The House Built on the Rock

Text and Content

This is a parable that Jesus Christ told to conclude a sermon. It appears in Matthew 7:24-27 and Luke 6:47-49. In Matthew it stands at the end of the Sermon on the Mount, and in Luke it stands at the end of the sermon commonly called the "Sermon on the Plain" (Luke 6:20-49).

Whoever hears the words of Jesus and does them is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock. When the rain descends, the floods come, and the winds blow, that house does not fall. By contrast, whoever hears but does not do them is like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; in the same storm the house falls, and great is its fall.

Luke differs somewhat in detail. He records that the wise man "digged deep" and laid the foundation on a rock, while the other built upon the earth without a foundation. In both Gospels, immediately before this parable, Jesus rebukes those who merely call Him "Lord, Lord" without doing what He says (Matthew 7:21-23; Luke 6:46).

Background

Palestine has many valleys that stay dry during the dry season but suddenly fill with water when rain falls in the rainy season. Flat, sandy ground may look easy to build on, yet such torrents can wash away a foundation. The setting of the parable is commonly explained in these terms.

The word translated "rock" (bansuk in the New Korean Revised Version) renders the Greek petra (rock). "Wise" translates phronimos (prudent, sensible), and "foolish" translates mōros. The two houses look much alike from the outside, and the difference does not become apparent until the storm comes.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

The Old Testament frequently calls God "the Rock" (Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 18:2). Proverbs 10:25 says that as the whirlwind passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. The "sure foundation" of Isaiah 28:16 and the wall daubed with untempered mortar that collapses in an overflowing shower in Ezekiel 13:10-14 draw on similar imagery.

In the New Testament, James 1:22, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves," is read as expressing the same teaching. Paul states that no other foundation can be laid than Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11).

Interpretation and Points of Discussion

• What the rock is: The text compares building on the rock to hearing the words and doing them. In preaching, the rock is sometimes interpreted as Christ on the basis of 1 Corinthians 10:4 ("and that Rock was Christ") and 3:11. This interpretation reads the parable in light of other passages. The statement in Matthew 16:18, "upon this rock I will build my church," belongs to a separate text. The Catholic Church understands that rock to be Peter, while Protestants generally understand it to be Peter's confession of faith or Christ Himself.
• What the storm is: Some interpreters, reading the parable together with "that day" in Matthew 7:22, take the storm to be the Last Judgment. Others see it as the trials and tribulations of life, and some combine the two views.
• Faith and works: The Reformed and Lutheran traditions explain obedience not as a condition of salvation but as the fruit of genuine faith. The Wesleyan tradition (including Methodist and Holiness churches) places greater emphasis on the need for those justified by faith to go on in obedience and sanctification (growth in holiness). The Catholic Church also emphasizes works that cooperate with grace. Although their emphases differ, these traditions agree that the parable warns against a faith that merely hears.
• Other popular interpretations: Some sermons interpret the sand as worldly things such as money or fame, or match the rain, floods, and wind each to a particular kind of temptation. The text itself, however, makes no such distinctions.

In the Korean Church

The parable is frequently used as a sermon text on the theme of "the foundation of faith" at the New Year, on church anniversaries, and during church construction or at dedication services. Edward Mote's hymn "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" (known in Korean hymnals by a title meaning roughly "What Is My Hope?") recalls this parable in its refrain, which likens Christ to the solid rock and all other ground to sinking sand. In Sunday school, too, the contrast between the two houses is a common subject of lessons and action songs.