Verses to read and contemplate:
Matthew 22
1 And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,
2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.
The image showed people that did not dress in an alluring manner in the past (except for the earrings in some women).
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If you wish to use this image, please read Acknowledgements at the end of this issue.
The passage of Matthew 22 can be used to discuss over many areas in our lives. However, in this issue, we examine its application in the aspect of dressing.
A king wanted to hold a wedding ceremony for his son and sent his servants to call for guests that were intended for the big event. However, the guests were too busy with their affairs to attend and to honor the king and his son. At that time, Jesus delivered this message to Israel who was the first choice to be saved. Many members of high society in Israel including Pharisees and Sadducees still indulged in their sins and hypocrisy. Being familiar with the law, they should have been the ones to set examples for the land, but they were more interested in man-made traditions. The gift of Salvation were given to all who humbly recognized their sinful nature and repented. The poor and needy seemed to respond more to the Gospel of Christ. Eventually, being prideful of their heritage, Israel disappointed God and He transferred His attention to the gentiles. The guests in the parable resemble that Israel. Today, lukewarm and rebellious Christians represent the guests. They are born into Christian families or are converted to Christian later in their lives, but their actions show that they belong to the world.
The king who loved his son and wanted his son's wedding to be full of guests ordered to gather more people for attendance, just as Jesus is tirelessly searching for souls to join Kingdom of God.
When the king came to judge the case of a guest, he found out that this guest did not dress in a attire suitable for the wedding. The king then sent him into "outer darkness", the place in which "...there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 22: 13) We know hell is the place with weeping and gnashing of teeth.
For this guest, it is not that he was not willing. It is not that he was not excited to attend the wedding banquet. He accepted the invitation to Kingdom of God. It is that he was not ready. It is that he did not meet the requirements. It is that he did not wear the attire suitable for the wedding of the Lamb.
This parable has both literal and figurative meaning. The guest might have committed any sins and not have repented before attending the wedding. His garment was filthy so he was not allowed to be in the wedding hall.
As we said before, in this issue, we look into the dress code of born again Christians. Today, society deceived its people to believe in liberal mindset. It encourages people to dress carelessly. People show their skins and dress in tight clothing to reveal their body shape. Male and female sexualized themselves in public places, television, internet and social media. It seems there is a contest of who is sexier. Cross-dressing is so normalized that women do not feel ashamed to wear pants. Skirts and pants are shorter. Short-sleeved and sleeveless tops are common.
Within Christianity, many people advocate that it does not matter how you dress, but what is in your heart. If your heart is clean, you should not seek to make people lust after you. You should know that Christians do not live to draw attention from others by their looks. God never changes. We must learn from believers from the past as they covered themselves well. (Check the image used for this issue.)
Acknowledgements
Image used in this issue is under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license and the Smithsonian claimed that no restriction of copyright is known. The image can be copied, modified, and distributed without permission from the Smithsonian. However, according to Smithsonian Institution's Term of Use, The Smithsonian does not guarantee all content with CC0 icon is free from other rights such as rights of publicity or privacy or rights held by third parties. Please use the image with caution and refer to the Smithsonian Terms of use (https://www.si.edu/termsofuse). Giving acknowledgement to the Smithsonian is advisable.
Vocabulary and grammar corrections were done with the help of collinsdictionary.com.
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