Hello Mike,

I enjoy reading your site and have learned from it.  I do not know if you have covered this on your site, but in Matthew 22 Jesus refers to “a man” during the wedding parable.  Is he referring to Satan?

Mat 22:11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment.

Thanks, C____

Hi C____,

Thank you for your question.

You ask:

In Matthew 22 Jesus refers to “a man” during the wedding parable.  Is he referring to Satan?

The very first thing we need to notice, as we are told in the first verses, is that this is a parable.

Mat 22:1  And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said,

Why did Christ speak in parables?

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

You will never hear a single orthodox Christian minister who will agree with Christ that His purpose for speaking in parables was to keep the multitudes from “knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of God.” All of orthodoxy agrees that Christ spoke in parables for the exact opposite reason. Orthodox Christianity teaches that Christ is trying to save this world at this time, and that He spoke in parables for the purpose of making His message about the mysteries of the kingdom of God much clearer.

Who will you believe? The fact that not one orthodox Christian minister, no matter the number of degrees which follow his name, can even see and believe Christ’s own reason for speaking in parables, testifies to the efficacy of the function of these parables.

The multitudes of orthodox Christianity to this day have not a clue as to what is the purpose for Christ’s parables. The multitudes of orthodox Christianity are not about to turn their backs on their orthodox brothers and sisters in Christ just to agree with Christ that the purpose for His parables is to hide their meaning concerning the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. So these multitudes are symbolized in this very parable by those who were first bidden to this marriage supper for the King’s Son. The King is God the Father, the Son is Jesus Christ, the first guests who reject their invitation to partake of this wedding supper are the multitudes who know nothing of the mysteries of the kingdom of God. The wedding supper is that “blessed and holy first resurrection,” and the “man without a wedding garment” is a man who was more than just invited to this supper. This man knew somewhat about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. This man followed Christ after the “many called” but not chosen had discontinued walking with Christ when they heard Him say there would be no more loaves and fishes, that the flesh profited nothing, and that they would be required to “eat my flesh and drink my blood:”

Joh 6:14  Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
Joh 6:15  When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Joh 6:22  The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but [that] his disciples were gone away alone;
Joh 6:23  (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:)
Joh 6:24  When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
Joh 6:25  And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
Joh 6:26  Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

The multitudes ask ‘What must we do that we might work the works of God?’ These multitudes do not like what they hear out of the mouth of the very Lord of whom they are inquiring; the very Lord they were just about to force into being their king:

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Joh 6:30  They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Joh 6:31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Joh 6:32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
Joh 6:34  Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Joh 6:35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
Joh 6:36  But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

Joh 6:41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
Joh 6:42  And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
Joh 6:43  Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves.
Joh 6:44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw [Greek: helkuō, drag] him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:45  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.

Joh 6:48 I am that bread of life.
Joh 6:49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
Joh 6:50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Joh 6:53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Joh 6:54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Joh 6:55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
Joh 6:58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
Joh 6:59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
Joh 6:60  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard [this], said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
Joh 6:61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
Joh 6:62  [What] and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
Joh 6:63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, [they] are spirit, and [they] are life.
Joh 6:64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Joh 6:65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that [time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

There, that is the story which explains the parable of the wedding supper. The multitudes followed Christ and wanted to hear His parables. They went hungry to hear His Words. He fed the multitudes with loaves and fishes. They wanted this to continue to the point that they were about to force Him to be their king. However, when He told them there would be no more loaves and fishes, that He was the true bread of life, “Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day… As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” – all these words repulsed the multitudes. “Eat My flesh and drink my blood?” We would have to kill Christ in order to do that, and no one intends to do that, do they?

Joh 7:20  The people answered and said, Thou hast a devil: who goeth about to kill thee?

Yet that is exactly what the multitudes of orthodox Christianity want to do to the True Christ to this very day. The very people who say they don’t want to kill Christ are the first ones to take up stones to cast at Him:

Joh 8:59  Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

Now let’s go back to John 6 and find out who this “man” is who somehow made it into the wedding supper without a wedding garment:

Joh 6:67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

The twelve did not leave Christ. They are God’s elect, and they symbolize those who came to this marriage supper. These are God’s elect; the ones He has chosen out of the “many called” but not chosen disciples:

Luk 6:13  And when it was day, he called unto him his [many] disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

The twelve did not leave Christ:

Joh 6:68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
Joh 6:69  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

Christ admits that all twelve of the apostles are not just called. They were all chosen. Christ also informs us that there is “a man” among His chosen who is not wearing a wedding garment.

Joh 6:70  Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen  [G1586: eklegomai, elect] you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
Joh 6:71  He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

So the “man without a wedding garment” is one of God’s elect who has denied his Lord and has betrayed Him.

Now we come to the part of Christ’s parables that demonstrates why they have been so effective at keeping “the mysteries of the kingdom of God” from ever being understood by the masses.

What is the subject of this and every parable Christ gave? The subject of every parable that ever came out of the mouth of Christ is “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” What does Christ tell us is the subject of this parable of which you inquire?

Mat 22:2  The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,

Sure enough, the subject of this parable is “the kingdom of heaven.” So now we know that Christ is hiding something from the very multitudes to whom He is speaking:

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:

This whole parable is about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. All of it is about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. Here now is where the efficacy of the function of these parables is completely missed by both the multitudes and by Christ’s elect to this very day: Where is this “kingdom of heaven?” Where does this entire parable take place? Where do all of Christ’s parables about the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven take place? For those who are given eyes to see and ears to hear, here is Christ’s own answer to this question:

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Is Christ telling these scheming Pharisees that the kingdom of God is within them? That is absurd. He is speaking to them in parables because He doesn’t want them to understand what He is saying at this time. Their predestined purpose is to serve as His murderers. Christ is speaking of those in whom He even now dwells:

1Co 3:16  Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1Co 3:17  If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.

Does the existence of the kingdom of God “within you” at this time in any way contradict or deny the time when the Lord and His Christ will rule the kingdoms of this world with a rod of iron? No, it absolutely does nothing of the kind. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, His anointed:

Rev 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

What is the significance of knowing that the parables hide from the multitudes the mysteries of the kingdom of God? What does it mean when we understand that we are meant to see all Christ’s parables as being within each of His elect?

What this means is that from this moment on you must quit thinking like the blinded masses think; ‘I’m sure happy that I am not like those husbandmen who stoned their Lord’s servants and killed His son.’ You must from this moment on realize that those evil men are you and me.

You must, from this moment on recognize that the parable of the sower is a parable of the mysteries the kingdom of God within you and me. Those tares are not your deceived brothers who are still in Babylon. Both the wheat and the tares grow together within you and me “until the time of the harvest.” Only when the wheat begins to come to fruit does judgment begin at the house of God; and then the tares within you and me are gathered into bundles to be burned while the good seed is gathered into our Lord’s barn.

From the moment that the holy spirit opens your eyes to see that you must “live by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God” you must acknowledge that all Christ’s parables must be lived out in their Is, Was and Will Be character within you and me.

Of course you are going to ask, “How can I be both the called and the chosen? How can I be both the guest with and the guest without the wedding garment?” The answer to those questions is simply that we all acknowledge that it is us who have that old man Adam within each of us. It is not someone else. It is me who has lost my first love.

It is me who is guilty of slaying Antipas, where Satan dwells on the throne where Christ belongs. It is me who has held the doctrines of Balaam and eaten of the false doctrines of the spiritual food offered in sacrifice to spiritual idols and thus committed spiritual fornication.

Rev 2:14  But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

I could go systematically through the sins of the seven churches, just as I could take the time to systematically list all of the parables of Christ, and it would each and every word be addressed to “He that hath an ear:”

Rev 2:29  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches

Those who have been given ears to hear and eyes to see know that what is said to one church is said to all. This admonition is repeated seven times, once for every one of the seven churches, in the second and third chapters of Revelation. This is not a book which is to be taken separately from the rest of God’s Word. It is the sum of God’s Word which constitutes Truth.

Psa 119:160 The sum of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. (ASV)

I hope that this has helped you to see that everything; “all [that is] in Adam… all that is in the world” is also in you and me:

1Jn 2:16  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (NASV)

The sin of the man who was found without a wedding garment falls under one of these three categories:

1) the lust of the flesh,
2) the lust of the eyes, and
3) the pride of life.

These three sins are listed in the order of their insidiousness. It was “the pride of life” that caused Judas to betray His Lord for thirty pieces of silver, and it is the pride of life that causes us all to put the riches of this passing world ahead of our Lord. Thus we have all been guilty of selling our Lord for “thirty pieces of silver.” It is the hatred we have all had for our brother, at one time or another, that has made us all guilty of murder:

1Jn 3:15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

Only with this spiritual, scriptural approach to the words of our Lord and His parables can we come to see that we are not to consider ourselves only as the repentant, lost sheep in need of a loving shepherd, but we are also, at our appointed time, the ninety and nine “who need no repentance.”

Psa 119:176 I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, For I do not forget Your commandments.

Luk 15:7  “I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety- nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Thus are the words of our Lord justified:

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Thus we also “keep the saying of the prophecy of this book:”

Rev 1:3  Blessed [is] he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [is] at hand.

Rev 22:7  Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.

We are told to keep the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” John certainly did not consider the Revelation of Jesus Christ to be separate from “the sum of thy Word.”

I hope that this has helped you to see that “the sayings of the prophecy of this book… what the spirit says to the churches… the sum of thy word… and every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God” are one and all parables which hide the mysteries of the kingdom of God and are to be lived within me and you.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Yes, the “man” without a wedding garment is Satan, but only inasmuch as it is the dragon who gives the beast within you and me his “power and his throne and his great authority,” for that “man without a wedding garment ” is you and me, as we, like Peter and all of the apostles, deny our Lord with an oath even as He, as he is being buffeted by us, looks down into our eyes as the cock crows.”

Mat 26:72  And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man.
Mat 26:73  And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee.
Mat 26:74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
Mat 26:75  And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

Luk 22:60  And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.
Luk 22:61 And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.
Luk 22:62 And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.
Luk 22:63  And the men that held Jesus mocked him, and smote [him].

At that moment, as those vile words were yet on Peter’s tongue, “the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.” You and I are Peter, and at that moment we are all guilty of being the men who “mock and smite our Lord” and who eventually crucify Him and put a spear in His side. It is all us. None of it is ‘that other evil man over there.’

Mat 4:4  But he answered and said, It is written, Man[kind] shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Mike