Jesus taught this reality in the Parable of the Wedding Banquet. In the parable, the king invites the first wave of guests, but they have every excuse under the sun for not attending. When the invitation is broadly extended, the invitees mock and mistreat the slaves who invited them to the king's celebration.
"Everything is ready!"
The king, upon entering the hall, notices a man who is not wearing a wedding robe. Apparently proper attire is required to attend the wedding banquet. The inappropriately dressed man is tossed "into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Jesus is teaching two things: All are invited into His Kingdom where the effective will of the Father is done. But to enter the banquet, there are conditions. One's dress should reflect the sacredness of the occasion. We tend to love the promise, but are appalled by the conditions.
Case in point: "… a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh."
God's pattern of blessing with a corresponding condition is seen in Genesis 2:24.
Shouldn't gratitude be our response for the blessing of marriage? Why must we chaff against the one condition? "…male and female He created them."
Many are called, but few are chosen.
Many are called, but few are chosen.
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