Come!

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Revelation 21-22; Psalm 48

TO CHEW ON: "And the Spirit and the bride say 'Come!' And let him who hears say, 'Come!' And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely." Revelation 22:17

"Come over for coffee."
"Come shopping with us."
"Why don't you come for dinner?"

How sweet the word "come," that tells us we're included, we're invited, we're wanted! That word features prominently in this last chapter of Revelation - the last chapter of the Bible. But it also occurs in other places. Let's take a little trip through the Bible to see other places this one-word invitation was given.

"Come into the ark," God says to Noah, inviting him into a place of safety (Genesis 7:1).

"Come to the house of the Lord." Hezekiah's letter summons the tribes of Israel to a renewed Passover celebration. It is an invitation to revival (2 Chronicles 30:1).

"Come now and let us reason together," begins God's invitation to Israel in a call to receive cleansing (Isaiah 1:18).

"Come to the waters…come buy and eat. Yes come buy wine and milk…" is God's enticement to all who want lasting satisfaction (Isaiah 55:1).

"Come to Me," says Jesus to the weary and burdened, "and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

"Come to the wedding," says the king in Jesus' story about the wedding feast. "Come for all things are now ready," is the summons in another one of Jesus' stories. They are invitations to the gospel feast (Matthew 22:4; Luke 14:17).

And then there's this invitation from Jesus in Revelation. It's from God the Spirit and His bride, the church. It's also from those who have already responded ("him who hears").

It is to anyone who is interested. There's nothing exclusive about this invite.

It's for the one who thirsts - who recognizes a need for water that is life-giving. It's an invitation to take an initial drink of that water and to live on that water.

What are your needs today? Whether for safety, revival, spiritual sustenance, or rest, God's invitation is always "Come."

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, thank You for this warm and wonderful invitation. Help me to take you up on it in all the circumstances of my life. And help me to extend it unceasingly to others. Amen.

PSALM TO PRAY: Psalm 48

The Bible Project VIDEO: Heaven and Earth (Theme Series)

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Wedding clothes

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 22:1-14

TO CHEW ON: " 'But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man who there who did not have on a wedding garment.' "  Matthew 22:11.

Like so many of Jesus' parables, this one is full of eternal truth goodies. In a way it's like the gospel in 12 verses. Here's how I understand it:

The King's son's arranged marriage is God's relationship with His chosen people Israel.

The king's servants are the prophets who invited Israel's citizens over and over to join the wedding celebration, i.e. live in obedience to God's laws and with a right heart attitude.

The people who were invited in the story treated the king's invitation as casually as Israel did the prophets' repeated calls to repentance and revival. Just as the people in the story ended up killing the king's messengers, so too Israel mocked, tortured, and even murdered some of its prophets.

The people of the highways and " all who they found both bad and good" are the individuals from all over the earth who are not Jews—us Gentiles from "all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues" (Revelation 7:9)—who now have an invitation to God's party.

It was a free invitation for the people in the parable, but apparently a special wedding garment was given to each guest before entry into the banquet hall. What is  the meaning of that garment?

• Paul talks about our earthly bodies clothed in life—the clothes of immortality—life forever (2 Corinthians 5:3).

• He also talks about putting on the new man—clothes of "true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:24).

• The clothes of the "new man" are not only for after this life but for now. They come in styles of "…tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another…" (Colossians 3:10,12).

• In Revelation John sees these clothes as white and with this outfit comes a new name (Revelation 3:4).

• This garment needs to be worn at all times so the guests are prepared when the master drops in (Revelation 16:15).

• God's subjects will wear this outfit in heaven, the "fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints." And guess what the heavenly occasion is? The Marriage Supper of the Lamb, coming full-circle, right back to our parable (Revelation 19:8,9)!

The sobering ending to Jesus' story—the guest with no wedding garment being "cast into outdoor darkness" —tells us that God's invitation has one simple condition: the need to exchange our rags (Isaiah 64:6) for the garment of salvation that God gives: "For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness" - Isaiah 61:10. It too is free to us. But we must put it on.

PRAYER: Dear God, I thank you for an invitation to Your party, and the clothes of salvation that You provide. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Wedding clothes

TODAY'S SPECIAL: Matthew 22:1-14

TO CHEW ON: "'For many are called, but few are chosen.'" Matthew 22:14

Jesus' stories certainly snag one's attention. In today's we have a king's banquet hall all decorated with steaming platters of food for the wedding feast already on the buffet—but no guests. The invited give excuses about why they can't come, and worse, abuse the servants who carry the invitations. As a hostess who has prepared a few big meals myself, I can feel the pang of the king's disappointment when no one shows up.

How satisfying, then, when he calls in the unworthy, the good, even the bad. The story feels finished with the scene of that hall alive with conversation and laughter, the clink of dishes and cutlery (although I'm not sure they used cutlery. Oh well...).

But no, here comes another instalment. The king sees a wedding guest who has a little problem. He is wearing no wedding garment. A margin note in my study Bible explains about Bible-time weddings:

"Even among the lower class first century weddings often included several days of joyful feasting. The bride and groom wore their best clothes; their guests enjoyed the best food and drink they could provide (Isaiah 61:10, John 2:1-11).


A royal wedding would be even more elaborate. If a guest of the king was unable to find suitable attire, the king himself would provide something to wear (1 Samuel 18:4, Esther 6:8, Revelation 19:7-9).


Of all the guests brought to the wedding—good and bad, worthy and unworthy—this particular guest had apparently rejected the garment provided by the king." - Quest Study Bible, p. 1366.

It turns out the apparent little matter of not being dressed in the right clothes is not little at all, judging by the king's reaction: "Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?" he asks. And in response to the man's silence, the king commands him bound and taken away "...cast into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

It's not hard to see who are the real players in this story. The king is God. His son is Jesus. The intended guests are the Israelites—who spurned all invitations to come to the feast even killing the prophet messengers. And so the invitation comes to all, worthy and unworthy: "For God so loved the world..." - John 3:16.

God provides the wedding clothes to wear (Zechariah 3:4). They are ours when we exchange our rags for robes "washed...and made white in the blood of the Lamb" - Revelation 7:13-14.

Paul describes this exchange another way: "He made Him who knew no sin to be made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" - 1 Corinthians 5:21.

Someday there will be another wedding banquet (Revelation 19:7-9). Have you asked Jesus for the wedding garment to wear to it?

PRAYER: Dear God, Your invitation is so generous. Help me not to interpret Your grace as an attitude of 'anything goes.' Help me to cultivate habits of righteousness, faithfulness and obedience. Amen.

MORE: Bible-time marriage customs

For more information about Bible-time marriage customs, this exhaustive article on Bible History Online includes entries from many sources, including Fausset's Bible Dictionary, Easton's Bible Dictionary, Smith's Bible Dictionary etc.