<p>8:12&nbsp;<i>But the sons of the kingdom shall be</i>- The similar passage in Lk. 13:28 identifies this class as &ldquo;you yourselves&rdquo;, the Jews of the first century in whose streets the Lord had taught (Lk. 13:26). They were therefore still in some sense God&rsquo;s Kingdom, even though the political form of that Kingdom had been overthrown in Zedekiah&rsquo;s time (Ez. 21:25-27). Likewise those who are under the dominion of the King are in a sense His Kingdom right now, even though the Kingdom is not yet restored in its visible, literal, political sense.</p>
<p><i>Cast out into the outer darkness-</i>&nbsp;The metaphor continues from the idea of reclining at banquet in 8:11. Some would be cast out from that happy, well lit room- into the darkness outside. The idea of entering a banquet and then being cast out of it is repeated in the parable of the man without a wedding garment, who enters the banquet but is then likewise cast out into &ldquo;outer darkness&rdquo; (Mt. 22:12,13). That man therefore becomes symbolic of the Jews who trusted in their fleshly descent from Abraham as a guarantee of salvation and eternal fellowship with him. &lsquo;Cast into outer darkness&rsquo; to experience weeping and gnashing of teeth is paralleled in Mt. 13:42 by &ldquo;Cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth&rdquo;. The &ldquo;furnace of fire&rdquo; and the &ldquo;outer darkness&rdquo; are both therefore figurative. The language speaks of intense aloneness (in the darkness) and searing mental pain. The spectre and possibility of rejection at the last day is brought frequently before us in the Scriptures, especially in the teaching of the Lord Jesus. It is an element, a dimension of life, that we need to bear in mind. On the one hand, the Lord seems eager to save anyone who believes, such is His grace; on the other pole there is this kind of language about condemnation. I submit that this is an intended, irreconcilable paradox which we are left with, purposefully, and for our good. I doubt that the paradox can be resolved, at least not by any intellectual, expositional process.</p>
<p><i>There shall be the weeping</i>- Either we will mourn now in repentance (Lk. 6:25; the Greek for &quot;mourn&quot; is often in a repentance context), or we will mourn at the judgment (Mt. 8:12 etc.). Having foretold the inevitable coming of judgment day, Yahweh Himself pleads with Israel: &quot;Therefore also&nbsp;<i>now</i>... turn ye even to me... with weeping, and with mourning&quot; (Joel 2:12).</p>
<p><i>And the gnashing of teeth</i>- Weeping and gnashing of teeth is emphasized in Matthew (Mt. 13:42,50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30). Luke mentions it once (Lk. 13:28), Mark and John never. It was clearly a dimension to the Lord&rsquo;s teaching which struck Matthew deeply, and he used it often in his teaching of the Gospel, of which &lsquo;the Gospel according to Matthew&rsquo; is a transcript. Gnashing of teeth suggests anger, and Lk. 13:28 says it is triggered by seeing Gentiles in God&rsquo;s Kingdom and Jewish people from the time of Jesus rejected. So it is partly anger with self, but also the raging anger which comes from jealousy. We need to meditate upon the way in which actual human beings who met Jesus in the flesh are for sure going to reappear at the day of judgment. On their deathbeds or later in life they may&rsquo;ve idly reflected &lsquo;Ah yes, there was that Jesus guy I met once, the one they killed, and then a cult started based around Him afterwards&rsquo;. Such people will reappear at judgment day, and their same basic personality will continue. As they were furious at the Lord&rsquo;s claim that Gentiles would be in God&rsquo;s Kingdom, so they will be in a blind rage about it still at judgment day. The only other time the Greek for &lsquo;gnashing&rsquo; is used in the New Testament is in Acts 7:54, where again the Jewish conscience was pricked, leading them to gnash upon Stephen. How they were then in the first century is how they will be at the last day. The gnashing of teeth is clearly connected with the anger which comes from jealousy at others&rsquo; acceptance. One cannot help think of the very many professing believers who have huge anger at the thought of an open table, or of someone they consider to be &lsquo;outside&rsquo; of their small circle breaking bread at the Lord&rsquo;s table. Those same basic structures and constructs of thinking, that same essential personality, will reappear at judgment day. The awesomeness of having been resurrected and actually meeting Jesus in person will not change our basic personalities. Our spirit, in that sense, is preserved. The time for change of attitudes and transformation of character is now.&nbsp; In the OT, gnashing of teeth always means to hate somebody, often the righteous (Job 16:9; Ps. 35:16; 37:12; 112:10; Lam. 2:16). Could it not be that the rejected hate their Lord and His people, who will be watching the judgment in some form, and therefore go and join the ranks of the embittered armies that come against Him? Or is their extreme hatred against themselves? Ps. 112:10 speaks of the wicked gnashing with their teeth and melting away, suggesting that the slinking away process goes on even in the outer darkness; they wander, but in their aimless wandering they slowly slink yet further away from their Lord- the one who once fain would have carried them on His shoulders, gathered them under His wings. It's a terrible picture. Cain, in typifying all the rejected, felt that his condemnation was something greater than he could bear (Gen. 4:13).</p>