Dressed for the Wedding

"When the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes." Matthew 22:11
Weddings are a great event in any culture. There are expected norms of food, form, and fashion worldwide. This rite of passage may be the most prominent between birth and death.
Spiritually, Jesus gives us the same picture. One day there is going to be a wedding feast (Revelation 19:6-9) for Jesus the Lamb to His bride, the church. It is to be a great event, there is expected form and fashion, and it is a mandatory spiritual rite of passage. Jesus told stories about this upcoming wedding so that people would be prepared. Like any wedding, it isn't something that is just wandered in to.
The story Jesus tells in Matthew 22 is about a wedding feast that a king put on for his son. It is much like the wedding feast that the King of the Universe will throw for His Son, Jesus the Lamb at the end of time. He talks about the people invited and how they came to the wedding. What happened at this earthly wedding is a good picture of what that heavenly wedding is going to look like when the day comes.
Everything was made ready for the wedding and the king sent out his servants to invite the guests, those who deserved to come. That was probably the people who came across as loyal subjects to the king. The "good" people of the land. Much to the king’s surprise, no one accepted his invitation. Every person either just outright refused, paid no attention because they were too busy and preoccupied with personal things or actually attacked the servants sent with the invitation. This was unheard of. In the same sort of way, Jesus often talked about “religious” people and the Jews who had been chosen in early history to be His people as rejecting, ignoring and even killing those that God had sent to tell them how to be ready for that heavenly wedding feast at the end of time. Woe to those of us who think we don't need to respond to the King of the Universe's invitation because we don't need or want it, we're just too busy or we have no tolerance for the King.
So, the king sent out his servants again. This time he sent them to anyone they could find anywhere. It didn’t matter their station in life, their reputation, or even where they were from. The response was just what was hoped for. The wedding hall was filled with guests. In the same way, Jesus gave the opportunity for everyone everywhere to become one of His chosen ones which he now calls His Church to participate in that heavenly feast at the end of time.
Now remember, all weddings have expected form and fashion and all the guests came to the wedding feast in Jesus’ story appropriately attired, except one. This one thought he could just show up however he happened to look at the time. Just him as he was. After all, he was doing the king a favor by just coming, wasn't he? We find otherwise. Jesus tells us that when the king arrived at the wedding feast to greet the guests, he noticed the one man who was not wearing wedding clothes. The king addressed him directly, "Friend, (this was a personal king!) how did you get in here without wedding clothes?" It was unthinkable to come to a royal wedding inappropriately dressed. What was he thinking? Jesus tells us that the man was speechless. He apparently thought he was OK just like he was. He was confident in himself. Well that didn’t fly. The king had no tolerance for the man who came with his own fashion. He ordered that the man be bound hand and foot and thrown outside, into the darkness, where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth because of the separation from the king himself, his feast, his kingdom and his graces.
The Bible tells us that on that day of the wedding feast of Jesus the Lamb, the King's Son, in the kingdom of heaven there will be those who will come in their own clothes. They will be the ones that say "but Lord, didn't I speak for you and didn’t I work for you?" They will be dressed in their own righteousness/goodness which is inappropriate for the royal wedding of the King’s Son. The King will have no tolerance for those who come dressed in their own righteousness or goodness. As in Jesus’ story, they will be thrown out where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth because of separation from the King Himself, His feast, His kingdom, and His graces. So what is considered appropriate dress for the coming royal wedding of the King’s Son in the kingdom of heaven? The Bible tells us that we must be dressed in garments that are bright, clean and white (Revelation 19:8). They have been "washed in the blood of the Lamb, the King’s Son, Jesus." (Revelation 7:14). They are not "clean" by anything we have done or said. It’s Jesus righteousness/goodness that clothes us before the King. Anything else, attempting to come dressed in our own righteousness, will only result in that same question: "How did you get in here without wedding clothes?"
The difference between those who remain at the wedding feast and those who are thrown outside is how they are dressed: in garments of their own righteousness (they are good enough in themselves) or garments of the King's righteousness and salvation (Jesus goodness/righteousness in place of themselves). The garments of the Kings can only be gotten from the King himself. We can't pay the price for them. Jesus paid it with his death on the cross. "Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might become or be clothed in the righteousness of God." (2 Corinthians 5:21) That's a guaranteed place at the wedding feast of Jesus the King's Son.
How are we dressed?