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| Model II: The role of “NOT” and its meaning |
I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME (JESUS)
“AND THEN WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY” (Matthew 7:23)
This is the Stern warning given by Jesus with great stress on the point that on the day of Judgement he would drive away the people in great disgust who beseech him for his intercession.
But what sounds absurd is the illogical interpretation of this verse by the Church. Christian expodents explain that Jesus would deny those that had denied him before men in this world, but not those that had confessed him before men, and therefore this warning does not apply for the Christians themselves who regard Jesus as every thing for them. But it is absolutely not so: Therefore to know the correct interpretation of the verse, we have to turn to what Jesus himself had said in the scriptures.
“MANY WILL SAY TO ME IN THAT DAY, LORD, LORD HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIDED IN THY NAME? AND IN THY NAME HAVE CAST OUT DEVILS? AND IN THY NAME DONE MANY WOUNDERFUL WORKS? (Matthew 7:22)
This verse clearly speaks of those whom God had condemned to Hell, who would seek the help and intercession of Jesus and whom Jesus would reject in great disgust and would drive them away from his presence saying “I NEVER KNEW YOU DEPART FROM ME YE THAT WORK INIQUITY”. They were not those that had denied Jesus in the world before men as the church interprets, but those who have had a great faith in Jesus. Further the verse implies very convincingly that those were not ordinary nominal Christians with indifferent faith, but they would claim to have been blessed with the powers of working miracles in the name of Jesus. Claiming to have done many wonderful works in his name itself is self explanatory that they had confessed Jesus before men. Had they denied him before men, their claim of performing wonderful works IN HIS NAME would have been meaningless. Therefore it is self explanatory that the church has evidently erred in understanding the real meaning and interpretation of the Verses (Matthew 7:21-23), and has been under the erroneous impression that Jesus’ prophecy about his rejection (Matt 7:23) is only for those that had denied him before men, but not for those that had confessed (accepted) him before men in the world. This kind of interpretation of the verses does not stand to the test of reason. It reveals either lack of enough knowledge or, wanton twist from truth by the church rather than hiding the truth. Yet the fact that the sincere followers of the church do not probe into the matter is a different issue. Thus they would be led in the same path of ignorance and darkness, and, ultimately on the day of judgement, rejected by Jesus. This is the reason too why they would enquire Jesus as to their illfate. Their enquiry is enough to prove that they had been quite ignorant of the teachings of Jesus. When they find the results obtained to be contrary to their expectations, they are greatly trobled and enquire Jesus in great surprise, “HAVE WE NOT PROPHESIED IN THY NAME? AND IN THE NAME HAVE CAST OUT DEVILS? AND IN THE NAME DONE MANY WONDERFUL WORKS?” (Matt. 7:22). In other words they mean to say, Lord, we know that you had warned while you were in the world that you would reject many people that would come to you on the day of judgement for your intercession, and that you would drive them away from your presence saying “I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY” But Lord, we had been told by the church that those whom you would reject were those that had denied you in the world before men. (Please refer to the commentary by Mr. Clifton W. Branon of long view, Texas. In the “Soul Winners” revised 1969 New Testament, Eighth edition under the foot note in page 39). As you have taught that confessing you before men is a sign of faith by which alone one can have your intercession (Matt. 10: 32-33) not only have we confessed you before men, but we have done many wonderful works in your name which itself is evident of our staunch belief in you. Confessing you before men was only a common practice with every one who profesness to be a believer, but Lord, we have given you not a lesser status than that of God and yet today why have we been condemned by God to be cast into Hell? We pray you, our Lord, to reveal the nature of our iniquity which led us to eternal damnation”. But Jesus does not allow them to stay in his presence, nor will he reply to their questions but in great hatred drive them away saying "I NEVER KNEW YOU, DEPART FROM ME”. Who would be these unfortunate people likely to be who, inspite of having so great a faith in Jesus and as a token of which, even after claiming to have done marvelous miracles would be yet rejected? And what was their unpardonable inquity which would lead them to eternal domination?
(The answer is given by Jesus himself in Matt. 7:21)
“NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME, LORD, LORD, SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN; BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN”. (Matt 7:21)
To know the interpretation of this verse in its correct perspective, one should go through its analytic study. In the whole verse the negative word “NOT” has played a significant role in creating great confusion. If the word “Not” is considered as qualifying the phrase “EVERYONE” , as “NOT EVERY ONE” the verse gives one meaning and if “not” is inserted to precede the predicate of the sentence, (I.e.) “SHALL ENTER” AS “SHALL NOT ENTER”, the verse gives altogether a deferent meaning to that of the farmer. Now let us see how the verse gives the different meanings by using the word “NOT” in the tow respective places.
I. MODEL : THE ROLE OF “NOT” AND ITS MEANING.
(A.) NOTE: This is in case when the veres is taken upto---
‘NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME, LORD,LORD, SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”.
Not every one means “not all” and not all means “A FEW”
Now the verse reads to mean:-
“A few that saith unto me Lord, Lord, SHALL ENTER into the kingdom of heaven” That is to say.
“EVERY ONE (or all) that Saith unto me Lord, Lord, SHALL NOT enter into the kingdom of heaven, but that ONLY A FEW SHALL ENTER in to the kingdom of heaven” .
(And this is the interpretation of the verse by the church) .
Had the verse been complete in itself that is “NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME, LORD, LORD, SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” ., the above interpretation and meaning would have been correct. Even then it is faulty unless an additional clause “ BUT a FEW” is followed at the end of the verse (I .e .) the verse should have been constructed to read “NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME, LORD, LORD, SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT A FEW”. If the verse had been so framed, the interpretation of the church would have been undoubtedly correct.
But as a matter of fact, in the text, the clause “. But A FEW” Qualifying the condition for entrance into the kingdom of heaven is not there, instead (in its Place) the Clause “ BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN” is there which qualifies the really eligible to get entry into the kingdom of heaven. As a consequence this subsequent clause of the verse contradicts the above interpretation of the church and gives the meaning as follows:-
NOT “A few” that saith unto me Lords, Lord, But “ everyone “ that death the will of my father which is in heaven, SHALL ENTER into the kingdom of heaven. The readers would not fail to note that in the absence of this clause” but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven” the interpretation of the church could be correct to some extent though the construction of the verse is faulty. But when this last clause of the verse is read together with the preceding clause, it contradicts the above interpretation of the church in one way, or in the other way, if the interpretation of the church is taken for granted, it creates a headache because the construction of the verse itself is meaningless. Thus in both the angles the interpretation of the church cannot be considered to be consistent.
(B) WHEN THE WHOLE VERSE IS TAKEN Y UP:-
“NOT EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME LORD, LORD, SHALL ENTER ONTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN”:.
now let us examine the verse by replacing “ NOT EVERY ONE” with “A FEW” to find out how far the contention of the church is tenable.
NOT EVERY ONE means “no all” – Not all means “ A FEW”
“A Few that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven””
Now read the sentence as substitute above and try to understand the meaning it conveys. But you will fail to arrive at its real and correct meaning because the verse is rendered self contradictor on the one hand, and the construction of the sentence itself is defected on the other. We have thus tried in the both the ways regarding “NOT” as an associated word of the phtrase (every one) (I.e.) “ NOT EVERY ONE” taking it as one phrase. But both the ways proved that the word “NOT” can in no way be regarded as the one to be associated with the phtrase (every one). Therefore we are justified in regarding “NOT” as only a negative of the predicate in the sentence” shall NOT enter” .
It may be questioned why then the negative “not” has been removed from the predicate, and placed at the beginning of the sentence preceding the subject “EVERY ONE” as “Not every one” creating confusion ? Readers may please note that construction of the sentence of this kind is grammatically correct. But if any one takes advantage of such verses to misinterpret, it is only his misfortune and not a grammatical mistake.
Please observe the following example:-
EXAMPLE:- Man has not seen God.
In this sentence “NOT” is the negative of the predicate “has seen”. The same sentence can be rewritten without changing the meaning as follows:-
No man has seen God (John 1:18)
This example is an instance where the displacement of the negative in the sentence can be made without changing the meaning.
II. MODEL – THE ROLE OF “NOT” AND ITS MEANING
As can be inferred from a study of the above examples, we understand that the word “NOT” is not a word associated with the Subejct “everyone”, but the negative of the predicate “shall enter” (i.e.) “SHALL NOT ENTER”. Therefore the verse in an other form can be remodeled as follows:-
“EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME LORD, LORD, SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN”
To Mean
“EVERY ONE (Means all) THAT SAITH UNTO ME LORD, LORD, SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN,
BUT HE (or every one-means all) THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”.
Now please examine the following example:-
Example:- She said, “Not every one that loved me, can marry, but he that doeth the will of my father”.
Unless the above sentence is wilfully twisted, even an average high school student can easily interpret it as follows:-
She said, “Every one that loved me cannot marry, but he alone can marry that doeth the will of my father”.
If this be the interpretation of the above example, the church may clarify if there is any difference in the construction of the verse under discussion from that of the example given above. If not it must accept the interpretation of the verse in the same way, as it has been interpreted in the case of the sentence given as an example. Then the meaning of the verse shall be definitely as follows:-
“EVERY ONE THAT SAITH UNTO ME LORD, LORD, SHALL NOT ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: BUT HE THAT DOETH THE WILL OF MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN SHALL ENTER INTO THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”.
A careful study of the above verse under discussion reveals that its construction is the outcome of two sentences of independent nature and contradictory to one another clubbed together by the conjunction “BUT” which reads as follows:-
(1) Every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
(2) Every one that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
These two sentences can be formed into one sentence without changing the meaning in the following manner:-
(1) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (This type has been adapted by the Church).
(2) Every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. (We have adapted this type to justify our explanation).
(3) Not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord – but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
On studying the above points we understand that the verse under discussion is the result of the combination of the two sentences of independent nature one of which is a forbidden act disqualifying one to enter into the Kingdom of heaven and the other ordained by God which qualifies one to enter into the kingdom of heaven, and which need to be closely examined.
1. Every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord, SHALL NOT ENTER into the Kingdom of heaven.
Here according to the context “Saith” unto me Lord, Lord, means “Attributes divinity to me, worships me, and beseeches help from me leaving God alone and associates me with God”. The word “LORD” here means “GOD”. In those days addressing any great man as “LORD” was common as in these days too. They also used to address “GOD” as “LORD” as we are doing these days. A number of examples of this type can be furnished from the Bible. But the discerning readers would be careful to know the appropriate meaning of such words according to the context. For example in those days the word “FATHER” was used commonly to address God.
(A) “And call no man your father upon the Earth: For one is your Father, which is in Heaven”. (Matt. 23:9)
In this verse the word “Father” has been used twice which apply to God both times. The verse means “And call no man your god upon the earth: for one is your God which is in heaven”. If the words “Father” are taken literally and directly as to mean the wordly fathers, the verse becomes humorously meaningless.
(B) “Let the dead bury their dead”. (Matt 8:22)
In the above verse the word “Dead” has been used twice of which the former one stands for spiritually dead, meaning faithless ones and the later one for physically dead (Deceased). If the former “Dead” is taken literally to mean as physically dead (deceased) the verse becomes quite meaningless. Though the words literally carry the same meaning, the meaning of the words differ according to the context in general. So also if the word “LORD” in the verse, under discussion is taken to mean as “master or Rabbi” instead of “God” as we told above, the verse becomes self contradictory because calling Jesus as “Lord”, in the sense of “Master” or “Rabbi” is not an offence as he allowed himself to be called as lord on several occasions (John 13:13). A number of references of this type can be seen in the Bible. On all such occasions in which Jesus allowed himself to be called “Lord” as per the context the word “Lord” stands for “Master” or “Rabbi” or something else expressing superiority. But here in the verse under discussion it meant “God”. Therefore the verse means “whoever calls me God attributes divinity to me, worships me and beseaches help from me besides God Almighty SHALL NOT enter into the Kingdom of Heaven”. This forbidden act committing of which disqualifies one to enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
“He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven”.
This is to mean – That “He that observes the law given by God through prophets and walks in His statues SHALL ENTER into the Kingdom of Heaven.
The analytic study of the verse revealed that Jesus had enjoined, that law must be observed strictly and forbade the status of divinity to be attributed to him. Contrary to this the church worships Jesus as the incarnation of God in human form and professes that Jesus had redeemed them from the curse of the law.
“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of law – (Galatians 3:13)
And therefore it is needless to define the grave consequences of disobeying the master, other than being rejected.
Now there remain two points to be clarified out of which the first is about the miracle-workers and the second about the rejection of Jesus whether willful or helplessness on his part.
The verse appears to mean that those who would be rejected were not ordinary people, but were miracle workers. Had they been not as good, pious , and faithful to God and to the prophets as well, as God intended them to be, how could they have been gifted with the power of working miracles? But rejection of Jesus itself contradicts this, and had they been really gifted with the power of working miracles as a result of their requisite good qualities and qualifications, what would be the reason for them to be rejected ? Is the Gospel record in this connection authentic ? And thus a chain of doubts and queries may cross the minds of the discerning readers
Working of miracles or casting out of devils or performing wonderful deeds do not afford one the eligibility for entry into the kingdom of heaven, except by means of observing the law strictly the truth of which has been reiterated by Jesus himself in the verse under discussion. In fact the super-natural performances are called miracles. But the power to work miracles was given to the prophets of God only to make people believe in them as the real prophets of God. (John 4 : 48 + 53; John 12 :37) Some of the ordinary people also can perform such kind of supernatural deeds. But in their case, it cannot be said that they are miracles but called sorcery or hypnotism (Acts 8 :9) . People generally cannot easily distinguish a miracle from sorcery or hypnotism. That is why even the prophets of God who worked miracles were suspected to be sorcerers (Matt: 9: 32-34). And sorcerers could deceive many people disguising themselves as Awatars, Jogls, Babas, Saints etc., (Acts 8:9-11). Besides this some times, the happenings of things by mere coincidence (Accidental happenings) are mistaken by the religious minded people for miracles who take a long sigh of contentment taking it for granted as genuine miracles which they Presume to be the result of their staunch belief and faith in their respective religions, however contrary are they to the real teachings of their respective prophets. If people of this kind happen to witness such coincidental events four or five times in their life time, they do not hesitate in their heart of hearts to enroll themselves in the list of miracle-workers whose fame too had likewise spread in the same way, and try to act as no less than any saint.
In regard to these coincidental happenings which people usually mistake for miracles, please pardon me if I wish to cite a good illustration out of my personal experience.
There used to be a gentleman with whom I had a long acquaintance. Often he used to watch me in fastings prayers and punctuality in all religious rituals, and perhaps, he had formed a good opinion of me, which I presumed later, when on one fine morning, after my Fair prayer (early morning prayers) having spent a great deal of time in meditation of God and when !was about to leave the mosque, he approached me Slowly, saluted me and standing respectively, before me said in a very polite manner “ Sir, pray for me. I have been trying to go to my native place to see my family and children since three or four months. But I am not getting permission from my boss who is now on Camp since six months, in a distant place which takes three days journey to reach. I have written him for permission a number of times, but every time, I have been asked to wait and stay until he returned. I am very eager to go to my family. So please for God ‘s sake, pray for me that I may get permission from him to leave for my native place”. And I was then a newly wed and as my wife was then staying at my father-in–laws house, I could easily feel the grief and anxiety of the man. Besides this having an elderly man of great reputation among our own community asking me to pray for him, no doubt, for a moment a thought of gratitude swept in my mind towards God , who, I speculated, had exalted my ranks and Consequently with trembling hands up for prayers, and tears of joy which were not shed but drained within the eyes themselves, I knelt down and prayed for the man. And after the formalities of the prayer were through. I sent the man away saying God willing, he would get immediate order from his boss.
To my great surprise when I went to the Mosque again as usual for the Asr (evening) prayers, in the evening of the same day, I found the man talking with others cheerfully, when he saw me enter the Mosque, he rushed to me at once, embraced me with great joy and kissed my hands with utmost gratitude, almost crowning me into an ocean of surprise. Before I could say any thing for him, he interrupted me and said. “Thanks to Lord. Your prayer has been accepted” , and showing me a letter, continued, “see here. Just in this evening post I have received this order from my boss granting me leave to go to my family” . And with out a break he said, “ Thank you very much sir, what a marvelous result has your prayer fetched !, he exclaimed. Really speaking, realising that my prayers had brought good returns in such a short time my joy knew no bounds. I too regarded it to be a great miracle. Was, that by the grace of God, I could immediately realise that it was neither a miracle worked by me nor the result of my prayers, but the acceptance of the prayers of the man himself which resulted in getting the desired permission. My prayer was an accidental event only which appeared like a miracle but the real happening of the thing that was necessary had been done even three days previously to that date. This is the truth behind the accidental happenings of events which generally people mistake for miracles. Showing the date of the letter on which it was written and posted, I explained the man in detail how his own prayers were accepted by God three days prior to my prayer for him. Then the man understood and with much more gratitude to God for having heard his own prayers rather than any one’s intervention in his own case, went away with great contentment. Now I hope that the readers too can understand what accidental happenings are like and how they are being mistaken for miracles and how the fame of the miracle workers is being spread about.
Now let us come to the point whether those people whom Jesus would reject were really miracle-workers or not. In this regard, it cannot be unreasonable if one says with certainty that they were not miracle workers at all, but that they had been under the false impression to have been blessed with the power of working miracles by which they might have mistaken the accidental happenings for their miracles for the following reasons:-
1) As has already been told that the power of working miracles was given only to the prophets of God; as those that claim to be the miracle workers of the verse under discussion were not prophets of God, but only the followers of the prophets there was no chance for them to have been blessed with the power of doing miracles. If it is believed for a moment, that ordinary people also worked miracles, such power of doing miracles can be given only to the people that are most deserving for the entry into the kingdom of heaven as a result of their righteous life led according to the teachings of the prophets just in token of their real faith and righteous life. But the case of the people under discussion seems to be contrary because they would be rejected, which is a clear evidence that their faith and acts had been not worthy enough to get entry into the kingdom of heaven and consequently it is improbable that the people of that type to have been blessed with the power of doing miracles.
NOTE: As a matter of fact we are not concerned whether they were miracle workers or not, but this subject we have taken up only as an answer to the question which generally poses in the minds of the readers. But what we primarily desire is to find out whether they were believers in Jesus or not. The verse says “Have we not prophesied in thy (Jesus) name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?” doing miracles may be their speculation, but doing them in his (Jesus) name was a certainty which is self evident that they had been staunch believers in Jesus.
(2) And the scripture does not record that they had done miracles nor Jesus had ever confirmed it, but what is implied in the verse is that Jesus is said to have told that those that would come to him would claim that they had done a number of miracles in his name.
Now I take up the second point, about Jesus rejection whether willful or being helpless.
“AND THEN WILL I PROFESS UNTO THEM, I NEVER KNEW YOU: DEPART FROM ME, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY”. (Matt. 7:23)
What the above verse implies is that those that would be deprived of the intercession of Jesus were the evil doers (sinners). In connection with the Judgment and his helplessness to intervene in doing any thing contrary to the will of God read what Jesus is known to have told in the following verses:-
“MARVEL NOT AT THIS: FOR THE HOUR IS COMING, IN THE WHICH ALL THAT ARE IN THE GRAVES SHALL HEAR HIS VOICE, AND SHALL COME FORTH: THEY THAT HAVE DONE GOOD, UNTO THE RESURRECTION OF LIFE; AND THEY THAT HAVE DONE EVIL, UNTO THE RESURRECTION OF DAMNATION. I CAN OF MINE OWN SELF DO NOTHING: AS I HEAR, I JUDGE: AND MY JUDGEMENT IS JUST: BECAUSE I SEEK NOT MINE OWN WILL. BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHICH HATH SENT ME”.
(John 5:28-30)
The above verses mean to say conclusively that contrary to what the church professes, neither man is born in sin, nor inherited the sin of Adam by virtue of his being the off-spring of Adam who committed the sin, nor the atonement is necessary to attain salvation. On the other hand stress is on the point that man can attain salvation and enter into paradise (Kingdom of heaven) only by means of his good deeds; the sinners in no way can escape the eternal damnation in Hell nor the intercession of Jesus is possible, as the words spoken by Jesus himself show how helpless Jesus would be in doing any thing contrary to the will of god.
