NEW TESTAMENT CONTEXTUAL COMMENTARY

by Dr. Robert R. Seyda

GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

CHAPTER SEVEN

Part V

Verses 24-27: “Whoever hears these teachings of mine and obeys them is like a wise man who built his house on rock. It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not fall because it was built on rock. Whoever hears these teachings of mine and does not obey them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. It rained hard, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house. And it fell with a loud crash.”

One will notice immediately that both men referred to here are building houses; in fact they may be using the same architecture, floor plan and materials. The major difference is where they build their houses; one chooses to erect his on solid rock above the shoreline, while the other builds his down on the beach. Here the choice of furniture, color of the siding and decorum became less important than the location. Jesus wanted His listeners to ask themselves: “Are you planning to build?” Second question, “On what do you plan to build?”

We cannot afford to miss the spiritual implications here in this illustration. While Jesus was talking about a literal house, He was no doubt using it as a metaphor for one’s plans and goals in life. Just like a house is where you plan to live, so your goals and plans for life are where you expect to spend most of your time building your future. It doesn’t take a herculean leap of wisdom to relate this same concept to your spiritual life. In this case, it is easy to see the sand as being man’s perceptions and philosophy of life while the rock is emblematic of the Word of God. The outcome is the same: that which is built upon the Rock will be the house that endures the storm and survives.

Why? Not because the house is so strong, but that the Rock is so solid. King Solomon touched on this same principle when he wrote: “The wise accept instruction, but fools argue and bring trouble on themselves.”¹ Solomon repeats himself in a different way, “Wisdom lets smart people know what they are doing, but stupid people only think they know.”² Some people today have a convoluted perception of wisdom. They think that by refusing help and advice and figuring things out on their own, that is wisdom. When in fact, asking for all the help and advice one can get is truly wise. How much more then, when it involves the spiritual life we are building.

Chrysostom has an interesting comment here. He relates: “In referring to rain, floods and winds Jesus is speaking about all those human circumstances and misfortunes, such as false accusations, plots, bereavements, deaths, loss of family members, insults from others, and all the horrid things in life about which one could speak. Jesus says that a soul that pursues the way of excellence does not give in to any of these potential disasters. And the cause of this is that this soul has been founded upon the rock.”³ Some would say that these storms and elements were directed at this man’s house because he built it on solid rock. But those same things came against the man who built his house on the sand. So there must be another purpose these storms serve in Christ’s teaching what He wanted His listeners to learn.

This seems clear enough in Chrysostom’s mind when he writes: “Now ‘rock’ refers to the reliability of Jesus’ teaching. For His commands are stronger than any rock. They establish a person high above all the human waves of life. For the one who guards these commands with care will excel not only over human beings when treated maliciously but even over the demons themselves in their plots.” In other words, having Jesus in your life and following His teachings and guidance will insure that your “house” or “life” will prove fully able to survive the storms that circumstances in life often bring to bear on everyone.

Ezekiel had an interesting take on this idea of building without the right advice, “Again and again those false prophets lied to my people. They said there would be peace, but there is no peace. The people need to fix the walls and prepare for war. But they only slap a thin coat of plaster over the broken walls. Tell them that I will send hail and a strong rain. The wind will blow hard, and a tornado will come. Then the wall will fall down. When the wall falls down, the people will ask the prophets, ‘What happened to the plaster you put on the wall?’”⁴

Solomon touched on this aspect of why some homes fall and some stand: “A wise woman makes her home what it should be, but the home of a foolish woman is destroyed by her own actions.”⁵ Jeremiah saw how embarrassing it was for those who built their houses on the sand, “You keep saying, ‘We have the Lord’s teachings. We are so smart!’ But this is not true, because the scribes have lied with their pens. These ‘smart people’ refused to listen to the Lord’s teachings. So they are not really smart at all. These ‘smart people’ then felt trapped. They became dismayed and ashamed.”⁶ Someone once said that a wise person is someone who learns from their mistakes. But then another person said that a really wise person is someone who learns from other people’s mistakes so they won’t have to repeat them.

Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah, a descendant of Ezra the Scribe and a committed scholar of the Mishnah, as well as a contemporary of Jesus, used similar illustrations. He used to say: “What is the man like whose wisdom exceeds his accomplishments? Like a tree whose branches are many, but whose roots are few; and the wind comes and plucks it up, and knocks it over on its face, as it is said, ‘And he will be like a lonely juniper tree in the desert, that cannot take advantage of good opportunities; but will live out its life in parched places in the wilderness, a barren land that’s not inhabited.’⁷ But he whose accomplishments exceed his wisdom, what is he like? To a tree whose branches are few, but whose roots are many, so that though all the winds in the world come and blow on it, they cannot stir it from its place, as it is said, ‘And he shall be as a tree planted by the waters; and that spreads out its roots by the river and will not bothered when heat comes, but his leaf will be green; and will not be damaged in the year of drought, neither will he cease from producing fruit.’⁸”⁹

But the one that comes closest is the Rabbi who said, “One in whom there are good works, who has studied much Torah, to what may he be likened? To a person who builds first with gravel and afterward with bricks: even when much water comes and collects by their side, it does not dislodge them. But one in whom there are no good works, though he studied Torah, to what may he be likened? To a person who builds first with bricks and afterward with gravel, even when a little water gathers, it overthrows them immediately.”¹⁰

Early church theologian Origen, who was also a well-known world traveler had this to say about what one faces in this life as a believer. He says: “For neither death nor life nor angels nor other things can separate us from the love of Christ.¹¹ Neither can the flooding of rivers, as in the lands of Egypt and Assyria, do harm. Only those are harmed who build on sand, who practice the wisdom of the world.” For Origen, the rivers of Egypt and Assyria symbolize the wisdom of the world, an enemy of Christ. The sons of Abraham who build precariously on the sand are the Jews, based on the connection of the sand in Matthew 7:26 to the sand in Genesis 22:17; the descendants of Abraham would be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore.

Origen goes on to say: “The winds that blow are like the false prophets. All these, coming together in one place, ‘beat upon’ the house. If it is founded on rock, they do no harm. ‘The way of a snake upon a rock’ is not to be found’.¹² But in the form of temptations and persecutions, which may mount into a flood, they beat upon even the one who seems to be well-founded. The house falls if it does not have Christ as its basis and foundation. But the truly wise person builds one’s house ‘upon a rock.’ This is the way the Lord builds his church—upon the rock, with steadfastness and strength. This is why “the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”¹³ All the persecutions that fall upon that house accomplish nothing. The house is founded upon the rock.”¹⁴

Verses 28-29: When Jesus finished speaking, the people were amazed at His teaching. He did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like someone who knew what he was talking about.

Christ’s authority in this case was more than simply having been commissioned to speak. He was there when the world was formed; He appeared to the patriarchs; He was present when the Law was written; He stood by the prophets as they spoke. Christ did not speak as the scribes who exhorted about incidents in the past tense, to which they were not eye witnesses. When Jesus spoke of the Word, He spoke of Himself for He is the Word.

I wonder if anyone in the crowd remembers what Moses said about a promise God made to him on behalf of the children of Israel, “The Lord your God will send to you a prophet. This prophet will come from among your own people, and he will be like me. You must listen to him. God will send you this prophet because that is what you asked him to do. When you were gathered together at Mount Horeb, you became frightened and said, ‘Don’t let us hear the voice of the Lord our God again! Don’t let us see that great fire or we will die!’ The Lord said to me, ‘What they ask for is good. I will send them a prophet like you. This prophet will be one of their own people. I will tell him what he must say, and he will tell the people everything I command. This prophet will speak for Me, and I will punish anyone who refuses to listen to My commands.’”¹⁵

The reason Jesus spoke with such authority can be noted in these words of the Preacher in the Old Testament: “He has the authority to give commands, and no one can tell him what to do. People will be safe if they obey his command.”¹⁶ But what they didn’t know was what Isaiah had to say that also applied to this Teacher, “The Lord God gave me the ability to teach, so now I teach these sad people. Every morning He wakes me and teaches me like a student. The Lord God helps me learn, and I have not turned against Him. I will not stop following Him. I will let those people beat me and pull the hair from my beard. I will not hide my face when they say bad things to me and spit at me. The Lord God will help me, so the bad things they say will not hurt me. I will be strong. I know I will not be disappointed.”¹⁷

No wonder Jesus Himself would open the scroll of Isaiah and read to the crowd in Nazareth, “The Spirit of the Lord God is on me. The Lord has chosen me to tell good news to the poor and to comfort those who are sad. He sent me to tell the captives and prisoners that they have been set free. He sent me to announce that the time has come for the Lord to show his kindness, when our God will also punish evil people. He has sent me to comfort those who are sad, those in Zion who mourn. I will take away the ashes on their head, and I will give them a crown. I will take away their sadness, and I will give them the oil of happiness. I will take away their sorrow, and I will give them celebration clothes.”¹⁸ One unique factor that proved Jesus to be the true Messiah is the fact that when people asked Him to prove His authenticity by providing them with miracles He did not comply, but when people believed in Him as being the Messiah because of His words, He provided miracles on His own accord.

In this parable Chrysostom sees a combination of love and authority. He writes: “Surely it was logical that they were in pain over the heavy weight of what He had said. They were stunned by the soaring level of the requirements that He had made. But now the strength of the one teaching was so great that He seized many of them and threw them into great amazement. Because of their pleasure in what He said, Jesus finally persuaded them not to leave as He finished speaking. For not even after He went down from the mountain did the hearers leave, but even then the whole audience followed Him because of the great love that was shown in what He had said. But most of all they were astounded at His authority. For when He said these things, He did not refer to another, as even the prophet Moses did, but everywhere He showed that He himself was the One who had the authority to decide. For even when He was establishing laws Jesus continually added, ‘But I say to you.’¹⁹ And when He was reminding them of the final day of judgment, He showed that He Himself is the One who will bring justice, both through the punishments and through the honors. This is what caused such a commotion among them.”²⁰

One of the fascinating things about the ministry of Christ is that He drew crowds when they found out He was speaking, and once they came they didn’t want to leave. That is, until He said something that really spoiled their day or tested their loyalty.²¹ I am of the persuasion that the ones who stayed are those who were listening with their hearts, not just their ears. Strange how sometimes when people are speaking to us, we are in constant editing mode, rearranging things that they say so that it fits our way of thinking. But when Jesus spoke, His authority and assertiveness was such that the people who really revered Him hung onto every word and always wanted to hear more.

That was my prayer when I finally accepted God’s call for me to go preach the Gospel. I asked Him to give me such a desire for His word that no matter how often I studied it, I would always reluctantly close its pages because I had to go to work or get some sleep. I wanted to have the desire to read on and on. That same strong desire is still with me today. But it is not a gift from God exclusive to me, it can belong to anyone who diligently seeks to know more about God. Because by becoming more acquainted with the Father, we become more knowledgeable about the Son and the Holy Spirit.