"I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness."

~ Matthew 7:23

What does Jesus mean when He says this? Never is such a definite word. He didn't just say "I don't know you." He said "I never knew you." That one word change makes a dramatic difference in the meaning of the sentence. If I saw a stranger walking down the street then days later he tries to tell me he is my friend, I would say I don't know him. Because I had seen him, I can't say that I never knew him. The never would imply I had no idea of his existence or anything. Can Jesus really never know someone?

The Scriptures say that God knows the very number of hair on our heads. He knew us before we were even formed in our mothers' wombs. How can Jesus say He never knew someone yet at the same time know them before they were formed?

I have thought about this verse before. I actually had a conversation about this verse not too long ago. We were discussing Jesus on the cross and how He died for us. If He never knew those who do not choose to follow Him, does that mean He did not die for them? We all have sinned yet our sins our unique to us. If Jesus had all the sins of the world placed on Him on the cross, then I would presume He would know everyone He was on that cross for. The Bible says the sins of the world, not just of the ones who choose to follow Him. Therefore He must have died for everyone and He must know those who do not choose to follow Him! So does this mean Jesus was not being truthful when He said He never knew them? But Jesus cannot lie, so where do we go from there?


This seemed to be a never ending circle...until tonight. It might have been an unsure comment in passing when first spoken but the more I thought about what I had just heard, the more Jesus' character came true. When God created man, He created him in His image. When sin entered the equation, it destroyed that image. When we choose to follow Christ and allow God to make us new, our lives are restored and we live a new life. We are a new creation. Those who do not choose to follow Christ are not reborn. They never become who they were supposed to be had they followed Christ. Therefore when Jesus says "I never knew you", the most sensible explanation to me right now is that He never knew who these people were meant to be in His fullness. They decided not to follow Him, so they never became that new creation.


Christ has made us new. Let us embrace our new creation and live it so in love with Jesus so when our day comes He will say He knew us.