<p>22:4&nbsp;<em>Again</em>- This and the use of the word &quot;other&quot; later in the sentence develops an impression of the King's continued effort with the guests.&nbsp;</p><p><em>He sent other servants, saying: Tell them that were invited-&nbsp;</em>People are called to the Kingdom, and yet also called s.w. to repentance (9:13) and called to appear at judgment day (20:8). When we hear the call and respond, we begin our journey towards judgment day. That day, therefore, is not just for the baptized, but for any who heard the call and began the journey. The parable and teaching of Luke 14 show that we are those called, and yet we are also those who call others (Lk. 14:10,13). We are to reflect the grace of how we were called by calling others. The Greek&nbsp;<em>kaleo,&nbsp;</em>&quot;call&quot;, isn't a passive word when used in the sense of inviting persons. It's from <em>keleuo,&nbsp;</em>to command or urge onwards. Our calling of others, and God's calling of us, involves an urging towards response.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Look, I have made ready my dinner</em>- The obvious unreality of the story is that the dinner sits on the table, as it were, for centuries. But this is indeed the strangeness of God's openness to us. The time has always been ready, if human response and the effort of His servants has been enough. John's mission had been to &quot;prepare&quot; the way for Messiah (3:3 s.w.), through 'preparing' a people for Him (Lk. 1:17,76 s.w.). Although it had indeed been prepared, Israel didn't want it. A unique place in God's Kingdom has been &quot;prepared&quot; for each of us from the foundation of the world (20:23; 25:34 &quot;Them for whom it has been prepared of My Father&quot;; Jn. 14:2 &quot;to prepare a place for you&quot;; 1 Cor. 2:9 &quot;the things which God has prepared for those who love Him&quot;; Heb. 11:16 &quot;He has prepared for them a city&quot;; 1 Pet. 1:5 our salvation is &quot;prepared&quot; for us). The tragedy of the story is that such a wonderful feast had been &quot;prepared&quot;- the same word is found later in :4 &quot;All things are&nbsp;<em>ready</em>&quot; and in :8 &quot;the wedding is&nbsp;<em>ready</em>&quot;. Perhaps this helps us understand the otherwise enigmatic words of the Lord to the Jews in Jn. 7:6: &quot;Your time is always&nbsp;<em>ready</em>&quot; (s.w.)- the time of establishment of the Kingdom, the time of the harvest&nbsp;in the previous parable of the labourers, was always potentially prepared and ready, it just depended upon Israel's acceptance of it.</p><p><em>My oxen and My fatlings are killed</em>- Perhaps a reference to the end of the Mosaic system, or perhaps an intensive plural referring to the one great sacrifice that had been made in the Lord Jesus. &quot;Oxen&quot; or bulls are specifically spoken of as the animals which prefigured the Lord's sacrifice (Heb. 9:13; 10:4 s.w.). &quot;Killed&quot; translates&nbsp;<em>thuo</em>, the word for sacrifice. We could also note that the Greek word translated &quot;prepared&quot; is used about 15 times in the Gospels for the preparation of the last Passover, which was typical of the Lord's death.</p><p><em>And all things are ready</em>- The same word for &quot;prepared&quot;. Absolutely all things were prepared for the Messianic banquet, it really could have come in the first century.&nbsp;</p><p><em>Come to the marriage feast</em>- &quot;Come&quot; translates&nbsp;<em>deute</em>, which is a summons in the imperative. It's the same word used in &quot;Follow Me&quot; (4:19), &quot;Come unto Me&quot; (11:28; 19:21), &quot;Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the Kingdom&quot; (25:34). The wonder of what has been prepared coupled with the tragedy of it having been refused means that the Father is eager to compel people to accept it. This intense desire of the Father is to be ours as we in our day appeal to men to &quot;come&quot;. In no way is God somehow passive and disinterested in human response, even if His apparent silence in the face of the rejection of His Kingdom may appear that way. Behind that apparent silence is an intense desire for our response. &quot;Come unto&quot;, using&nbsp;<em>eis</em>, really means 'Come into'. This isn't simply an offer 'for your information', it is a willing desire to compel men to enter into the Kingdom through their response to the Gospel call.</p><p>We are on our way to judgment day, and that day is rushing towards us (cp. Lk. 14:31); the hearing of the Gospel is in itself a call to go forth and meet the Lord.</p><p>There are ample hints that this parable should also be given some reference to the burning up of Jerusalem in the last days.&nbsp;&nbsp; The prophetic &quot;servants&quot; of :4 who call Israel to repentance are matched by a singular &quot;servant&quot; in the similar parable in Lk. 14:17.&nbsp;There can be no doubt that such differences are designed.&nbsp;'Elijah' and his latter-day school of prophets will minister the word to Israel, which would explain the use in the parables of &quot;servant&quot; and &quot;servants&quot; - the group of prophets being led by one particular prophet.</p>