The Wedding Garment a Festive Robe
Matthew 22:11-13
And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:…


The garment must, surely, from the very nature of the image, have been intended to signify something public and visible, in which each wearer harmonises with all, and all with the spirit of the peculiar scene into which they are introduced, and to which the dress is appropriate. I would say, then, that by this remarkable symbol our Lord did not intend merely the inward principle of faith exclusively considered, nor yet merely the mysterious imputation of righteousness through identification with Christ (though these are, no doubt, necessary conditions and first steps to its possession); for apparel is, of all things, the most manifest and visible, and the wedding apparel is especially the apparel of joy. This festal garment of heaven, then, which each man must bring with him into the high presence of God, seems to be no other than that celestial temper which manifests itself by the infallible indications of a holy joy — that spiritual sympathy with the things of the spiritual world, which exhibits itself in cordial, irrepressible demonstration of the blessedness within; holy happiness, public and expressed; the "joy in the Holy Ghost" — no longer a secret, timid, half-uttered delight, but sparkling in the eye, and fearless in the voice; the "life" no longer "hid with Christ in God," but "apparent with Him in glory." I repeat it- inward, spiritual happiness, developed by the presence of God, and the consciousness of heaven, into visible manifestation — this is the wedding garment which Christ beholds and approves in "the saved."

(W. Archer Butler, M. A.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

WEB: But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn't have on wedding clothing,




The Wedding Garment
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