Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 8:11

"And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven:" — Matthew 8:11 (ASV)

The picture in this follow-up saying of Jesus is that of the “messianic banquet,” derived from such OT passages as Isa 25:6–9. Jesus here insists (contrary to most Jewish opinions) that many Gentiles will come from the four points of the compass and join the patriarchs at the banquet.

The “subjects of the kingdom” are the Jews, who see themselves as sons of Abraham (cf. 3:9–10), belonging to the kingdom by right. But Jesus reverses roles (cf. 21:43); and the sons of the kingdom are thrown aside, left out of the future messianic banquet, and consigned to darkness where there are tears and gnashing of teeth—elements common to descriptions of hell (i.e., gehenna; see comment on Mk 9:43–48).

Jesus goes on to describe the horror of the scene. Weeping suggests suffering and gnashing of teeth despair. The reversal is not absolute. The patriarchs themselves are Jews, as were the earliest disciples (Romans 11:1–5). But these verses affirm, in a way that could only shock Jesus’ hearers, that the locus of the people of God would not always be the Jewish race. If these verses do not quite authorize the Gentile mission, they open the door to it and prepare for the Great Commission (28:18–20).