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Matthew 7:22 "Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works?"
- Matthew 8:11-12
"And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east
and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom
shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth."
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- Ref: 8:11,12
"Jesus has just commended the great faith of the Roman centurian,
a Gentile, who came seeking healing for his servant.
The "children of the kingdom" in this instance, refers
to unrepentant Jews who thought that their ancestry
automatically entitled them to the kingdom of God" (see
John 8:31-59). "In reality, however, these were false
children of the kingdom." (Matt. 7:21-23; 13:38, Luke
13:22-30).
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- Those who come "from the east
and west" are Gentiles who,
like this centurian, exercise personal faith in Jesus Christ.
The Jews thought that they were assured of special favor
by God, but the Lord reminded them that they could be "last"
in the kingdom of God while those who thought themselves
"last", such as publicans and prostitutes, would be
"first" if they exercised faith in Him. (Matt.
21:31). Furthermore, the unrepentant Jews would be "cast
out" because of the hypocritical claim that they
were the children and followers of Abraham. Abraham
was the father of the faithful, and although these men were
physical descendants of him, they were not part of the family
of faith.
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- The expression "outer darkness"'
occurs three times in the Bible (Matt. 8:12; 22:13; 25:30) and
is always preceded by the definite article in Greek. It seems
to have denoted an area outside a well illuminated banquet hall
where there was darkness (see parable of the wedding feast in
Matt. 22:1-14). The person who managed to sneak into the
banquet hall without the proper garment was cast into "outer
darkness," separated from the ongoing feast in the first
two instances, "outer darkness" refers to
a place of suffering for the unbelievers and is in contrast
to the light where the believers dwell (see 1 John 1:5-7).
Unbelievers will be thrown into the furnace of fire, whereas
believers will shine as the sun in the kingdom of the Father
(Matt. 13:42, 43). The "outer darkness" in Matt.
8:12 and 22:13 is referring to Geenna (1067), the "place
of burning" (Matt. 5:22, 29, 30, 10:28; 18:9, cf. Josh.
15:8). The expression "outer darkness" in Matthew 25:30
occurs at the end of the parable of the Matthew 25:30 may not
refer to Geenna. Those who say that it does refer to the "place
of burning" are persuaded that the servants mentioned
here are members of the visible church, and therefore are not
necessarily believers. Hence those wicked servants who "hide
their talents," are in fact unbelievers, who are
cast into hell (John 15:6, James 2:14-26).
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- Others say that this parable does not
refer at all to unbelievers or hypocrites but to believers
who neglect to exercise their God-given talents. The Lord
calls such a servant ponere (4190), "wicked"
(Matt. 25:26), and hoi kateramenol (2672), "cursed"
(Matt. 25:41), despite the fact that he is one of the Lord's
servants. This is similar to the instance where the Lord
called Peter "Satan" (Matt. 16:23). Hence,
these terms may also be applied to believers who have failed
the Lord in their service.
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- The words of Paul 1 Corinthians 3:10-15
are in full support of the fact that the works of faith
as servants will be tried as by fire. Therefore, in this
instance, the "outer darkness" may be a reference
to a place or position of far less rewards for the servants
who prove themselves less diligent than those who used and exercised
their talents to the fullest. The expression would then refer
to the degrees of the enjoyment of heaven rather than referring
to hell.
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- This teaching rewards is part and parcel
of the inherent doctrine in the NT that neither heaven nor
hell are experienced equally by all because this would annul
the justice of God. Entrance into heaven is gained by accepting
Christ's sacrifices for justification, but a person's rewards
in heaven will be determined by what he did for Christ on earth
(Matt. 5:3-12; 7:21-23, 10:15; Luke 6:20-26; 12:47, 48; Acts
10:4, 31; Rom. 2:1-16; 14:10-23; 1 Cor. 3:13; 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10;
1John 4:17; Rev. 20:11-15).
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- The Christians faithfulness to his tasks
and responsibilities in the world is considered of such paramount
importance. The same metaphor, the "outer darkness"
that was used by the Lord to indicate the punishment
of the unbeliever for his rejection of God's salvation
is used of the believer who does not live in obedience to the
light he has received. In the case of the non-believer, it will
be a punishment of fire and burning. (Matt. 13:30; John 15:5).
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- In the case of the believer,
it will be weeping or expressing sorrow over not having
used the opportunities God provided. Though his tears will be
wiped away (Rev. 7:17; 21:4), he will nonetheless suffer a
loss of reward. The phrase "gnashing of teeth"
indicates anger at oneself for ignoring the marvelous
opportunities that he had on earth. The same emotional attitude
will be expressed by the unbeliever, but in his case, he will
be weeping about the lost opportunity of genuine and true repentance
followed by the works of repentance.
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- "Gnashing of teeth,"
in the case of the believer refers to being angry at oneself
because he did not decide to go through the narrow gate
and live in the straight way when he had the opportunity. (Source:
AMG Hebrew Greek Key Study Bible, KJV. Bold lettering was added
by editor)
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