A king prepares a wedding feast for his son, but the invited guests will not come; some ignore the invitation and others kill the messengers. The lesson reads this against Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem, which was unwilling, and the city’s later destruction. The invitation then goes out to the highways, to good and bad alike, and the wedding hall is filled.
The king finds one guest without wedding clothes. Scripture pictures salvation as God clothing His people, from the garments of skin in Eden to the robe of righteousness in Isaiah. The lesson also stresses the believer’s responsibility to put on Christ and the new self. The one who receives Christ also receives the Holy Spirit, and the King looks both for Christ’s righteousness and for the Spirit’s work, which cannot be separated. The parable ends with a solemn warning to examine ourselves, because only true heirs will inherit God’s kingdom.