I hear genuine surprise in these words. These were people who were busy doing religious activities ?- prophesying, preaching, and doing good works. They assumed that they would be accepted in heaven!
Sometimes assumption becomes presumption. These people looked like the real thing, busying themselves with “church” and programs. It looked like a duck, walked like a duck, quacked like a duck, but in the end it was not what it was quacked up to be!
Apparently they had not done those religious things according to “the will of my Father in heaven.” They assumed that God wouldn’t mind if they did it their own way. A caution is in order here. Let’s not assume that though those people Jesus spoke of were mistaken, that we are immune!
Study God’s word! Take its direction seriously! Allow humility to punch out the presumption! It’s OK to try to surprise some people, but the surprise probably will not lie with those who made it to heaven, but with those who assumed they would!
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