But when Simon Peter
saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a
sinful man, O Lord." (Luke 5:8)
Then you will begin to
say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.' But he
will say, 'I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all
you workers of evil!' (Luke 13:26-27)
In these two passages in the Gospel of Luke, we see two
contrasting attitudes: one that leads to salvation and everlasting life, and
the other that leads to exclusion and everlasting death.
The first attitude is demonstrated by Peter. He and his fishing
crew had just finished a whole night of fishing and had caught nothing. As they
were washing their nets, Jesus came aboard and asked to use their boat as a
pulpit to teach the Word of God. After the teaching, Jesus told them to launch
out into the deep water and cast the net. In spite of Peter’s misgivings, he
obeyed. A miracle occurred! Jesus’ presence brought such a multitude of fish
that the net could not bear the load!
That miracle prompted Peter’s humble confession: “I am a
sinful man, O Lord!” His words, “depart from me,” expressed his sense of
unworthiness to be in the presence of the Holy One. That attitude is the prime
prerequisite for salvation. And with that attitude, we need never fear rejection,
for the Lord has said: “whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37)
But contrast this with the ones who ARE cast out! (Luke 13:26-27) They felt that they had
a right to enter the Master’s house! “Hey, we ate and drank with you! You
taught in OUR streets!” Note: “our streets,” as though Jesus should have felt
privileged to teach in THEIR streets. Well, they will not enter HIS kingdom.
Note too: Jesus was speaking to the religious people of His day, the ones who
trusted that they were acceptable because of their religious activities. But
Jesus says, “Depart from me!” All their self-righteous religion Jesus called “evil.” Compare this passage with Matthew 7:21-13, given on another occasion. Jesus calls the self-righteous "workers of lawlessness."
That expression, "Depart from me," is an allusion to Psalm 6:8 --
Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping.
David, as God's anointed, foreshadowed His Greater Son, Jesus. As David's enemies oppressed him, Christ's enemies sought to destroy Him. Religious as those enemies were, they were "workers of evil" and "workers of iniquity."
So it comes down to this: If we feel Peter’s sense of
unworthiness to be in the Lord’s presence, if we, as the repentant tax
collector, refuse to even lift up our eyes toward heaven, saying, “God be
merciful to me a sinner,” we will find acceptance with God and will be welcomed
into Christ’s kingdom. We will never hear His “Depart from me.”
