Heavenly Wedding Banquet

The heavenly wedding banquet is a parable Jesus gave to His disciples. The parable explains that the saints who attend the wedding banquet will receive salvation and enter the eternal kingdom of heaven. As a marriage is an important and joyful event in a lifetime, so it will be to go to heaven. Another purpose of comparing the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet is to introduce the bride. We can know about God who gives us salvation, through the wedding banquet consisting of a bridegroom, a bride, and guests.

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet

Jesus explained the kingdom of heaven through various parables: a man who sows a good seed,^[1] a mustard seed,^[2] a treasure hidden in the field,^[3] a fine pearl,^[4] a net for fish,^[5] a king accounting with his servants,^[6] workers in the vineyard,^[7] ten virgins waiting for the bridegroom,^[8] servants in charge of a master’s talents,^[9] and so on. When the disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, Jesus said, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them,”^[10] and “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear and understand.”
One of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus taught His disciples, is the parable of the wedding banquet. Jesus likened the saints’ salvation and entering heaven to their participation in a wedding banquet.

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. . . . So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:1–14

Members of the Heavenly Wedding Banquet

For a wedding ceremony to take place, a bridegroom, a bride, and guests are needed. Since the heavenly wedding banquet is likened to the kingdom of heaven, we must know who the bridegroom, the bride, and the guest are for our salvation.

Bridegroom (God the Father)

The bridegroom refers to Jesus who came as the Son of God.^[11] However, 2,000 years ago, Jesus preached the gospel for three years and ascended to heaven without having His bride. In the book of Revelation which was recorded after Jesus’ ascension, it prophesies that the wedding banquet will take place when the Lamb’s wife makes herself ready.^[12] ”The Lamb” indicates Christ. Therefore, the bridegroom at the heavenly wedding banquet, which takes places because the bride has made herself ready, indicates Second Coming Christ.^[13]^[14]

Guests (Saints)

Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”

Revelation 19:9

Inviting guests to the wedding banquet of the Lamb means gathering the people who will attend the heavenly wedding banquet and be saved. That’s why it is written that those who are invited to the wedding banquet are blessed. Some insist that the bride is saints, but it is a misinterpretation. If the bride is saints, we cannot explain the identity of those who are invited. Since the bridegroom and the bride are inviting guests, the bride and the guests are fundamentally different. In addition to the parable of the wedding banquet, Jesus always likened His disciples to the guests of a wedding.^[15] Therefore, those who are invited to the heavenly wedding banquet are the saints.

“For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Matthew 22:14

Guests are described not only as the invited but also as the chosen. Since the saints are called “the chosen” and “the remnants chosen by grace,”^[16] it is clear that the guests indicate the saints.

Bride (God the Mother)

The bride at the heavenly wedding banquet is fundamentally different from the saints who are invited.

The parable of the wedding banquet in Matthew 22 does not mention the bride, who should be present at the wedding banquet. It is not because the bride does not exist, but because it was not the time for the bride to appear at the time of Jesus. Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to a wedding banquet because there was a bride who would appear in due time.

“Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready.”

Revelation 19:7–10

Apostle John recorded the appearing of the bride through a revelation shown to him. The bride, who did not appear at the time of Jesus 2,000 years ago, appears with Second Coming Jesus, who is compared to the Lamb. The book of Revelation not only prophesies the appearing of the bride but also her identity.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

Revelation 21:9-10

John was led by the angel and saw the bride, the wife of the Lamb, through a revelation. The bride that he saw was Jerusalem coming down out of heaven. The book of Galatians records about Jerusalem as follows:

But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.

Galatians 4:26

“Jerusalem that is above” is the “ Holy City Jerusalem coming down out of heaven,” of which the identity is the Mother of the saints who will be saved. At the heavenly wedding banquet, the bridegroom is Second Coming Jesus, namely God the Father, and the bride is God the Mother.

The Spirit and the Bride Giving Us the Water of Life

The prophecy of the heavenly wedding banquet is fulfilled when Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother appear in the last days and lead Their children, who are compared to the guests, to salvation. In the book of Revelation, this is shown through the prophecy that They will gives the water of life.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17

In Revelation 19 and 21, Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother are described as the Lamb and the Bride or the Lamb and His Wife, and in Revelation 22, as the Spirit and the Bride. All these words prophesy that Heavenly Father and Mother will appear together in the last days. The purpose of Their appearance in the last days is to give us the water of life. The water of life means eternal life, namely, salvation. Thanks to the appearing of Mother, who is the bride, the saints receive the water of life—eternal life, and enter the kingdom of heaven. That’s why the saints who participate in the wedding banquet are blessed. In the Bible, the children of Mother are called the “children of promise.”^[17] Those who receive the Spirit and the Bride, who are God the Father and God the Mother, believe in and follow Them, will receive the glory of heaven as the children of promise who are chosen at the wedding banquet.

Heavenly Wedding Clothes

Just as there is a formal attire in every occasion, guests who are invited to a wedding should wear appropriate formal attires. It is the same with the heavenly wedding banquet. However, in the parable of the wedding banquet prepared by a king, there is a man without wedding clothes.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ ”

Matthew 22:11–13

Those who do not wear wedding clothes are eventually thrown outside. They are those who are invited but not chosen. Wearing wedding clothes is required to participate in the heavenly wedding banquet. It is written, “For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”^[18] Wearing wedding clothes means living a life following the examples of Christ by receiving baptism, which is God’s covenant. When we keep God’s commandments, following the examples of Christ, and are born again by doing the righteous deeds, we can become chosen as God’s children and enter the kingdom of heaven. Moreover, we can glorify Heavenly Mother who is the Bride.^[19]^[20]

There is another parable which uses a wedding banquet. It is the parable of the ten virgins.^[21] Jesus said the kingdom of heaven would be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and the people all became drowsy and fell asleep. However, at midnight, the cry rang out to meet the bridegroom. The five virgins, who had prepared enough oil, received the bridegroom and went to the wedding banquet, but the five virgins who ran out of oil were not able to enter the wedding banquet.

In the parable, the lamp stands for God’s word, the truth,^[22] and the oil refers to faith. Those who have received Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, the Saviors in the last days, and keep their faith until the end, will enter the kingdom of heaven like the five wise virgins who entered the wedding banquet.

References

[1] "Matthew 13:24".

[2] "Matthew 13:31".

[3] "Matthew 13:44".

[4] "Matthew 13:45".

[5] "Matthew 13:47".

[6] "Matthew 18:23".

[7] "Matthew 20:1".

[8] "Matthew 25:1".

[9] "Matthew 25:14".

[10] "Matthew 13:10–11".

[11] "Mark 1:1".

[계시록_19:7-12] "Revelation 19:7".

[13] "John 1:29".

[14] "Hebrews 9:28".

[15] "Mark 2:18–19".

[16] "Romans 11:5".

[17] "Galatians 4:26–28".

[18] "Galatians 3:27".

[19] "Isaiah 49:18".

[20] "Revelation 19:8".

[21] "Matthew 25:1–2".

[22] "Psalms 119:105".

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Heavenly Wedding Banquet

Contents

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet