Matthew 7:21-23
There is a key phrase in this passage that is repeated twice: "Lord, Lord". I don't know why Jesus uses the double "Lord". Was it a cultural way of showing extreme humility - not only are you my Lord but my Lord twice over? Whatever the case, this is one of the very difficult teachings of Jesus. Just as Jesus compared false teachers to teachers of truth in the previous section, he compares false disciples to true disciples. The true disciple, according to Jesus, is the one who does the will of the Father. Jesus gives an example of someone who calls him "Lord, Lord" but does receive entry into the kingdom. This person has done lots of work in the name of Jesus and has proclaimed him to be Lord (twice!): prophesied, drove out demons, performed miracles.
This passage scares me because, to some extent, I can see myself in this passage. I've proclaimed that Jesus is Lord. I haven't cast out m any demons or performed many miracles but I've definetly done a lot of things in the name of Jesus: spoken, ministered, counseled, led mission trips, etc. The argument could be made that I, and the false disciples in the passage, have done the will of the Father. Going down the checklist of what we would expect the Father expects of us, we can feel pretty good. Certainly using Jesus' measure of judgement (fruit) from the previous paragraph, it would seem like these guys are in the "good tree" category: people are freed from spiritual oppression and the oppression of disease and the word of God is being proclaimed. Obviously, however, the people in the story missed something and I am afraid that I also completely misunderstand what God expects of me. Or, even worse, that I understand what God expects but have so completely built my life on something else beside his expectations that I can't believe or accept what he really expects and so I continue to build my life on a false foundation.
As Jesus sends the false disciples away he tells them that he never knew them. I infer from this passage that the will of the Father is that Jesus would know me. Obviously more than just "know about" me, my life must be so open to Jesus that he is intimately familiar with me. For Jesus to know me, he must be an invited part of every moment of my life and I must spend intentional time with him to know him and be known by him. My fear is that I have been so busy doing things for him that I have not had any time to spend with him.
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