21"Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
Jesus started out this teaching with the beatitudes, a couple of which say "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." and "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The kingdom of heaven is for everyone. But now He is saying only those who do the will of His Father in heaven shall enter the kingdom in heaven. Is this a conflict? Is He first saying you have something then saying you don't have it? Not really. Yes, heaven is there for you, but just because it is there for you does not automatically mean you will enter it.
There is more required of us than just proclaiming Jesus as Lord in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. We must do more than just do work in His name in order for Jesus to recognize us. Even though we may feel the work of the Holy Spirit through us, or feel the many blessings God has given us, does not mean we are favored ones of God. Note, from what Jesus says here, even those who practice lawlessness will have had the Holy Spirit working through them or have had blessings given them from God. Even still, depending on how we lead the rest of our lives, He may not even recognize us.
A little bit ago Jesus said, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." So why doesn't simply asking, seeking, or knocking gain us entrance into heaven? Probably the same reason why asking, seeking, or knocking doesn't grant us our every wish. What we receive, find, or have opened to us is not always what we had expected and we do not always recognize it. If we but ask what is needed for us to be admitted to heaven, we will be told. If we seek the path to heaven, we will find it. If we knock on heaven's door, it will be opened to us. But even that doesn't say we will be able to enter heaven. He just says it will be opened. We must do what it takes to actually enter. Heaven is already open to everyone. There is no one who has no hope of entering heaven.
It is interesting if you were to compare these demands from what I envision a king to have been like at that time. It seems to me that what a king would expect of you in order for you receive his good graces would be to pay homage to him and to do the work he wanted accomplished in his name. But Jesus is not that kind of king. What do we need to do in order to enter the kingdom of heaven? Jesus says we need to follow the will of His Father in heaven. And what is that will? Through all the instructions Jesus has given in these last few chapters, it has more to do with how we honor and respect ourselves and those around us than what we do in His name. Yes, we are to still honor God and do His work, but more is expected of us than that. We are to follow His will in all that we do.
I was wondering if there was some connection between this text and the one before it. In the previous text it says "You will know them by their fruits". Here Jesus is saying "I never knew you..., you who practice lawlessness." Is it also by our fruits that Jesus will know us? How do we bear fruit? Simply by following His will, we will bear fruit. And by following His will, Jesus will know us and we will be able to enter heaven.