Adventures in Odyssey

Chris: Hi, this is Chris. Welcome to Adventures in Odyssey.

John Avery Whittaker: Oh, hi there. My name is John Avery Whittaker, but you can call me Whit. And this is Odyssey, a place where discovery and excitement await just around the corner. Why don't you come along and we'll have an adventure in Odyssey?

Guest (Male): A most cordial invitation is hereby extended to you for the marriage of his royal highness the prince.

Guest (Male): Sorry, I won't be able to attend.

Guest (Female): Please tell the prince that I won't be there for his wedding.

Guest (Male): They are not coming?

John Avery Whittaker: Hello, and welcome to another episode of Adventures in the Bible here on Kids Radio. I'm your host, John Avery Whittaker, and I want to start off today with this letter.

Chris: Dear Mr. Whittaker, I have a friend who says that everybody is going to go to heaven no matter how good or bad they are because God is love and so he can't send us to hell. I say he's crazy. Who's right? Signed, Brooke M. from Odyssey.

John Avery Whittaker: Well, Brooke, I don't know about your friend being crazy, but I do know a way to answer your question. And that's with how else, a story?

Once there was a mythical land called Rapture, a place of brave knights and noble maidens. It was ruled by a mighty king and his son, who were very, very good. One day, the son came to the king bearing good news of great tidings.

Guest (Male): His royal majesty, Prince of Rapture.

Guest (Male): Greetings, my son.

Guest (Male): My father and my king.

Guest (Male): Rise, my boy, rise. Come and sit next to me.

Guest (Male): I can't, father, for what I'm about to ask, I must stand.

Guest (Male): Oh, that sounds important.

Guest (Male): Oh, it is. Most important.

Guest (Male): Oh, well then, let's not waste another moment. Tell your old father what's on your mind.

Guest (Male): My lord, I have found a bride I wish to marry.

Guest (Male): I knew it, I knew it! Oh, wonderful, my boy. The duke's daughter is getting quite a catch.

Guest (Male): Well, sir, it isn't the duke's daughter.

Guest (Male): It isn't?

Guest (Male): No, sir.

Guest (Male): Well, don't tell me, don't tell me. Is it the knight's niece?

Guest (Male): No.

Guest (Male): In the count's courtier?

Guest (Male): No.

Guest (Male): Not the viceroy's vestry?

Guest (Male): No, my king.

Guest (Male): Good. Well then, who is this girl?

Guest (Male): She's a commoner, father.

Guest (Male): A commoner?

Guest (Male): Yes, sir.

Guest (Male): Well, my boy, this is most irregular. I mean, a commoner, I just, I don't know.

Guest (Male): This is unusual. Some won't like or accept her, but I love her.

Guest (Male): Oh, perhaps you just think you do.

Guest (Male): No, sir. I do love her. Father, I would gladly lay down my life for her.

Guest (Male): Would you?

Guest (Male): With all my heart. Will you give us your blessing?

Guest (Male): Of course I will, my son. With all my heart. Where is the royal scribe?

Guest (Male): The royal scribe! Yes, your majesty, I'm here, I'm here. You wish to send a message, exalted one?

Guest (Male): Not just a message, but one of great good tidings. My son is to be married.

Guest (Male): May I offer my deepest and most heartfelt congratulations, oh prince?

Oh, never mind that. Take down this royal proclamation.

Guest (Male): Yes, my king, of course, of course.

From his royal majesty, King of Rapture, Lord of the Forest Domain, Emperor of the Seven Isles, to all dukes, earls, marquises, and other nobles of my dominions, greetings. We are pleased to proclaim the season of our good favor upon our subjects.

A most cordial invitation is hereby extended to you for the marriage of his royal highness the prince. Have you set a date, my son?

Guest (Male): Two months from today.

Guest (Male): Oh, good. Two months from this date. We beg your most gracious attendance, my lords. Come and share in the joy and happiness of your king.

John Avery Whittaker: The marvelous message was inscribed on the finest parchment and sent by the fastest messengers to all the nobles in the land. It was a time of celebration, the hour of jubilation.

Well, several weeks passed and the king and his son finally received a response from the nobles.

Guest (Male): My dearest king, so nice to hear from you. Sorry I won't be able to attend. Yours, the Duke of Terra.

Guest (Female): Please tell the prince that I won't be there for his wedding, but that I'm very happy for him and for you as well. The Countess of Bovine.

Guest (Male): Although I adore weddings, I'm afraid I can't come to your son's. Awfully busy this time of year for me, you know. Maybe we can get together some other time when I'm not so busy. The Marquis of Matrimony.

Guest (Male): Not coming? None of them?

Guest (Male): Not a one.

Guest (Male): But that makes no sense. Why would anyone refuse to attend the celebration?

Guest (Male): The reason is clear. They wish to insult you, my son.

Guest (Male): No, I cannot believe they would do such a thing.

Guest (Male): Then how do you account for this?

Guest (Male): Perhaps they didn't understand the written invitation. It was very formal. Perhaps it was so formal they failed to grasp its meaning.

Guest (Male): Then I shall send my troops to teach them its meaning.

Guest (Male): No, no, my father. Not troops. This is a time of rejoicing. Show them your grace. Extend to them another invitation. This time, one they're sure to understand.

Guest (Male): You are wise, my son. Very well. Benai? Jerel?

Guest (Male): Yes, oh gracious Lord. What is thy bidding, oh my master?

Guest (Male): You are my most trusted servants. You will travel to the nobles throughout my kingdom and extend to them my personal invitation to my son's wedding.

Guest (Male): I swear it shall be done, majesty.

Guest (Male): Tell them that you speak in my name and show them that you bear my seal. Impress upon them their king's urgent and earnest desire that they attend the prince's wedding. Upon your shoulders, I place this burden.

Guest (Male): We shall carry out your wishes, my liege, or die.

Chris: The stories we hear help shape who we are. The right stories teach us to be brave, to be kind to others, to be godly people. So let your kids hear stories that will build their faith with an Adventures in Odyssey Club membership.

Your family will get access to over 1,000 faith-building episodes, including club exclusives. Try a membership free for 14 days to see if it's right for your family. Go to adventuresinodyssey.com to start your free trial. That's adventuresinodyssey.com.

John Avery Whittaker: So the king's most trusted servants, Benai and Jerel, journeyed throughout the land, extending the invitations for the prince's wedding to the king's nobles.

Guest (Male): His most honored excellency, master of agriculture, the Duke of Terra.

Guest (Male): Now, and who do we have here?

Guest (Male): Most honored duke, Lord of Terra, I am Benai, and this is Jerel. We are servants of his majesty, the King of Rapture.

Guest (Male): Oh, is that a fact now? The king himself? Well, what can I do for you then?

Guest (Male): We come bearing great good tidings. The young prince is to be married.

Guest (Male): Is he now? Huh. Come to think of it, I do remember getting a letter of some sort a few weeks ago. Well, what of it?

Guest (Male): We are here to extend to you the king's personal invitation. All is in readiness for the prince's wedding. The king has laid out the royal banquet. The celebration is at hand. All our master requests is that the duke, his family, and his household honor him by coming to the feast.

Guest (Male): Well now, isn't that marvelous? And very well presented too, I might add.

Guest (Male): Your graciousness abounds, oh duke.

Guest (Male): There's only one problem with it.

Guest (Male): My lord?

Guest (Male): I'm not going.

Guest (Male): But oh, great duke.

Guest (Male): Oh, now don't get me wrong. It's not that I don't appreciate being invited. I do. It's just that I can't go.

Guest (Male): Can't?

Guest (Male): Right. See, I've recently acquired several new parcels of land, and I must attend them.

Guest (Male): Land? You would turn down a royal summons for land?

Guest (Male): Now, don't be standing there like a goggle-eyed goose and telling me that land isn't important. Land is the only thing worth living for, worth fighting for, worth dying for, because it's the only thing that lasts. Why do you think I'm called the Duke of Terra?

Guest (Male): Your pardon, your grace, but if that is true, then the land will always be there. Our master's invitation will not. Would it not be prudent, greatness, to place things in their proper priority and attend the prince's wedding?

Guest (Male): Proper priority? Proper priority? You dare stand there and even suggest that my priorities are askew?

Guest (Male): Well, no, my lord. We merely were trying to...

Guest (Male): Take these five men out to the yard and have them flogged.

Guest (Male): Flogged? Great duke, we are the personal messengers of his majesty, the King of Rapture.

Guest (Male): Then he should teach you better manners.

Guest (Male): We come bearing his seal.

Guest (Male): And you shall return bearing my stripes. Flog them out of here immediately!

Guest (Male): Benai and Jerel, servants of his highness, the king.

Gentlemen, may I present her greatness, a supreme authority on animal husbandry, the Countess of Bovine.

And where is she?

Behind the ox.

Guest (Male): Ah, the most kind countess.

Guest (Female): Just a minute, boys. Old Bessie here has a stubborn stone in her hoof, and I'm just about to dig it out. There.

Guest (Male): Forgive me, ma'am, but do you always keep cattle in your formal hall?

Guest (Female): Well, where else would I keep them?

Guest (Male): The barn?

Guest (Female): The barn? What do you think they are, animals? I just picked up this pair of oxen. What do you think of them?

Guest (Male): They are mighty beasts, great countess.

Guest (Female): Yeah, I think so too. I was just giving them the once-over when I found the stone. So, what can I do you for?

Guest (Male): Most noble countess.

Guest (Female): Say, you boys are pretty banged up. Looks like you've been in quite a tussle.

Guest (Male): Our bruises are a gift from the Duke of Terra.

Guest (Female): Dukey did that to you? Boy, you must have got him really riled. What'd you do?

Guest (Male): We extended him a royal invitation.

Guest (Female): Invitation? Well, that don't sound too bad.

Guest (Male): We are most gratified to hear this, oh countess, for we have been instructed to extend the same invitation to you.

Guest (Female): Is that a fact? Well, what's this fancy invite to?

Guest (Male): His highness, the prince's marriage.

Guest (Female): A royal hitching? Oh, yeah. I recall hearing something about that.

Guest (Male): Everything is set. It is a time for celebration. And we have been sent in the king's name to personally entreat you and your house to come.

Guest (Female): My house?

Guest (Male): Family, ma'am.

Guest (Female): Oh. Oh, well, I wasn't planning on going to this shindig, but it sounds so good, I might just change my mind. King got a real hoe-down planned, does he?

Guest (Male): Oh, yes, great countess. He has hired the finest musicians, the best decorators, and the heartiest chefs. The marriage feast will be most sumptuous. The choicest bullocks and fattened cattle have been selected.

Guest (Female): What do you mean, selected?

Guest (Male): Well, prepared.

Guest (Female): Now hold on just a minute. Let me get this straight. You mean to tell me that the king is serving meat at this party?

Guest (Male): Well, yes.

Guest (Female): And what's more, you expect me to go and actually have a good time?

Guest (Male): It is our master's greatest wish.

Guest (Female): Well, it ain't my greatest wish. Don't you know how noble these beasts are? I mean, why the very thought of someone eating them makes my blood boil.

Guest (Male): But mighty countess.

Guest (Female): I don't want to hear no more. Suddenly, I understand why Dukey lit into you the way he did. In fact, I think it's a pretty good idea myself. Get out your bullwhips, boys. We got a couple of fellers here that need running off.

Guest (Male): Who are these battered and bloody things standing before me?

Guest (Male): Oh, great marquis, Lord of Matrimony, I am Jerel, and I am Benai. We are servants and special emissaries from his majesty the king.

Guest (Male): What do you want, applause? Get on with it. Why are you here?

Guest (Male): We have been instructed to extend an invitation to your grace.

Guest (Male): Invitation to what? Do I have to drag everything out of you?

Guest (Male): To the prince's marriage. It is all arranged. You are to be among the king's special guests. This shall be a wedding like none other.

Guest (Male): A wedding like none other, indeed. As if the king could, in his wildest imagination, throw such a celebration.

Guest (Male): My lord?

Guest (Male): Have you forgotten who you're talking to? I am the Marquis of Matrimony. No one can put on a wedding like I can.

Guest (Male): Your pardon at our ignorance. May I inform the king that you plan to attend?

Guest (Male): And be bored out of my skull? Even if I had the inclination, which I do not, I couldn't possibly go now. I have just gotten married.

Guest (Male): Well, the Lady Matrimony is certainly included in the invitation.

Guest (Male): Now what would possibly induce me to leave my own new bride simply to attend the prince's nuptials?

Guest (Male): Because the king has asked you to.

Guest (Male): Of all the presumptuous nerve! So I'm to come simply because the king wants me to, am I? Does the king think me some sort of pawn that he can move about at the dictates of his whim?

Guest (Male): My lord, I fear you have misunderstood. This invitation is free and clear, made out of the king's good wishes.

Guest (Male): Good wishes. And the desire to prove his power and control over me. He's trying to take over my land, isn't he?

Guest (Male): No.

Guest (Male): You've both been sent here to spy on me. Guards! Take these emissaries down to the dungeon and torture them until they reveal the king's true plan.

Guest (Male): Who has dared do this to you?

Guest (Male): Your nobles, majesty.

Guest (Male): All of them?

Guest (Male): Yes, sire. We were mistreated and insulted at every stop. They refused to attend the wedding.

Guest (Male): Jerel, where is Benai?

Guest (Male): His bones lie still in the dungeon of the Marquis of Matrimony.

Guest (Male): He's dead?

Guest (Male): Yes, oh king.

Guest (Male): Captain of the guard!

Guest (Male): Yes, my liege.

Guest (Male): Call out the legions. Go to my nobles' castles and surrounding towns and villages. Lay siege to them and destroy them.

Guest (Male): It shall be done, oh king.

John Avery Whittaker: And the armies did the king's bidding to the letter, attacking and burning the murderers' property. And the destruction was very great, indeed.

Guest (Male): Hey parents, for almost 40 years, Adventures in Odyssey has been helping kids like yours form relationships with Christ. Now, the animated Adventures in Odyssey film, Journey into the Impossible, will reach a new generation of families.

But we need your help to finish the film and launch it in theaters. Your gift will be matched dollar for dollar before May 1st. See the trailer and donate today at focusonthefamily.com/impossible. That's focusonthefamily.com/impossible.

Guest (Male): Now on the Adventures in Odyssey Club, Wooton gets a call from an unexpected person.

Guest (Male): Dad?

Guest (Male): Which leads to a family mystery.

Guest (Male): He didn't go home after he left the office on Friday and no one's seen him since. Well, then he's missing.

Guest (Male): It's up to father and son to follow the clues.

Guest (Male): That is a lot of cash to have inside a fish.

Guest (Male): That's too much money for a petty cash stash. It's more like an escape fund.

Guest (Male): The Bassett men are on the case. Now on the Adventures in Odyssey Club.

Guest (Male): Want to contact us about the episode you're hearing? Visit our website at adventuresinodyssey.com or talk to someone at Focus on the Family. Call 1-800-A-FAMILY. With a parent's permission, of course. We always love hearing from you.

John Avery Whittaker: When the king's wrath against his murderous nobles had subsided, he once again sent for his trusted servant, Jerel.

Guest (Male): The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy. Jerel, go to the streets and byways and invite all who are there to the feast.

Guest (Male): As you wish, my master. But there are many unworthy people there as well.

Guest (Male): Father, cannot wedding garments be made for them to wear that will make them worthy in your sight?

Guest (Male): Excellent, my son. Jerel, you will instruct the royal seamstress to do so.

Guest (Male): Yes, highness.

Guest (Male): And now, with your permission, father, I must ready myself to go fetch my bride.

Guest (Male): Permission granted, my boy. Well, Jerel, what are you waiting for? Go and gather the guests.

Guest (Male): Yes, oh king. Rejoice, everyone! My son marries tonight.

John Avery Whittaker: And so Jerel went out to the streets and gathered both good and bad and invited them to the feast. The royal seamstresses worked diligently to make wedding garments for all the new guests, and soon the hall was filled with people. But all was not well.

Guest (Female): Hey, though! You must wear this garment to stay. King's orders, you have to have a garment.

Guest (Male): Hey, hey, lady, is this where the free food is?

Guest (Female): Well, this is where the prince is to be wed, yes.

Guest (Male): Hey, look, I don't care about no prince. Some guy out there said it was free food in here.

Guest (Female): Well, there will be a feast after the ceremony, yes.

Guest (Male): Okay, that's all I want to know, dear. See you around there.

Guest (Female): Just a minute, sir. You'll have to put this on if you want to stay.

Guest (Male): Nah, you mean this fancy-shmancy shirt?

Guest (Female): It's a wedding garment.

Guest (Male): Oh, it even has a name. Yuck. So what? I ain't putting this on.

Guest (Female): It's the king's order.

Guest (Male): Hey, I don't care whose order it is. I ain't wearing no silly wedding garment. The clothes I got on were good enough when you invited me, and they're good enough now. So you can take this wedding garment and wrap the fish in it.

Guest (Female): Wait a minute, sir! Sir!

Guest (Male): Good people, my bride and I thank you for your attendance at our wedding. Captain of the guard, summon my father. Let the ceremony begin.

John Avery Whittaker: So the prince and his bride were wed, pledging themselves to each other for all time. And once they had completed their vows, the whole company moved to the court to begin the marriage feast. Little did anyone realize that even in the midst of such happiness, a great tragedy was about to unfold.

Guest (Male): His majesty, the King of Rapture.

Guest (Male): Welcome, good subjects, and partake in the marriage celebration of the prince and his bride.

John Avery Whittaker: The king passed among his subjects jovially until he spotted the vulgar man who refused to wear the wedding garment. He summoned the royal seamstress.

Guest (Female): My lord?

Guest (Male): That man over there. Was he not offered a wedding garment when he came in?

Guest (Female): Oh, yes, my lord.

Guest (Male): Well, then, why is he not wearing it?

Guest (Female): He refused to put it on, my liege.

Guest (Male): Refused?

Guest (Female): Yes, oh master. He said the clothes your servants found him in are the clothes he chooses to wear.

Guest (Male): You!

Who, me?

So, you have no intention of wearing the wedding garment I've provided for you, eh?

Guest (Male): Whoa, hey, I just didn't see what...

Guest (Male): I invite you to my home to partake of my happiness. All I ask is that you put on a garment I've provided for you. But you refuse. You reject the free gift I offer you. You stand here before me in open rebellion and defiance.

Guest (Male): I, I...

Guest (Male): Guards! Take this man and all who refuse to wear my garments. Tie them hand and foot and throw them into the darkness outside.

John Avery Whittaker: And the soldiers cast all who refused the king's hospitality into the outer darkness, where there was great weeping and bitter regret. For many are invited, but few are chosen.

John Avery Whittaker: Brooke, I hope this story helps answer your question. God doesn't stop us from going to heaven. We stop ourselves by rejecting him and his son Jesus. God gives us chance after chance to come to him, just like the king in the story did for the nobles and the man who wouldn't wear the wedding clothes.

So Brooke, your friend is wrong. God can and will punish those who will not accept his son. And this isn't just my opinion. In the book of Romans chapter six, verse 23, the Apostle Paul wrote, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord."

Well, it looks like our time is up for today. This is John Avery Whittaker. Join me again next time for more Adventures in the Bible here on Kids Radio. Bye.

Chris: Did that story sound familiar to you? That's because it's one of Jesus' parables. Do you know which one? If you said the parable of the marriage feast found in Matthew 22:1-14, you're absolutely right. Like Whit said, Jesus was trying to tell us more about God, who he is and what he's like.

Now from that story, it may seem like God is pretty hard and demanding on us. And in some ways, he is. But we should also remember that this same God cared for you and me so much that he gave his only begotten son to die in our place. Now that's what I call love.

And that's today's adventure. I hope you keep those cards and letters coming. I just love hearing from you. You can write to us at Odyssey, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80995. And in Canada, the address is Odyssey, Box 9800, Vancouver, BC, V6B 4G3.

And don't forget to ask about how you can get a copy of today's program called The Marriage Feast. The address once again is Odyssey, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80995. Adventures in Odyssey is a presentation of Focus on the Family.

The Marriage Feast was written and directed by Phil Lollar. Our production engineer was Bob Luttrell and our executive producer, Chuck Bolte. And I'm Chris, hoping you'll join us again next time for more Adventures in Odyssey.