Jesus has just given the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7). Now, in conclusion, He offers, for the first time, a parable. Jesus will use parables many times in His ministry. What is a parable? It is a story about everyday things used to teach a lesson. Jesus used everyday stories to teach Heavenly lessons all the time. This one at the end of the Sermon on the Mount is the first one we will see in His ministry.
In this parable, Jesus stated that everyone who has heard this sermon and puts these words into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock. A rock is a strong foundation for a house. Once the man had built his house, the rains came. This was not a small rain shower, it was torrential. These rains really poured down. The winds really blew and yet the house stood firm. Jesus was saying that building your life on His words was like building your life on a strong foundation. Storms are going to come into our lives. He is not saying that building your life on His teaching will keep the storms from coming into your life, but He was saying that it will keep the storms from knocking everything down… from destroying you.
Jesus then stated that everyone who has heard this sermon and does not put these words into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. Sand is not a strong foundation for a house. When those torrential rains came, the streams rose, the winds blew, and the house fell down with a great crash because there was no strong foundation. There was nothing supporting the house.
This was a simple parable… easy to understand. They generally were. But what Jesus was getting at, here, was that the people needed to reject the shifting sands of the religious leadership of the day and put their trust in the Lord’s teaching, which often offended the Pharisees and religious leaders. Jesus was telling the crowd to heed the words of this sermon as it was God’s truth. The same principle applies to us today as we often must decide between Biblical truths and political correctness.
We are admonished in James 1:22-25 to not just listen to the law but to do what it says.
Responding to God: Worship God in all His splendor. Praise Him for His majesty and sovereignty. Thank Him for His truth and His teaching. Ask His help in following all His ways.
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