Who will come from the east and the west to recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven?
The ones who will come from east and west to join the patriarchs in the kingdom of heaven are non-Jewish Gentile Christians. The centurion is the firstfruits of the gathering in of the nations, as already prophesied (Isaiah 2:2–5, Isaiah 25:6–9; Micah 4:1–5).
These Gentiles fulfill the promise to Abraham that he will become a blessing for all peoples (Genesis 12:3) through Jesus Christ—not by physical descent from the patriarchs, but through faith in and obedience to Jesus, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1).
Jesus notes the breadth of the redemption of the Gentiles with the word many
—stressing how many Gentiles will demonstrate the character and blessings of the citizens of the kingdom (Matthew 5:3–11). Besides the centurion, many Gentiles will come from the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:12, Isaiah 59:16) to enjoy the privileges as the three patriarchs—eternal communion with the God of the covenant.
They are non-Jewish, Gentile Christians. In the centurion of Capernaum Jesus saw the first fruits of the great harvest that was prophesied to occur among the Gentiles. As such he here repeats the Old Testament prophecies when speaking about the crowds of Gentiles coming from the east and the west to the kingdom of heaven (Isaiah 2:2–5, Isaiah 25:6–9, Micah 4:1).1
These Gentiles from all the ends of the earth will be engrafted into Abraham’s people, and as such Abraham becomes a blessing for all peoples (Genesis 12:3) through Jesus Christ. It is not descent from the patriarchs of Genesis that is decisive, but rather faith in and obedience to Jesus, the Son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). This simultaneously constitutes a rich promise for those Israelites who believed in Jesus, who, like the Gentile nations, will share and perpetually continue to share in Abraham’s blessing through faith in Abraham’s Son, his seed, Immanuel, through which all families of the earth will be blessed.2
Jesus specifically notes that those who will share in the heavenly feast are many,
in order to convey to the Jews that many Gentiles would be willing to bend the knee before God as King and receive the privileges accompanying that kingdom (see Matthew 5:3). The believers from the Gentiles are in no way second-class citizens in the kingdom of heaven when compared to Israel. Many Gentiles, that is, many more than merely the Gentile centurion that was present when Jesus spoke these words, will come from the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:12,Isaiah 59:16) and enjoy the same privileges as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who with all of Israel looked forward to eternal salvation.3
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,