The Wise and Foolish Builders

Today's passage takes place towards the end of Jesus's preaching on the mountainside. There were two things that struck me while reading this passage.

The first thing was the wise and foolish builders. In the passage, Jesus says "24. Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like the wise man who built his house on the rock. 25. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock. 26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27. The ran came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house and it fell with a great crash."

As we all know, when people build a house or buy a house, they always check its foundation for defects and want to sure it's good and strong. The foundation is important because it is what keeps the house steady and strong.

Something that we should notice is the words "everyone who hears these words of mine." In both examples, Jesus clearly states that both kinds of people heard His words. The only difference is the wise one listens and applied Christ's words and teachings into their live, therefore strengthening their faith in Him and the wise one builds his life on a solid foundation. So when difficult times come (they are the bad weather) and no matter how badly they are beaten, they survive it because their foundation keeps them strong and steady.

However, the foolish one hears Christ's word but doesn't really listen or fully understand it. Their foundation is build upon sandy ground. There's no stability in sand because it is loose and feeble, so that means their faith is the same. Therefore the entire house can come tumbling down with one swift blow. This kind of foundation is a very dangerous one to have because once everything comes crashing down, it can be devastating and picking up and putting back together the broken pieces again can be really hard to do.

The frustrating thing about the foolish builder is, when you think about it, who in their right mind would build a house on the sand because that right there is a foolish thing to do and an big time no-no. When we hear God's voice speaking to us through His word or through His message on Sundays or Fridays and it falls on deaf ears or harden heart, we are no different than the foolish builder because we given such an amazing gift but we don't see its real value or how amazing and precious it is to us but we let it go to waste by forgetting His words and teachings to go do our own things.

I think the first part of this passage encourages us to inspect our foundations and remind us that we mustn't forget how important our foundations are our Christian faith because it is what we stand upon and what holds us steady during both good and trouble times. Now the question I ask you is: Is your foundation built upon solid rock or on sandy ground?

The second thing that caught my eye is in verse 28 and 29. It reads, "28. When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching 29. because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law."

I honestly don't get this. We all know that Christ spoke with authority because He is the Son of God/Son of Man, etc. Jesus is apart of the Holy Trinity and God gave Him authority and I get that. What I don't get is verse 29 when they compare him to the teachers of the law. Is it because Jesus is seen as a common man from a humble birth who is speaking with so much wisdom and authority when he did not have the training and education as the Pharisees and Teachers of the law did? But Jesus is seen as a rabbi and even a prophet, so what does this mean? I mean, is Matthew simply making an observation that Jesus is teaching the crowds of people a message that is different from the laws that were given to Moses by God. And this is why the book states that Jesus "taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the law." I'm sorry to confuse you but I'm confuse with this part of the passage.