Matthew 7:21-29 (Luke 6:46; 6:47-49) (Year A May 29-June 4) is the final portion of the Sermon on the Mount, warning against false prophets. Discipleship is verified by obedience, not words. External religious performance is an unreliable measure of righteousness. The house metaphor suggests that life is built over time.
Verses 21-23 suggests that in the great turning point, as God is victorious over the power of Satan, judgment will come among his own followers.[1] A saying of Jesus (Luke 6:46=Matthew 7:21) suggests that we need to ponder who can enter a life ruled by God. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ (κύριε) will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. The rejection of those who say Lord but do not do reflects the prophetic self-consciousness with which Jesus speaks.[2] This address of Jesus as Lord has its origin in the invocatory prayer of the first Christians.[3] The saying has a reference to the person of Jesus, with the added emphasis upon his Father. In the version in Luke, Jesus asks the rhetorical question of why some call him Lord but do not do the things he says. In Matthew, while profession of faith that Jesus is Lord is important, the test of qualifying for such entry is the doing will of the Father, for which we have prayed in the Lord’s Prayer to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Verses 22-23 (Luke 13:26-27), picturing Jesus as the heavenly judge,[4] 22 On that day, the day of judgment in determining who will enter the kingdom of heaven, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, (κύριε) did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ 23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ Matthew has the saying reject false Christian teachers, looking back upon the completed ministry of Jesus.[5] This suggests that on the day of judgment that determines who will enter the rule of God, one would think that those who prophesy in the name of Jesus, cast out demons, and do many deeds of power in the name of Jesus, would be among those invited to enter. However, could persons who can do such mighty deeds subvert the way of Jesus? Such persons, endowed as they are with dramatic spiritual gifts, may not have the interior life or the character that Christ values. Jesus will declare that he never knew them. Thus, people who do extraordinary things have no assurances and may in fact be serving evil. External displays of religiosity are not always safe indicators of internal character and righteousness. Character and genuine righteousness are more important. Reflecting the rule of God in our lives is not a matter of the grand gesture, mighty words, or exercising prominent gifts.
In verses 24-27 (Luke 6:47-49) we learn what genuine hearing means. It contrasts the wise and foolish from the standpoint of sound common sense, the righteous being prudent and the ungodly foolish. It presupposes that we cannot at once distinguish between what is wise or foolish, but we learn by the result when the tests of life arise.[6] It contrasts two responses to the teaching of Jesus and two eschatological consequences. The Sermon on the Mount closes with final judgment. Lady Wisdom builds human lives using the image of a house (Prov 9:1-6, 14:12). The emphatic use of the personal pronoun here stresses Jesus as the representative of God. The rabbis had a similar thought in saying that one who receives a scribe receives the divine glory.[7] 24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. 25 The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, representing the tests that any human life will encounter, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. Such persons will be vindicated. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, for these will encounter the same tests of life in this world, and it fell—and great was its fall!” Those who recognize the eschatological moment in which they live are those who build their lives on the right foundation, for they hear the word of Jesus and act upon it, for everything depends on obedience.[8] Those who listen to Jesus’ teachings but do not act on them lay one kind of foundation; those who listen and then act build the other kind of foundation. The first invites destruction in the deluge, the second will withstand the final test. One displays wisdom when one builds one’s life on being a faithful doer of the word of Jesus. Reflect upon the beatitudes. Reflect upon a life of nonviolence and love. Reflect upon the genuineness of devotional acts. Make sure your life as a Christian is a matter of constructing a soul that embodies the Lord’s Prayer. The image of the two foundations belongs to common Israelite, Judean, and rabbinic lore. Several rabbis of the late first and early second centuries are credited with creating similar parables to stress the need of putting teaching into practice. It suggests that as Christians gather, they are in the process of building a foundation for their lives. God is patiently constructing an interior life and a life of character that can withstand the inevitable tests life will bring. Some of those tests will feel like a storm. Every choice we make is slowly constructing the type of person we shall be. Matthew concludes with an affirmation of what Jesus taught as from one who had authority.
Verses 28-29 express the amazement of the crowd, who have overheard what Jesus has taught the disciples, since he taught with authority, which distinguished him from the scribes. A similar response will be in 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, 26:1.
Application
"Christ is the cornerstone," Scripture says elsewhere. "Christ is the sure foundation." Here is a solid, dependable foundation upon which to build a life - the example, the life, and the teachings of Jesus. We demonstrate wisdom through obedience to his words.
Christ is my firm foundation
The Rock on which I stand
When everything around me is shaking
I've never been more glad
That I put my faith in Jesus
'Cause He's never let me down (Yeah)
He's faithful through generations
So why would He fail now?
He won't (No, He won't, no, He won't)
He won't (He won't, He won't, He won't)
And I've still got joy in chaos
I've got peace that makes no sense
So I won't be going under
I'm not held by my own strength
'Cause I build my life on Jesus
He's never let me down
He's faithful through every season
So why would He fail now? (Sing it out)
He won't
He won't
He won't fail
He won't fail
He won't
He won't
No, no, no, no, He won't fail
He won't fail (No)
He won't fail (One more time, say it)
Christ is my firm foundation (Testify)
The Rock on which I stand
When everything around me is shaking (I've never been more)
I've never been more glad (Sing it now)
That I put my faith in Jesus (Yeah)
'Cause He's never let me down (He's faithful)
He's faithful through generations (So why)
So why would He fail now? (I need you to shout it out)
He won't (Sing it out, say)
He won't (No He won't, no He won't)
He won't fail (No, no)
He won't fail, no, no (One more time)
He won't (Yeah-ayy-ayy-ayy, ayy-ayy)
He won't (I've never seen You fail, no)
He won't fail (No)
He won't fail
I have a testimony
I have a story to sing
This is my story to sing my song
I have a testimony, you wanna see my testimony?
Rain came, wind blew
But my house was built on You
I'm safe with You
I'm gonna make it through (I feel somebody's faith rising)
Rain came and wind blew
But my house was built on You (This is the reason you made it, 'cause)
I'm safe with You
I'm gonna make it through (One more time, oh, rain came)
Oh, rain came and wind blew
But my house was built on You (This is the reason I'm standing)
Oh, I'm safe with You
I'm gonna make it (I'm gonna make it)
Yeah, I'm gonna make it through ('Cause I'm standing)
'Cause I'm standing strong on You (I'm gonna make it)
Yeah, I'm gonna make it through (My house is built on)
'Cause my house is built on You (One more time y'all, say it)
And Christ is my firm foundation (Ayy)
The Rock on which I stand
When everything around me is shaking (Oh, woah-oh)
I've never been more glad (Sing it out)
That I put my faith in Jesus (He's never let me down)
'Cause He's never let me down (Faithful)
He's faithful through generations (Oh, yeah)
So why would He fail now?
He won't
He won't
He won't fail (Say it)
He won't fail
He won't (Oh-oh-oh-oh, oh-oh-oh)
He won't (No, no, no, no, no, no)
He won't fail (Woah)
He won't fail
Never seen the righteous forsaken
And He won't start now
Never seen the righteous forsaken
And He won't start now
Rain came, wind blew
My house was built on You (This is how I made it)
I'm safe with You
I'm gonna make it through (Oh, rain came)
Rain came, wind blew (It tried to knock me out, it tried to shape me up)
But my house was built on You (But my house was built on You, oh-oh-oh)
I'm safe with You
I'm gonna make it (Yes, I'm gonna make it)
I'm gonna make it through (I'm standing strong on You)
'Cause I'm standing strong on You (I'm gonna make it through)
I'm gonna make it through ('Cause my house is built on)
'Cause my house is built on You ('Cause you're gonna make it through)
I'm gonna make it through ('Cause I'm standing strong)
'Cause I'm standing strong on You (I'm gonna make it)
I'm gonna make it through
'Cause my house is built on You
When we gather as a community, listen to sermons, reflect on Scripture, hear sermons, examine our lives, we are in the process of building a foundation for our lives.[9] God is patiently constructing our character in such a way that we are enabled to withstand the challenges and storms that may come our way. Each of us must, therefore, examine ourselves to judge whether we are building our lives, constructing our character, on a firm foundation of faith.
Jesus discusses home construction at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in order to address to speak to the matter of the choices we make. God has graciously given each of us a hand in the construction of that building that is our soul. Each of us is busy building a life, brick by brick, board by board, one experience after another. Every experience that we have, all the good and bad that happen to us, becomes part of us. Brick by brick, stone by stone.
When I was a teen and living in Austin, MN, I was just goofing around with a friend in playing catch with a football. A throw got close to a barbed wire fence, and I scraped my right hand across one of the barbs. You can still see the scar today.
You have scars, maybe not on your body, but in your soul, from various misfortunes that have come your way. Perhaps these misfortunes have not left you bleeding and broken, but they have left you a bit bruised. "Sadder but wiser," we sometimes say after we have recovered from some bad experience. The scars are beneath the surface. Most people never see them in you, but they are part of your foundation, at the base of who you are.
We make decisions about which step to take next, which way to turn now, as if building a house, brick by brick, stone by stone. In a way, we are building a home called our soul. Our decisions are interesting because they contribute to, or detract from, our becoming certain sorts of persons.
One of the challenges of building a house is having to make hundreds of big and small decisions: wallpaper, shingles, and the carpet. Some of the decisions are rather frightening because you know that you must live with these decisions for years to come. You do not want to be in the position of saying something like, “I wish I had made the kitchen smaller and the living room larger.”
Some construction decisions look different when we move from the blueprints to the actual house. Our lives, too, become the sum of our decisions. We thought, when we were deciding, that things would turn out one way. But then, after the decision has been made, things turn out quite differently and we are filled with regret. Building is like that.
Sometimes we do not realize how dumb some of our decisions were until it is too late. I have heard more than one parent lament, "I was working so hard, while my children were young, to provide for them. Then I woke up one day and the children were grown and gone. I was foolish to have missed so much of their young lives with all of my work."
Thus, Jesus tells about a man who wisely built his house on a solid rock foundation. Another man unwisely built his house on a foundation of shifting sand. When the rain came and the rivers rose, the foolish man's house was quickly destroyed. "Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand."
"Christ is the cornerstone," Scripture says elsewhere. "Christ is the sure foundation." Here is a solid, dependable foundation upon which to build a life - the example, the life, and the teachings of Jesus. We demonstrate wisdom through obedience to his words.
The Sermon on the Mount is a good place to reflect upon the construction of your soul. Reflect upon the beatitudes. Reflect upon a life of nonviolence and love. Reflect upon the genuineness of your devotional acts. Make sure your life is a matter of constructing a soul that embodies the Lord’s Prayer.
The good news is, Jesus promises us that the way of wisdom is available to us all. The way to a good life, built upon a solid foundation, is not some secret, some mystery available only to a few who happen to be particularly gifted at soul construction. Jesus loves us enough to show us the way, to tell us the truth, to give us the bricks and the mortar, the beams and the rafters to build well.
When one comes to the end of life an embittered, disillusioned, soured person, we are seeing a person who lacked the moral resources to deal with life's difficulties and disappointments. As we live, through our decisions, our experiences, the people who befriend us, and the people whom we befriend, we are amassing the moral resources to deal with the demands of life. We are building, brick by brick, a solid foundation.
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[6] Bertram, TDNT, IV, 842.
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[9] Inspired by William Willimon, 2002.
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