PODCAST
Which Foundation?
August 31st, 2023
Matthew 7:24-29
Jesus’ parable contrasts two builders and two foundations: wise and foolish, rock and sand. Sand, with its fine grains, is easily shifted by flowing water. Making it an unsure foundation. Solid rock (petra: “ledge,” or “bedrock’) makes a sure foundation. The same word appears later when Jesus tells Simon, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it” (16:18). That rock was Peter’s proclamation of faith in Jesus as “the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (16:16).
This parable comes at the end of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). It may seem a strange way to end a sermon. Yet, like all good sermons, it leads us to a “crisis” (krisis, a “separation,” “judgement,” or “decision”). The hearer is encouraged to ask, “What have I built my life upon?” The shifting sand of unstable human opinion or achievement, or the solid rock of faith in Christ Jesus and His unshakable kingdom?
Author: Duane Brush
