A Royal Wedding Invitation  || 王室婚礼之邀

This Spiritual Waimai is a part of a series entitled Mission Accomplished: the mission of Jesus Christ as told by Matthew and now lived out by you and me.

这篇属灵外卖是“完成的使命”系列文章之一，这个由马太福音所述耶稣基督的使命，现在要由你我活出来。

Modern Day Fairytale Weddings: The British Royals
当代童话般的婚礼：英国王室婚礼

When I was a little girl, my mother and I woke up early to watch on television the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Over 5000 guests were invited to gala balls, dinners, receptions and of course the wedding ceremony itself. Many members of other royal families and national leaders were among the notable figures in attendance at what many called, “The Wedding of the Century”. Thirty years later I watched the wedding of British royalty Prince William and Kate Middleton, equally impressive in its pomp and circumstance. A few years later, I enjoyed watching Prince Henry and Meghan Markle celebrate their royal wedding. Of course, I was never an invited guest to any of these royal affairs, I just watched from a great distance with admiration of the elegance, beauty and sacredness of it all.

还是小女孩时，我曾跟妈妈一大早起床，在电视上观看英国王室查尔斯王子和戴安娜王妃的结婚大典。5000多名客人受邀参加庆祝舞会、晚宴、招待会，当然还有婚礼大典本身。为数众多的其他国家的王室成员和领导人并各界名士参加了这场“世纪婚礼”。30年后我又观看了英王室威廉王子和凯特王妃的婚礼，婚礼的盛况同样令人印象深刻。几年后，我又观看了哈里王子和梅根马克尔庆祝他们的皇家婚礼。当然，我从未被邀请去参加这些皇家盛况，只是在千里之外观看欣赏它们的优雅、美丽和神圣。

Understandably, only elite members of society would receive the coveted royal invitation sent out by the Queen of England. (She by the way is the one who has the honor of doing the inviting.) Each guest arrives to the festivities with proper wedding attire created for the occasion by the world’s top fashion designers. Over the years, it is noted that some who were invited by the Queen did not attend for their own political reasons. What a scandal and what an absolute pity for them to disregard an invitation from the Queen and miss the royal opportunity of a lifetime.

可以理解，英国女王只会邀请社会精英们来参加人人都想观看的皇家婚礼。（顺便说一下，只有女王才有尊荣发出邀请）参加盛典的每一位宾客都会身穿世界顶级时装设计师为婚礼特别设计的礼服。人们会注意到，在这些年间，会有一些接到女王邀请的宾客因为政治原因而没有出席婚礼。无视女王的邀请，错失一生难得的机会，真是天大的遗憾。

A Parable of Biblical Royals
圣经中关于王室的寓言

Jesus told a story of a royal wedding that was equally exquisite. A king prepared a wedding banquet for his son and sent his servants out with the royal invitations. Imagine the honor and excitement of being personally invited by the king to join in the joy of a royal wedding! But strangely, the invited guests in this story didn’t feel the thrill of being invited. They in fact blew it off as no big deal and were too busy to attend the wedding of the century.

耶稣讲了一个故事，同样是华美的王家婚礼。一位国王为王子预备了婚宴，差仆人们出去派发王室的请柬。 想想看，被国王亲自邀请参加王室婚礼是何等尊荣和喜乐！然而奇怪的是，故事里受邀的客人们却并不为此欢喜雀跃。他们实际上根本不把邀请当成回事，而是忙忙碌碌，无暇参加这场世纪婚礼。

Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. “Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ “But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’ The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 22:1-14 NIV

YE SU又用比喻对他们说： 「天国好比一个王为他儿子摆设娶亲的筵席， 就打发仆人去，请那些被召的人来赴席，他们却不肯来。   王又打发别的仆人，说：『你们告诉那被召的人，我的筵席已经预备好了，牛和肥畜已经宰了，各样都齐备，请你们来赴席。』 那些人不理就走了；一个到自己田里去；一个做买卖去； 其余的拿住仆人，凌辱他们，把他们杀了。 王就大怒，发兵除灭那些凶手，烧毁他们的城。 於是对仆人说：『喜筵已经齐备，只是所召的人不配。   所以你们要往岔路口上去，凡遇见的，都召来赴席。』   那些仆人就出去，到大路上，凡遇见的，不论善恶都召聚了来，筵席上就坐满了客。 王进来观看宾客，见那里有一个没有穿礼服的， 就对他说：『朋友，你到这里来怎麽不穿礼服呢？』那人无言可答。 於是王对使唤的人说：『捆起他的手脚来，把他丢在外边的黑暗里；在那里必要哀哭切齿了。因为被召的人多，选上的人少。」
马太福音22:1-14

The Control of the Decisive and Active King
王果决、积极, 掌管一切

The king in this story is a decisive leader who takes action and gets things done. The entire storyline revolves around the decisions and actions of the powerful king. Though he is in control of the banquet and commands the work of his servants, he curiously does not control the response of the invited guests. He has the power and means to prepare the grandest banquet, send out the most generous invitations and activate the strongest army. He is so on top of every detail that he even concerns himself with the wedding attire of his guests. But in the end, the invited guests are given the freedom to attend or not attend the magnificent wedding banquet.

故事中的王是位果决的领袖，他采取行动，处理了这件事。故事围绕这位强有力的王的决定和行动展开。他掌管婚宴，差派仆人，但让人好奇的是，他并不控制宾客们的反应。他有权能有办法预备最盛大的婚宴，发出最慷慨的邀请，调动最强大的军队。一切细节尽在他掌管之中，他甚至关心宾客们的着装。但最终，宾客们却可以自主选择参加或拒绝这场盛大的婚宴。

The Wedding Feast to Come
即将来临的婚宴

Jesus used this story to describe the kingdom of God and the king in the parable represents God the Father the King of all Kings. The wedding banquet is the upcoming marriage of the Son Jesus Christ and His bride the church. This wedding is described by John in his vision recorded in the book of Revelation.

YE SU用这个故事来描述SHEN的国。寓言中的王预表了天父，万王之王。婚宴指将要来临的JI DU YE SU和祂的新娘教会的联姻。约翰在启示录中的异象描述了这场婚礼。

Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:9 NIV

天使吩咐我说：「你要写上：凡被请赴羔羊之婚筵的有福了！」又对我说：「这是神真实的话。」
启示录19:9

God the Father is the primary active agent in the preparation of this future event. He is the one preparing the meal, sending the servants and inviting the guests. It is presumed that the first round of invitations were sent out to the nation of Israel, God’s chosen people. According to the parable, the invitation was rejected as the invited guests turned to their own earthly interests – one to his field, another to his business. On top of that, they seized and killed the servants of the king. Throughout the Old Testament, God the Father sends His messengers the prophets to draw His people Israel to Himself. Sadly, the prophets were mistreated and at times killed. God the Father continues then to send out the invitations to the Gentile world. He desires to welcome as many as possible to the wedding feast. But each invited guest must make their own choice. Will they answer the call?

天父积极主动，是未来这场婚宴的主要预备人员。祂预备佳肴，差派仆人并邀请宾客。第一轮请柬应该是派发给SHEN的选民以色列民的。根据寓言，受邀的宾客拒绝了邀请，转而去料理他们属世的事务，一位客人去忙自己的田地，另一位则去做生意。除却这些，他们还抓住并杀害了王的仆人。贯穿整个旧约，天父不断差派祂的信使–先知们来吸引以色列人归向自己。让人难过的是，以色列人恶待先知，甚至有时会杀害他们。然后天父继续向外邦人发出邀请。祂渴望欢迎尽可能多的人参加婚宴。但受邀的每一位客人需要自己做出选择。他们会接受邀请吗？

In the end – those invited were the good and the bad. Invitations went out to all – but who would come? And who would be prepared for such a royal feast?

最终，受邀的有好人也有坏人。所有人都受到邀请，但谁会来呢？ 谁会为这样的王室婚宴做好准备呢？

A warning goes out even to those who say yes to the invitation. Proper wedding attire is required. In Jesus’ story, there was one wedding guest that slipped in without dressing himself well. It seems he was unprepared, ungrateful and shocked that the King would demand a specific dress code. Watching the royal British weddings broadcasts, you would never see someone permitted to enter the cathedral with common everyday clothes. Royal wedding guests must act like royal wedding guests, clothed in the finest of suits and gowns. Does the Father really care about designer clothes? What does the Bible say about how to clothe ourselves?

接受邀请的人甚至也受到警告，他们需要为婚礼准备合适的着装。在YE SU的故事中，有一位客人着装不得体，混进了婚宴。他看起来毫无预备，没有感恩之心，对王的着装要求感到震惊。观看英国皇室婚礼的转播时，你不会看到有人被允许身着日常服装进入JIAO TANG。皇室婚礼的宾客就该像皇室婚礼的宾客，身着华服霓裳。 天父是真的在意名牌服装吗？圣经上说我们该如何穿衣打扮？

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Colossians 3:12-14 NIV

所以，你们既是SHEN的选民，圣洁蒙爱的人，就要存（原文作穿；下同）怜悯、恩慈、谦虚、温柔、忍耐的心。   倘若这人与那人有嫌隙，总要彼此包容，彼此饶恕；主怎样饶恕了你们，你们也要怎样饶恕人。 在这一切之外，要存著爱心，爱心就是联络全德的。
歌罗西书3:12-14

Let us prepare our clothes for the upcoming wedding feast. Today we can begin to properly clothe ourselves not with clothes as seen on the covers of fashion magazines, but with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness and love. And to really add the final touch of beauty, pursue a quiet and gentle spirit.

让我们为即将来临的婚宴预备着装。我们今天就可以开始衣着得体，不是像时装封面上看到的那样，而是要以怜悯、恩慈、谦虚、温柔、忍耐为妆饰。为了要添加最后一抹美丽，还请追求一颗安静温柔的心。

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.
1 Peter 3:3-4 NIV

你们不要以外面的辫头发，戴金饰，穿美衣为妆饰， 只要以里面存著长久温柔，安静的心为妆饰；这在SHEN面前是极宝贵的。
彼得前书3:3-4

According to John’s vision in Revelation, the bride must be prepared for the wedding. While watching the British royal weddings, all eyes are on the bride and her exquisite bridal gown. How much more celebrated will be the wedding gown adorned by the church at the wedding of the Lamb? Read the description of her prepared gown.

根据约翰在启示录里的异象，新娘必须为婚礼做好准备。在观看英王室婚礼时，所有的眼光都集中在新娘和她美轮美奂的婚纱上。在羔羊的婚宴上，妆扮JIAO HUI的婚纱将会怎样更加耀眼夺目呢？看她预备好礼服的描述。来读一读关于她预备妥当的婚纱的描述。

Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.) Then the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
Revelation 19:7-9 NIV

我们要欢喜快乐，将荣耀归给他。因为，羔羊婚娶的时候到了；新妇也自己预备好了， 就蒙恩得穿光明洁白的细麻衣。（这细麻衣就是圣徒所行的义。）天使吩咐我说：「你要写上：凡被请赴羔羊之婚筵的有福了！」又对我说：「这是SHEN真实的话。」
启示录19:7-9

Our God is the King of Kings who continues to send out the call to join the wedding feast. He prepares, He invites and He desires us to leave the cares of this world to join Him at the banquet table. Let us receive His gracious invitation and prepare our spiritual clothing for the glorious days ahead.

我们的SHEN乃万王之王，祂持续发出呼召，邀请人们参加这场婚宴。祂预备并发出邀请，渴望我们抛下今生的思虑跟祂同享盛宴。让我们接受祂恩惠的邀请，在灵里为未来那荣耀的日子预备好服装。