Jesus goes against the grain. He turns things upside down. The Jews believed their faith and obedience made them secure. Jesus upends this. For their own sake, it needed to be upended.
verse 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.
verse 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,
verse 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
When Jesus heard this, he marveled: Jesus marvels at this man’s faith. These three verses give us a mighty insight into two things. Jesus is looking for faith in Him personally. And those who don’t believe in Him will be thrown into the outer darkness. Jesus is looking for faith. Not a mere belief in God (see James 2:19), but a trust that Jesus changes things.
Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith: How can THIS be? Of all the devout Jews in Israel, HOW could THIS Roman man exceed ALL the Jews, even the disciples? We don’t have a full answer, but we know he believes Jesus can heal a distant man with only words at the request of non-Jew. He believes what the Jews wouldn’t believe. He trusts that Jesus changes things.
I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline: Jesus spells it out. Many people far, far from Israel will be in heaven.
While the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness: The sons of the kingdom are the Jews. Jesus is saying many of the Jews who think they are going to heaven will not be there.
Weeping and gnashing of teeth: These kinds of warnings should give us pause and fear. Hell is real and horrible and eternal. We think too lightly about the people around us not knowing, not believing in, and not obeying Jesus.
These are fruitful words for Jews and non-Jews. We must believe that Jesus changes things, namely us.
The Men's Bible Reading Idea 