Luke 6:46 meaning

The parallel Gospel account for Luke 6:46 is Matthew 7:21-23.

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” (v 46).

Previously in Luke 6, Jesus has taught His disciples about the dangers of following false teachers (Luke 6:39) and the relationship between the state of a man’s heart and his words and actions (Luke 6:43-45). Jesus wants His followers to have consistency between their inner heart and their outward deeds. He ultimately desires us to live with the same character as the Father (Luke 6:36).

On the heels of these teachings, Jesus states “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Clearly, there will be those who call Jesus “Lord,” but whose actions do not match the words of their mouth. Jesus is calling out this inconsistency. He wants us to a live a life of full commitment to His teachings and for the renewing of our hearts to produce good fruit (Luke 6:43-44).

Interestingly, in Matthew’s parallel Gospel account, Matthew records an extended version of this teaching. In those verses, Jesus is concerned with whether or not the ones who say “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

This expanded teaching in Matthew could be due to Matthew’s focus on the Messianic kingdom—which was a topic of particular interest to the Jews. This point may have been less interesting to Luke’s Greek audience—therefore the principle without the kingdom consequence was enough.