Matthew 7:21-29

Judgment of Pretenders

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ ¹  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do ²  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’ ³ 

Hearing and Doing

7:24 “Everyone ⁴  who hears these words of mine and does them is like ⁵  a wise man ⁶  who built his house on rock. 7:25 The rain fell, the flood ⁷  came, and the winds beat against that house, but it did not collapse because it had been founded on rock. 7:26 Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 7:27 The rain fell, the flood came, and the winds beat against that house, and it collapsed; it was utterly destroyed!” ⁸ 

7:28 When ⁹  Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed by his teaching, 7:29 because he taught them like one who had authority, ¹⁰  not like their experts in the law. ¹¹ 

[7:21]  ¹ sn The double use of the vocative is normally used in situations of high emotion or emphasis. Even an emphatic confession without action means little.

[7:22]  ² tn Grk “and in your name do.” This phrase was not repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[7:23]  ³ tn Grk “workers of lawlessness.”

[7:24]  ⁴ tn Grk “Therefore everyone.” Here οὖν (oun) has not been translated.

[7:24]  ⁵ tn Grk “will be like.” The same phrase occurs in v. 26.

[7:24]  ⁶ tn Here and in v. 26 the Greek text reads ἀνήρ (anhr), while the parallel account in Luke 6:47-49 uses ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") in vv. 48 and 49.

[7:25]  ⁷ tn Grk “the rivers.”

[7:27]  ⁸ tn Grk “and great was its fall.”

[7:28]  ⁹ tn Grk “And it happened when.” The introductory phrase καὶ ἐγένετο (kai egeneto, “it happened that”) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[7:29]  ¹⁰ sn Jesus’ teaching impressed the hearers with the directness of its claim; he taught with authority. A study of Jewish rabbinic interpretation shows that it was typical to cite a list of authorities to make one’s point. Apparently Jesus addressed the issues in terms of his own understanding.

[7:29]  ¹¹ tn Or “their scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.