Matthew 7:19 is the next stop on our tour through the use of the word πῦρ pyr fire, and this use also occurs in the Sermon of the Mount, in its closing section.  As well shall see, the context surrounding the actual verse itself is quite interesting and should heavily shape our interpretation.  Let us begin by considering Matthew 7:15-20, which reads:

[15] Be wary of false prophets, who come to you in the clothes of sheep but inside they are ravenous wolves. [16] From their fruits you will recognize them. They do not harvest grapes from thorns or figs from brambles? [17] Thus every good tree produces good fruit, but the fruit a diseased tree produces is bad. [18] It is not possible for a good tree to produce bad fruit nor a diseased tree to produce good fruit. [19] Every tree not producing good fruit shall be chopped down and cast into the fire. [20] From their fruits therefore you shall recognize them. 

Obviously we are seeing fire being used in this passage in a way that is basically identical to Matthew 3:10, and I think the main question here is “what exactly is good fruit?” Unfortunately, while continuing on to Matthew 7:21-27, it is not exactly clear what actually constitutes “good fruit”:

[21] Not everyone saying to me “Lord, Lord” shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but the ones who are doing the will of my father in the heavens. [22] Many shall say to me in these days¹, “Lord, Lord was it not in your name we prophesied and in your name we cast out demons, and in your name we did many works of power?” [23] And then I shall confess to them that “I never knew you; Separate from me workers of lawlessness.”

[24] Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine and does them, they shall be like a wise man who builds his house upon the rock. [25] And the rain descended and the rivers came and the winds blew and they fell against this house, it did not fall, for its foundation was laid up on the rock. [26] And everyone who, when hearing these words of mine does not do them shall be like a man who is a moron, who builds his house upon the sand. [27] And the rain fell and the rivers came and the winds blew and they struck against this house and it fell and it was a great fall. 

There is an interesting tension between vv. 22-23 and the rest of this passage, and in particular, there is this strange idea that people would be casting out demons and performing miracles in Jesus’ name, and in so doing would be workers of lawlessness who are not doing the will of God.  Interestingly, the parallel passage in Luke 6:46-49 omits these verses and reads:

[46] But why do you call to me “Lord, Lord” and do not do what I say? [47] Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I shall show to you who they are like. [48] It is like a person who, building a house, digs and excavates and lays a foundation up on the rock. And when the deluge happens the river shall beat against this house, and is not strong enough to shake it because of its fine construction. [49] But the one who hears and does not do is like a person who builds a house upon the earth without a foundation, and the river shall beat against it, and immediately it collapsed and a great downfall became of this house. 

This passage, and Matthew’s version in 7:24-27, is much less confusing as an explanation of “good fruits,” inasmuch as it is straightforwardly “the people who do what God/Jesus says,” with a nice metaphor about foundations thrown in as well.  

Luke does contain a parallel to Matthew 7:22-23, but it occurs much later in Luke 13:23-30. I’ve italicized the parallel passage itself below. The larger context is overall quite different from its placement in Matthew.

[23] And someone said to him ‘Lord, is it few who are being saved?’ And he said to them [24] Struggle to enter by the narrow gate, because many, I say to you, shall seek to enter and they shall not be strong enough. [25] From which time the master of the house would rise and shut the gates and you shall begin to stand outside and to strike the gate saying ‘Lord, open to us,’ and replying he shall say to you ‘I do not know you, whence you are.’ [26] Then you shall begin to say ‘We ate before you and drank and you taught in our streets.’ [27] And he shall say, speaking to you: “I do not know you, whence you are.  Stand apart from me all workers of injustice.” [28] Then shall be a wailing and gnashing of teeth, whenever you see Abaraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you have been cast outside. [29] And they shall come from the east and west and from the north and the south and recline in the Kingdom of God. [30] And see, the ones who are last shall be first and the ones who are first shall be last. 

In its context in Luke, there seems to be a fairly similar message to that of Luke 6:46-49.  Basically the point here is essentially the Christians should perform works of justice in order to enter through the narrow gate, and so essentially the new wrinkle in this passage is the idea that this conduct is more difficult than most people are able to accomplish. If we return again to Matthew 7:21-23

[21] Not everyone saying to me “Lord, Lord” shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but the ones who are doing the will of my father in the heavens. [22] Many shall say to me in these days, “Lord, Lord was it not in your name we prophesied and in your name we cast out demons, and in your name we did many works of power?” [23] And then I shall confess to them that “I never knew you; Separate from me workers of lawlessness.”

The vibe here is quite different, inasmuch as in Luke’s version what we see are people eating and drinking, whereas in Matthew’s version people are literally performing miracles in Jesus’ name but still being rejected for “lawlessness.”

Another interesting point here is this quotation, “Separate from me workers of lawlessness” in Matthew, and “Stand apart from me all you workers of injustice.” These are quotes from Psalm 6, and we will consider both their different phrasing as well as Psalm 6 in more detail in the next post. 

1. One thing that I find immediately interesting is how the phrase “in these days” in vv. 22 relates to vv. 19.  Partly this is because it undercuts the current understanding of hell as a place of eternal punishment, because the phrase “in these days” seems to denote a finite time period rather than eternal hellfire.  Partly this is because the phrase “in these days” may specifically be referring to the fall of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple at the hands of the Romans.
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