Jesus' parables are always full of meaning, aren't they? There's lots of symbolism in this one: notice Jesus is called the "Bridegroom" by John the Baptist, who calls himself the "friend of the bridegroom." It's one of the places where we pick up on the fact that John the Baptist isn't a member of the Church, but is actually the last Old Testament prophet. (See also Matthew 11:11) The Church is the Bride of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:2, Ephesians 5:25-28; Revelation 21:9)--so there's more than one parable that talks about a wedding or a wedding feast.

This one talks about how Jesus "came unto His own, and His own received Him not..." (John 1:11) He was specifically sent to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 10:6, 15:24) But they rejected Him. Matthew 23:34-39 says:

“Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barakiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation. “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”” Matthew 23:34-39.

The sad truth is that Jesus was warning about this in another parable in Matthew 21:33-46--He had sent them prophets like Isaiah, and, as predicted (Is. 6:9-10) they were unwilling to hear. Isaiah was a great hero in the days of Hezekiah, but tradition says Hezekiah's son Manasseh had him sawn in half with a wooden saw. (See Hebrews 11:37) Jesus was the final overture. (Hebrews 1:1-2) As in the Matthew 21 parable, the prophets were sometimes ignored and treated roughly (like Jeremiah) and sometimes slain (like Isaiah). We know what they did to Jesus. (Acts 2:23)

When Jesus said, "your house is left to you desolate" He was predicting the desolation that happened in A.D. 70, when three Roman legions under Titus Vespasian came in and destroyed Jerusalem and took the Temple apart block-by-block (As Jesus had also predicted in Matthew 24:2)

We are therefore in the period of time when the King is sending out servants and urging them to come to the wedding. This is the Great Commission - go and make disciples of all nations, preach the Gospel to every creature. (Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8)"Compel people to come in," a parallel parable says (Luke 14:23), "so that my house may be filled."

Here's a neat article about how the ancient Jewish wedding traditions symbolize our being set apart for Christ and our ultimate reunion with Him: http://khouse.org/articles/2003/449/

Matthew 22:1-10