XLII.
The Sermon on the Mount.
(a Mountain Plateau Not Far from Capernaum.)
Subdivision K.
Conclusion and Application: Two Builders.
A Matt. VII. 24–29; C Luke VI. 46–49.
c 46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the
things which I say? [Why do ye give me the title, but withhold the service
which should go with it?—Mal. i. 6
.] a 24 Every one therefore that c
cometh unto me, and heareth my words { a these
words of mine,} and doeth them [John xiii.
17; Jas. i. 22], c I will show you whom
he is like: 48 he is like { a shall be
likened unto} c a man building a house, who digged and
went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: a a wise
man who built his house upon the rock [The word “rock” suggests
Christ himself. No life can be founded upon Christ's teaching unless it be
founded also upon faith and trust in his personality. For this we must dig
deep, for as St. Gregory says, “God is not to be found on the
surface”]: 25 and the rain descended, and the floods came, and
the winds blew, and beat upon that house; c and when a
flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it:
a and it fell not: c because it had
been well builded. a for it was founded upon the
rock. [The imagery of this passage would be impressive anywhere, but is
especially so when used before an audience accustomed to the fierceness of an
Eastern tempest. Rains, floods, etc., represent collectively the trials, the
temptations and persecutions which come upon us from without. There comes a
time to every life when these things throng together and test the resources of
our strength.] 26 And every one { c 49
But he} a that heareth these words of mine, and doeth
them not shall be likened unto { c is like}
a a foolish man, who { c that} built a {
a his} house upon the sand: { c
earth} without a foundation; a 27 and the
rain
270descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and smote upon that house; { c against which the stream
brake,} and straightway it fell in; a and great was the
fall thereof. c and the ruin of that house was great.
[We do not need to go to Palestine to witness the picture portrayed here.
Whole towns on the Missouri and the lower Mississippi have been undermined and
swept away because built upon the sand. Jesus here limits the tragedy to a
single house. “A single soul is a great ruin in the eyes of God”
(Godet). Jesus did not end his sermon with a strain of consolation. It
is not always best to do so.] a 28 And it came to
pass, when Jesus had finished these words, the multitudes were astonished at
his teaching: 29 for he taught them as
one having authority, and not as their scribes. [See
page 166.]
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