Matthew 8:11-12: Keep Your Eye on the Ball

Presented to the Swift Current Corps on 18 July 2010
By Captain Michael Ramsay

We just finished the World Cup of Soccer. This is by far and away the world’s most popular sporting event – actually I think it is the most popular ‘anything’ on the planet: did you know that there are more member countries of FIFA (208) than there are members of the UN (192)? I can’t remember how many billions of people they said tuned into the games but it was quite amazing. Did anyone notice those horns they had, the vuvuzelas? It was an earlier international soccer tournament (Gold Cup or Confederations Cup in 2009) where I noticed them for the first time (apparently they have been around since the 1980s and were heard at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico). They are really quite something – on the TV they just sound like a big buzzing of giant bees attacking the soccer stadium. Susan says those horns actually sound like a hungry baby. (Isn’t that right, baby vuvuzela?) I have a friend of mine from Rotary in town here who actually was able to go down to see the games in South Africa. He said it was quite something to be in a stadium with all of those people; the atmosphere he said was amazing. The only thing is that from some places you can’t see very well and in soccer there may be only one goal scored in a game. They don’t show replays at the stadium so if someone stands up in front of you or if you are distracted by a nearby vuvuzela - or something else causes you not to watch the game - when someone scores you miss it and there is no replay in a live match. Those who do not continue to watch, miss the goal. You need to keep our eye on the ball. The goal will have still been scored but those that don’t continue to watch will miss it. I am not sure what happened to my friend but it would be quite frustrating to watch hours of games and never see the winning goals. Depending on Divine providence and distracting vuvuzelas you could literally watch all the games and never see a goal so it is important not to be distracted. To continue to see the winning goal depends on your continued faithful watching of the match.

Doctrine 9 of The Salvation Army: We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

Those who do not continue to watch the game miss the goal. The goal will still have been scored but some will miss it. We need to keep our eye on the ball.

The portion of this pericope that we are looking at today has certain elements of this reflected in it, Matthew 8:11-12: “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Some will be thrown into the darkness missing the banquet.[1]

Rather than a soccer game Jesus, when he tells this parable about the Kingdom of God and who will miss it and who won’t, he is talking about a feast. First, does anyone know what a parable is? It is story with a point, a moral. The word literally means a ‘casting alongside’. It is an analogy, a metaphor, telling a story about something to make a point.[2]

Jesus, speaking about aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven here, when he says that ‘many will recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’ he compares God’s Kingdom to sitting at a big feast. The text says that they will be ‘reclining at the table’. In first century Palestine that was how they ate – especially on formal occasions (cf. John 13:23). Instead of sitting on chairs, they recline. They sit on the ground (or sometimes on cushions of some kind that were on the floor) with each person reclining, sort of leaning on the person next to them. This reclining at the table is a part of everyday life that the people around Jesus here can understand; so it is a natural choice for a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven.[3] This is not an uncommon analogy either. Luke records another version of this parable by Jesus or at least a similar illustration and Matthew uses it again in his gospel (Luke 14:15-23; Matthew 22:1-14; 25:10; 26:29). Also this same analogy is used in Jewish tradition and in our Old Testament scriptures as well. It is actually a prominent theme in Jewish eschatological expectations (cf. Isaiah 25:6-9, 65:13-14).[4]

The context of this parable is important for us to note as well as we begin to understand it. Jesus has just healed the servant of a Roman centurion. Remember, it says, Matthew 8:5-9:
“5When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6"Lord," he said, "my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering."
7Jesus said to him, "I will go and heal him."
8The 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. 9For 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 hears this he is astonished and then he tells the parable that we are looking at today. There are some things that we need to know about this exchange here too. This man who has such a powerful faith that he astonishes Jesus, who is he? He is a Roman centurion.[5] What is a Roman centurion? We remember that Palestine/Judea/Israel is an occupied territory at this time and that it is occupied directly by the Superpower of their day, Rome. This centurion is a ranking occupying soldier and as such to many people in the occupied territories he would not be very welcome. We know that just like there are roadside bombs and suicide bombers in occupied countries today, there are people in Jesus’ day who risk their life and limb and others’ lives by attempting to assassinate the occupying soldiers in crowded marketplaces. These first century terrorists and their supporters are referred to as Sacarii, the fourth philosophy, or Zealots (cf. Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 18.23ff. See also Matthew 10:4; Mark 3:8; Luke 6:15; John 18:14; Acts 1:3).[6] At least one of Jesus’ very close followers, Simon, is a Zealot and many other people (including I suspect his disciples) expect that Jesus as Messiah, himself, will be the one to defeat these Romans, free Palestine and establish God’s Kingdom via violent revolution (cf. Luke 2:31-32; see Isaiah 42:12, 49:13, 57:18, 60:1-3, 61:2; Zechariah 8:20-23). Now we know that Jesus is establishing God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in Heaven but he is doing this in contrast and opposition to violent superpowers and we know that Jesus does not achieve his aims through violence (Matthew 5:39, 44; 6:12-14; Luke 6:27, 25; 11:4).

Now there is something else that is very important to note about the proleptic Kingdom to come that Jesus is telling us in our passage today, verses 11 and 12: “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The Kingdom of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, is not just for people born into Judaism. The Kingdom of Jesus, the Christian Messiah (same person), is not just for people born into the churches. Jesus implies that some citizens of even violent, militaristic superpowers like Rome will be a part of the Kingdom of God and some of God’s so-named ‘chosen people’ and some of the children of God’s ‘chosen people’ will NOT be a part of this Kingdom (Luke 2:30-32; Acts: 13:47; Isaiah 49:6; cf. Matthew 4:16; Luke 17:24; John 1:4-9, 3:19-21, 5:35, 8:12, 9:5, 11:9-10, 12:36, 12:46; Acts 26:23; Romans 2:18; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Ephesians 4-5; Colossians 1:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:5; 1 Timothy 6:16…). Some of them, instead will be ‘thrown into the outer darkness’ where there is ‘weeping and gnashing of teeth’ (cf. 4 Ezra 7:93; 1 Enoch 63:10; Psalms 14:9, 15:10; Wisdom 17:21; cf. Matthew 22:13). This is quite a thing for the Messiah to say; it goes against what many at that time would have believed.[7] Jesus says that some from the east and the west will be a part of the Kingdom and some who are a part of it now will not see it (Ps. 107:3; Isa. 43:5–6; 49:12).[8]

Those who do not continue to pay attention to the game will miss the goal of eternal life. The winnig goal still has been scored (between the cross and the empty tomb) but some will miss it. We need to keep our eye on the ball.

Doctrine 9 of The Salvation Army: We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ. This is (part of) what Christ is saying here.[9]

This would be quite a shock to many people hearing Jesus say this because it was the contemporary belief that no descendant of Abraham could possibly be lost.[10] Jesus disagrees. Many who are seemingly born into the Kingdom will be ‘thrown out’ – now we should quickly note that we are not endorsing the notion of ‘replacement theology’ here: God is not here replacing the Jewish people with the Gentiles or anyone else. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are still all reclining at the table. They haven’t been removed. Jesus is simply fulfilling the prophecies that state that he is Saviour of not just one group of people but rather of the whole world (Genesis 12-17, Luke 2:30-32; Acts: 13:47; Isaiah 49:6; cf. Matthew 4:16; Luke 17:24; John 1:4-9, 3:19-21, 5:35, 8:12, 9:5, 11:9-10, 12:36, 12:46; Acts 26:23; Romans 2:18; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 4:4-6; Ephesians 4-5; Colossians 1:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:5; 1 Timothy 6:16…). Everyone -whether ethnically, culturally Jew or Gentile or whatever - stands equally before God. The sins of the one will not be judged differently from the sins of the other.[11] Doctrine 6 of The Salvation Army states,‘We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ has by his suffering and death made an atonement for the whole world so that whosoever will may be saved’. Jesus establishes his Kingdom so that whosoever will may be saved and this is very good news.

However, there is a flip side to the coin: in this parable Jesus drives home the point here as well that some will reject the salvation that he has provided for the whole world and so they will not be a part of his Kingdom. They, no matter who their parents are; they, no matter who or what else they know; they, no matter whether they even once sat at this very table of salvation or not; they who walk away from the banquet of eternal life will not get to eat of it. And this is sad. Christ has prepared this great feast for whosoever of us will have it since the creation of the world but some of us will reject it (cf. Matthew 22:1-14, 25:34, Luke 14:15-23).

Those who do not continue to pay attention to the game will miss the goal of eternal life. The goal has still been scored (between the cross and the empty tomb) but some will miss it. We need to keep our eye on the ball so we don’t miss it.

Jesus was born (as God incarnate), lived, died and rose from the grave so that we all may have eternal life but some of us will choose to reject that gift; some of us will walk away from the banquet table; some of us will not keep our eye on the ball and some of us, we will miss that all important goal of our salvation.

I encourage us today not to miss that goal. If there is anything that is distracting us from keeping our eyes upon Jesus, I encourage us today to put it aside. Let us not be distracted by the vuvuzelas of this world such as selfishness, self-indulgence; the vuvuzelas of worrying about our own personal life, liberty, and happiness. Let us not be distracted by the vuvuzelas of earthly cares and worldly concerns. Let us not let any vuvuzelas tempt us to take our eye off the ball. Instead let us turn, repent, hunger and thirst for righteous (Matthew 5:6). Let us continue to read our Bibles daily. Pray regularly. Keep our eyes focussed on the Lord and then when all is said and done, we will indeed see the goal and celebrate that great victory of the eternal abundant life with Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us pray.

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[1], R. T. France, ‘Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary’. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 160
[2] Cf. Luke Timothy Johnson, ‘The Gospel of Luke’ (Sacra Pagina Series 3: Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 1991), 134. More than one third of Jesus’ recorded teachings are parabolic in nature. These “sayings perform the classic function of Hellenistic histories of interpreting the meaning of the narrative”
[3] But cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, 'Jesus use of Parabolic and Metaphorical Methods to Affect the Listeners of the Parable of the Sower', presented to William and Catherine Booth College (Fall 2006). Available on-line: http://www.sheepspeak.com./NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Sower : “Jesus tells us directly his purpose for speaking in parables. Luke records Jesus as saying in Luke 8:10, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God; but to others I speak in parables, so that ‘looking they may not perceive, and listening they may not understand.’”
[4] R. T. France, Matthew: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 1), S. 160
[5] Cf. Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1993), 90. Cf. also Andreas J. Kostenberger, Note on John 12:20-50 (ESV Study Bible: Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Bibles, 2007), 2048. That he is a non-Jew is very important to this parable as are a number of other elements such as the fact that Jesus did this from a distance. Some commentators see Jesus’ reaching out to Gentiles as a foreshadowing of their inclusion into the Kingdom which they maintain can only happen after Jesus’ death.
[6] Clayton Harrop, ‘Jewish Parties in the New Testament’ in Holman Bible Dictionary, Editor, Trent C. Butler, (Holman Bible Publishers: Nashville, Tenn., 1991), pp. 791-794. Cf. http://www.theradicalreformation.com/media/audio/worldview%20class/lecture%2010%20--%20five%20types%20of%20judaism%20at%20the%20time%20of%20Jesus.pdf
[7] cf. Edmond Fleg, ‘Why I Am a Jew’ (New York: Bloch, 1929), 97.
[8] R. T. France, ‘Jesus and the Old Testament’ (London: Tyndale Press, 1971; Grand Rapids: Baker, 1982), p.63. Cf. also Christopher Leighton & Adam Gregerman, 'Isaiah 11:1–11' in Interpretation: a Journal of Bible and Theology Volume 64 Number 3 (July 2010), pp. 284-289.
[9] Cf. Douglas R.A. Hare, Matthew (Interpretation: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1993), 90.
[10] J. Jeremias, Jesus’ Promise to the Nations (1958), p. 48.
[11] Douglas J. Moo, 'The Epistle to the Romans' (NICNT 6: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), p. 126, cf. also N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans, p. 440, where he acknowledges that God’s national impartiality was not totally unconsidered in Jewish tradition.