For many are called, but few are chosen. (Mat 22:14)
Let us approach the subject through the parables used by Jesus.
Mat 22: Jesus answered and spoke again in parables to them, saying:
2 The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king [God] who gave a wedding banquet for his son [Christ].
3 He sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the wedding, but they refused to come.
4 So he sent other servants, saying, Tell those who have been invited, Look, I’ve prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened calves have been slaughtered. Everything is ready. Come to the wedding!
5 But they paid no attention to this and went away, one to his farm, another to his business.
6 The rest grabbed the king’s servants, treated them brutally, and then killed them.
7 Then the king became outraged. He sent his troops, and they destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited [jews] were not worthy.
9 So go into the roads leading out of town and invite [all the people of the world] as many people as you can find to the wedding.
10 hose servants went out into the streets and brought in all the people they found, evil and good alike, and the wedding hall was packed with guests [gentiles].
11 When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
12 He said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ But the man was speechless.
13 Then the king told his servants, ‘Tie his hands and feet, and throw him into the outer darkness! In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few chosen.
Although Jesus says that many are called, he means all who only hear the invitation. This is evident from verse Jhn 12:32 As for me, if I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all people to myself.
Only a few will be selected, as the gospel of Matthew predicts. In verse 22:8, it is stated that the originally called (Jews) were not worthy. The invitation was extended to everyone who was found. Call to the kingdom of God is thus given to the gentiles as well as to the Jews. The guests must also behave in the manner required by the invitation and prove to be righteous in order to stay elected.
At first, only many were invited. Many mean Israelis. When they did not accept the call, the host decided to expand the number called, saying that the previously called were not worth it. This is how the Jews lost their status as a chosen people, but the call of God still applies to them. Then the call came to the nations, all the people of the world. Jesus promised to draw all men to himself if he is lifted up from the earth. Even though the invitation concerns everyone, it will be as Jesus said about many being called and few being chosen
Many people do not follow invitation, or if they do, they are not ‘dressed properly’. Dressing means that “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” … (Rom 13:14) i.e., believe in Jesus and what He taught about the kingdom of God.
In Mat chapter 22 “Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” (Mat 22:2). In verse 9 of the parable, it says: Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast. “Main highways” can mean radio, television, literature, etc. all the mass media’s means of transmitting the invitation today. But all cannot be reached even if the invitation is open to everyone. To accomplish the same purpose Jesus commanded his followers to make disciples of people in all nations. To fulfill the missionary order, the gospel has been translated into more than two hundred languages. In some countries, some other religion may be so dominant that the testimony of the kingdom of God is not possible, and therefore the invitation does not reach everyone. Mat 22:14 says few are chosen; This does not mean that the number of recipients who have been called is only a small number but that they are proportionally a small number compared with the total called. Remember that the survivors of great tribulation are “a great multitude”.
This great multitude might be even greater, but some of the chosen ones will fall away during the great tribulation: Mat 24:21 For at that time there will be great suffering, [or tribulation] the kind that has not happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly will never happen again.22 Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the chosen ones. 31 He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
In practice, the call means hearing of God’s word. Hearing the word of Christ follows faith and after faith follows prize: So faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Rom 10:17). The Prize is according to Jhn 5:24 eternal life: Truly, truly I tell you, the one who hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
On this basis, therefore, it should be easy to access in eternal life. But can you easily reach the kingdom of God? Does the Bible give conflicting information about the ease of salvation? An explanation related to this is given, for example, in my article “Two different salvations”.
