Matthew 7:24
"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matthew 7:24–27
Matthew 7:25
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
Matthew 7:26
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Matthew 7:27
And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."
Luke 6:47–49
Luke 6:47
Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:
Luke 6:48
he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.
Luke 6:49
But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great."
General Comments
wise…foolish
"Wise" (φρόνιμος) here means sensible, having presence of mind. "Foolish" (μωρός), on the other hand, means slow or dull of mind.
In this parable, two people hear what the Lord says, but only one does what the Lord says.
- Doing His words is like building a house to withstand the tests of nature.
- Failure to do His words is like building a house with no thought of tomorrow.
Matthew records Jesus contrasting wise and foolish again in the parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1–13). There, the five wise virgins took extra oil with their lamps in case of an unanticipated delay in the arrival of the groom—which does seem sensible. The ominous conclusion to that parable is very similar to what Jesus had said earlier to those who had called Him "Lord, Lord," but were in fact "workers of lawlessness" (7:22–23).
Matthew 25:11–12
Afterward the [foolish] virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
Withstand the Test
His Word is the bedrock for us to build our own houses upon. Withstand the tests of nature by founding a house on the bedrock, but withstand the tests of Satan by founding your life upon Christ's words!
The first two chapters of Job show Satan's activity includes natural disasters and diseases.
The similarity between the activities of Satan revealed in Job and the forces that come against a house here in Matthew serves as a warning to us that life holds many possibilities, and we must hold close to the Savior to endure.Job 1:16
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
Job 1:19
“…Behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
Job 2:7
Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
The Rock
Both Matthew and Luke refer to building on the rock.
When Luke says the man, "dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock," he is describing excavation; typically, a significant pit must be dug in order to get down to the bedrock.
Matthew and Luke both use the term "bedrock" (πέτρα), which the lexicon tells us is distinct from any single rock that may have been taken from the larger source. The distinction between a single rock and the bedrock is nowhere clearer than in Matthew 16 when we learn Jesus builds His church upon the bedrock rather than the man whose nickname means "rock":
Perhaps a better rendering would be, "You are a stone, and on this bedrock I will build My church."Matthew 16:18
I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Great was its Fall
When a house falls, it is a serious event—especially if the people who live there are home when it caves in. Matthew records Jesus using the terror of falling in another parable about the blind: "If the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit" (Matthew 15:14). Luke's description, "ruin" (ῥῆγμα), refers to a rupture or the kind of fracture an earthquake might leave.
A life not governed by the words of Jesus can wreak massive destruction and even take many lives.