Slides to accompany Bill Drewett's talk at Bristol Vineyard on May 5th - taking a look at the parable of the banquet...and they are pretty valuable to helping understand the message!

1. Parables – Part 8
The Banquet

3. Jesus spoke to them again in parables,
saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who
prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent
his servants to those who had been invited to
the banquet to tell them to come, but they
refused to come.
‘Then he sent some more servants and said,
“Tell those who have been invited that I have
prepared my dinner: my oxen and fattened
cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is
ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”

4. ‘But they paid no attention and went off – one to
his field, another to his business. The rest seized
his servants, ill-treated them and killed them. The
king was enraged. He sent his army and
destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
‘Then he said to his servants, “The wedding
banquet is ready, but those I invited did not
deserve to come. So go to the street corners and
invite to the banquet anyone you find.”

5. 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.
‘But when the king came in to see the guests, he
noticed a man there who was not wearing
wedding clothes. He asked, “How did you get in
here without wedding clothes, friend?” The man
was speechless.

6. ‘Then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand
and foot, and throw him outside, into the
darkness, where there will be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.”
‘For many are invited, but few are chosen.’
Matthew 22: 1-14

7. • What was Jesus message?
• Are we accepting or rejecting it?

8. Jesus spoke to them again in parables,
saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a king who
prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent
his servants to those who had been invited to
the banquet to tell them to come, but they
refused to come.
‘Then he sent some more servants and said,
“Tell those who have been invited that I have
prepared my dinner: my oxen and fattened
cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is
ready. Come to the wedding banquet.”

9. Day of
the Lord
This Age Age to Come

10. On this mountain the Lord Almighty will prepare
a feast of rich food for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine –
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death for ever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
Isaiah 25: 6-8

11. From that time on Jesus began to
preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has
come near.’
Matthew 4: 17

12. Jesus
Kingdom of this
World
Kingdom of God
Jesus’
return

13. The Kingdom of Heaven
1. The kingdom is here now

14. Jesus
Kingdom of this
World
Kingdom of God
Jesus’
return

15. The Kingdom of Heaven
1. The kingdom is here now
2. A kingdom has a King

16. The Kingdom of Heaven
1. The kingdom is here now
2. A kingdom has a King
3. We can’t pick and mix

17. The Kingdom of Heaven
1. The kingdom is here now
2. A kingdom has a King
3. We can’t pick and mix
4. Entering the kingdom is a process

18. The Kingdom of Heaven
1. The kingdom is here now
2. A kingdom has a King
3. We can’t pick and mix
4. Entering the kingdom is a process
5. God’s presence

19. ‘It is important to underline the fact that all of
Jesus’ warnings about hell occur in messages to
people who believed themselves heirs of the
kingdom. Jesus did not preach hell to pagans; he
preached it to those who thought themselves
believers. Hell is not a doctrine used to frighten
unbelievers, it is a doctrine used to warn those who
think themselves believers.’
Frederick Bruner
Matthew: A Commentary, Volume 1