The House on the Rock
Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7: 24-27
Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete. Luke 6: 46-49
The drama of this short parable Jesus told surely makes its hearers, then and now, very keen to build on the rock! But what does that actually mean in practice?
Hearing and Obeying
Jesus’ point of difference between the wise and foolish man is what you do with the words he speaks.
Palestine is naturally a land of hills and mountains as well as hot sand. The Jordan river swelled to dangerous levels every year and so everyone knew to expect floods, and rocks to build on were common and readily available – they weren’t hard to find. Jesus tells this story after he has just given his listeners lots of clear teaching which he knows some will take and some will leave; and we have the Bible more accessible than ever as well as all the other ways God reveals Himself. He’s not hard to find, He’s ‘near to all who call on His name’ (Psalm 145:18), but what do we do with what He says?
The house on the sand could look just as impressive as the one built on rock, maybe even more so because the foundations took less time and effort which could then be spent elsewhere in the build. But in the Sermon on the Mount, which precedes this parable (and is therefore the ‘words of mine’ Jesus is referring to in Matt 7:24), He repeatedly highlights the contrast between external appearances of holiness and the inner truth.
The Sermon on the Mount seems to focus on four things –
be serious about sin
cultivate a good heart not a showy appearance of works
seek God in intimate prayer and worship
trust God’s love and provision for you.
These things need action from us to properly impact our lives. The Pharisees built their hope on the external blessings and privilege that came from their position and posturing, but they were resting on dead faith and too proud for new information, and too complacent to address their inner hearts. What about us?
A fool in the Biblical sense isn’t just someone who doesn’t know things, or have access to wisdom, it’s someone who repeatedly turns away from the information and wisdom available to them, who will not rather than cannot learn from their mistakes – they have chosen foolishness, not the other way around. As Jesus’ listeners knew, the Jordan river swelled every year and there was plenty of rock available, so there was no real excuse for building on sand. Once we’ve heard him, we have only two choices – obey or not, it’s now a response we need to choose. When God speaks, we need to respond.
To obey God, we need to know His will: we need to be familiar with his Word, we need to apply it with prayer. So, we benefit from being disciplined in building those things into our lives. We can choose to make that the foundation of our daily routine, not the cornice detail if we get to it, or decoration in one room but not another. To mix rocky metaphors for a moment, there’s a classic sermon illustration of a stick of seaside rock. Some sticks have the place of origin just stamped on the ends, but others have the words running right through. If we are bitten in half, is “Jesus” still visibly imprinted on us?
Obedience grows with practice and trust to obey grows with experience. Ongoing obedience allows us to see the results of doing it God’s way, which builds faith and enables us to trust His wisdom and goodness in all circumstances. And though part of that wisdom and goodness to us is that he will keep stretching us, so this never stops being a challenge, that also means some areas of obedience and trust do become reflex: foundations to build on. Disciplines established in fair weather withstand bad weather too. But we have to put in the hard work of obeying him when we could just choose an easier short-term fix, and the effort of seeking His will above just trusting our own impressions or resting on our previous laurels.
As part of that building of faith and trust, God builds increasing patience into us too. The wise man spends longer on his foundations, knowing that it will be a good house and the cost of that extra time will make his house better in the end. And though it’s God’s master hand that uses our circumstances and the timing of prayer answers in just the right balance to grow and not crush us, we do also play a part in turning that into fruitful patience and trust through how we respond. And through all this, he’s making our house firmer. Which is just as well, when we think about another point this parable makes:
The Certainty of Trouble
The parable says “when the flood came”, not if. Throughout the Bible, it is clear we are not to be surprised at suffering or hardship, they are an inevitable part of life this side of eternity. The more we live in God’s truth and purposes, the more we attract enemy fire, we clash with the world, we increasingly let God tackle our character; but whatever the cause of the suffering, God is making us more like Him. Which is why the apostle Paul even called suffering a privilege to be ‘boasted in” (2 Corinthians 11). In fact, he also goes so far as to say it is necessary for the building of hope: “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4 This paradox is part of the glorious way God redeems our suffering when we are building on His rock. And through these trials, the simple disciplines are what help us stand firm – setting our faces towards obedience, gratitude, unity, trust, immersing ourselves in prayer, Bible, worship, and reminding ourselves of God’s goodness. Because our hope will not disappoint us (Romans 5:5):
The Rock-ness of Jesus
Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33) As we do these things, we increasingly build on the rock of knowing who God is and who we are in Him.
But ultimately, Jesus Himself is the rock – and that rock is unshakeable because it’s God – He’s the steady one who is holding fast, not us. The house on the rock isn’t necessarily a ‘better constructed house’, it’s the rock beneath it that makes the difference. God is the only way to withstand – any other foundation fails at some point, relying on our own or others’ strength, faithfulness, gifts – it has to be the Giver himself and we can never get to an end of His creative power, protection, wisdom or kindness.
These rock houses in Cappadocia in the middle east are built right into the rockface, and, as the website ancient-origins.net puts it: “centuries of cities, empires and religions have risen and fallen around these unique havens and yet they remain occupied to this day”. They have withstood everything, all that time.
These houses don’t just have foundations in the rock, but a whole network of underground tunnels and rooms, with special defensive tricks built in, that are inside the rock, that the inhabitants could retreat to for weeks on end when they were under attack. As we seek to build our lives on His rock, through hearing and obeying, we can trust that His strength and purposes will not fail. We are hidden in Christ (Colossians 3:3), he has wrapped us up into His identity and we are held completely secure in Him and provided with everything we need.
