When one rejects the Light, he will be cast into eternal darkness. Such will be the lot of all who reject Christ (John 3:18, 36).Ĭhrist is the Light of the World (John 8:12). The outer darkness is a place of anguish, heartache, grief, and unspeakable suffering. Taken together, the weeping and gnashing of teeth says hell is a place of indescribable spiritual agony and unending physical pain (see Luke 16:23-28).
The “gnashing of teeth” describes an outward pain of the body. The word in the original denotes a bewailing or lamentation by beating the breast in an expression of immense sorrow. The outer darkness of judgment is accompanied by “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The “weeping” describes an inner pain of the heart, mind, and soul. Darkness can also refer to trouble and affliction (Job 5:12 Proverbs 20:20 Isaiah 9:2) and to death and nothingness (1 Samuel 2:9 Ecclesiastes 11:8 Job 3:4-6). Darkness is used as a symbol of moral depravity (Psalm 82:5 Proverbs 2:13 Romans 3:12). Throughout the Scriptures light symbolizes God’s purity, holiness, and glory. God is called “light” in 1 John 1:5, and if He withdraws His blessing, only darkness is left. “When you hide your face, they are terrified” (Psalm 104:29). Perhaps the place of judgment is pictured as “dark” because of the absence of God’s cheering presence. Again, a place of judgment is the obvious meaning, since it is reserved for “godless men” (verse 4).
The outer darkness of Jesus’ parable is called “blackest darkness” in Jude 1:13. Most Bible scholars agree that the phrase “outer darkness” refers to hell or, more properly, the lake of fire (Matthew 8:12 13:42 13:50 and 25:23). Interpreting the wedding feast as heaven, the “outer darkness” must be the place of eternal punishment. It stands in vivid contrast to the brightly lit and joyous celebration attended by those who accepted the king’s invitation. Jesus uses the term “outer darkness” in the parable to describe a condition of great sorrow, loss and woe. Jesus says that the king, the master of the feast, issued a dire command concerning the interloper: “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness” (ESV).
In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, Jesus tells of a “wedding crasher” of sorts: a man in the wedding hall was discovered to have entered the feast without authorization.
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