Jesus has just made a very pointed jab at the people of faith (the Jews) by pointing out that one of their occupiers (a Roman centurion) has more faith than they’ve demonstrated to date, “I tell you the truth, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” No doubt those standing there were stunned. But before that statement can really even begin to sink in, Jesus makes it all the sharper, “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.”
Remember that Jesus has just come down from the mountainside after preaching the Sermon on the Mount. With a “large crowd” following Him, He had met a leper, touched him and healed him. That was a scandal to the Jews. Jews were not supposed to touch unclean people. Coming to the city, a centurion had come and asked for help. Jesus was not put off by the fact that this man was the embodiment of the oppression the Jewish people felt. He promises to go and help. That was a scandal too. Then the centurion expresses humility and Jesus responds that He’s found no one in all Israel with such great faith. That would’ve been a deeply upsetting comment to those within earshot, who understood themselves to be the people of God. To them, the centurion would be – at most – a bit player in God’s glorious plan. But this last statement – about Gentiles coming from all over the world to take their places at the feast of celebration with the Jewish forefathers – this is unimaginable! Even worse, Jesus says that ‘subjects of the kingdom’ (meaning Jews themselves) will be cast out of the kingdom! There is no other way to see it. That is “off the chart” rude to the people standing around Him.
If He was trying to earn friends, Jesus is failing very badly. But Jesus is not trying to earn friends. He is shaking the people of God awake even as He moves to rescue the centurion’s household. His comments are only shocking to the lethargic and entitled.
God’s people should’ve been more than ready for their salvation to arrive. Instead, Jesus found such a misinformed, legalistic and entitled group, He had to start His ministry with basic teaching instead of missional instruction. Even as He comes down from the mountainside, He finds outcasts and foreigners with more faith than the chosen people of God. It is no wonder He reacts so strongly, marveling at the centurion’s faith and sarcastically rebuking His own followers.
Strangely, Matthew gives no indication of how the crowds reacted to Christ’s comments.
Perhaps that is because their reaction was not helpful to either their cause or ours and to that point it was left out. More likely, it is because the Spirit of God desired to give the readers of Matthew’s Gospel room to grasp their own internal reaction, because Christ’s comments immediately pose the same question to us: Is our faith in the Lord we worship causing us to act accordingly, or are we sitting back letting our faith atrophy while we congratulate ourselves on being His followers?
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
the apostle John (1 Jn 5:14–15)
APPLICATION: Intentionality
What is the next step of faith God is calling you into? When will you take it?