIRD DAY — THE FIG TREE CONTROVERSY

The next morning, Jesus and the disciples pass by the same place. Now the disciples see something that they did not see yesterday. The tree is dead, it has withered.

“And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away.” (Mark 11:20-21)

Notice the chronology. 

Jesus spoke the curse to the fig tree the previous day, the disciples heard Him, Jesus entered the Temple, confronted what He found, then Jesus left Jerusalem. Now, on the following morning, the disciples see what His word has done. The tree is dried up, withered from the roots, the word becoming visible.

TREE - TEMPLE - TREE.

The fig tree surrounds the Temple confrontation. Mark placed the judgment of the tree immediately before the judgment enacted in the Temple, and then brought the disciples back to the fig tree the following morning.

The tree had leaves, the Temple had religious activity.

The tree had no fruit, the Temple had lost the purpose for which it existed.

The result is visible.

Matthew tells us a similar story of a fig tree and we may accidentally assume it is the same fig tree as the one spoken of in Mark’s Gospel if we don’t pay attention to the difference in details.

“Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only…” (Matthew 21:17-18)

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is returning to Jerusalem in the morning and he is hungry. He sees a fig tree, notices it has no fruit, it was leaves only. 

Then Jesus speaks to the tree:

“Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.” (Matthew 21:19)

*This distinction is worth noticing.

Mark’s wording centers on eating: no one is to eat fruit from the tree.

Matthew’s wording centers on fruit coming forth: let no fruit grow from the tree.

*Here is another difference. 

The fig tree in Mark’s Gospel withers overnight and the disciples see it the day after Jesus speaks to the tree. After Jesus speaks to the fig tree in Matthew, the fig tree immediately withers away. 

“And presently the fig tree withered away.” (Matthew 21:19)

*There is a third difference. 

The disciples saw the fig tree wither in Matthew’s Gospel.

“And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away!” (Matthew 21:20)

In Mark’s Gospel, the disciples hear Jesus speak to the tree, but don’t see the tree wither until the next morning. 

In Matthew’s Gospel, the disciples hear Jesus speak to the tree and immediately see the tree wither.

While many scholars have argued that the fig tree that appears in Mark’s Gospel is the same fig tree in Matthew’s Gospel, the differences in the way Matthew and Mark present the event are significant and deserve our attention.

Mark is showing us a movement from word to manifestation. Jesus speaks over the tree, the disciples hear Him, Jesus enters the Temple, confronts what He finds there, then in the evening, He leaves Jerusalem. On the following morning, the disciples see what the word has done. The fig tree they saw alive with leaves is now dead from its roots. TREE-TEMPLE-TREE.

Something is being revealed through the fig tree. Mark has placed its judgment immediately BEFORE the Temple confrontation, and then he deliberately returns us to the tree the morning AFTER. The sequence forms a circle around the Temple. The Temple had worship, sacrifice, commerce, priests, Scripture, and religious activity, yet Jesus declares that what should have been a house of prayer has become “a den of thieves.” 

Prayer and Thieves… Good and Evil. 

“No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.” (Mark 11:14)

This should bring your mind immediately to the Garden of Eden when God commanded Adam:

“Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

Adam clearly heard the command from God about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil: Do not eat the fruit. 

Then God creates Eve from Adam. In the following chapter, the serpent is present in the garden with Adam and Eve. The cunning, beguiling serpent deceives Eve into eating the fruit and she gives it to Adam. 

“Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.” (1 Timothy 2:14)

Eve was deceived, but Adam knowingly participated. Adam could have corrected the serpent. Adam could have stopped Eve from eating the fruit. He could have obeyed the LORD, said no, or discarded the fruit. He could have interceded for forgiveness for Eve to the LORD. But we know that is not what happened, Adam ate the fruit. The covering that clothed them previously was lifted, and they saw their nakedness and were ashamed.

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Genesis 3:7)

What did they use to try to hide their nakedness? Fig leaves.

After God confronts Adam, Eve, and the serpent, He declares to the serpent:

“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Remember this verse, it will come up later.

Going back to the Gospels, the wording Jesus uses concerning the fig tree brings us back to the command in the Garden of Eden:

“No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.” (Mark 11:14)

Now let’s look back at Matthew’s Gospel, and see the difference:

“Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever.” (Matthew 21:19)

With His words, Jesus is addressing the seed of the fig tree, because a tree cannot bear a seed without fruit. The seed is cut off. The fig tree immediately withers away.

Did you ever wonder why only the Tree of Life is in the New Heavens and Earth and what happened to the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

Then Jesus, in both Gospels, speaks of being able to move “this mountain” if they have faith in God and do not doubt.

“Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (Mark 11:22-24)

The Mount of Olives is physically the mountain Jesus and His disciples are crossing on the road between Bethany and Jerusalem. It is therefore natural to see the physical mountain standing before them as part of the scene. But the mountain also carries a spiritual history. This is the mountain associated in Scripture with Solomon’s high places and later called the Mount of Corruption. This was the place where the seed of the serpent and idolatrous worship had been established by Solomon (and His wives) in opposition to the worship of the One True God.

Now remember the repentance of Israel once Josiah became king. He tore down all the altars, groves, and defiled the wicked high places. The spiritual mountain had been brought down before—and now Jesus is speaking of this spiritual mountain being cast into the sea. 

Then, only in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of forgiveness.

“And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if ye do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.” (Mark 11:25-26)

In the next section, Jesus’s authority is questioned by the opposing religious leaders who have been resisting His words and actions. 

THE QUESTION OF AUTHORITY

Jesus and the disciples continue walking into Jerusalem and into the Temple.

“And they come again to Jerusalem: and as he was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders.” (Mark 11:27)

These religious leaders have been watching Jesus, heard what He has said, seen what He has done. They have seen Him overturn the tables, seen Him heal the broken and sick, and they have heard the people cry out, “Hosanna to the Son of David.”

Now they come with two questions:

“By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority to do these things?” (Matthew 21:23, Mark 11:28) 

They are asking Jesus to identify the source of His authority, but there is something almost hidden inside their question. 

Who gave You the right to enter this Temple, overturn tables, heal these people, teach these things, and pronounce judgment??

But if we have been following the story all the way back to the Garden, we have heard this question before.

This line of questioning reaches all the way into the Garden of Eden because the first great conflict in Scripture was also about authority. 

God gave Adam a command concerning the tree:

“Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” (Genesis 2:16–17) 

The authority was established before the serpent ever appeared. God spoke. The command was given, the boundary was established, and then the serpent entered the Garden.

Notice what the serpent does. He does not begin by physically attacking Adam and Eve, he begins by challenging the word of God.

“Yea, hath God said...?” (Genesis 3:1) 

That is the first great question of authority in Scripture.

Did God really say this?

The serpent introduces another voice into the Garden, and then the woman responds to the serpent's voice.

The issue beneath the fruit is therefore larger than the fruit itself.

It is a question of whose word will govern creation.

God had said, “thou shalt not eat.”

The serpent introduced another interpretation.

The command of God was challenged, the woman took the fruit, and Adam ate. The creation that had been ordered according to the word of God entered into rebellion.

Now another Son has come, standing in the Temple of God, another tree is involved, another word has been spoken declaring what God’s house is supposed to be, and again here is the questioning of the authority of the One who speaks. The question has come full circle.

Who has the authority to speak?

In Eden, the serpent questioned God’s word.

In Jerusalem, the leaders question the authority of God’s Son.

Jesus is about to show them that the issue is not simply whether He possesses authority, the issue is whether they will recognize the Father’s authority when He speaks through His Son.

And Jesus does not answer their question directly, instead, He asks them about John the Baptist.

“The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men?” (Mark 11:30) 

Suddenly the question of authority is turned back upon them: if John was sent from heaven, then his message carried God's authority. If his authority was from God, then they were responsible for what they had done with the message.

The question is therefore not merely:

Who gave John authority?

It is:

What did you do when the Father spoke?

That takes us directly into the next parable.

THE TWO SONS

Matthew preserves what happens next with extraordinary detail.

Jesus tells them about a father who comes to his first son and says:

“Son, go work today in my vineyard.” (Matthew 21:28)

The Father speaks, the command is clear.

The first son answers: “I will not.”

Open rebellion, he simply refuses.

But then: “Afterward he repented, and went.”

He changed his mind, he turned, and then he obeyed.

The father goes to the second son, the command is exactly the same.

The second son answers: “I go, sir.”

His words sound perfect. Yes, father. Yes, sir. I will go. But he doesn’t go.

Then Jesus asks: “Whether of them twain did the will of his father?”

They answer: “The first.”

Their answer is correct concerning what finally happened, but notice what Jesus has actually placed before them: neither son demonstrated immediate obedience. The first son initially refused the Father's command. The second son verbally accepted the command and then refused it through his actions.

That distinction reaches all the way back to Eden.

Adam had heard the Father's command. The command was not difficult to understand. God had spoken. Yet when another voice challenged God's word, Adam did not hold fast to the Father's command. The problem in Eden was therefore not lack of knowledge, it was a failure to remain under the Father's authority.

Now Jesus is standing before religious leaders who know the Scriptures, know the Law, know the traditions, know the history of Israel, and know what John has said. They have heard the Father's voice through His messenger. But what have they done with it?

Jesus tells them:

“Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” (Matthew 21:31-32)

That last phrase is the key. “Repented not afterward.”

The first son said no and then AT LEAST repented.

The tax collectors and harlots had lived in ways that placed them outside the religious appearance of righteousness, yet when John came preaching repentance, they believed, they turned.

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

The religious leaders had the words, they had the Scriptures, they had the religious office, they had the outward appearance. But when the Father spoke through John the Baptist, they would not turn, they would not repent. Now the same question that arose in Eden is standing before them again:

Whose voice will you obey?

The serpent had once said, “Yea, hath God said...?”

Now the Son of God is standing before them, and they are asking, in effect, “By what authority?”

The first rebellion began when the word of the Creator was questioned. 

Now the religious leaders are questioning the authority of the Son and Jesus is exposing the fruit of that response.

THE VINEYARD

Now Jesus gives them another parable. This time He speaks about a vineyard, and the men who have been entrusted with the Owner’s vineyard.

“There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.” (Matthew 21:33) 

The Owner planted a vineyard, protected it, prepared it, built the winepress and tower, then entrusted it to the husbandmen, vine dressers.

Notice what Jesus does first: He establishes ownership.

Jesus is now showing the religious leaders what their position actually is. The husbandmen possess responsibility, but they do not possess ownership.

When the time of fruit arrives, the Owner sends his servants to receive it. 

“And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.” (Matthew 21:34) 

There it is again. Fruit. But now we understand why the fruit matters. The fruit is not merely evidence that a tree is alive, it is what the Owner has a right to receive from what He planted and entrusted to others. 

The issue is whether those who have been entrusted with what belongs to God will actually give God what belongs to Him.

The Father has given Israel His covenant, His law, His prophets, His Temple, His priesthood, His promises, His commandments, and His calling. The religious leadership had been entrusted with the vineyard.

But when the Owner comes for His fruit, what does He find?

Not submission, not repentance, not righteousness, and not faithfulness.

He finds men who have begun to treat what belongs to the Owner as though it belongs to them.

The servants arrive to collect the fruit, and the husbandmen seize them.

“And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.” (Matthew 21:35) 

The Owner sends more servants, the same thing happens again. 

The pattern matches the history of Israel’s rejection of God’s messengers. Jesus is explaining the history behind the authority question they have just asked Him.

“By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” (Matthew 21:23) 

Then the Owner sends Someone different, Someone greater than all the servants. He sends His Son.

“But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.” (Matthew 21:37) 

Now the parable reaches the point where everything has been moving. The Father sends His Son, and the husbandmen know exactly who He is.

“But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. ” (Matthew 21:38-39) 

They do not kill him because they fail to recognize Him, they kill Him because they recognize Him. 

And why did they decide to kill Him? Because they want the inheritance without the Heir. They want what belongs to the Father without submitting to the Son whom the Father has sent.

The serpent’s question is appearing again in another form. 

In Eden, Adam and Eve were presented with the word of God, another voice, the voice of the serpent, challenged that word.

Here, the leaders are presented with the Son of God and challenge His authority.

In Eden, the serpent reached for what belonged to God.

Here, the husbandmen say, in effect “Let us kill the Son, and the inheritance will be ours.”

Will the serpent submit to the Owner, or will the serpent attempt to possess what belongs to God?

Now let’s look at what Jesus has done. 

The Two Sons Parable exposed the leaders’ response when the Father speaks.

The Vineyard Parable exposes what happens when the Father’s servants are sent and when the Father’s Son arrives.

Have you ever wondered why John the Baptist and Jesus called the religious leaders serpents and a generation of vipers?

“O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7, Luke 3:7)

“O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:34)

“Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?” (Matthew 23:33)

Their actions in the Temple, treatment of God’s messengers, and their response to the Son place them within the ancient conflict between the Seed and the Serpent. The connection to Genesis 3 becomes much harder to overlook when they refuse to obey the voice of God and question Jesus’s authority.

“I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15)

Jesus then asks them a question.

“When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?” (Matthew 21:40) 

Jesus makes them pronounce the judgment.

“He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” (Matthew 21:41) 

They have just declared what happens to men who refuse the Owner, reject His servants, kill His Son, and refuse to render the fruit that belongs to Him. Then Jesus turns their own judgment back upon them.

“Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” (Matthew 21:43) 

Now the fig tree begins to make even more sense. The fig tree had leaves, the vineyard had husbandmen. The religious leadership had the Scripture, Temple, priesthood, covenant, sacrifices, teachers, traditions, and authority. There was an enormous amount of outward evidence of religious life.

But who is actually doing the Father’s will?

Where is the fruit that belongs to the Father?

The Father is looking for obedience, repentance, fruit, and recognition of His Son. The leaders have just demonstrated that they intend to keep the vineyard while rejecting its Owner.

Jesus is not changing subjects from one parable to another, He is tightening the indictment.

THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED

Jesus does not stop, He quotes Scripture (Psalm 118:22-23):

“The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner.” (Matthew 21:42) 

The builders are supposed to recognize the Stone that belongs in the building. These builders have rejected the very Stone that God has chosen. 

The religious leaders are standing against the Father’s declared purpose. They have rejected the Son, they have rejected the Stone.

Jesus gives them the consequence:

“The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.” (Matthew 21:43-44)

Matthew tells us exactly what happened inside the men hearing Jesus:

“And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parables, they perceived that he spake of them.” (Matthew 21:45) 

They understood, they knew Jesus was speaking about them. Jesus is confronting the men who have questioned His authority and showing them what their response to that authority reveals about them. They are stewards who have forgotten the Owner.

What right did they have to reject the One whom the Father has sent?

Their question about authority has therefore become a question about whether they themselves will submit to the Father’s authority and will.

THE WEDDING FEAST

Matthew records another parable concerning the kingdom.

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son.” (Matthew 22:2)

We are entering a wedding, and that takes us back farther than the Temple. It takes us back to the beginning.

Before the serpent ever appeared, before the Fall, before death entered creation, God had already established marriage in the Garden.

“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” (Genesis 2:18) 

Then God brought the woman to the man and Adam said:

“This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh...” (Genesis 2:23) 

Then we see the covenantal pattern:

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24) 

The Garden begins with God, man, woman, covenant, union, and fellowship in the presence of God.

Then the serpent enters, introduces another voice, the word of God is questioned, trust is broken, the command about the tree is violated, and the relationship between God and humanity is broken.

Now Jesus stands in Jerusalem and tells of a King preparing a marriage for His Son. The story has moved from the first garden toward the restoration of what was lost.

“And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.” (Matthew 22:3) 

There is the same problem again: the King speaks, the King calls, the invited ones refuse.

The first son had been told, “Son, go work to day in my vineyard.”

The invited guests are now told to come to the wedding.

In both cases, the issue is what happens after the Father or King speaks.

The king sends another message:

“Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.” (Matthew 22:4)

Everything has been prepared, the King has done the work, the feast is ready, the invitations have gone forth.

But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise…” (Matthew 22:5)

The invited choose something else, their own affairs. Some others do something unthinkable:

“And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.” (Matthew 22:6)

Shockingly, others that were called upon seized the servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.

At this point, the pattern is now impossible to miss. The same pattern we just saw in the vineyard has appeared again. God sends His servants, the message is refused, and those entrusted with the things of God turn against the messengers themselves.

The King responds in judgment:

“But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. ” (Matthew 22:7-9) 

Now those who refused the King’s invitations have been dealt with and the wedding invitation has been extended wider.

“So those servants went out into the ways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.” (Matthew 22:10) 

The kingdom is no longer being defined by the people who assumed that because they had been invited first, they therefore possessed the kingdom. The King decides who enters, determines the terms of the feast, and the Son is the reason for the feast. The authority belongs to the King.

Then Matthew gives us something that at first seems like a small detail, but it is not.

“And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment.” (Matthew 22:11) 

A man is there, he has entered the wedding, he is among the guests, but something is wrong. 

The King says:

“Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:12-14) 

Now look at what Jesus has placed before these religious leaders. The vineyard exposed their failure to render the Father’s fruit. The rejected Stone exposed their rejection of the Son whom God established. And the wedding exposes something even deeper: being invited is not the same thing as belonging to the King.

They have assumed that their position gives them standing. Jesus is showing them that the King Himself determines who belongs at the wedding feast. And now we can see the Garden connection.

The Garden began with God dwelling with humanity in a place of life. It began with covenant relationship. It began with the man and woman joined together. 

Then the serpent came and its voice challenged God’s word. Humanity listened to another voice. The fellowship was broken. Nakedness and shame appeared. The man and woman attempted to cover themselves with something other than their wedding garment, fig leaves.

“And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” (Genesis 3:7) 

Humanity’s first response to sin was an attempt to cover itself.

In Jesus’ wedding parable, a man appears before the King without the garment required for the feast. The man cannot enter on his own terms, and he cannot answer when the King asks why he is not properly clothed. He is speechless. He is driven from God’s presence into a place full of darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth.

Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. This deeper problem has been unfolding since Eden.

Whose voice will you obey?

Who has the right to determine what belongs to God? 

“By what authority doest thou these things? and who gave thee this authority?” (Matthew 21:23) 

The religious leaders have heard the parables, they understand what Jesus is saying, yet they do not repent, they continue to test Him, and eventually, they take part in His death.

I’M CLOSING WITH THIS

There’s a warning here for all of us.

Spiritual warfare isn’t always about getting you to openly deny God. 

Sometimes it is convincing you to stay silent when you know the truth, remaining passive when you should act, or watching something destructive happen without intervening. 

Adam’s first recorded failure in Genesis 3 wasn’t saying the wrong thing. It was saying nothing at all.

Once again, the ancient question from the Garden is standing in the Temple:

Whose voice will you obey?

To all who hear and obey the voice of the LORD::

The LORD bless you, and keep you:

The LORD make HIS face shine upon you, and be gracious to you:

The LORD lift up HIS countenance upon you, and give you peace.

Amen and amen.