The Invitation

"When Jesus heard this, He was amazed and said to those following Him, "Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven"- Matthew 8:10-11 (NIV).

Jesus was admiring the faith of the Roman centurion, who had just demonstrated his trust in Jesus' power and ability to answer his petition. This had to be an alarming revelation to the Israelites, God's chosen people...not invited to the feast! To add to their growing concern Jesus went on to say that the children of Abraham would be cast out of the kingdom, into darkness, and "in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (v.12). The parable of the wedding feast is in Matthew 22. Those intended guests, once receiving their invitations, had paid no attention and went about their business, continuing in ungodly behavior. The King's anger burned. He destroyed them and then invited the most unlikely guests to take their place at the King's wedding feast. The invitations to the feast Jesus was referring to have been sent out. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will be in attendance. We all have an invitation. Everyone gets one. Let us be properly robed, in our right mind, alert and ready for the call that He is ready for us to come.