Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you evildoers.
24 Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. 26 And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined. 28 When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.
Jesus warned the disciples that they would not be judged by their eloquent words or their powerful deeds. One cannot gain entry to heaven by pleading with Jesus at the gates. Disciples of Christ could prophesy or perform great miracles in his name but those works by themselves will not assure entrance into heaven. They must also do the will of the Father. Those disciples would be rejected by Jesus at the final Judgment. They should not continue to live as sinful people while performing works in Jesus’ name but try to understand and do the will of God (Eph. 5:15-17). They should not be complacent and arrogantly assume that their salvation is assured by their works (1 Cor. 3:13-15).
Jesus told his disciples that they should hear his words (Mt. 5:1-7:29) and put them into practice. This way they can wisely build a firm dwelling place that will lead to eternal life. In contrast, those who do not listen to and act on his words will be building their houses on sand which is folly that will lead to death (Deut. 30:15-18). There were well-respected scribes in Matthew’s Church (Mt. 13:52) who taught with the authority of the Law and the famous teachers who preceded them. But the crowd recognized that Jesus spoke with greater wisdom and authority than they did and interpreted and modified the Scriptures on his own authority (Mt. 5:21-37). Jesus’ authority was derived from his relationship with his Father.
Almighty God let our good works bear fruit as we are led by the Spirit of truth to a deeper knowledge of your love. Let the Word from our mouths and the work of our hands be Holy and pleasing to you, and may your divine presence be an everlasting fire in our hearts. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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