The Marriage Feast

When Brooke writes to Kids Radio asking if everyone goes to heaven no matter what, Whit answers with a story from the mythical land of Rapture. The Prince has found a bride, and the King invites every noble in the kingdom to the wedding... but every single one refuses. When the King sends his trusted servants Benai and Jeriel with a personal invitation, the nobles flog them, chase them off with bullwhips, and throw them in a dungeon, where Benai dies. So the King opens the feast to everyone in the streets, good and bad alike, with free wedding garments so all can be worthy in his sight. But one man sneers that his own clothes are good enough - and finds himself cast into the outer darkness, for many are invited, but few are chosen. Whit tells Brooke the answer: God doesn't keep us out of heaven; we keep ourselves out by refusing His Son.

Found on A Time of Discovery Album 18 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0223 Real Time Trapped in a stalled elevator with a ticking clock, Whit and shock jock Bryan Dern must confront a bomber's revenge - and each other's beliefs - live on the air.

0224 Greater Love On the twentieth anniversary of his son's death, a grieving father comes face to face with the last person he ever expected to find at the boy's grave.

0225 Count it All Joy A frustrated girl who thinks her life is rotten tries to fix her string of bad days with a Bible verse - only to discover she's got it all wrong.

1 of 2 0226 An Adventure in Bethany Swamped by church busywork, Lucy takes an Imagination Station trip to first-century Bethany, where a famous household is about to teach her the difference between working for God and being with Him.

2 of 2 0227 An Adventure in Bethany When Jesus delays answering a desperate plea from Bethany, time-travelers Whit and Lucy must learn why the Master's timing - even when it seems too late - can be trusted.

0228 A Game of Compassion A star soccer player's secret promise to help a stranger puts him on a collision course with the biggest game of the season.

0229 The Marriage Feast When every noble in the kingdom snubs the prince's wedding, a king's invitation goes out to anyone who will come - but accepting it isn't as simple as showing up.

0230 Our Father A lonely boy with a runaway imagination goes looking for someone to fill his absent father's shoes - and nearly finds it in all the wrong places.

0231 Hallowed Be Thy Name When Whit unveils his new Bible-research computer at Whit's End, Connie discovers that God has far more names than she ever imagined - and that each one tells a story.

0232 Thy Kingdom Come While producing a radio dramatization of Jesus' parables about the kingdom of heaven, Whit and Connie try to reach Eugene, who has been avoiding everyone since a haunting experience in the Imagination Station.

0233 Thy Will Be Done When a free-speech newspaper job and a covert conversion campaign both test what it means to do God's will, Lucy and Connie learn that being God's agents isn't about clever schemes.

0234 Our Daily Bread When a devoted family man loses his job for the first time in his life, his family rallies to keep the household afloat - but what he really needs may not be a paycheck.

0235 Forgive Us as We Forgive When Ernie Myers comes home after two years in prison, his family throws a joyful welcome - but his son Eric is finding it far harder to open his heart than to hang a banner.

Featured characters

John Whittaker Hal Smith

Minor characters & crew 17 more roles

17 supporting roles

Brooke Myers Amber Arnold Benai Corey Burton Jeriel Matt Hurwitz King's Servant #1 Hal Smith King's Servant #2 Dave Arnold King's Servant #3 Donald Long Countess of Bovine Ann Ault King's Captain of the Guard Donald Long Countess of Bovine's Herald Phil Lollar Duke of Terra's Herald Corey Burton Vulgar Man Kenneth Mars Marquis of Matrimony Corey Burton Prince of Rapture Donald Long King of Rapture Kenneth Mars King's Royal Scribe Matt Hurwitz Royal Seamstress Ann Ault Duke of Terra Hal Smith

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Paul McCusker Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

On Kids Radio's Adventures in the Bible, host John Avery Whittaker opens the program with a letter from Brooke M. of Odyssey, who has a friend claiming that everybody goes to heaven no matter how good or bad they are, because a loving God could never send anyone to hell. Brooke thinks he is crazy and wants to know who is right. Whit answers, as he loves to do, with a story.

In the mythical land of Rapture, a place of brave knights and noble maidens, the good Prince comes before his father the King with wonderful news: he has found a bride. She is a commoner, and the King admits some will not accept her, but the Prince loves her so deeply that he would gladly lay down his life for her, and the King gives the marriage his full blessing. The Royal Scribe takes down a proclamation inviting every noble in the kingdom to the wedding, set for two months hence.

Weeks later the replies come back, and every single noble has refused. The King suspects an insult and threatens to send troops, but the Prince urges grace instead: send another invitation, one they are sure to understand. So the King dispatches his two most trusted servants, Benai and Jeriel, to deliver his personal invitation. The Duke of Terra declares that land is the only thing worth living for and has the messengers flogged. The Countess of Bovine, who keeps her beloved oxen in her formal hall, is nearly won over until she learns meat will be served at the feast, and she runs the servants off with bullwhips. The Marquis of Matrimony, newly married himself, decides the whole invitation is a plot to spy on him and orders the messengers to the dungeon and tortured. Jeriel staggers home alone; Benai has died in the Marquis' dungeon. The furious King sends his legions to destroy the murderous nobles and their lands.

With the wedding ready and the invited guests proven unworthy, the King sends Jeriel into the streets and byways to invite everyone, good and bad alike, and at the Prince's suggestion the Royal Seamstress makes wedding garments so that all the guests will be worthy in the King's sight. The hall fills with people, but one vulgar man who has come only for the free food refuses to put on his garment, sneering that his own clothes are good enough. After the Prince and his bride are wed, the King spots the man at the feast, confronts him for rejecting the free gift he was offered, and has him and all who refused the garments bound and cast into the outer darkness, where there is great weeping and bitter regret - for many are invited, but few are chosen.

Whit tells Brooke that God does not stop us from going to heaven; we stop ourselves by rejecting Him and His Son, Jesus. Like the king in the story, God gives us chance after chance to come to Him, but He can and will punish those who refuse His Son. Whit closes with Romans 6:23: the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.