Scripture Daily

Context No. 1497 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 7:21-29: in context

21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will tell me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, in your name cast out demons, and in your name do many mighty works?’ 23Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you who work iniquity.’ 24“Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it didn’t fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26Everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell—and its fall was great.” 28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the multitudes were astonished at his teaching, 29for he taught them with authority, and not like the scribes.

Jesus brings the Sermon on the Mount to its close with a sharp warning and a parable. Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, he says, but the one who does the will of my Father. Many will claim on that day to have prophesied and done wonders in his name, and he will say, I never knew you. Then he gives the two builders: everyone who hears his words and does them is like a wise man who built his house on rock, which stood when the storm came; and everyone who hears and does not do is like a foolish man who built on sand, and his house fell, and great was its fall.

The parable turns on a single difference. Both builders heard the same words of Jesus; the difference between them was not hearing but doing. The wise man heard and did; the foolish man heard and did not; and when the storm came, that difference decided everything. The house on the rock stood; the house on the sand collapsed. It is a searching image, because both houses may have looked the same in fair weather; the difference was hidden in the foundation and revealed only by the storm. Jesus is saying that hearing his words, even agreeing with them, even admiring them, is not enough; the foundation that holds is hearing and doing. And he underlines it with the sober warning that comes just before: it is not saying Lord, Lord, not even impressive works done in his name, that finally counts, but doing the will of the Father. A faith that is all words, all profession and admiration and even religious activity, without obedience, is a house on the sand; it may stand a while, but it will not hold when the storm comes. The point is not to doubt whether we have heard; it is to ask whether we have done. We can sit under Christ's words for years, agreeing and admiring, and build on sand the whole time, if we hear and do not do. The rock is not hearing; the rock is hearing and doing. And the storm, when it comes, will reveal which we built on.

Have I built my life on the rock of hearing Christ's words and doing them, or only on the sand of hearing, agreeing, and admiring without obeying, and would my house stand when the storm comes to reveal the foundation I actually built on?

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