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"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!
"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.
- Matthew 7:22-29
We have been reading through the Sermon on the Mount; today is the last reading in the Sermon (which comprises chapters 5 - 7 of Matthew's Gospel). For the earlier readings in the Sermon on the Mount, see The Beatitudes; Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven; Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven; I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment; Let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,' 'No'; Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect; Do not be like the hypocrites; Our Father in heaven, Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also; Sufficient for the day is its own trouble and Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear god fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them. 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!" My study bible teaches that here is a threefold testimony to the deity of Christ. First He calls Himself Lord (which is the Yahweh of the Old Testament). Secondly, He speaks of the will of My Father, of which apparently He is fully aware and shares. Finally, He reveals Himself as Judge. This is also a declaration of deity, as only God is capable of executing true judgment; in that day refers to this judgment, the final judgment.
"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." Here again (as in yesterday's reading) we get a sense of the "two ways" that are also spoken of in early works such as the Didache. The Didache speaks of the "way of life" and the "way of death." Here Jesus compares those two ways to how we build a house to live in, what is its foundation. Do we build on solid rock, something that will allow us to survive the storms of life (the rain, floods and winds that beat on the house) -- or are we the foolish man who builds his house on sand? This word for "foolish" is the same root He used when He spoke of the quality or character of the salt that has lost its flavor when He spoke of His disciples as the salt of the earth, early in the Sermon on the Mount. This comparison of the wise and the foolish emphasizes the Way as a narrow gate (see yesterday's reading).
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. The text gives us a further emphasis on Jesus' authority, a sense in His preaching and teaching that will astonish many throughout the Gospels, and is notable in His Person. The scribes were those who would study under a famous rabbi, and who would use quotations from others to teach. Jesus speaks from Himself and His own authority.
There is a great sense here of the urgency of Jesus' word, His teachings. They are not things to be taken lightly and dismissed. Instead, He gives great weight to His teachings by comparing the wise man who built his house on a rock and the foolish one who built on sand. He wants His disciples to be the wise ones. He wants them to live their lives built on the commandments He's given in the Sermon on the Mount. He finishes by warning about Judgment, and He's made it clear that they are to "judge not" as part of this Sermon. So, as my study bible points out, this emphasis on Judgment in the final verses of the Sermon is really the power of His own authority at work. If we want to be truly secure, to weather the storms of life well, we build our houses carefully on a good foundation, and His words are what comprise that foundation. His teachings in the Sermon are the things that set us in good stead for a life wisely lived. Elsewhere when He preaches in parables, elements of life such as rain and floods and wind serve as vivid metaphors for the problems that will come to us in life. We notice that He never promises our lives won't be tested; He doesn't tell us there is no evil in the world. But what He does give us is a secure way through those troubles. Another vivid metaphor came in yesterday's reading, when He spoke of wolves in sheep's clothing, the good tree that gives off good fruit, and He asked do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Thornbushes and thistles are not sweet but rather painful; and the meaning of "pain" is one of those included in a Greek word for the evil (poneros), from which He taught us to pray to be delivered. As we review the Sermon, perhaps we remember most vividly His emphasis on the deeper things of life, the roots of our sin, an emphasis not just on what we do, but on who we are and our responsibility and accountability, our capacity for knowing ourselves. Jesus' narrow gate is really a call toward the things we're capable of doing and being, a call for us to live by His words, to take His commands seriously, and especially to be like Him. He calls us to the fullness of what it really is to be a human being, to be made in the image and likeness of God. It's like building a house on the rock. It's finding His Way. It's having the capacity to choose well, and not to be simply a slave to everything we may think or feel when those things don't lead us to a good place. He calls us to what it truly means to be a human being created "a little lower than the angels." Let us seek His wise way, His narrow gate, for He calls us to be "like Him."
