“‘For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous shall answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and fed You? Or thirsty, and gave You drink? When did we see You a stranger, and took You in? Or naked, and clothed You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and came to You?’ And the King shall answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brothers, you have done it to Me'” (Matthew 25:34-40 LITV).

In that parable, Jesus spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and of Himself as the King. Jesus also spoke in a parable of the Father being King and Himself being the Son of the King (read Matthew 22:2-14). The King prepared a wedding for His Son, but the wedding guest refused to attend. The King sent His servants to gather the guest, but the guest treated the servant badly and would not attend. The servants then were told to go gather all they found and the wedding hall was filled. One guest was not dressed in wedding garments and was put out. There is a correlation between the two parables that is worth looking into.

In the parable in Matthew 25 there is also a group that did not care for the least of the brethren of the King (read Matthew 25:41-45). Just as there was a group that did not clothe the naked, there was a man that was not properly clothed. Both were cast out, the group that did not clothe into everlasting punishment and the man that was not clothed properly into outer darkness. “And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more” (Luke 12:47-48 NKJV).

“Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you kill the fat ones, but you do not feed the flock. You have not made the weak strong, nor have you healed the sick, nor have you bound up the broken. You have not brought again those driven away, nor have you sought that which was lost; but you have ruled them with force and with cruelty” (Ezekiel 34:2-4 LITV). Ezekiel is writing about the shepherds (leaders) of Israel, but the words apply as much to the leadership in the Church today as they did to the shepherds of Israel. “Truly I say to you, ‘Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me'” (Matthew 25:45 LITV).

The servants in the parable of the wedding are the ministers (leadership) of the Church. The Church has been sent into the world to bring the gospel of the kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God) to everyone. The Church leadership has been called to feed the flock and not ourselves. The Church leadership is called to go into the highways and gather as many as we can find and bring them to the wedding of the Son of God. The parable stated, “The kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for his son” ( Matthew 22:2 LITV). The calling is to bring all that we find to the kingdom of Heaven. It is the calling of the servants of the King to make sure that the least of the brethren are prepared: feed – clothed – sought after (visited, in sickness and/or in prison).

The servants of the King need to be, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’ (Isaiah 40:3 NKJV). “A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there” (Isaiah 35:8-9 NKJV).

© 2006, Tim D. Coulter Sr.