Jesus said that "there are many invited, but few chosen" in a parable in connection with the kingdom of the heavens and a marriage feast:

“The kingdom of the heavens has become like a man, a king, that made a marriage feast for his son. 3 And he sent forth his slaves to call those invited to the marriage feast, but they were unwilling to come. 4 Again he sent forth other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those invited: “Look! I have prepared my dinner, my bulls and fattened animals are slaughtered, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast.”’ 5 But unconcerned they went off, one to his own field, another to his commercial business; 6 but the rest, laying hold of his slaves, treated them insolently and killed them.
7 “But the king grew wrathful, and sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his slaves, ‘The marriage feast indeed is ready, but those invited were not worthy. 9 Therefore go to the roads leading out of the city, and anyone YOU find invite to the marriage feast.’ 10 Accordingly those slaves went out to the roads and gathered together all they found, both wicked and good; and the room for the wedding ceremonies was filled with those reclining at the table.
11 “When the king came in to inspect the guests he caught sight there of a man not clothed with a marriage garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Fellow, how did you get in here not having on a marriage garment?’ He was rendered speechless. 13 Then the king said to his servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and throw him out into the darkness outside. There is where [his] weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will be.’
14 “For there are many invited, but few chosen.” —Matthew 22:1-14.

The illustration is concerning "the kingdom of the heavens." The marriage feast includes first of all the king; the king's son, for whom the marriage feast has been prepared; and also the bride (obviously); plus there are invited guests.

Who is the king in the illustration, preparing the wedding feast for his son? The Scripture tells us: "Jehovah is King to time indefinite, even forever." (Psalms 10:16)

Who is the king's son? "For God sent forth his Son into the world, not for him to judge the world, but for the world to be saved through him." (John 3:17) It is Jesus Christ, God's Son, who is the bridegroom. Regarding him John the Baptist said: “A man cannot receive a single thing unless it has been given him from heaven. YOU yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but, I have been sent forth in advance of that one. He that has the bride is the bridegroom. However, the friend of the bridegroom, when he stands and hears him, has a great deal of joy on account of the voice of the bridegroom. Therefore this joy of mine has been made full." (John 3:27-29)

Who is the bride? Jesus told his close disciples that he was going away to prepare a place for them, "that where I am you also may be." (John 14:2,3) On the final night with them, he assured them of his previous promise that they would "eat and drink at my table in my kingdom." (Luke 22:29,30; 12:32) The Scriptures foretold that the king's son would rule in God's kingdom. "'I, even I, have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain.' Let me refer to the decree of Jehovah; He has said to me: 'You are my son; I, today, I have become your father." (Ps. 2:6,7; 110:1; Dan. 7:13,14) Of course, as Jesus promised, his bride would be present with him upon Zion, God's holy mountain, to rule with him:

"And I saw, and, look! the Lamb standing upon the Mount Zion, and with him a hundred and forty-four thousand having his name and the name of his Father written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a sound out of heaven as the sound of many waters and as the sound of loud thunder; and the sound that I heard was as of singers who accompany themselves on the harp playing on their harps. 3 And they are singing as if a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders; and no one was able to master that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand, who have been bought from the earth. 4 These are the ones that did not defile themselves with women; in fact, they are virgins. These are the ones that keep following the Lamb no matter where he goes. These were bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb, 5 and no falsehood was found in their mouths; they are without blemish." —Revelation 14:1-5; 2 Cor. 11:2; Dan. 7:22, 27.

According to Jesus' illustration, the wedding party is made up of the bridegroom (the Lamb), and his bride of 144,000 who have been bought from among mankind. In addition, there are those countless ones who have responded to the invitation and are present at the marriage feast.

"And I heard what was as a voice of a great crowd and as a sound of many waters and as a sound of heavy thunders. They said: “Praise Jah, YOU people, because Jehovah our God, the Almighty, has begun to rule as king. 7 Let us rejoice and be overjoyed, and let us give him the glory, because the marriage of the Lamb has arrived and his wife has prepared herself. 8 Yes, it has been granted to her to be arrayed in bright, clean, fine linen, for the fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the holy ones.” 9 And he tells me: “Write: Happy are those invited to the evening meal of the Lamb’s marriage.”—Revelation 19:6-9.

Of course the wedding is still future. It cannot take place until the full number of the 144,000 are completed. The prophecy in Revelation reveals that the final ones of these 144,000 will be chosen and sealed just prior to the great tribulation that will break forth and sweep upon the entire inhabited earth. (Rev. 7:1-8)

Who are the invited ones to the marriage feast? Note that the Scripture says regarding the Lamb's marriage that there are those who are invited to the evening meal, and they are happy. These happy invited ones cannot refer to the wife of the Lamb, as it is taken for granted that the bride would be present for the marriage. Has a bride ever needed an invitation to her own wedding? Besides, she is shown as separate from those invited.

We might wonder: Since there are 144,000 who make up the bride of the king's son, on what basis has the Father chosen these individuals who were bought from the earth?

Jehovah has chosen the bride for his son, not from among the world in general, but only from among the disciples of Christ, the ones who listen to him. (Matt. 17:5,5) For example, Jesus chose the twelve apostles exclusively from among his followers. (Luke 6:12-16) When Jesus said to a certain man, "Come, be my follower," he was inviting him to become his disciple. It was a definite invitation, though not necessarily to be one of the twelve apostles, or even one of the 144,000. (Matt. 19:21) The invitation to the marriage feast began with Jesus' preaching of the good news of the kingdom. It can be said that the marriage feast was "ready," for the bridegroom was in their midst. (Luke 17:21) Jesus was inviting his listeners to become his followers; and by the miracles that he performed—his healings—he demonstrated the blessings that will come to those who respond, by means of the kingdom due to the marriage of the Lamb. (Matt. 4:17, 23) The vast majority of the Jews not only rejected the invitation but even fought against those bringing it to them, first by Jesus and later his disciples. This is how the apostle Paul explains their reception to his invitation:

The next sabbath nearly all the city gathered together to hear the word of Jehovah. 45 When the Jews got sight of the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began blasphemously contradicting the things being spoken by Paul. 46 And so, talking with boldness, Paul and Barnabas said: “It was necessary for the word of God to be spoken first to you. Since you are thrusting it away from you and do not judge yourselves worthy of everlasting life, look! we turn to the nations. 47 In fact, Jehovah has laid commandment upon us in these words, ‘I have appointed you as a light of nations, for you to be a salvation to the extremity of the earth.’” 48 When those of the nations heard this, they began to rejoice and to glorify the word of Jehovah, and all those who were rightly disposed for everlasting life became believers. (Acts 13:44-49; 28:23-28)

Those who responded favorably, and even rejoiced at the invitation, were, as a whole, not the Jews but people of the nations, the Gentiles who were despised by the Jews. The preaching work today is accomplishing the same, for by means of it Jehovah has been inviting people in general to the marriage feast. Those who respond become members of his household, but not necessarily for the heavenly hope, although Jehovah has continued up to the present to choose from among them. (2 Cor. 6:17,18) Only he decides who is chosen, and it is not according to a person's works! (Heb. 5:4; 2 Tim. 1:9) To help understand this, the apostle Paul tells us that after Jesus' resurrection Jesus appeared to upwards of 500 of his disciples, but only 120 of them were baptized with the holy spirit at Pentecost. It can be said that the 500 disciples were invited ones, but only 120 were chosen from among them. (1 Cor. 15:6; Acts 1:15; 2:1-4) Thus Jesus' words, "For there are many invited, but few chosen." (Matt. 22:14)

Jesus gave the parable of the marriage feast in order to point out a particular feature regarding the kingdom of the heavens. He is silent about the groom and the bride, only revealing that the bridegroom is the king's son. Rather he focuses on those who are invited to attend "the evening meal of the Lamb's marriage." According to the book of Revelation, a great crowd "out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues" have responded, and they have "washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"—the white robes symbolizing their marriage garments, as they are worthy to be in attendance. Although all of them attribute salvation to God and to the Lamb, they are not part of the wedding party itself. But they are all members of God's household; they all have God's spirit as they worship him in his temple, "rendering him sacred service day and night." (Rev. 7:9,10, 13-17; Rev. 3:4; Eph. 2:19-22)

The choosing of the members of the bride, who have been "bought from among mankind as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb," started with the twelve apostles and 108 others at Pentecost, and continues right up until shortly before the beginning of the great tribulation. Thus, there are many invited, but few chosen! This in itself is not in a negative way. It is not as if the vast majority of the ones who are to become the bride are found unworthy and hence rejected. It is simply Jesus' way of explaining that not everyone who becomes his disciple is chosen to rule with him in his heavenly kingdom. Those who are chosen constitute a "little flock." (Luke 12:32) Not everything that Jesus said was necessarily addressed to his "bride." After all, even those invited to the feast belong to him, they are his sheep for whom he died. (John 10:7-15) The vast majority of those who have been ransomed by Christ's sacrifice will inherit what would have been theirs had Adam not sinned and lost it for them, namely, everlasting life on a beautiful earth, created by God for that purpose. Jesus bought it back for them. (Rom. 5:17-19; Gen. 1:27-31; Isa. 45:18; 65:17-25; Matt. 5:5; John 3:16; 17:3) Jehovah will fulfill his purpose and bring blessings to obedient mankind by means of the Lamb and his bride, his heavenly kingdom, also called the New Jerusalem. (Rev. 20:6; 21:1-5; 22:1,2) As can be seen, the marriage of the Lamb will bring blessings to all who accept the invitation and are present at the marriage feast. Of course, we need to keep in mind that the parable describes in symbolic terms realities about the kingdom of the heavens that we would find otherwise hard to understand.  

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