The Judgment (Matthew 7:21-23)

Photo by Andrew Coop on Unsplash

The Psalmist wrote, “O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your   wrath. Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am faint; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long? Turn, O Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love. No one remembers you when he is dead. Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from groaning; all night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes. Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.”

David wrote that Psalm as both a piece of music for His court and a reminder of his sorrow and faith in God in the face of many enemies. But it is also a prophetic Psalm. It speaks of David’s grief, and it also speaks of Christ’s anguish and sorrow at His people’s sins, and of His ultimate victory. His victories actually, for there are more than one. “The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and dismayed; they will turn back in sudden disgrace.” Christ was victorious on the cross over His people’s sins. He was victorious over death and our spiritual enemies in rising from the dead. He will be victorious over all His enemies on the day of His return. It means more still, for in the last line you can hear the voice of the Lord condemning evildoers for the evil they have done.

The scene brings to mind what Jesus said in Matthew 7. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”  Christ’s enemies are those who claimed to belong to Him but did not act according to His will. They pretended to know Him and so prophesied in His Name. They believed they had driven out demons. They wholeheartedly saw their work as miracles. Yet they will be turned back in sudden disgrace. Some translations say, “Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.” The intention of the words is the same. Although Christ’s hearers and Matthew’s readers may not perceive themselves as evil or lawless people, Jesus’ statement communicates that failure to take His words most seriously is both evil of itself (for inattentiveness is rebellion) and evil in act (for blatant disregard for God’s Law – which Jesus has been teaching about for some time – is the very definition of lawlessness). For Him to therefore summarily dismiss evildoers from His presence is more than understandable. It is expected of God, for He is just and fair and holy. 

The disgrace His enemies must shoulder in their dismissal is unimaginably heavy. They thought they were in His inner circle. They presented themselves as His friends. They ministered in His Name. Yet they are not welcomed or accepted or even tolerated. They are condemned. They bear the responsibility for His tears. They are the ones who caused God in the flesh to weep. They are the ones who have brought pain and misery on Him who is holy and perfect – the creator of us all, the only one worthy of glory! Not only that, but Christ’s dismissal of them forces them to bear responsibility for the accusations against His people, upon which God has heard Christ’s plea for mercy. What then shall be their lot? How terrible it will be for them to hear those words on “that day” – “Away from me, you evildoers!’”

Our Lord is full of loving-kindness. He receives the repentance of sinners.

Theodoret of Cyrus

APPLICATION: Intentionality

“Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.” 

(2 Pe 1:10).

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