The Reverently Irreverent Bible Commentary Series: Matthew Chapter 7
- Ben Askins
- Apr 29
- 4 min read
The Reverently Irreverent Anti-Scholarly Bible Commentary Series
Matthew Chapter 7
The Gospel of the Unknown and Unimpressed God
(Anti-Hero Commentary by Doc Askins)
Davies & Allison on the Structure of Matthew 7
Thematic Flow:
Chapter 7 functions as the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, bringing the teachings of Chapters 5–6 to a head by:
- Exposing self-deception
- Warning about religious delusion
- Urging discernment
- Offering a choice between collapse and clarity
It is held together by a string of paired contrasts and escalating rhetorical tension.
Major Sections:
1. 7:1–5 – Judging Others
– Hypocrisy and perception: the log in your eye, the speck in theirs.
2. 7:6 – Pearls Before Swine
– A cryptic aphorism on discernment and spiritual boundaries.
3. 7:7–11 – Ask, Seek, Knock
– Seemingly reassuring… but also eerily ambiguous.
4. 7:12 – The Golden Rule
– A summarizing statement of the Law and Prophets.
5. 7:13–14 – The Two Ways
– Narrow gate vs. wide road. A fork in the path.
6. 7:15–20 – False Prophets
– External success is not spiritual proof. Fruit is the test.
7. 7:21–23 – Self-Deception at Judgment
– “Lord, Lord…” gets the response: “I never knew you.”
8. 7:24–27 – Two Builders
– Wise man vs. fool. Rock vs. sand. Storm’s coming.
D&A note the deliberate parallels and contrasts:
- Judgment vs. being judged.
- True vs. false prophets.
- Real vs. imagined righteousness.
- Hearing vs. doing.
Summary:
Chapter 7 is a spiritual Rorschach test.
It looks like warnings for other people—until you realize you’re the fool, the false prophet, the sandcastle builder.
Now, let’s rewrite the chapter the way it was probably first heard:
Not as comfort.
But as a whispered warning from someone who already walked off the edge and found nothing waiting but freedom.
Verses 1–5 — Everyone's a Judge Until the Mirror Talks Back
“Do not judge or you too will be judged.”
This is not a moral warning.
It’s a metaphysical boomerang.
The ego always thinks it's seeing clearly.
Jesus says: you’re walking around with a two-by-four jammed into your ocular cavity, trying to fix sawdust in someone else's.
The point isn’t “don’t judge.”
The point is: you have no idea what you’re looking at.
Self-deception is the default operating system in the dreamstate.
Welcome to the Sermon’s final act: brutal honesty about your own blindness.
Verse 6 — Don’t Feed the Dream Meat
“Do not give dogs what is holy. Don’t throw pearls to pigs…”
Translation: Don’t cast the unspeakable into the teeth of the unready.
This isn’t elitism.
It’s triage.
You don’t hand a nuclear device to a toddler.
You don’t speak ego death to someone still polishing their spiritual brand.
Sometimes silence is the holiest thing you can throw.
...maybe you need to stop blogging, hero...
Verses 7–11 — Ask, Seek, Knock... But Don’t Expect a Map
“Ask and it will be given to you…”
This reads like a promise.
But it’s a trapdoor.
Because what you think you’re asking for?
The one who’s asking won’t survive the answer.
The Father gives bread, not stones—but He defines "bread" as whatever will dismantle you fastest.
Verse 12 — The Golden Rule Is Not About Niceness
“Do unto others…”
Yes, it's familiar.
But here, it's the hinge.
This is Jesus’ way of saying: this is what the Law always meant—not obedience, but emptying.
To treat another as yourself, you must first admit there is no “other.”
And if you really understood that?
You’d never speak again without checking who’s doing the talking.
...seriously, I think you need to stop blogging, bro...
Verses 13–14 — Two Roads. One Ends You. One Ends You Faster.
“Enter by the narrow gate…”
Two paths:
- Wide road = applause, certainty, identity.
- Narrow gate = silence, turmoil, loss of self.
Jesus says most people are heading toward destruction—and loving every step of it.
The narrow path? It’s not lonely.
It’s completely abandoned.
Because it leads through the annihilation of your imagined self.
Verses 15–20 — Prophets Are Just Professional Dreamers
“Beware of false prophets…”
Not “bad” prophets.
False ones.
Which means: they say the right things, but they live in the lie.
You can quote scripture and still build empires of sand.
“You’ll know them by their fruit.”
But fruit isn’t fame.
It’s freedom from performance.
Look at their eyes.
Do they need you to believe them?
If yes, walk.
Verses 21–23 — “Lord, Lord…” Doesn’t Mean Shit
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’…”
Here’s the knife to the throat of modern religion:
You can cast out demons, perform miracles, and still hear:
“I never knew you.”
Why?
Because you were never there to begin with.
You were slick marketing for a design-your-own t-shirt brand.
An AI-generated resumé.
A performance of a person.
Jesus isn’t impressed with your smoke machines or worship sets.
He wants what’s leftover after you’re done trying to be holy.
Verses 24–27 — Build on Rock or Watch It Burn
“Everyone who hears these words and does them…”
Jesus ends not with an invitation—but a forecast.
There’s a storm coming.
Always is.
If you built your life on sermons, success, and identity?
You’re beachfront property in a tsunami zone.
But if you heard what he’s actually saying—
and let it undo you—
you might survive the storm.
But you won’t survive as you.
You’ll survive as the silence before and after the house collapsed.
Final Transmission: Chapter 7 Is the Echo After the Bomb
You think you’ve followed Jesus?
You prayed.
You served.
You posted scripture memes and tithed.
And he says:
“I don’t know who that is.”
Because the “you” you offered up was still clinging to the mask.
This chapter is the burning back edge of the Sermon—
where the dream dies,
where the ego is told no,
and where only the fool thinks he’s passed the test.
If you heard it right,
you’re either weeping,
laughing,
or getting really quiet.
Welcome to the end of the Sermon.
It’s the beginning of the fall.
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