A Place at the King’s Table
A Sukkot teaching
“The centurion answered and said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”
When Yeshua heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, “Assuredly, I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya’akov in the kingdom of heaven.”
After delivering his Sermon on the Mount, our Master Yeshua came to Capernaum, a small fishing village along the Sea of Galilee. There he encountered a Roman centurion whose servant was paralyzed and close to death.
Luke’s Gospel gives us additional details about this man. He loved the Jewish people and had even built a synagogue for them. He sent Jewish elders to plead with Yeshua on his behalf, and they urged him earnestly, saying that the centurion was worthy of his help (Luke 7:4–5).
Yet when Yeshua approached his home, the centurion sent another message:
“Lord, do not trouble Yourself, for I am not worthy that You should enter under my roof” (Luke 7:6).
This centurion recognized the authority of this Jewish rabbi and miracle worker. As a military officer, he understood how authority worked. He trusted that Yeshua could heal his servant simply by speaking a word.
Yeshua marveled at his faith. Here was a Gentile who recognized his authority and trusted him so completely that he did not even consider himself worthy to receive him into his home.
And so our Master made an extraordinary statement:
“I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya’akov in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 8:11).
Here is a man from the nations whose humble faith gives us a glimpse of the promise HaShem made to Avraham: that through him all the families of the earth would be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
Yeshua, the son of Avraham and the son of David, declares that many from the nations will share in the blessings of the coming kingdom, reclining alongside Israel at the table with Avraham, Yitzhak, and Ya’akov.
As the prophet Yeshayahu declared centuries earlier, the root of Yishai would stand as a banner for the peoples, and the nations would seek him (Isaiah 11:10).
The Great Banquet of the Kingdom
What does Yeshua mean when he describes people reclining with the patriarchs in the kingdom?
He is drawing on the Jewish expectation of a great banquet in the age to come.
The sages of Israel teach that, in the future, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will prepare a feast for the righteous when he extends his mercy to the descendants of Yitzhak (Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 119b:4).
The Talmud goes on to describe how, after everyone has eaten and drunk, Avraham is offered the cup of blessing.
This is a cup of wine associated with Birkat HaMazon, the thanksgiving prayer recited after a meal. The person leading the blessing raises the cup and gives thanks to HaShem.
In the traditional Pesach Seder, Birkat HaMazon is associated with the third cup.
In the sages’ vision of the coming banquet, the question is: Who will lead the blessing over the cup?
Avraham declines because Yishmael came from him. Yitzhak declines because of Esav. Ya’akov declines because he married two sisters, Rachel and Leah, something the Torah would later prohibit.
Moshe declines because he did not merit entering the Land of Israel, and Yehoshua because he did not merit having a son.
Finally, the cup reaches David HaMelech, King David.
Now, David himself was a man with serious failings, as we know from Scripture. Yet he accepts the cup of blessing and declares:
“I will lift up the cup of salvations, and call upon the name of the LORD” (Psalm 116:13).
The cup has passed among Israel’s great fathers, each of whom has expressed a reason for declining. Now it rests in the hands of David, from whose royal line HaShem promised to bring forth the Messiah.
And who is that promised Son of David?
Our Master Yeshua, the righteous Messiah, who was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Even the Hebrew of Psalm 116 offers a beautiful connection to our Master.
Kos yeshuot essa (כּוֹס־יְשׁוּעוֹת אֶשָּׂא) means, “I will lift up the cup of salvations.” The word yeshuot, meaning salvations or deliverances, shares its Hebrew root with the name Yeshua.
At his final meal with his disciples, our Master took the cup after supper and declared:
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20).
At that same meal, he promised his disciples that they would one day eat and drink at his table in his kingdom (Luke 22:29–30).
Consider the connection.
David lifts the cup of salvation, and from his royal line comes the righteous Messiah, who gives his own blood for the redemption of his people and promises them a place at his table.
Through this Son of David, HaShem has opened the blessings of redemption to Israel and the nations.
We, too, have the wonderful hope of sharing in the joy of the King’s great banquet!
The Sukkah of the World to Come
What does any of this have to do with Sukkot?
Jewish tradition connects the future banquet with a remarkable image of a sukkah in the world to come.
In Bava Batra 75a, Rabbi Yochanan teaches that HaShem will prepare a great banquet for the righteous from the flesh of the Leviathan, the enormous sea creature described in the book of Job.
(I personally cannot wait to try fish and chips made from Leviathan.)
But the tradition does not end with the feast. Rabbi Yochanan also teaches that HaShem will prepare a sukkah for the righteous from the Leviathan’s skin.
Believe it or not, this imagery even found its way into the traditional prayers of Sukkot.
When leaving the sukkah for the final time, it is customary to pray:
“Just as I have fulfilled the mitzvah and dwelled in this sukkah, so may I merit in the coming year to dwell in the sukkah made from the skin of Leviathan.”
— Siddur Ashkenaz, Prayer When Leaving the Sukkah
The sukkah in which we celebrate today points beyond itself to the great sukkah of the world to come, when the righteous will dwell under HaShem’s care and enjoy the abundance of his kingdom.
The prophet Zechariah also connects the coming kingdom with Sukkot, foreseeing a day when the nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the King and celebrate the festival (Zechariah 14:16).
And through Messiah Yeshua, people gathered from the nations have been given a share in this hope. We look forward to the day when Israel and the nations rejoice together before HaShem, sharing in the great banquet of the King.
What a wonderful hope we have been given, and what a reason to rejoice during this festival!
Only Speak a Word
Think again about the centurion.
He came to Yeshua with a deep concern for someone he cared about. He recognized our Master’s authority and trusted that he could heal his servant with nothing more than a word.
Perhaps you are carrying your own concerns into this new year.
A concern about your family or your health. Your finances. An uncertain future. Something you have been praying about for a long time.
Sukkot reminds us that this world and its concerns are temporary. They are real, but they are not final. Our ultimate hope and joy are in HaShem. Beneath the sukkah, we entrust our lives to our Father in Heaven, our shelter and our strong tower.
He is good. He is our provider.
As we confess in the ancient hymn Adon Olam, he is our banner and refuge, our portion and our cup. Into his hand we entrust our spirits, and with our bodies too we are in his care. HaShem is with us; we need not fear.
The centurion said to our Master, “Only speak a word.”
May we all have a share of his faith!
Our circumstances may still be uncertain. We may not yet know how our concerns will be resolved. But we have the words of our Master, and we can trust him.
May this Sukkot strengthen our faith and fill our hearts with joy as we await the day when Israel and the nations gather to worship the King.
Our heavenly Father,
Thank You for the wonderful hope You have given us through Your Messiah.
You know the concerns we carry. Strengthen our trust in Your promises, teach us to rest in Your care, and fill our hearts with joy as we celebrate this festival.
May we live faithfully as we await the coming of Your kingdom.
Amen.
Originally delivered at Nashville Sabbath Fellowship on the first day of Sukkot, 5787 (September 26, 2026).
