Memorial of Saint Bede the Venerable, Priest and Doctor of the Church (May 25, 2021) Mat 7:21-29

I Never Knew You

21 Not everyone who says to me, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

1 Hear this, O house of Jacob,

who are called by the name of Israel,

and who came from the waters of Judah,

who swear by the name of the Lord

and confess the God of Israel,

but not in truth or right.

Rashi

Hear this—The two tribes destined to go in exile to Babylon.

O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel—That is the tribe of Benjamin, who are not called by the tribe of Judah, but by the general name of the tribes of Israel.

And who came from the waters of Judah—And the tribe of Judah who emanated and ran from the waters of Judah’s pail, as Scripture states (Num 24:7): “Water shall run out of his pails.”

But not in truth—As Jeremiah said, (5:2) “Though they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ surely they swear falsely,” i.e., you were unworthy of being redeemed, but since they were called as being from the holy city, and that caused them not to be exiled with the ten tribes in the time of Sennacherib, to Halah and Habor, for they have no redemption.

2 For they call themselves after the holy city,

and stay themselves on the God of Israel;

the Lord of hosts is his name. ISA 48:1-2

Rashi

And stay themselves on the God of Israel in the days of Hezekiah, about whom it is written (2Ki 18:5): “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel.” That caused them not to be exiled except in the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who exiled them to Babylon, and they had a redemption through Cyrus.

22 On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?”

John Gill

On that day many will say to me, “Lord, Lord”—That is, in the last day, the day of judgment, the great and famous day, fixed by God, unknown to angels and men, which will be terrible to some, and joyful to others; the day in which the faithful ministers of the gospel shall be owned by Christ, and received into the kingdom of heaven: “many,” not of the common people only, but of the preachers of the word, who have filled up the highest station in the church below; not one, or two, or a few of them only, but many of them “will say to me”; to Christ, who will appear then as the judge of quick and dead, to which he is ordained by his Father,

Lord, Lord—Not “my Lord, my Lord,” as the Syriac version reads it; for they will not be able to claim any interest in him, though they will be obliged to own his dominion, power, and authority over them. The word is repeated to show their importunity, sense of danger, the confusion they will be in, the wretched disappointment they will have; and therefore speak as persons amazed and confounded, having expected they would have been the first persons that should be admitted into heaven. Their pleas follow;

Did we not prophesy in your name? This may be understood either of foretelling things to come; which gift wicked men may have, who have never had any experience of the grace of God, as Balaam, and Caiaphas, and others; or rather of preaching the word, which is sometimes called prophesying (Rom 12:6; 1Co 13:9; 14:1-5), and which may be done in the name of Christ, pretending mission and authority from him, and to be preachers of him, and yet be no better than “sounding brass,” or “a tinkling cymbal”; yea, nothing at all as to true grace, or spiritual experience.

And cast out demons in your name? Diabolical possessions were very frequent in the times of Christ; no doubt but they were suffered, that Jesus might have an opportunity of showing his power over Satan, by dispossessing him from the bodies, as well as the souls of men; and of giving proof of his deity, divine sonship and Messiahship: and this power of casting out demons was given to others, not only to the twelve apostles, among whom Judas was, who had the same power with the rest, and to the seventy disciples; but even to some who did not follow him, and his disciples (Mar 9:38), and some did this in the name of Jesus, who do not appear to have any true faith in him, and knowledge of him; as the itinerant Jewish exorcists, and the seven sons of Sceva (Act 19:13-14). An awful consideration it is, that men should be able to cast out demons, and at last be cast to the devil.

And do many mighty works in your name? That is, many miracles; not one, or a few only, but many; such as speaking with tongues, removing mountains, treading on serpents and scorpions, and drinking any deadly thing without hurt, and healing all manner of diseases and sicknesses. Judas, for one, was capable of pleading all these things; he had the gift of preaching, and a call from Christ to it, and yet a castaway; he had the power of casting out demons, and yet could not prevent the devil from entering into him; he could perform miracles, do wonders in Christ’s name, and yet, at last, was the betrayer of him. These pleas and arguments will be of no use to him, nor of any avail to any at the great day. It may be observed, that these men lay the whole stress of their salvation upon what they have done in Christ’s name; and not on Christ himself, in whom there is salvation, and in no other: they say not a syllable of what Christ has done and suffered, but only of what they have done. Indeed, the things they instance in, are the greatest done among men; the gifts they had were the most excellent, excepting the grace of God; the works they did were of an extraordinary nature; whence it follows, that there can be no salvation, nor is it to be expected from men’s works: for if preaching the word, which is attended with so much study, care, and labour, will not be a prevailing argument to admit men into the kingdom of heaven; how can it be thought that ever reading, or hearing, or any other external performance of religion, should bring persons there?

23 And then will I declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

Build Your House on the Rock

24 Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

And he said to man,

“Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

and to turn away from evil is understanding.” JOB 28:28

Rashi

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom—One requires the other, and wisdom is unseemly without the fear of the Lord.

Shabbat 31b:3

The Gemara remarks: Conclude that Rabbi Elazar is the one who said that he is praiseworthy because he is a man who fears sin, as elsewhere he also spoke in praise of fear. As Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Elazar: The Holy One, Blessed be He, has in His world only fear of Heaven alone, as it is stated: “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God” (Deu 10:12). And it is written: “And he said to man, ‘Behold [hen], the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to turn away from evil is understanding” (Job 28:28), as in the Greek language they call one hen. Apparently, fear of God is of primary importance. The Gemara concludes: Indeed, conclude that Rabbi Elazar is the one who said so.

25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

14 They are planted in the house of the Lord;

they flourish in the courts of our God.

Rashi

Planted—The righteous will be planted in the house of the Lord.

15 They still bear fruit in old age;

they are ever full of sap and green,

16 to declare that the Lord is upright;

he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. PSA 92:14-16

26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: “I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,” but now the Lord declares: “Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” 1SA 2:30

Rashi

I promised—Twice I assigned greatness to the sons of Ithamar: Concerning the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari, it is stated, “Under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.” (Num 4:33). And Eli was one of the descendants of Ithamar. This explanation I saw in Midrash Shmuel. I have, however, heard a more fitting explanation: “I had indeed decreed that your family and your father’s family . . .” Originally I made gave the high priesthood to Eleazar the priest, as it is stated, “And remove from Aaron his garments and put them on Eleazar his son” (Num 20:26). At the time of the concubine (see Jdg 19, 21), when the Israelites divested themselves of most of the commandments. And who was to blame for this? Phinehas and his colleagues, who should have gone around from city to city to reprove them. I therefore took the high priesthood away from them, and gave it to you, for you are of Ithamar’s descendants, and I said, that they shall walk before me forever; for when greatness is assigned to a person, it is assigned to him and to his generations forever.

For those who honor me I will honor—Phinehas’ descendants who honored me at Shittim (Num 25:7-8). And this happened in the days of Solomon, that when the temple was built, Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being a priest to the Lord, fulfilling the word of the Lord which he had spoken concerning Eli’s family (1Ki 2:27). And Zadok became high priest, because he was of Phinehas’ descendants; he is so listed in the genealogical records in the Book of Chronicles.

And those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed—By themselves, when I will withdraw myself from them.

27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

The Authority of Jesus

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

You are the most handsome of the sons of men;

grace is poured upon your lips;

therefore God has blessed you forever. PSA 45:3

Rashi

You are the most handsome of the sons of men who engage in the work of transitory life. Why? Because grace is poured upon your lips to instruct according to the halachah. הוּצַק means “poured,” as (Exo 38:27): “to cast (לצקת)”; (Gen 28:18), “and poured (ויצק) oil.”

Therefore . . . blessed you as it is stated (below 29:11): “May the Lord give strength to his people!” And what is their reward? “May the Lord bless his people with peace!”

and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” MAT 13:54

29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.