Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders

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The Parable of Wise and the Foolish Builders , also known as House on the Rock , appears in Matthew (Matthew 7: 24-27) and Luke (Luke 6: 46-49).

The parable illustrates the importance of building one's life on obedience to Jesus' teachings and example.

Video Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders

Narration

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Parable appears as part of the Sermon on the Mount as follows:

Therefore everyone who hears my words and does this, I will liken them to the wise, who build their houses on rocks. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and throbbed in the house; and it did not fall, because it was erected on a rock. Everyone who hears my words, and does not do it will be like a fool, who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew, and throbbed in the house; and fall - and it's a great fall.

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Interpretation

This parable stresses the need to practice the teachings of Jesus, and speaks of "the two kinds of people whose hearts are revealed in their actions."

Matthew's version of the parable has a "more complicated narrative structure" than Luke, mentioning rain and wind and flood. These forces are usually interpreted ethically, as a trial of life that can be opposed by a life based on Christian doctrine, but can also be interpreted eschatologically.

The usual interpretation goes back to John Chrysostom (c.347-407), who wrote in his Homily 24 about Matthew:

With "rain" here, and "flood," and "wind," He expresses metaphorically the disasters and sufferings that befell people; such as false accusations, conspiracies, sorrows, deaths, loss of friends, resentment from strangers, all the diseases in our lives that can be mentioned by anyone. "But none of these," he said, "does such a soul give way, and the cause is, it is founded on the rock." He called the endurance of his doctrine as a rock; because his command is stronger than any stone, setting one above all waves of human affairs. Because he who keeps these things closely, will not have the advantage of men only when they vilify him, but even from the demons who plan against him. And it is not in vain bragging that to speak, Job is our witness, who receives all the devil's attacks, and stands undisturbed; and the apostles are also our witnesses, for that when the waves of the whole world beat them, when both nations and princes, both their own people and strangers, both evil spirits, and demons, and every machine mounted in motion, they stand stronger than stone, and disperse it all.

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Hymns

This parable has formed the theme for many hymns, such as Built on Stone (NFS Grundtvig, 1837) and My Expectations Built on Nothing Less (Edward Mote, c 1834), which begins:

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See also

• The Life of Jesus in the New Testament
• Ministry of Jesus

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References

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Further reading

Source of the article : Wikipedia