This parable of the king who made a marriage for his son (Matthew 22) does not bring before us the question of God’s dealing with the natural conscience of man, neither that of the owner of the vineyard looking for and not receiving fruit (the Lord has closed that altogether with the last chapter—Matthew 21), but rather that of the king acting according to the riches of his own house in order to glorify his son.
This was the very thought of the king in preparing the supper. Was it merely that he was going to make certain people comfortable? No; it was about his son. And in order to glorify that son he must have full blessing at the table; as we might say, happy faces around it, hearts without one care, without any shade of anxiety upon them, and free in the full enjoyment of his love. The “marriage” of his son must be honored in having all these things accompanying it.
The application of the parable is as simple as possible: that is, the ground on which God is dealing in the gospel, and not as claiming fruit. I do not say He does not produce fruit, but it is not a ground of claim in any shape. Man has failed altogether, not only in not producing fruit, but also in not owning the claim which God has upon him. And if he does own the claim, he gets into despair on account of it. But now all this is over, entirely over, and God is set forth as glorifying Himself in having others made happy around His Son.
J. N. Darby