The phrase “Many are called but few are chosen” is found in Matthew 22:14. This verse comes at the end of Jesus’ parable of the wedding feast.
In this parable, Jesus compares the kingdom of heaven to a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. The king sent his servants to call those who had been invited to the banquet, but they refused to come.
So the king sent his servants out again to invite anyone they could find. The wedding hall was filled with guests, both good and bad. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man not dressed in proper wedding clothes.
The king asked how he got in without the proper clothes, but the man had no answer. So the king told his servants, “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness.
In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Then Jesus concludes the parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:1-14).
So what did Jesus mean by this final statement? Let’s break it down:
Many Are Called
In the parable, the call went out to all to come to the banquet. The initial invitees represented the Jews, God’s chosen people at that time.
But they rejected the call and refused to come. So the call went out more broadly to all peoples. This represents how the gospel message is available to every person.
As Jesus said in Mark 16:15, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
The call goes out far and wide. Revelation 22:17 declares, “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.” Jesus himself said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
So the call of the gospel, the invitation to be part of God’s kingdom, goes out to all people.
As 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says, “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” The invitation is made to all.
God’s invitation extending beyond the Jews is evident throughout Scripture.
The prophet Isaiah foretold of God’s servant being a light to the Gentiles and God’s salvation reaching the ends of the earth (Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:6).
The apostle Paul affirmed this commission to preach the gospel to all nations by quoting Isaiah, saying “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). Jesus instructed his followers to make disciples of people from every nation (Matthew 28:19).
And Jesus himself ministered to and commended the faith of Gentiles like the Canaanite woman and the Roman centurion (Matthew 15:21-28, Luke 7:1-10).
So while the initial invitees of the gospel were the Jews, the call clearly went out more broadly to people from all tribes and languages as we see throughout the book of Acts.
The invitation to God’s kingdom extends to every person from every people group. No one is excluded from the offer of salvation through faith in Christ.
But Few Are Chosen
However, even though many hear the call, only a few respond appropriately.
Only some are “chosen” to belong to God’s kingdom. In the parable, those who came but were not dressed appropriately for the wedding feast were cast out.
Similarly, God requires that we respond rightly to the gospel call.
Ephesians 1:4 says that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world.” But how do we become part of the chosen? Romans 10:9-10 tells us “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Believing in and accepting Jesus is necessary to become one of the chosen. As John 1:12 says, “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
Our faith in Jesus Christ makes us part of God’s chosen people.
1 Peter 2:9 describes believers as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” So the few who are “chosen” are those who, by God’s grace, put their faith in Jesus Christ.
They accept the invitation to be part of God’s kingdom. But many others reject or ignore the gospel call. And some who hear the call are too caught up in the things of this world to accept it.
As Jesus explained in the parable of the sower, the cares and concerns of this world can choke out God’s word so that it does not bear fruit (Matthew 13:1-23).
So while salvation is offered to all, only those who respond in repentance and faith are chosen by God. Yes, many hear the gospel message, but few respond appropriately.
Many are called to the kingdom, but only the few who accept Jesus Christ become part of God’s chosen people.
Although the call goes out widely, the Bible repeatedly emphasizes the need for faith in Christ to become part of God’s chosen people.
Jesus urged his listeners to “believe in him whom God has sent” (John 6:29).
The Philippian jailer was told “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
Romans 10:17 notes that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 famously declares salvation is “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” Faith itself is a gracious gift from God that enables our response to the gospel call.
Scripture highlights over and over the necessity of believing in Christ alone for salvation. Our part is to repent and humbly receive God’s gift of salvation by faith alone, trusting fully in Christ’s redeeming work on the cross.
Those who place their faith in the Savior become God’s chosen children.
Why Does This Matter?
This teaching is important because it reminds us that responding appropriately to the gospel call—putting our faith in Christ—is crucial.
Even though the invitation goes out to all, unless we personally accept it, we will not experience the blessings of God’s kingdom. Merely hearing the gospel message is not enough.
We must respond with repentant faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation.
Jesus’ statement should also give us motivation to share the gospel with others.
If the call must go out for people to have a chance to become part of God’s kingdom, then we need to spread the message far and wide.
We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to become part of God’s chosen.
This teaching should give us urgency to make sure we have truly received God’s invitation through faith in Christ. It also encourages us to pray that God would continue drawing people to himself, opening their hearts to the gospel call.
We can ask him to give us boldness and wisdom to share the good news of salvation with those who need to hear.
Even though many reject God’s invitation, we must keep extending the call because we don’t know who will respond with repentant faith.
The Call and God’s Sovereignty
One potential question is: If God ultimately chooses who will respond, does our sharing of the gospel really make any difference? The Bible’s answer is: Yes, absolutely!
Our role is to faithfully spread the gospel far and wide. God uses our witness to issue his call to the lost. But in his sovereignty, God prompts and enables some to respond in saving faith.
As Romans 10:14-15 says, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”
Our role is to faithfully preach the gospel to all people. God’s role is to work in people’s hearts to enable them to respond. But make no mistake, our witness and outreach make an eternal difference!
God’s Gracious Choice
One final thought on this topic. Becoming one of God’s chosen is not based on any merit of our own, but only by his gracious call and our response of faith.
There is nothing we can do to earn being chosen. As Romans 9:15-16 declares, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.”
Our salvation depends fully on God mercifully drawing us to himself.
The only proper response is humility, thankfulness, and praise to God for choosing us. As 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 says, “But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We can rejoice that by God’s grace, we have been chosen through faith to receive eternal life!
Jesus’ statement “many are called but few are chosen” reminds us to be thankful to God, to respond to the gospel call with faith, and to spread the good news of salvation far and wide.
The call goes out to all, but only through faith in Christ do we become part of God’s chosen people.
This truth should drive our evangelism and fill us with praise for God’s amazing grace.
Only God can open people’s hearts to respond to the gospel call with repentant faith (Acts 16:14). Yet we are still responsible to preach the good news of Christ everywhere we can, trusting God will use our witness to draw people to himself.
The book of Acts shows the apostles boldly proclaiming the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, depending on God to grant people the faith to believe.
We must have the same urgent mindset in evangelism, asking God to save many but faithfully preaching the word and making disciples wherever He leads us.
The fields are still ripe for harvest. God uses our sharing of the gospel to issue his effectual call to salvation. As his chosen ambassadors we must go to all nations, praying for and declaring the message that can transform lives for eternity.
