I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 8: 11-12)

A Roman Centurion seeks the intervention of Jesus to relieve a servant's suffering. Jesus is surprised by the man's faith.

The kingdom of heaven - whether present now, or emerging, or still to come - shall encompass all as at a great feast. This great feast is still in the future.

But some - subjects of the kingdom, sons of the reign, children of authorty - will not join the feast. Instead they will be ekballo: driven out, deprived, excluded, rejected...

Some who might be expected at the feast - they clearly belong to the kingdom - are instead in a very unhappy place.

The inclusion of many in the feast is clear. The who and why of exclusion is not clear.

Above is by Hildegard of Bingen. She wrote, ""Then I saw a huge object, round and shadowy. Like an egg it was pointed on top...Its surrounding layer was bright fire. Beneath this lay a dark skin. In the bright fire hovered a reddish, sparkling fireball."