The In-Crowd

Based on Matthew 22-24

"But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
Matthew 23:11‭-‬12.

We recently talked about being positioned for greatness as being the opposite of what people might expect; it's a whole lot more about sacrifice than it is about status! Continuing on in that, this next passage describes the unfortunate state of people who try to achieve greatness pridefully. They want to be a part of an earthly in-crowd instead of an eternal in-crowd!

Just like the opening Scripture says, "whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased." This section was preaching a lot more to the unbelievers than the believers. The scribes, Pharisees & Sadducees believed to a point, but they were not willing to break from their earthly in-crowds & traditions to step out by faith & follow Jesus!

Matthew 22:1-14 talks of a wedding banquet:

"And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come."
Matthew 22:1‭-‬3.

The ones who were CALLED already did not CHOOSE to go! These were people following the traditions of service to God rather than serving with their whole heart. They found better things to do than make it go the wedding. Also, you can't just be called/invited, you have to prepare yourself with the right attire! Without a wedding garment, adorning ourselves in the holiness of God, there will be no way to sit at the banquet table and be a part of the heavenly, eternal in-crowd! We will just be apart from it...

"For many are called, but few are chosen."
Matthew 22:14.

God calls and invites us all to be a part of His in-crowd, the only one that truly matters! But the scribes, Pharisees & Sadducees had their in-crowd & image to protect. The Pharisees even went to Jesus with their own crowd of disciples "...and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk." Matthew 22:15.

The Pharisees asked if people should pay tribute to Caesar, and Jesus said:

"They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, they marvelled, and left him, and went their way." Matthew 22:21‭-‬22.

We will see that even with each of Jesus' profound responses, the unbelievers still just "went their way." They separated themselves from the TRUE in-crowd. They separated themselves from GOD!

The Sadducees then came, and did not believe that there would be a Resurrection. Jesus responded:

"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. And when the multitude heard this, they were astonished at his doctrine."
Matthew 22:31‭-‬33.

They were astonished at this response, but still they go further throughout this passage to try to "entangle" Jesus with questions. Jesus then gives a question to them:

"Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions." Matthew 22:42‭-‬46.

At this point they thought, better not ask Him anything else! Maybe they realized that they were questioning God, since David called Him Lord, too! He is from everlasting to everlasting!!

"Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Matthew 23:26‭-‬28.

Remember, that in-ward housecleaning is what matters most! Not a fancy outward appearance!

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
Matthew 24:14.

Just like those wedding invites, Jesus Words shall be preached everywhere, inviting everyone to follow. But remember, many are called, but few are chosen. It's up to us to choose the right in-crowd. In choosing God & being prepared for Him, He will have a special place prepared for us!