When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”
Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Centurion in town
A centurion comes up to Jesus when he walks into town – a Roman gentile, emblematic of the hated occupying force… How’s this going to go? Will Jesus respond to his request? What about the politics of this?
There is a simple exchange – “Lord, my servant lies at home paralysed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”
This is all about human need and connection. The centurion cares about his servant’s terrible condition and is looking for a solution. Jesus connects and responds with an offer of help. No politics here.
What follows is an amazing twist. This “outsider” centurion has an incredible insight into how faith is supposed to work. So much so that Jesus says he is in a class of his own in the faith department – take that, religious establishment!
It’s almost as if the centurion has invented some language here. “Come”. “Go”. All simple. This is how it works. Jesus picks up on this language and says “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.”
Subjects of the Kingdom
Let’s unpack a bit more. Jesus says “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven”. He is talking about people coming (there’s that language again) from far away places to take their place in the kingdom. These people are not the traditional or ethnic expected invitees – the Jews. These people are from the nations, I.e. the Gentiles, from outside. Could it be that this what is foreshadowed in verses such as Isa 43:5-8, 59:11 and Ps 107:2-3?
Yet the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, to a place of darkness, sorrow and regret. So who exactly are these subjects of the kingdom and why are they cast out? Kingdom language is common in the Bible. There is a king, a realm, and the subjects. Through the history of the people of Israel, kingdoms were quite fluid. More than once a kingdom was transferred from one king to another (1 Sam 28:17, 2 Sam 3:10, Lam 2:2, Dan 2:39). The Old Testament also speaks of a coming new kingdom (Isa 32:1, Isa 9:6-7) and, spoiler alert, Jesus is the new king.
Weeping and Gnashing
Now, what is this “weeping and gnashing of teeth” all about? In the NIV version of the New Testament, the word “gnashing” appears seven times , of which six are in Matthew. It’s a favourite phrase of his (Mt 8:12,m13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30). Luke also it (Lk 13:28) and there are many parallels there to this passage:
There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. (Lk 13:28-30).
All of the references associate teeth-gnashing with weeping, and most of them with being outside in the darkness. There is obviously a well-known reference being invoked here. First of all, what exactly is “gnashing”? Gnashing is grinding. You are grinding your teeth out of anger, not out of agony. See Acts 7:54. You’re upset. See also Ps 112 where the faith of the righteous is compared with the vexed teeth-gnashing of the wicked.
In ancient times banquets were usually held at night in well-lit rooms. If you were excluded, you were said to be cast into the “outer darkness of the night”. Orientals didn’t even like to sleep without the light on, so being stuck outside in the dark was a terrifying prospect.
Faith class
So what is Jesus saying here? He wants to get the attention of his people, the Jews. It’s almost like he is having the gentile Centurion stand up in the front of the classroom.
“Class, listen up. See Andronicus here, this is what faith looks like. Pay attention class. If you want to graduate, learn it like he has. The fact that your fathers are old boys of the school doesn’t count. Thank you Andronicus, you can sit down now”.
Listen up, indeed. This kingdom is for people who want to follow the king, not the hereditary land-owners. The rules have changed, faith in the king is the new currency.