I Never Knew You

The first time I read Matthew 7:21-23 and heard Jesus say, “I never knew you” I was traumatized. I think that was Jesus’ intent. In the event that I didn’t get what Jesus was saying when He started off with, “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees and Scribes…” (Matthew 5:20), and His commentary that followed, Jesus lowered the boom with his heart stopping statement of, “I never knew you.”

This is very troubling because the people that Jesus was talking to seemed to have known Jesus. They not only prophesied or preached, but they also did great and wonderful works all in Jesus’ name. But the most disturbing blow is that Jesus didn’t just say, “I don’t know you,” but “I never knew you.”

For years I’ve consoled myself by telling myself that Jesus could not possibly have been talking about me. In fact, I could come up with lots of reasons, good reasons that Jesus was really talking about someone else. However, in the back of my mind there were the gnawing questions, “Will this be my fate and what is the will of God?” According to Jesus, doing the “will of God” will get me into heaven (7:21).

After years of trying to figure out what the “will of God” was so that I could “do” it, it dawned on me that I was asking the same question as the rich young man in Matthew 19:16-23. I was asking for a set of behaviors or a formula to enter into God’s good graces, but was not looking for a Savior.

It is astonishing to me how disconnected I am. I already know this. I mean, how does one get into heaven or receive eternal life (Matthew 5:20, 7:21, 19:16)? It is on the basis of a relationship with Jesus Christ, of course! The only way that we can approach God the Father is based in our relationship with Jesus Christ and in trusting Him.

When I hear Jesus “lay down the law,” through the Sermon on the Mount, I am faced with several choices. I can throw my hands up in the air and walk away like the rich young man because what Jesus asks is beyond me; Or I can make a checklist of good works hoping that by doing them it will be acceptable to the LORD; Or I could drop to my knees at the foot of the cross and cry out, “LORD, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

I still get traumatized these days, but I am okay with this—as long as it is bringing me to a place of complete trust and confidence in Jesus or as Paul would say, “I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day (II Timothy 1:12).