The Wise and the Foolish Builder

After finishing his famous Sermon on the Mount, Christ said: "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:24-27, ESV) In the sermon which preceded these remarks, Jesus of Nazareth had reimagined Torah - the basis of the Old Covenant between God and Israel.

Indeed, Christ had declared: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18, ESV) Did you get that? Jesus said that he came to this earth to FULFILL/SATISFY/ACCOMPLISH/COMPLETE/REALIZE the Law and the Prophets. He went on to say that not even the stroke of a pen or a punctuation mark would pass from the Law until ALL of it had been accomplished! Did Christ complete that mission? Scripture predicted that he would (Isaiah 53), and the New Testament informs us that he did. (See John 19:30, II Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 4:15, I Peter 2:22) Later, in that same Gospel of Matthew, Christ also taught that TWO commandments fulfilled the entire Law of God - Wholehearted love for God, and love for each other. (Matthew 22:24-40) Then, after his resurrection and just before his ascension into heaven, we are informed by that Gospel that he commanded his disciples "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19-10, ESV)

Jesus Christ is identified as the Rock over and over again in Scripture. (See Psalm 18:2, 62:2, 6-7, 118:22, I Corinthians 10:4, Matthew 16:18, Isaiah 26:4, 28:16, I Peter 2:6, Deuteronomy 32:4, II Samuel 22:47) He was that Rock referred to in the parable of the two builders. Moreover, he explicitly stated that the one "who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock." Is the house to be built on the commandments of Torah? OR Is the house to be built on Jesus Christ and what he taught? How say you? Remember, he was speaking to folks who were accustomed to observing the commandments of Torah, and he had explicitly taught his followers a new approach to righteousness - which would be found in and through him when he had completed his mission!

Paul told the Galatians that "We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." (Galatians 2:15-16, ESV) He went on to write that "all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.' Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith.' But the law is not of faith, rather 'The one who does them shall live by them.' Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'" (Galatians 3:10-13, ESV) Paul also told the Colossians that the commandments of Torah were shadows of what was to come, but the reality which they represented was to be found in Jesus Christ! (Colossians 2:17)

Hence, in the light of these passages of Scripture, each of us must ask ourselves an important question. Have you built your house on the foundation of Jesus Christ and his teachings? OR Have you built your house on the foundation of the commandments of Torah? In other words, have you built your house on THE ROCK? OR Have you built your house on the sand? Moreover, for those who have built their houses on the sand, what do you think will happen to their houses when the fast-approaching storm engulfs them? What about you? Will your house stand or fall?