Who got the first invite?

Matthew 22:2-6 NLT

"The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. [3] When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! [4] "So he sent other servants to tell them, 'The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!' [5] But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. [6] Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

So who got the first invite to the king's banquet?

Again we have to look at the background of the story.

Jesus is speaking with the Pharisees and Sadducees - those who were challenging His authority to teach.

They, who were very familiar with the Scriptures and Prophecies - those who had plenty of head knowledge but no heart to receive.

They were the "invited ones" who had made the deliberate choice to ignore the invite. Moreover as well as ignoring the messengers, they mistreated them and even had them killed.

How this parable must have incensed those arrogant leaders.

It even galvanised their intent to dispose of Jesus.

They jealously observed the people hungry to hear Jesus' words and recognised that their place was under threat.

In chapter 23 Jesus roundly condemned them:

Matthew 23:1-3,5-7 TPT

Then Jesus addressed both the crowds and his disciples and said, [2] "The religious scholars and the Pharisees sit on Moses' throne as the authorised interpreters of the Law. [3] So listen and follow what they teach, but don't do what they do, for they tell you one thing and do another. [5] Everything they do is done for show and to be noticed by others. They want to be seen as holy, so they wear oversized prayer boxes on their arms and foreheads with Scriptures inside, and wear extra-long tassels on their outer garments. [6] They crave the seats of highest honor at banquets and in their meeting places. [7] And how they love to be admired by men with their titles of respect, aspiring to be recognized in public and have others call them 'Reverend.'

"Ouch!" Bang goes religious pomposity then!

It can happen with church leaders in our day too.

Wearing long robes, brandishing ornate Bibles may look good on the surface, but it means zero without a humble heart to receive Jesus' Salvation.