Matthew 8:11, commentary and pictures

Jesus spoke these words after commending the Roman centurion's great faith, a Gentile who trusted Him across barriers of nationality and prejudice though he felt unworthy to approach Him, to declare that people from every land and nation across the earth would enter His kingdom. To sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is to share table fellowship and blessing with the patriarchs in the Father's kingdom, where those who sincerely love God will be reunited and shine in love, peace, rest, and joy. Faith and humble reception of Christ, not Israelite descent or religious privilege, decides who shares in that kingdom, so the centurion's faith was the earnest of the gospel going to the Gentiles while unbelieving Israelites who rejected great light would be cast into outer darkness. This welcome was a deliberate lesson against exclusiveness and intolerance, showing God's love is not confined to race or nation and that Gentiles who were not His people would become His people, grafted in as a new Israel. That gathering will take place at Christ's table when He returns in glory and the redeemed partake of the marriage supper of the Lamb, and it still warns that outcasts in heathen darkness will accept the grace while many in Christian lands with great opportunity and light will be excluded if they disregard it.

Setting and Wording

Jesus spoke these words immediately after commending the great faith of the Roman centurion in connection with the healing of his servant. That centurion trusted Jesus across the barriers of nationality and prejudice, his confidence awakened by reports about Jesus. He respected Jewish worship and had shown kindness to the Jews, and he found in Jesus' teaching what his soul needed, yet he counted himself unworthy to approach Him personally.

His example shows that Christ's ministry and kingdom were not confined to one people, nor to the poor or to outcasts. He sought access to hearts across social ranks, including a Roman ruler, the wealthy and cultured Pharisee, and the Jewish nobleman. He accepted their invitations, attended their feasts, and made Himself familiar with their interests and occupations, in order to gain entrance to their hearts and reveal to them imperishable riches.

Many from the east and west means people from every land, many nations, and across the earth, including those outside Israel. The gathering is worldwide and includes Gentiles who will share in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means sharing table fellowship and the blessings of the kingdom with the patriarchs. It promises a reunion in which death's separations end and God's people from across the earth are welcomed together.

The kingdom of heaven is the Father's kingdom, also called the kingdom of God. Its subjects are those who sincerely love God — the pure in heart, peacemakers, and those persecuted for Christ. They will shine like the sun in a kingdom filled with love, peace, rest, and joy.

Gentiles Welcomed, Jews Warned

It is faith and appreciation of Christ, not Israelite descent, heritage, or religious privilege, that decides who shares in the kingdom with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The humble, unselfish faith of the Roman centurion stands against Israelites who received great spiritual privileges and abundant sacred truth yet rejected the promised Messiah. Those given such advantages may be excluded for rejecting Him, while those without Israel's advantages may be welcomed through faith.

That faith was an earnest of the work the gospel was to accomplish among the Gentiles, perceiving the glory of the Son of God though born in heathenism and cut off by training and surroundings. It revealed that salvation was not confined to Israel and that people whom others counted unworthy could hunger for the truth and receive it. The gathering of souls from all nations to sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob was looked forward to with joy, while the warning to the Jews of the result of rejecting grace was given with deep sadness. The welcoming of the centurion belongs to the promise that Gentiles who were not God's people would become His people and be gathered into His kingdom and church.

Christ's rewarding of the centurion was a deliberate lesson to lead Jews and disciples out of exclusiveness, intolerance, and the claim that God's blessing and religious privileges belong only to Jews. The disciples thought He dispensed the gifts of grace too freely, and needed to learn that His love is not to be circumscribed to race or nation but is interested in working for others besides Israel. This holds even though the Samaritans had some knowledge of God and the centurion had shown kindness to Israel.

The work for the centurion together with that for the Syrophoenician woman was direct work outside acknowledged Israel, pointing to the time for active and continued work among the Gentiles. Then whole communities would gladly receive the gospel and glorify God for the light of an intelligent faith. Through this ingathering Gentiles once regarded as outside God's people became His people, grafted into the old olive-tree as a new Israel alongside Israel. This purpose had been traced by inspiration though only faintly understood, and Jewish unbelief and malice could not turn it aside.

The Greeks who came to see Jesus represented the nations, and their coming foreshadowed the gathering of Gentiles through Christ's death, so that salvation extends beyond Israel to people from every land and to all peoples. The Jews wrongly expected the kingdom feast to be theirs alone while Gentiles remained outside. By rejecting God's invitation they would lose it to people they despised.

Those counted as children of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness because of unbelief. Having received great light, their rejection of it brings condemnation and overthrow. The welcome of many from the east and west stands in contrast to that exclusion, and it is applied to the final reward when the last-day judgment will surprise people by revealing who is included, each person rewarded according to the faithful or selfish use of the talents entrusted by God.

Future Feast and Application

The sitting down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will take place at Christ's own table in His kingdom, after He has received His kingdom and returns in glory to redeem His people. There the redeemed will share together in the marriage supper of the Lamb. The disciples remembered this promise together with Christ's other promises about the kingdom, and they believed the kingdom would soon be established. They held to that expectation even though He had predicted His own betrayal, suffering, and death.

The promise reaches to the final reward at the last-day judgment, when the revealing of who is included will surprise many. Many will come from east and west to share in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in contrast with the children of the kingdom who are cast into outer darkness. Each person will then be rewarded according to the faithful or selfish use of the talents entrusted by God.

The same word still warns against the same fatal disappointment. Many who were treated as outcasts will accept the hope of the gospel and enter the kingdom of heaven, while those given great opportunities and much light will be excluded if they fail to make use of them. Jewish claims to special favor do not guarantee entry, and those who received great opportunities but failed to value or use them will lose the place promised to others. Souls in heathen darkness accept His grace, while many in Christian lands disregard the light shining upon them. The Roman centurion's faith was an earnest of the gospel work to be accomplished among the Gentiles, perceiving the glory of the Son of God though born in heathenism and cut off by training and surroundings, and Jesus looked forward to that gathering of souls from all nations among the Gentiles to sit with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob with joy, while with deep sadness He warned the Jews of the result of rejecting His grace.