Mt. 8:11-12 is one of those passages in the Bible that can be very easily read literally: in the coming Kingdom of God, there will be Gentiles ('many from the east and from the west'), while the chosen people of Israel ('the sons of the kingdom') will be denied this privilege ('they will be thrown outside into the darkness'). Indeed, this is how many churches teach that at the moment when the Jews rejected Jesus, they themselves were also rejected and ceased to be the chosen people. However, such an understanding is based on a very literal interpretation of Jesus’ words, as if the Kingdom of God were a place limited in time and space, with a giant table set for the patriarchs of the Old Testament and 'many from the east and from the west,' while the physical Jews are shut outside, gnashing their teeth in anger.
"...in the kingdom of heaven"
This is an interpretation that a 'natural man' could indeed attempt. However, the natural man 'does not accept the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2:14). The 'spiritual man,' on the other hand, will consider the words of our Lord, who says that 'the kingdom of God is within you' (Luke 17:21). The apostle Paul, in turn, thanks the Father, who 'has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son' (Col. 1:13). Since the apostle uses the past tense here, there is no doubt that this transfer to the Kingdom has already taken place for those who have accepted Jesus Christ. This is not a promise for the future, but a reassurance regarding the past and present. 'Our citizenship is in heaven' already today, even though we still remain in our earthly bodies (Phil. 3:20).
Looking from the perspective of the body is, however, characteristic of the 'natural man' Paul speaks of in 1 Cor. 2:14. For it is not the body that determines whether we belong to God, but the spirit — if there is in a person the spirit of obedience to God and the bearing of good spiritual fruit (Gal. 5:22-23). We are part of the Kingdom of God — a part of God's sphere of authority — if the Spirit of God is in us, if we submit to His influence. That is why the apostle Paul in Eph. 2:1-6 links the assurance that God 'has seated us together with Christ in the heavenly places' with a change in the character of a person. For once 'you were dead in your trespasses and sins... But God... made us alive together with Christ' — a person subjected to sin, and thus also to the sentence of death, was put to death through repentance, and a new person was born — a 'new creation' subjected to the royal authority of God (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:20-24; Col. 3:1-4, 8-11).
"...at the feast"
So in what way, as a new creation, do we 'take our place at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' (Mt. 8:11,12)? Taking a place at the table, especially in a larger gathering, usually has one fundamental purpose: to eat a meal. A physical person needs physical food to continue living and to grow; in the same way, a spiritual person needs spiritual food. That Biblical teaching is the food for the new creation is most clearly read in several passages, including 1 Cor. 3:1,2; Heb. 5:11-14; 1 Pet. 2:2; 1 Tim. 4:6. This food, it should be added, is essential, without which there is neither spiritual growth nor even spiritual life. The apostle Paul says in Col. 3:10 that our new personality can be 'renewed in the image of the One who created it' only 'through accurate knowledge.'
One of the best illustrations of how crucial growth in the understanding of God’s Word is for those who are called can be found in Colossians 1:9-12, which is worth quoting here in full: "For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying and asking [God] that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, (10) so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God. (11) May He strengthen you with all His glorious power so that you may have great endurance and patience. And (12) give joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light". There are therefore no shortcuts – if we want to be 'qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints,' full knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding will simply be essential for us.
"...with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob"
Jesus does not accidentally emphasize that we are seated at this spiritual table with "Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob" (Mt. 8:11-12). Above all, the table itself was set before Abraham. God made an eternal covenant with him, which became the foundation both for God's later covenant with Israel at Sinai and for the New Covenant, which includes the children of Abraham by faith (Rom. 4:11-12; Gal. 4:21-31). In Hebrews 11:9-10, we read about Abraham that "By faith he lived as a stranger in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, and dwelt in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was waiting for the city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
The patriarchs were nourished by the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, even though they did not live to see them fulfilled. "All these died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them afar off and greeted them..." (Heb. 11:13). We, who walk "in the footsteps of the faith which our father Abraham had" (Rom. 4:12), have not only seen the fulfillment of the covenant promises 'from afar,' but we have a personal share in them. For if Abraham "was looking forward to... a city with real foundations," we truly are its citizens, as the apostle Paul assures us: "But you have come to... the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem..." (Heb. 12:22). The table in which we have a share is also the table of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with the only difference being that the patriarchs received promises in whose fulfillment we actually partake.
"...but the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness"
Jesus' reference to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in Matthew 8:11-12 has yet another purpose. It is not only to emphasize the fact that those who believe in him become heirs to the promises made in the covenants, but also to inform that the Jews who reject him will be banished from that table 'to the outer darkness. There there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' This by no means indicates that Israel has ceased to be the chosen nation. The apostle Paul clearly states that 'God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew ... For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable' (Rom. 11:2,29). God, who knows the end from the beginning, was not surprised by the unfaithfulness of the Jews and certainly did not need to change his plan of salvation because of it (Isaiah 46:10).
However, the Jews who did not accept Jesus faced apoleia, but not perdition, as most translators of Mt. 7:13-14 might assume, but loss — the loss of the privilege of being called to the Kingdom of Christ and partaking of its spiritual food at the same table with the patriarchs. Since enlightenment in the truth occurs through the action of the Spirit of God, the Jews who rejected Jesus found themselves 'in the outer darkness' — in darkness, because they did not know the salvation that comes only through Jesus Christ; on the outside, because they were outside the calling to the Church. A calling that, due to their unbelief and lack of repentance, was extended to the Gentiles — to those 'many from the east and from the west' (Mt. 8:11-12; Eph. 2:11-22).
"...where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth"
Jesus also adds that in those external darknesses, the Jews will face 'weeping and gnashing of teeth.' The fact that Israel has not ceased to be the chosen nation does not mean that they would not face the consequences of lack of repentance and rejection of Jesus. I mentioned earlier two consequences in the form of falling away from the Gospel calling into spiritual error and confusion due to the lack of guidance from the Spirit of God. The third consequence was named by our Lord in Mt. 23:38, saying: 'Behold, your house is left to you'. Israel, as God's chosen nation, had all along also enjoyed Divine protection. Jesus, meanwhile, predicts that this special protection will be taken away from them — they will be left to themselves.
In the case of Israel, God applied a method of action similar to the one described by the apostle Paul in relation to believers who have fallen into sin, namely, 'to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved...' (1 Cor. 5:5). Likewise, the spirit of the Jew who did not accept the preaching of the Son of God Himself was delivered to Satan 'for the destruction of the flesh.' And we have witnessed this for nearly 2,000 years, during which this nation was persecuted, driven from place to place, and murdered. However, this happens 'so that the spirit may be saved.' Israel must recognize Jesus Christ as their Savior, and indeed, at the proper time, 'They will look upon me whom they have pierced and will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve for him as one grieves for a firstborn' (Zech. 12:10). However, the Jews as a nation must come to this realization through much suffering (Jer. 30:7-10).