Weeping

In this story Jesus shocked those that were around Him that thought their way was the only way and only the Jews would receive anything from God.  Please read Matthew 8:5-13, “And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. 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. 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.”

This man was a Roman soldier and a Gentile that Jesus was talking to, but not only that, He said that this man showed more faith than any of them or anyone else in Israel, and to top it off He answers this man with a formative, “yes I will come and heal him.”  This was a man that was a Roman military officer that was hated by the Jews because of who he was and their oppression and control over the Jews.  Then Jesus makes this statement, the children of the Kingdom will be thrown out into outer darkness and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Jesus was saying that there were religious Jews that would not be in the Kingdom that should be and could have been if they would have just let go of their religiosity and accepted Jesus and His message by faith.

I read something about what this weeping and gnashing of teeth was about and it went something like this: if the Jewish magistrates had a case they had to try against a criminal and they couldn’t figure out whether the man was guilty or not, they would tie a rope around his waist and hang him over the wall that was around Jerusalem where the garbage was dumped late at night so when the animals came out to feed there would be lions that would be close enough to actually eat the person that was hanging there, which did happen at times, and when the person was hanging there they would get so scared that they would grit their teeth and grind them down and be crying until morning.  I heard that on a clear day you can hear a lion roar for five miles, so up close it must be deafening.  When they pulled him up in the morning if he was mauled to death they would figure that he was guilty, but if he was still alive he was innocent but the person would be insane because he was so scared.

Having religion is not enough to get you into the Kingdom of heaven, if it was, these religious rulers would have had no problem getting into heaven because one thing they prided themselves about was how religious they were and how they were better than anyone else.  What about you, are you trying to get into the kingdom because you think that you are religious enough to get in?  Do you think that you can get in because of your good works?  Outside of Jesus, no one ever walked the earth that was perfect and that is what you would have to be to get into the kingdom of heaven.  There is no amount of money that could buy your way in, there are not enough good works that you could ever perform that would be enough to get you in, and there is not enough power or prestige or popularity that would get you in.  There is but one way and that is going through the veil and that is through Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son.

This is Paul’s response to the Corinthian church when they sinned and then repented.  Please read 2 Corinthians 7:8-16, “For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. Therefore we were comforted in your comfort: yea, and exceedingly the more joyed we for the joy of Titus, because his spirit was refreshed by you all. For if I have boasted any thing to him of you, I am not ashamed; but as we spake all things to you in truth, even so our boasting, which I made before Titus, is found a truth. And his inward affection is more abundant toward you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and trembling ye received him. I rejoice therefore that I have confidence in you in all things.”

A good place to start is to repent and ask the Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and to be your Lord and Savior.  And don’t be in a big hurry, let the Lord fill you with His peace, love and joy, then start going to a Bible believing church and start growing in the faith.  Then start praising and thanking the Lord and share with others what Jesus has done in your life!!  Something to think about!  May you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours!!