“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and yet do not put into practice what I say?” (Luke 6:46)
“You call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but why do you not do what I say? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and practices them—I will show you whom he is like. He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When a great flood came and the torrent struck that house, it could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears and does not practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the torrent struck it, the house immediately collapsed, and its destruction was great” (Luke 6:46–49).
As I meditate on these words, I wish to receive the lesson that they give:
(1) After reading today’s main passage, Luke 6:46–49, I would like to look up a similar passage, Matthew 7:24–27, and meditate together on Jesus’ words: “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and practices them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not practice them is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and struck that house, and it fell—and great was its fall.” In doing so, I wish to meditate on the Word of God centered on two major contrasts:
(a) First, a wise person is one who hears and practices (puts into action) the words of Jesus.
(i) Today’s passage, Luke 6:46–47 says: “You look at me and with your mouth say, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but why do you not practice what I say? The person who comes to me, hears my words, and practices them is like this.”
· Here, Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke, records that the person who goes to Jesus, hears Jesus’ words, and practices them is described as “like this kind of person” (v. 47), whereas Matthew, the author of the Gospel of Matthew, records that this person is “like a wise man” (Mt. 7:24).
- That is, in Jesus’ view, a “wise person” is one who “hears these words of mine and practices them” (v. 24). Here, “these words” refers to the entirety of Jesus’ preceding Sermon on the Mount (the teachings he gave while standing on the mountain), and in particular to the teaching about living according to God’s will—hearing the Word and putting it into practice in one’s life (Internet).
n Matthew 7:21 says: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
# Jesus says that the place entered by those who do the will of God the Father in heaven is precisely the “kingdom of heaven.” Here, “the one who does the will of God the Father in heaven” can also be described as the one who does “the work of God” (Jn. 6:29). In John 6:29, Jesus says, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” In short, this means that those who believe in Jesus enter the kingdom of heaven.
(ii) The wise person who goes to Jesus, hears Jesus’ words, and practices them is “like a man who, when building a house, dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock” (Lk. 6:48).
· Here Jesus says, “when building a house, he dug deep,” and this parable makes very appropriate use of the climate and building practices of the region of Palestine. That is, Israel is an arid region, and once rain begins to fall, it is usually accompanied by fierce storms and pours down intensely over a short period of time. As a result, muddy torrents often flow down from the mountains and collapse buildings with weak foundations. Therefore, when building a house, it was necessary to strengthen the foundation in preparation for torrential rain flowing down, which required digging deeply (Hchkma).
- The phrase “laid the foundation on the rock” means that the wise builder digs deeply until reaching bedrock and sets the foundation there before building. The one who comes to Jesus, hears his words, and practices them is like a wise builder who sets the foundation of his house on the rock. Just as a house firmly founded on the rock withstands all kinds of storms, so too, by not merely storing Jesus’ words in one’s mind but practicing them in the concrete realities of daily life, one accumulates the wisdom and courage to overcome both small and great difficulties. Ultimately, even when facing great tribulation, such a person can stand firm and faithfully preserve the integrity of their faith (Hochma).
· When building a hanok (traditional Korean house), the very first task that is generally done is laying the foundation stones (juchu). Here, juchu refers to the stones placed beneath the columns. Once all the foundation stones are laid, the columns are then erected—specifically, the columns are set directly on top of the foundation stones. After that, the process of connecting and bracing the columns (called changbang) is carried out, and the house is gradually raised. However, there is one process that must be gone through when erecting the columns on top of the foundation stones. This process is called “grejil” (the grejil technique). Since foundation stones are usually made from natural stone, no matter how wide and flat a stone is selected, it is still difficult to erect a column directly on it. Therefore, in order to set a column on the foundation stone, a preliminary process is required to ensure that the surface of the foundation stone and the surface of the column fit together precisely—this process is called grejil. The method of grejil is simple. It involves shaving and grinding the surface of the column that will be placed on the foundation stone so that it matches the foundation stone. One does not work on the foundation stone itself; rather, the surface of the column that will stand on top of it is always shaved and refined to fit the foundation stone. The standard is never the column, but always the foundation stone. And the better this grejil work is done, the more securely and sturdily the house is built (Internet).
- In this way, a wise builder lays the foundation stone on the rock (Mt. 7:24). Then what is the “rock” that Jesus is speaking of here? When we think of a “rock,” the concepts that come to mind are “steadfastness” and “solidity.” And indeed, the symbolic (figurative) meaning of the “rock” that Jesus speaks of is precisely “firmness” or “stability” (Zodhiates). That is why Jesus said to the apostle Peter in Matthew 16:18, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.” The meaning of this statement is that the church is Jesus’ church, and the spiritual foundation of that church is Jesus himself, who is the rock. Here, there is one important point we must note: the meaning of the name “Peter.” We usually understand the meaning of that name to be “rock,” but in fact its meaning is not so much a rock as a single, isolated “stone” (Friberg). Therefore, metaphorically (figuratively), the “rock” refers to Jesus himself (Friberg). Look at 1 Corinthians 10:4: “They all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ.” The apostle Paul referred to the water that Moses and the Israelites drank together at the time of the Exodus as “spiritual drink,” and he also called the rock a “spiritual rock,” saying that the rock was Christ. Therefore, the rock on which the wise person builds his house in Matthew 7:24–25 refers to none other than Jesus himself.
n At this point, I am once again led to think about spiritual grejil. Spiritual grejil is nothing other than living a life that acts according to the words of the Lord, who is the rock (v. 24). In other words, spiritual grejil means that we do not merely cry out, “Lord, Lord,” but that we act according to the will of our heavenly Father (v. 21). What is important here is that just as, in building a house, the standard is not the column but the foundation stone, so in our lives the standard is the Lord and the Lord’s will. This means that just as the foundation stone does not adjust itself to the column but rather the column must be adjusted to the foundation stone, we must not try to fit the Lord’s will to our own will; instead, we must fit our will to the Lord’s will. The reason is that we are disciples of Jesus, and as such, we are those who live only according to the Lord’s will.
(b) Second, a foolish person is one who hears the words of Jesus but does not act on them (does not put them into practice).
(i) Today’s main passage, Luke 6:49, says: “But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; when the torrent struck it, the house immediately collapsed, and its destruction was great,” Matthew 7:26–27 says: “And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its fall.”
· Here, the “foolish person” Jesus speaks of (Mt. 7:26) refers to a foolish builder who builds his house on sand. Jesus calls the person who builds a house on sand foolish because such a builder, in constructing his house, does not place the foundation of the house on rock but instead places it on sand.
- Can you imagine this? What kind of builder would construct his own house by setting its foundation on sand? That would be virtually an act of suicide. Why is that? Because when rain falls, floods rise, and winds blow and strike the house, a house built on sand will collapse—and its collapse will be great (v. 27).
n Then who is the foolish person? Who is the foolish builder? It is precisely the one who hears these words of Jesus and does not act on them (v. 26). Is that not interesting? Both the wise person and the foolish person hear the words of Jesus, but the wise person hears and acts, whereas the foolish person hears yet does not act. Who, in Jesus’ time, heard his words but did not act on them? Were they not the Pharisees, the religious leaders of that time? They were people who built their houses on sand. That is, they denied the truth that salvation is received through faith in Jesus and deceived themselves into believing that they could obtain salvation by keeping and practicing the Law. In other words, the Pharisees relied not on Jesus’ righteousness, but on their own self-righteousness. They believed that they could be saved by their own merits. Such faith is empty faith and is like sand. Therefore, it must collapse—and it can only collapse disastrously.
# We must never, like the Pharisees, rely on our own merits or our own righteousness. Rather, we must rely solely on the merit of Jesus’ cross. We are people who have received forgiveness of all our sins only through the merit of Jesus’ cross. Thus, we are those who have been declared righteous before God by being clothed with Jesus’ righteousness alone. Therefore, our salvation is God’s gift of grace given to us solely through Jesus. For this reason, we must stand firmly on the words of Jesus, who is the rock. We must stand firmly on the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we must live lives worthy of the gospel by obeying the gospel of Jesus Christ. We must all become wise people who hear the words of Jesus and put them into practice. When we do so, no matter what tribulations and hardships may come rushing into our lives, the house built on the rock will never collapse.
(2) Hymn “After Hearing the Lord’s Word”, verse 1 and the refrain: “Those who hear the Lord’s word and obey, Are like those who lay their foundation on the rock and build a house. Though rain falls, waters rise, and winds strike, A house built on the rock does not fall. Let us build well, build well, let us build our house well; Forever, upon the rock, let us build our house well.”
(a) Lyrics of the gospel song “God, My Rock”: “God, my rock—everything you have done is perfect. God, my life—I praise what you have done for me. Faithful God, without error, my good Lord. Faithful God, without error, my good Lord.”
(i) I pray that the Lord, who is the head of the church, will continue to build his church firmly upon the rock (Mt. 16:18).