Luke 13:27 is Jesus warning that being close to him in outward ways is not enough. When many people try to enter God’s kingdom on the basis of familiarity, the Lord will say he does not know them, and he will tell them to leave because their lives have been marked by wrongdoing. The verse is part of Jesus’ answer to a question about who will be saved, and it was spoken to a crowd that included people who thought their connection to him would secure their place.
He will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.’
Luke 13:27 (WEB)
What Luke 13:27 Means
The phrase “I don’t know where you come from” is the heart of the verse. In the ancient world, knowing someone’s origin meant recognizing them as part of a household or community. Jesus is saying that these people have no real relationship with him, no place among those who belong to his household. The word “depart” is a command to leave, the same kind of separation a master would enforce at a closed door.
The phrase “workers of iniquity” describes people whose daily habits and choices run against God’s justice and love. Jesus is not saying that anyone who has ever sinned is shut out. He is describing a pattern of life that refuses God’s rule while claiming his name. The verse does not promise that a single lapse will be fatal, but it does insist that a relationship with God is measured by the reality of a life, not by outward closeness.
What the verse does not do is give a formula for salvation or a list of required actions. It rules out confidence built on proximity alone, and it leaves the question of who truly knows the Lord in God’s hands.
The Context of Luke 13:27
Luke’s Gospel was written for a largely Gentile audience, likely in the 80s or 90s of the first century, and traditionally attributed to Luke, the companion of Paul. In this chapter Jesus is traveling toward Jerusalem and teaching along the way. The verses just before this one, Luke 13:24 and 25, speak of a narrow door and a master who shuts it after the house is full, and those who knock later find that the door will not open to them.
Verses 26 and 27 show the reaction of those left outside. They protest that they ate and drank in Jesus’ presence and heard him teach in their streets. Jesus answers that shared meals and public teaching do not replace personal knowledge of him. Read this way, Luke 13:27 is the moment the excuse is rejected, and it explains why the verse carries such weight in the passage.
Key Phrases in Luke 13:27
Matthew 7:23
Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’
(WEB)
This verse in Matthew’s Gospel has a very similar warning, with Jesus telling people he never knew them and calling them to depart because of lawlessness. Reading it alongside Luke 13:27 shows that this was a consistent teaching in the early Christian tradition about the difference between professing and truly knowing the Lord.
John 10:14
I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own…
(WEB)
Here Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd who knows his own sheep and is known by them. This passage gives a positive picture of the mutual knowing that Luke 13:27 shows to be missing in the excluded crowd, and it shows what a true relationship with Jesus looks like.
A Short Prayer From Luke 13:27
Lord Jesus, you know everything about me, and I ask that you would search my heart and show me where I have been relying on routine instead of real trust in you. Keep me from pride in my religious habits and from living in ways that shut out your voice. Help me to walk through the narrow door with humility, knowing that I belong to you only through your mercy. Make my life bear the marks of your love and justice, and let my relationship with you grow deeper each day. Amen.
