GOSPELS 2 PARABLES 2 BUILDING ON ROCK OR SAND

GOSPELS PARABLES 2 BUILDING ON ROCK OR SAND
Matthew 7:24 Luke 6:46

The next parable that Jesus taught was about a man who either builds a house upon a rock or builds his house upon the sand.
Matthew 7:24 Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”
And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

When we look at the final comment in that Scripture, we see that it says that the people recognised that Jesus had authority when he spoke, not like the scribes. The scribes would quote other well-known rabbis, but Jesus never quoted a single rabbi. His authority meant that he knew that what he said was true and what he said is what he lived, which is the basic theme of the parable about building your life on the right foundation, the rock and not the sand.
 
The relevance of this parable is not a stand-alone parable. is that it is spoken in reference to seven prior sayings of Jesus that he has just spoken from Matthew 7:1. Jesus had been sharing sayings (logos) with the people that were foundational. They were sayings that needed to be heard and put into practice, otherwise they would just be idle words that could not be built upon. 

There are seven ‘sayings’ starting from Matthew Chapter 7 and verse 1 that Jesus speaks before teaching that parable about building a house on the right foundation, and they are; Do not judge others. Vs 1. Throwing pearls before swine vs.6. Asking the Father for good things Vs.7. Doing for others what you would have them to do for you Vs.12. Entering through the narrow gate.Vs.13.  Recognizing people by their fruits not their advertising campaigns (false prophets). Vs.15. Saying to Jesus Lord, Lord but not living our life for him as our Lord. Vs.21

Jesus then talks about the forces that come against the house that you build, which is your life. ‘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. (That Rock is Christ)

The story is about building a house that will stand through the times of natural affliction of wind and storm and floods, and the spiritual application of that is for people’s lives being able to last through the experiential and relational afflictions of life, because the house represents our life being built on a firm foundation – the rock of faith in Jesus and not the sand of human effort. These inner afflictions of life are like high impact forces of nature – they come and go and leave some maintenance work behind and some attendance to any weak spots but life goes on and we end up stronger because of the faithful resilience we are taught at these times. 

But what about the house that is built upon the sand? Sand is made of the same material as rock, and is the result of the breaking down of the cohesive and reliable structure of rock over a long time into the non-cohesive unreliable form of sand. the ground of Galilee where Jesus was teaching had large, basalt rock shelves buried just below the sandy soil surface – just the right place the perfect place for a house to be built. However foolish people who didn’t check below the surface might expediently choose a cosier location near the palm trees closer to the river or in a sheltered valley where there was no rock underneath - and the house would not withstand the floods and wind and storm.

Our society has chosen the sandy soil of its expedient self-serving choices and much of the rock of Judaeo-Christian culture has been discarded or despised over the years, so that much of what has been built cannot stand the social and political and economic storms and raging winds – the house is not standing strong and things need to change and the strong foundations be reestablished. 

But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

We said earlier that there were seven ‘sayings’ (logos – creative foundational design words) starting from Matthew Chapter 7 and verse 1 that Jesus spoke that had to be put into practice to give meaning in his teaching of the parable about building a house on the right foundation. 

The first one was ‘Do not judge others, in verse 1. This speaks about seeing the spot in our brother’s eye and not seeing the big blob in our own eye. Not seeing the big blob in our own eye means that we are blind and cannot see who we really are and yet we think we know exactly what is wrong with someone else. It is a sign of a defensive ego trying to feel better about itself by making someone else look worse. That brings disconnection with other people and there is no real peace or fulfillment in that. Disconnection with others in this way also means disconnection with our real self and disconnection with God - and that robs us of the great gift of God’s mercy and forgiveness to us which brings peace and fulfillment into our lives. God want us to not crush into sand his rock of compassion and mercy that comes from him and is then extended to another imperfect person. His amazing grace wants us to be able to say, ‘Was blind but now I see!’

The second one was ‘Don’t throw your pearls before swine’ (verse 6) and that could sound a bit mean, but it simply means not trying to please or impress someone who despises what you aspire to as a treasured value in your life. It is what you do and not your impressive talk that finally makes the difference to what can be built upon.

The third one was about asking your Heavenly Father for good things (verse 7) - if a son asks his father for bread, will he be given a stone? We can expect that our Father God will give us the best thing for our need and this is the wisest way to learn how to trust in God and to learn the true lessons of his giving us what is really good for us and not what we sometimes think would be best. Not knowing what that good thing is for us has caused many a house to collapse and also many a nation to fall. Our current culture builds on that sandy foundation with its negative bias and confusing social experiments and the wearing away of our principled cultural foundations. But there is an answer for us in these perilous days, and that is to pray for God to expose what is toxic for our nation and to show us what is his good for our nation and then to live within his principled goodness. That will allow the bedrock of a godly foundation to emerge for this nation to build on. 

The fourth one was ‘do for others what you would have them to do for you’ (verse12).
This is more than just being under obligation to return favours. This is about us demonstrating that we are there for some other person, and this creates in them a sense of being valued by us. This grows a desire within their heart to be that person of value in relationship with us and to want to be there for us. Strengthening this kind of bond in relationships grows us in our spiritual stature of being gracious and grateful. It is also a foundation for communities to grow in mutual service and respect and even for a nation to grow in unity and strength under God.

The fifth one was ‘enter through the narrow gate that leads to life’. (verse 13). This was not designed to make life burdensome or oppressive to enter a life of the blessings of God. It is designed to minimise going down all the blind alleys of self-serving interests that cause all the unnecessary regrets and disappointments. Going down blind alleys wastes opportunities for getting God’s guidance and wisdom, yet he faithfully waits to give us the best life that waits for us to choose it. 

The sixth one was ‘recognizing people by their fruits and not their advertising campaigns’ There were many false prophets speaking from their own hearts and minds at that time. The world even penalises people that practice false advertising because it corrodes community trust until people stop believing in promises that are claimed to be true. The internet is an unrestricted playground for anyone to speak their prophesies from who knows what ego agenda or background. The Bible says ‘despise not prophesying but test all things and hold fast to what is good. (1Thessalonians 5:20). Testing all things means examining the track record of false predictions, especially of religious political activists, as well as testing the track record of the character and moral and ethical behaviour of the people doing the promising. There is one foundational rock of truth – Christ alone, Cornerstone.

The seventh one was ‘calling Jesus Lord but not living our life for him as our Lord’. 
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’(verse 21). 
We can assure ourselves that we are known of God when we name Jesus as Lord, and say that we believe he is the God who is also the Man who created the Universe and upholds everything in it by the power of his word. We are also saying we believe that he is the Man who is also God who loved us so much that he laid down his life for us and joined his divine life to our human life. We are also saying that we believe that he will guide us in our life journey and lead us into truth and bless us with all spiritual blessings in our souls. After affirming Jesus as Lord in that way we aspire to do the things that he tells us to do. Saying yes to him in that way is building our house – our life – upon the rock, not upon the sand.