And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But
the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there
shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The place; Capernaum. The occasion; A centurion came to the Lord asking that
his servant might be healed. He asked that the Lord just speak the word so
that the healing might take place.
The Lord remarked that He had not found such great faith, not in all Israel.
He said this to those that were following Him. Then He said the words quoted
above. There has been a question as to what was meant by these words.
Heretofore Gentiles could not have the hope of Israel apart from circumcision
and obedience to the law. However Ezekiel prophesied concerning the kingdom
and the inheritance of the 12 tribes. He added that strangers would also
have a part in it. The Lord gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter. Peter
opened the door of the kingdom to Israel at Pentecost. About 8 years later
he opened the door of the kingdom to Gentiles at the house of another centurion,
Cornelius. Or could it be that this is the same centurion? Who knows? But
now we wonder if the centurion of Matt
8 lived till this time and heard the message and also was added to
the kingdom by faith and became a child of Abraham (
Gal 3:29).
Note that the Gentiles that come into the kingdom come from the east and
west, but not from the north and south. But the children of the kingdom,
who are they? Surely not outsiders! Under the context, we have to assume
that they are believers who are lacking in faith. They are uncertain.
They are cast out, banished, from the kingdom. They do not get an inheritance
in the promised land as do some of the believing Gentiles such as this centurion
was. So they will wander among the nations of the earth for the duration
of the kingdom, the 1,000 years. They will be laughed at and ridiculed. Hence
the weeping.
The darkness is mentioned in Isaiah 60:2
. In those days (time of the kingdom),
darkness will cover the earth and gross
darkness the peoples or nations. Light will come upon Israel and nations
will come to that light. See next verse.
There is a similar punishment of the unprofitable servant in
Matt 25:30, and of the man without the wedding garment in
Matt 22:13. The wise virgins go in with the wedding procession, but
the foolish ones had to wait till morning to get in. Of course the wedding
was over and they missed the good time.
