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

 

 "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 rains 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."  

 

- Matthew 7:22-27 

 

In yesterday's reading, the lectionary gave us the following (the final verses of St. Matthew's Gospel) for the Feast of the Ascension:  Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.  Today we resume reading in the Sermon on the Mount.  Today's reading continues from the verses given in Saturday's reading.

 

  "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!'"  These verses, together with verse 21, which precedes them, form a threefold testimony to Christ's deity.  He first calls Himself Lord, which is a reference to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.  In verse 21, He declares, "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."  Thus, He speaks here of the will of My Father, which He fully knows and shares.  He speaks of Himself as judge, which reveals Him as God, for only God can execute judgment.  My study Bible adds that in that day refers to 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 rains 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."   My study Bible comments here that hearing the gospel alone isn't enough, because salvation is not based on hearing alone, and neither on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).  

 

Jesus says, "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 rains 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."  What we have is the emphasis on what it means to be faithful, to have faith,  We "hear His sayings" and "do them."  We live our faith.   We notice that He likens this to building our house on a rock, and we may connect this to another time Jesus uses the image of a rock. That is, when He gives St. Peter the name by which we know him.  Peter is the English form of Πετρος/Petros, meaning "rock" or "stone" in Greek.  We look at the time in specific terms when Jesus gave St. Peter this name, and we find it is upon his confession that Jesus is the Christ.  Jesus first asked the disciples who people say that He is.  After they reply, giving the answers according to popular opinion, He asks them who they say that He is. Then we're told, "Simon Peter answered, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.' And Jesus said to him, 'Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it' " (see Matthew 16:13-20).  When we consider what this rock is upon which Jesus will build His church, we must conclude that this rock is the rock of faith, that faith by which St. Peter understands -- and is illumined by God the Father according to Jesus' words -- that Jesus is the Christ.  By that we discern the deep connection between St. Peter, now called "Rock" by Jesus, and the rock upon which we build our home in real faith.  Jesus expresses here for us what faith does and is.  It is not about simply subscribing to a belief on intellectual terms, but living our faith.  Quite literally, He gives this to us; He speaks of whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them.  For real faith is about trust.  It is about placing our trust so deeply in Christ that we hear His sayings -- that is, the gospel He has preached in the whole of the Sermon on the Mount -- and we do them, we live them, we make them a part of our lives.  In this way, our faith is not only internal or only external, but it is both.  It is in the depth of the heart, and it is also what we do.  This kind of consistency from the inside to the outside defines what it is to be truly pure in the Christian sense.  Let us build our houses upon this rock, and truly live our faith in Him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 "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." 

 

- Matthew 7:22–27 

 

Recent readings of the past few days prepared us for the Feast of the Ascension, which in the Western Churches (and the Armenian Apostolic) was celebrated yesterday.  Please see yesterday's reading for the reading and commentary for the Feast of the Ascension:  I am with you always, even to the end of the age.   Prior to the preparation for the Feast of the Ascension, the lectionary had taken us through the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 - 7 of St. Matthew's Gospel).  In our previous reading in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus preached:  "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 good 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!'  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 Jesus is speaking of Himself as Lord, a reference to the divine name "Yahweh" (YHWH) of the Old Testament, and therefore as judge.  His sayings are those which give to us "the will of My Father in heaven" (see the previous reading from the Sermon on the Mount, above), and therefore whoever hears and does not do is among those who practice lawlessness.  My study Bible comments that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor on faith alone -- but rather faithful living.  That is, also on doing the things spoken by Christ, His "sayings" which are given so fully in the Sermon on the Mount, concluded here (see James 2:24). 

 

Jesus teaches, "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."  Since this statement (as well as the inverse statement that to fail to found one's house on the rock is to invite disaster) is couched in clear terms of judgment, we can presume that Christ is speaking in an eschatological sense.  That is, He refers to the final state of a person.  The addition to the example of one who fails to build the house on the rock, "And great was its fall," certifies this understanding.  It is equivalent to Jesus' warning (found twice in the Gospel of St Matthew), "For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him" (Matthew 13:12; 25:29).  But at the same time, Jesus gives us the metaphor of this foundation, the rock, which we find in so many places.  Simon will be given the name of Rock, or Stone (Petros in Greek; rendered to Peter in English), and it is a reference to faith after His confession that Jesus is the Christ (Matthew 16:13-20, esp. verse 16).  In St. Luke's Gospel, when the religious leaders try to silence those who shout for joy at Jesus' approach to Jerusalem as Messiah, Jesus replies to them, "I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out" (see Luke 19:37-40).  St. Peter himself writes that we the faithful are the "living stones" who build up the Church (1 Peter 2:4-6) upon the chief cornerstone, who is Christ Himself (Matthew 21:42).  Therefore we can understand through this metaphor of "the rock" that Christ's focus on judgment and our ultimate state leaves nothing out of how we live our lives in the present day and present moment.  The final state is simply a culmination of a journey that begins long before. To build on the rock is to live one's life faithful to His sayings, taking every day for the precious time it is, this life that we are given.  We build on the rock not simply so we don't lose or fall greatly in the end, but so that our very lives are on a secure foundation that can withstand the floods and winds that seem to shake us from our sense of security, our understanding of who we are and what we need to do in life.  The greatest security we have, in fact, is this rock of faith that teaches us what to do in difficult times of stress and tension and testing, and do so much to help us get through them intact.  Christ's sayings, and our growth in discipleship, affirm, support, and grow our own sense of ourselves.  This kind of confidence can see us through many storms and turmoil in life, even times that seem greatly threatening to our well-being. This is because it is a confidence that comes from faith in God and with God's help, and is not merely of ourselves alone.  Moreover within our communities of "living stones" we receive the kind of support for life that can be so very needed.  This house we build is a lifetime plan of work, embellishment, care -- but Christ clearly tells us that its foundation is all-important, for He is the chief cornerstone.

 

 

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

 

 "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 in our recent lectionary readings.  In yesterday's reading, 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 good 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!'"  This statement should be taken in conjunction with the final verse from yesterday's reading (above):  "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."   My study Bible comments that this is a threefold testimony to the deity of Jesus Christ:  He calls Himself Lord (referring to the divine name of "Yahweh" in the Old Testament); He speaks of the will of My Father, which He fully knows and shares; and finally, as judge, He's revealed as God, for only God can execute true judgment.  In that day is a reference to the final judgment.  We should also note that here, He's addressing religious leaders who have done works in His name, as those would be ones who prophesied, cast out demons, and performed many wonders.

"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.  My study Bible comments that hearing the gospel alone is not enough.  Salvation is not based on hearing alone, nor even on faith alone, but also on doing these sayings of Mine, the things spoken by Christ.   See James 2:24.

Jesus' analogy about building one's house on the rock is an apt one.  It gives us a vivid metaphor to keep in mind about how we structure our lives, and what is important for our own sense of security in life, our choices that we make.  These images of the rain descending and floods coming are those of forces of chaos and upheaval sweeping through our lives.  Winds blowing and beating on the house suggest the tempests that sweep through the world, giving rise to all kinds of movements and turns of history, changes such as both personal and political upheavals.  But the house built upon the rock is the house founded and situated upon Christ's teachings for us, which save us from chaos and upheavel, changes that shake up our lives, and keep us rooted and firmly on the solid ground where we need to place our faith.  The rain and flood imagery suggests to us tribulation and persecution, the things that uproot the good seed in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23).  The winds that sweep in and beat on the house can be doubts that shake us, the particular sway of ideologies in the world, or even the forces that urge us toward "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" (see again the parable of the Sower) that drive our lives, our concerns and care.  Life will always be offering to us ways to persuade us to abandon our faith, the sweep us off of our solid ground, to distract us from the path that Christ gives.  But Jesus teaches us about remaining in a firm place, finding ourselves where we need to be -- no matter how much external matters may threaten our peace of mind.  It's important to consider Christ's teachings as those which give us firm steps to take in life, and precautions against the things that cause chaos or lead us down a bad path.  Security comes from an internal sense of remaining within guidelines that give us truth, and not risky behaviors that look like shortcuts, but rather take us into a circuitous route from which we'll need to find our way back again to a road we can trust.  The life we want has to be one in which we take the perspective of the long haul, and not a temporary vision.   The only way to do this is by placing our faith in what is trustworthy and has stood the test of time, in the wisdom that Christ offers to us.  For unlike the winds that blow through our lives and beat on our houses occasionally, or the rains that come and threaten us with floods, Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  In the Revelation we read, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty" (Revelation 1:8).  When Jesus prophesies about the end times to the disciples, He declares, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" (Matthew 24:35).  These everlasting words, that outlive everything else -- even heaven and earth -- are the rock upon which to build one's house, our lives.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 "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." 

 

- Matthew 7:22-27 

 

Yesterday we read about Christ's Ascension, as in the West it was the celebration the Feast of our Lord's Ascension (next Thursday for the Eastern Churches), which takes place forty days after Christ's Resurrection (Easter or Pascha).  At that time the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

 

  "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!'"  In today's reading, we pick up where we left off in Saturday's reading (the interim readings were preparation and celebration of the Feast of our Lord's Ascension).   We recall that we had been reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7), and today we are given Christ's closing words to that Sermon.  Here, my study Bible comments that Jesus testifies to His own deity:  He calls Himself Lord, which refers to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.   His words indicate His authority as judge, and only God can execute true judgment.  In that day refers to the final judgment.  In the verse just previous to these, He taught, "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."  To speak of the will of My Father also affirms His deity, as He fully knows and shares the Father's will.  

"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." My study Bible comments that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken of by Christ in "these sayings of Mine" (see James 2:24).  

Jesus contrasts "whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them" to "everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them."  The first has the security of a wise person who builds his house on a rock, a solid foundation that does not get shaken by storms, floods, winds, and other natural disasters.  The second is like one who is foolish, and builds a home on sands that shift with rain and flood and wind.  I once found myself in the midst of a very serious earthquake, and I can testify to what happens to homes built on landfill that mostly turned to sand in the shifting, shaking terrain along a coastline.  Jesus' images, as usual, are quite apt, even for modern construction techniques in a known earthquake zone.  Ultimately, what Jesus is saying is borne out throughout the course of our lives.  We might think that one wrong decision or another from time to time won't have much effect.  But decision-making, our patterns of thinking, are built over time.  We tend not necessarily to simply make a bad decision every once in a while, but rather build our lives on patterns.  We go down a road of a way of thinking and choosing, and we don't just stand still, or go backwards and forwards.  We tend to build upon whatever it is we build upon.  We rely on assumptions or decisions of the past to set the pattern, until something prompts us to reconsider, and to turn that thinking around.  This is why Jesus' teachings and sayings are so important, and so profound.  If we are vigilant, and if we recall His words and teachings, we can build our lives on something solid, something -- if one will pardon an oft-used expression -- that civilization, or what we understand of it, is based on.  If we have faith in having compassion for one another, if we have faith and are willing to live that faith in terms of our capacity for building something honestly in our lives, trying to establish righteous relations, then we will find ourselves capable of building up a pattern that leads to a life that gives us what is desirable:  staying away from bad habits, or from taking shortcuts in terms of how we treat others, from not caring about lies or insults in our ways of dealing with others.  Our own integrity becomes essential to us, and a resonance within which we can serve God, a highest good.  We will find that this forms a basis for good and safe choices in terms of what we build with our lives, how we conduct ourselves.  Most of all, I would say that Jesus teachings on prayer, almsgiving, and fasting -- about how God who sees in secret and is in the secret place will reward us openly (see this reading) -- are grounds for eventual outcomes which we can look upon with respect in our lives.  Living His way produces results that we can look back on and describe as things we feel good about, midst whatever tribulation and difficulties we might have through no fault of our own, or even midst our own mistakes we'll inevitably make.  But in Jesus' viewpoint, even those mistakes and even the tribulations become occasions for God's grace, for a learning curve, for prayer and mercy (see, for example, John 9:3; or the healing of one who was possessed by a Legion of demons  and is then sent out as a bearer of good news (Luke 8:38-39).  To hear these sayings and do them is truly to build a good life, despite the problems in our world and the difficulties that may befall us, for this is the way of Christ, and with God we know that all things are possible (Matthew 19:26).  Christ gives us His wisdom; it is the foolish who do not seek to follow it. 

 

 

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

Moni Agias Triadas (Holy Trinity Monastery). Meteora, Greece (photo courtesy of creative commons license)

 "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."

- Matthew 7:22-27

Yesterday, on the commemoration of Christ's Ascension, we read that the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them.  When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.  And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."  Amen.

"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!'"  Today's reading continues and completes the Sermon on the Mount, which we were given in the lectionary prior to this week's readings leading to the feast of the Ascension.  These verses continue from Saturday's reading.   In this last section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus testifies to His deity, calling Himself Lord (which refers to the divine name "Yahweh" of the Old Testament.  He speaks of judgment, which can be truly executed only by God.  In that day, my study bible says, refers to 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."  Jesus gives us a prescription for building and living our lives, and offers us what is clearly a choice.  My study bible notes that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor even on faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).

In His conclusion to the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks of Judgment.  But then He also offers us a picture of our lives, a perspective on the whole of our lives, and not just advice for the moment or whatever decisions or struggles we may be engaged in at the moment.  In this perspective of building a house, He gives us an understanding of the importance of our choices in building the whole of our lives.  What are we living for?  On what principles do we build and live our lives?  What is our foundation?  Recently I read a review of a book by historian Tom Holland.  It's titled Dominion:  How the Christian Revolution Made the World.   What is notable about this book is not just its assertion that Christianity has shaped the Western World, but that the author is an atheist, and as a historian has come to this conclusion -- that Christianity might be necessary for the civilization.  According to the reviews, it's not a book to read to learn about Christianity, but it is noteworthy in its assertion that it is Christian values and convictions that have shaped our modern notions of law and justice, the dignity of all human beings, the evil of slavery, and so much more that we presently take for granted without considering precisely what kinds of choices were involved in shaping this reality.  Jesus' offering to us of His perspective teaches what an atheist historian might conclude given over 2,000 years of evidentiary effects:  that a sense of order and civilization -- particularly at the individual level in our lives -- is founded upon faith, and that it is this He offers to us.   Jesus' Sermon on the Mount offers to us a way of being in the world, a way of righteousness, that stands a Darwinian dog-eat-dog perspective on its head.  It offers to us a choice that determines that we do not merely need to live our lives in a purely materialistic way, but rather teaches us that we have a choice to allow God in as foundation to guide our lives in the world.  That foundation or mediation in our lives gives us alternatives to a life of opportunistic cruelty or coercion:  it offers us a life conditioned on mercy, on a righteousness and beauty that comes from faith, even from observing the beauty of the created world.  Christ releases us from a life based solely on reaction to our fears and anxieties, and offers us the love and care of God.  Mostly He strengthens us within the will of the Father and our own seeking of that will.  The verse that begins today's section (but is not included in today's reading) reads:  "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" (7:21).   Although Jesus clearly speaks of Judgment, we might be tempted to believe that what He is offering us is merely a perspective on whether or not we receive eternal life, or entrance into this kingdom after our worldly lives.  But that is not what He is teaching with His illustration of building our houses upon a rock, nor in the entirety of the Sermon on the Mount.  What He gives us is a teaching that sets our own lives on a firm foundation of what we might term "civilization" for want of a better word.  The Sermon on the Mount is a teaching for righteousness, in which our lives may build up the world, in which we endure hardship and temptation in order to preserve and care and build up what is good and refrain from what is destructive to life.  We learn to endure in the good, in caring for others, in respecting life, in cherishing what is beautiful, in holding ourselves to a standard of truth that does not lose sight of the dignity and sanctity of life and its value as a gift from God filled with possibilities -- and indeed, struggles which are not meaningless but count for so much.  Let us heed His teachings and start from the beginning to build our lives upon this foundation which He offers, creating through our choice for faith something greater than what we can see right in front of us, lives upon which we may look back and find greater value than the world offers merely through choices of material value alone, or social structures based on currencies that leave God's values out of the equation.  Let us take our house and our foundation seriously.  The storms of life will demolish hopes based on a perspective outside of the strength and the constant steadfast love He offers.

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

Christ the Good Shepherd, 425 AD, Oratory of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy

 "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied 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 (Matthew 5 - 7).  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 good 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, 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!'"  These verses go together with the last one from yesterday's reading, above.  My study bible says this is a threefold testimony of the deity of Christ.  He first calls Himself Lord -- referring to the divine name YHWH of the Old Testament.  Then He speaks of the will of My Father, which He authoritatively knows and shares, and as divine Son.  Finally, He speaks of Himself as judge, in which He is revealed as God, because only God can execute true judgment.  In that day, it says, Christ refers to 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."  My study bible comments that hearing the gospel alone isn't enough.  Salvation is based not simply on hearing alone, but also on doing the things that Christ speaks about.  (See James 2:24.)

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.  Here is a phenomenon frequently noted in the Gospels, that Jesus doesn't speak like one of the scribes (that is, referring to the commentary of a famous rabbi, or citing some other authority).  Rather, He speaks of His own authority, which is so remarkable and unusual that it makes the people astonished.

Jesus says that to hear His sayings, and to fail to do them, is like being a foolish man who built his house on the sand.  By contrast, to hear His sayings, and then to do them, is like one who builds his house on a rock.  One house leads to a great disaster when the rains descend, and the floods come, and winds blow and beat on it.  The other home is on a solid foundation, and stands its ground, holding up to whatever hits it.  So, in this likeness, what's our home?  What does it mean that winds blow against it, and rain descends, and floods come?  Jesus uses these images in a sense that they are sure things:  that into each life these winds, and rain, and floods are going to hit.  He talks in such a way as to indicate that for each of us these things are going to come.  So important are His sayings, that He phrases them in likeness to the solid ground upon which we build our lives.  We're either going to throw away that opportunity, or to embrace it.  Either way, whichever choice we make, nothing can take away from the value of what He is offering.  In a sense, His analogy makes it clear that He's speaking of life or death:   we thrive one way, we utterly fail the other way.  And in that sense, everything is up to us.  He's offering what's real, bankable, valuable -- that upon which we can surely rely.  To refuse is to stake one's life on sand, on that which washes away with the winds and rain and floods.  Our home, then, is this solid place upon which we build who we are, the place of the heart at the center of personal existence.  He offers us solid ground on which to stake our very lives, the truth of who we are.  Otherwise we blow with every wind, a failure in a life built on some other kind of god to worship, a faith in something else, is one that will wash away and need rebuilding.  We'll need to seek a new foundation every time something strong enough blows through our lives and topples whatever we've built on a flimsy foundation.  But the things He teaches us are meant to last through all the changes, and calamities, and hard luck, and struggles of our lives.  We can render ourselves to Him, and with His help and guidance, make our way through to the other side of whatever comes, still on that solid ground, and not needing to look around for something new in which to place our faith.  Considering all of His preaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7), we may remember His teaching that one can't serve both God and mammon, we must make a choice.  Do we build our lives on faith in material things alone?  Is life all about how much money we have or how many homes we have?  Is then that really all we have -- something so easily lost?  What happens when those things fail?  Or when our health or even older age fails us in some physical sense of what we rely upon?  What then?  Jesus is saying that what He offers is something we will always be able to rely upon when struggles come, when the difficulties of life blow through wherever we are at.  Think of the struggles:  can we always rely upon friends?  Money?  Our health?  The things we own?  Even family members?  But Christ's sayings are there; and they are much more than sayings.  He teaches us that to do what He says is the bedrock we need.  It's not enough to hear.  So let us consider what that solid rock under our feet is all about.  We seek first God's kingdom, we seek to eliminate from our lives unnecessary worry and fear and anxiety, and we watch what it is we put our faith in first, before all things.  We work at ridding ourselves of habits and perspectives that don't serve such a goal, understanding that it's our job first to recognize our own flaws.  Above all we keep asking and seeking and knocking, through prayer and other faith practices, growing at this goal of faith and a life lived by doing what He says.  Let us continue to study what He asks of us, putting our trust in Him, the solid rock that remains after the floods, winds, and rains, for that is what lasts as the ground of our being, upon which we can build up our lives and entrust our being.

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

 "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."

- Matthew 7:22-27

On Tuesday, we read Jesus' explanation of the parable of the Sower for His disciples:  "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for awhile.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

"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!'"  Today's reading directly follows the reading of Monday in the order of the text.  It is the final reading in the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew chapters 5 - 7.  (The lectionary had skipped to chapter 13 in preparation for Ascension Day, which was yesterday.)  In Monday's reading, Jesus taught:  "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."  The words of today's reading directly follow.  Jesus has been giving His word throughout the Sermon on the Mount.  That is, the commands that He sets out for discipleship, which is a blessed way of life, the life of the Kingdom.  Here He makes it clear that even great signs of power and wonders, miracles done in His name, and prophecies, will not be sufficient for the time of the Judgment.  It is those who do the will of His Father in heaven.  At the Last Supper, Jesus will tie these teachings to love:  love of God and love of one another.  He will teach three times that those who love Him will follow His commands.  He teaches about the love between Himself and the Father, and tie that love to our discipleship.  He will also give a new command, that we as His disciples love one another as He has loved us (John 13:34-35).

"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."  My study bible says that hearing the gospel alone is not enough, for salvation is based not on hearing alone, nor even faith alone, but also on doing the things spoken by Christ (see James 2:24).

Jesus gives us an analogy of the life He offers, His words and commandments, as a strong foundation upon which to build our home.  His word is our rock, our foundation, that will stand us through storms and floods and winds.  Or course, Jesus has given us this teaching and analogy in the context of the Judgment.  We have a lot to lose.  Life with its full capacities as taught by Christ is eternal, without end, and therefore to lose such an infinite potential would mean truly that "great was its fall."  In the parable of the Sower, which we've been given in the readings on Monday and Tuesday, Jesus speaks of His word as a seed that is planted in the heart.  The seed or plant that doesn't take root or last is the one which falls on stony ground, which perishes with tribulation or persecution, is choked by the cares of the world or the deceitfulness of riches.  But the one who bears much fruit is the one who perseveres and endures in this word.  In some sense, the teachings here and of that great first parable which Christ will teach are the same:  our foundation is His word.  But we don't get that foundation simply through obedience.  His word is the word of love, and His discipleship is love.  Jesus will teach that all the Law and the Prophets hang on two commands, to love God with all our heart and soul and strength, and to love neighbor as oneself.  But it is Jesus, the Son Incarnate, who personalizes that love.  We know Him, the disciples live with Him, He shares with them and with us His touching and intimate love with the Father, whom He declares will send us the Helper.  It is in this personal, intimate love that we learn who we are and how to follow His commands.  This is something that we as Christians should never lose sight of, because it defines wholly the impact of the Incarnate Christ.  We know who He is, and through His love we know who we are.  We know why and how our discipleship works, and why it is worth every sacrifice.  We know the love for which we sacrifice and by which we are motivated to pursue the true heart of this blessedness of life He offers.  We are not compelled by force but by love, by His love.  There is nothing that can replace that truth and its wholeness and fullness of what it teaches us that we are made for; this is why it is His rock that is our only sure foundation.  Only He knows and reveals the full truth of what we are meant for, the love with which we are held and in which we may live the blessed life He teaches.

Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

 "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, which began in chapter 5 with the Beatitudes.  In yesterday's reading, 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 good 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!'"  Here, Jesus is proclaiming Himself Judge, a role that belongs only to God.  He makes it clear -- and this stands all the events of the Gospels in the true light in which we read them -- that doing wonders is not enough for entrance into this Kingdom.  What counts is the righteousness that He teaches -- the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven.  This is the entire theme of the Sermon on the Mount.

"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."    We note that Jesus speaks of whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them . . .."   My study bible says that hearing the gospel alone is not enough; salvation isn't based on haring alone nor on faith alone, but also on doing the these sayings of Christ.  The emphasis on both hearing and doing is important. It confers a responsibility that comes with hearing.   Jesus' emphasis on the security of this rock gives us a sense of the confidence we can take in hearing and doing His teachings.  To hear and fail to do what He teaches is foolishly risk everything; this is clearly said in context of Judgment.  But the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven is also something we live, and which blesses us in daily life.  To fail to understand or recognize the quality of those blessings is also foolish.  They sustain us through the rain, floods, and winds of life.

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.  This is something that we read in various places and contexts in the Gospels.  Jesus' authority comes of Himself and His identity, not in citing, for example, other famous rabbis, as do the scribes.  He has His own authority.

What can we say about confidence and assurance, which Jesus gives us in the image of the rock upon which we build our houses?  He is teaching us that we may have security in hearing and doing His teachings.  In a world that seems to be increasingly unstable, or filled with unpredictability, Jesus' words take on a deeper connection to our own needs for true security.   Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with the  blessings of the righteousness of the kingdom of heaven, enumerated for us in The Beatitudes.  These are inward treasures, the blessings of righteousness, and the type of spiritual fruit that He desires for His followers.  He seems to close here with a reminder that these are the things in which we can truly take confidence in our lives.  They are the things that see us through the difficulties and insecurities and uncertainties in life.  Many of His sayings in the Sermon on the Mount (chapters 5 through 7 in Matthew's Gospel) teach us about prudence and wisdom, and the importance of discernment.   Many of the teachings involve an active love, a way of living that does not ridicule or belittle others, that does not return violence with vengeance, that refrains from an external focus and the manipulation of hypocrisy.  He emphasizes the inner core of what it means to be a truly and fully living human being, not a person who lives for appearance or the purely material.  (He will later compare the emptiness of religious hypocrites to whited sepulchres.)  It is the values that He teaches in which we can take true security, because they are what persist and endure even when the going is tough.  It is His values that we can trust in, because they are built not only on the authority of God who is love, but on the surety of that which is not shaken when threatened, and which transcends every trend.  We fall back on truth when challenged; we repent toward a better knowledge and understanding and practice of what He teaches when we fall down or stumble.  In Him we can trust, and what a difference that makes to the quality of life itself -- not only for us as individuals but also for our extended communities.

Whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken Him to a wise man who built his house on the rock

 "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."