Many are CALLED, but few are CHOSEN

[TonyChanYT]

Matthew 22:

1 And again Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son,

i.e., Christ marrying the church, signifying the heavenly celebration ceremony of eternal life.

3 and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come.

Matthew Henry: "The guests first invited were the Jews." The first invitation did not work out. Now Plan B:

8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’

There was a second invitation, an on-the-spot spontaneous one. Some of them were not worthy either.

10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered [G4863] all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.

Many sorts of people were called and invited to the wedding.

Were they gathered forcibly?

I don't think they were forced. On the contrary, the context says that they were invited. Furthermore, the dictionary meaning of G4863 also bears this out.

4863 sunagó συνάγω

The first part σύν means identified with, joined close-together in tight identification; σύν gives a nice connotation of cooperating together. The second part ἄγω means to bring. So συνάγω means to bring together (nicely).

Thayer's:

1. to gather together
2. to bring together, assemble, collect
3. to lead with oneself namely, unto one's home, i. e. to receive hospitably, to entertain

Now about the wedding clothes:

11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment.

Ellicott explains:

The framework of the parable probably pre-supposes the Oriental custom of providing garments for the guests who were invited to a royal feast. Wardrobes filled with many thousand garments formed part of the wealth of every Eastern prince

The king provided wedding clothes free of charge. This bad man was invited but he did not have the proper covering. He did not have the free gift of the imputed righteousness of Christ.

12 And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.

He had no excuse for rejecting the free gift (Romans 6:23) of Christ.

13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.”

chosen.
ἐκλεκτοί (eklektoi)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1588: From eklegomai; select; by implication, favorite.

Note that the Greek word for chosen is not a verb. It describes the chosen state of a chosen person.

The invitation is an open call. Many are called, but not everyone invited is chosen. There is an additional condition. The chosen ones wear the righteousness of Christ on their bodies. The parable is a warning to those pretending to be Christians. They have answered the call, but they do not have chosen status, i.e., the imputed righteousness on their bodies.

 

[JohnDB]

Matthew 22:


i.e., Christ marrying the church, signifying the heavenly celebration ceremony of eternal life.


Matthew Henry: "The guests first invited were the Jews." The first invitation did not work out. Now Plan B:


There was a second invitation, an on-the-spot spontaneous one. Some of them were not worthy either.


Many sorts of people were called and invited to the wedding.

Were they gathered forcibly?

I don't think they were forced. On the contrary, the context says that they were invited. Furthermore, the dictionary meaning of G4863 also bears this out.

4863 sunagó συνάγω

The first part σύν means identified with, joined close-together in tight identification; σύν gives a nice connotation of cooperating together. The second part ἄγω means to bring. So συνάγω means to bring together (nicely).

Thayer's:

1. to gather together
2. to bring together, assemble, collect
3. to lead with oneself namely, unto one's home, i. e. to receive hospitably, to entertain

Now about the wedding clothes:


Ellicott explains:


The king provided wedding clothes free of charge. This bad man was invited but he did not have the proper covering. He did not have the free gift of the imputed righteousness of Christ.


He had no excuse for rejecting the free gift (Romans 6:23) of Christ.


chosen.
ἐκλεκτοί (eklektoi)
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 1588: From eklegomai; select; by implication, favorite.

Note that the Greek word for chosen is not a verb. It describes the chosen state of a chosen person.

The invitation is an open call. Many are called, but not everyone invited is chosen. There is an additional condition. The chosen ones wear the righteousness of Christ on their bodies. The parable is a warning to those pretending to be Christians. They have answered the call, but they do not have chosen status, i.e., the imputed righteousness on their bodies.

"Calling" and "chosen" has different meaning than what you have implied here.

Many are called.

Few are chosen for leadership...which is what Jesus was telling those who did not ask but offered to be followers. Jesus asked the 12..."you did not choose me but I chose you".

You need to look up the anthropology of the anciebt Israeli education system.
Bethgashepher
Bethmidrash
Telmedeme

 

[TonyChanYT]

"Calling" and "chosen" has different meaning than what you have implied here.

Are you using the word "implied" in the first-order logic sense?

 

[JohnDB]

Are you using the word "implied" in the first-order logic sense?

I am not sure of what you are saying.

A calling is a "call to worship" or to be a Believer as is colloquial today.

Chosen is for leadership....

Case in point.
Adoniram Judson & George Lyle.

Adoniram is often credited as being America's first missionary (He was converted from being a Deist to being Baptist)....but considering his success (actually a lack of it) is highly contrasted with George Lyle who was actually running in fear from the American Colonists and formed hundreds of churches and had thousands of converts in Jamaica. (He was born free but his wife was a former slave)

Where Adoniram was called he was not Chosen.