The Builder on the Rock

In one of my initial posts, I asserted that in Jesus' parable, the two builders are not a sinner and a saint, necessarily, but two religious people that had different responses to the words of Jesus. I concluded that misunderstanding this distinction could create false expectations for the Christian life, but more importantly would miss the whole point of the sermon about the importance of being a doer of the Word.

Over the last few posts, I've discussed the greater context of this parable to see my conclusion fits the overall theme. We saw that the road is narrow and it's so easy to fall off into the ditch with our belief system (Matt 7:13-14). We saw that ultimately you can know a true disciple of Christ by the fruit in their life (Matt 7:15-20). Finally, we saw that it is not enough to merely confess the name of Jesus, but that you have to have a relationship with Him (Matt 7:21-23). Which leads us to our parable:

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7:24-27

The parable starts with a "therefore" - Jesus is saying, "with this in mind" everyone who hears these words of mine... Now we have the context to see that the conclusion fits. Both men heard the words of Jesus, only one put them into practice. The difference in the foundation was not a different knowledge, but a different application. Hence, to build your life on the rock is not only to know Jesus and His words, but to put them into practice. It rained on both houses. Faith in Christ is not an insulation from trouble - but applying His word will allow you to stand firm through it.

"In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”              -John 16:33

What specifically are we to apply? What is it that we're to do with the words of Jesus? I believe there's someone in the Bible uniquely qualified to speak on that subject. Next post will discuss this man and his instruction to us.