11 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. 12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 13 And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. (Matthew 8:11-13 KJV)
William Burkitt’s Commentary
This was the first occasion that Christ took to speak of the calling of the Gentiles, and rejection of the Jews.
Observe, here, That the unbelieving Jews are called the children of the kingdom, because born within the pale of the visible church: they presumed that the kingdom of heaven was entailed upon them, because they were Abraham’s seed; they boasted of, and gloried in, their external and outward privileges.
Note, thence, 1. That gospel ordinances, and church-privileges enjoyed, are a special honour to a people admitted to the participation of them: our Saviour here stiles the Jews upon that account, The children of the kingdom.
2. That such privileges enjoyed, but not improved, do provoke Almighty God to inflict the heaviest of judgments upon a people; The children of the kingdom shall be cast unto outer darkness; that is, into the darkness of hell, where shall be perpetual lamentations for the remembrance of the gospel kindly offered, but unthankfully rejected.