A Children’s Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 — The Wedding Banquet

Preface for Pastors and Parents

The writer of a children’s sermon on Matthew 22:1-14 must tread with care. The challenge? In a straightforward reading of this story, God does not come off too well. It is Matthew’s version, not Luke’s, that has all the troubling bits.

• Those who refuse to come to the wedding banquet beat and kill the king’s messengers.
• The king goes into a genocidal rage against them, burning their city to the ground.
• One poor wedding guest breaks the dress code, and gets cast into the outer darkness — with the usual weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Frankly it’s a bit over the top.

But what if you pictured these things being said by a sixth grade boy? All of that beating up, and killing, and tossing out of the banquet hall sounds familiar coming from a kid’s mouth.

Truth be known, I don’t want to draw attention to any of this in my conversation with actual kids on Sunday morning. If I bring it up at all, I’ll have to stop and explain it. Instead of being Jesus’ weird humor, it will become the whole focus of the sermon.

With adults, I’d probably talk about it. With the kids, not so much. Better to look for the core of the story, the part where some Good News is hidden–Good News about Jesus for kids. That’s what I’ll aim for in my children’s sermon on Matthew 22:1-14.

(By the way, if you want to see my regular Monday Meditation on this text, it’s through this link.)

A Children’s Sermon on Matthew 22:1-14

Good morning kids! I’m so glad to see you. Thanks for coming to worship today, and thanks for coming up to hear the children’s sermon.

Today’s Gospel reading is a story that Jesus told to some grumpy people. Here’s how I imagine it happening.

All day long people had been asking Jesus hard questions. And all day long Jesus had answered them by telling them stories.

Finally they said “You keep talking about the Kingdom of Heaven.” they said. “You say the Kingdom of Heaven is like this, and the Kingdom of Heaven is like that. Why won’t you just tell us straight out what it is?”

“To find out what the Kingdom of Heaven really is, you’ll have to come follow me,” said Jesus. “Until you come along, you can only look at it from the outside. But I bet you’d really like it. The Kingdom of Heaven is pretty awesome.”

The people asking the questions were pretty frustrated about this. They said, “Why won’t you ever just give us a straight answer?”

Jesus said, “I think it’s best to compare the Kingdom of heaven to things you already know about. Then when you decide to come along, you’ll recognize it.”

“Okay, fine!” said the grumpy people. “What can you compare the Kingdom of heaven to?”

“How about a party?” said Jesus. “Would you believe the Kingdom of heaven is like a really big party?”

“No,” said the grumpy people. “Probably not.”

“Well it’s true,” Jesus said. “Let me tell you a story about that.”

A King. A Son. A Party.

Once upon a time, there was a king. This king had a son. The king’s son was getting married.

The king called his servants together. He said “My son’s wedding is this weekend! I love my son so much! I’ve planned the best party ever, and invited lots and lots of people. It’s going to be so much fun!”

The servants asked, “What can we do to help?”

The king said “Here is a list of all the people I’ve invited. Go tell them everything is ready. It’s time to come to the party!”

Telling the Guests.

Some of the servants went to the first house.

They said, “The king’s son is getting married! You are invited! It’s time to come to the party!”

The people just rolled their eyes.

“Great food!” said the servants. “Music! Dancing! Come join the fun!”

“Meh,” said the people. “We decided not to go.”

Some of the servants went to the second house.

“The king’s son is getting married!” they said. “You are invited! It’s time to come to the party!”

“I’m not going!” said one person. “I have a business to run.” And she walked away.

“Great food!” said the servants, “Music! Dancing! Come join the fun!”

The other person said, “I have to work on my farm.” And he just walked off.

Some of the servants went to the third house.

“The king’s son is getting married!” they said. “You are invited! It’s time to come to the party!”

But the people in that house said “I don’t want to hear about some stupid party. I don’t like the king. I don’t like the king’s son. And I don’t like you!”

Then the people in that house jumped up and started hitting the king’s servants They knocked them to the floor and kicked them.

“Hey stop that!” said the king’s servants. “There is going to be great food! Music! Dancing! Come join the fun!”

But the people just left those servants lying on the ground.

Plan B.

When the king heard that nobody was coming, he was so disappointed. “I offered them something wonderful! Great food! Music! Dancing! But they wouldn’t come — and they were really mean to my servants. That makes me so angry!”

The servants asked, “What do you want us to do?”

“Well,” said the king, “everything is ready, but my friends wouldn’t come. How about you go out to the street and invite everybody you see?”

So, out they went. To everybody they met they said “Hey! the king wants you to come to his son’s wedding banquet. Great food! Music! Dancing! Go get ready!”

Most of the people said “Thank you so much! What a lovely invitation!” Then they went to get their best wedding clothes.

But one guy heard the news when he was coming back from the gym. He was wearing a torn, sweaty t-shirt and an old pair of gym shorts. He said “Free food? Cha-Ching! Count me in!”

The Banquet

Soon the banquet hall was full of people. The king looked out and saw all kinds of people. He saw rich people and poor people. He saw nice people and mean people. He saw good people and bad people.

They were all dressed up in their best wedding clothes, enjoying the party.

“Three cheers for the king!” shouted the crowd. “Thank you for inviting us to the party! What an awesome king!”

But then he saw that one guy in his torn sweaty T-shirt. He was over by the food table, stuffing sandwiches into the pockets of his old gym shorts.

Comparing

“So you see” said Jesus, “You really can compare the Kingdom of heaven to a big party.”

“I don’t know…” said the grumpy people.

“But one thing is for sure,” said Jesus.

“What’s that?” they asked.

“You are all invited,” said Jesus. “You should get ready for the party!”

Wondering

I wonder how the Kingdom of heaven is really like a party?

I wonder how the king felt when he saw that guy in his sweaty torn T-shirt and gym shorts?

I wonder how you would feel about going to the king’s party?

++++++++++++

You are, of course, free to use this children’s sermon, or adapt it as you find most useful. But, if you use it, please do one (or more!) of the following.

• You can let me know that you are using it, either in the comments below, or using the contact form above.
• You can put a little notice in your church bulletin that your children’s sermon is adapted from one published on GaryNealHansen.com.
• You can support my work over on Patreon. (Just $1 per month brings my children’s sermons straight to your inbox about two minutes after they go live. And every little bit keeps me going…)