I Never Knew You, Depart From Me – Who Is Jesus Talking to?

Who Is Jesus: For many years I have pondered this verse in the book of Matthew. Who are these people who hear these words saying Jesus never knew them and that they have to depart from Him. It is a scary verse and I would never want those words said to me, so I have been wondering for many years what it meant. Now I feel I know what it means. Read with me.

Jesus starts the discussion with some words that give us a key to interpret what He is saying in these verses.

Matthew 7 13- 15

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

The proper Christian life is best expressed by when Jesus said, we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. A life that does not have self-denial in it, is not one that is pleasing to Jesus. Jesus and the apostles talk a lot about how people who have wealth should really be careful about the way that they live their life. Paul warns that money can be the root of all types of sin. Jesus says you cannot serve God and money. Jesus tells a parable about the rich man and Lazarus pointing out that wealth can be a barrier to eternal life.

We live in a world where the be rich, healthy and blessed Gospel is being preached and millions of Christians are being told that having the best that can bought in life is quite okay. People do not understand the truth of self-denial and sharing with the poor that Jesus and His apostles taught. There are millions of Christians headed down the broad way that leads to destruction. Many people do have any concept that focusing on the things of this world is a form of Idolatry. God will not stand for people whom are called by His name to have idols in their heart and people who preach that you can be rich and enjoy everything that takes your fancy are teaching you into error. Teachers that use the platform of a pulpit or write books saying that God wants you to be blessed without measure, without any form of self-denial and giving up some your wealth to the poor are the revenues wolves that are masquerading as sheep.

The wolves prey on sheep. They eat sheep and in this case I am speaking about they are people who preach the prosperity gospel who teach you that if you give to them, that God will bless you a hundred-fold so you to can enjoy your wealth just like them. They preach something that does not work for anyone but them. They prey on their listeners and readers and people are so desperate to get ahead and prosper in life that they even go into debt on their credit cards to give to them. They preach a doctrine that people really want to hear and who really want to happen for them.