We conclude the Sermon on the Mount in this podcast and look at the Solid Foundation upon which to build our lives. That Solid Rock is Jesus and what he has just taught in the previous chapters of Matthew 5 to 7. We conclude with a look Peter's declaration about Jesus and the risk of rejecting the Rock - the chief cornerstone. Jesus was God sent to this world to teach us about God and what he is like. We would do well to pay close attention to this major teaching Jesus gave. He said it best. To ignore it is like building your house on the sand.
SHOW NOTES
8. The Solid Foundation (7:24-27)
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Jesus is referring to the teachings he has given in chapters 5 and 6 of Matthew, “these words of mine.” Most religions are based on other words in the Bible and traditions. None of which is necessarily bad but unless the words spoken by Jesus are given priority we are building on sand.
25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the flood waters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and doesn’t obey it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 for he taught with real authority—quite unlike their teachers of religious law.
So, what is Jesus saying? What is the bedrock he is referring to? Why do the listeners receive his teaching as having such authority?
“You have heard but I say!” is repeated by Jesus many times. What Jesus taught supersedes what Moses taught.
John 1:17 The law came through Moses, Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
Moses taught that God micromanaged the planet. Jesus taught that there is chaos on the planet and an evil being is running the planet. The book of Hebrews is a good follow up to this teaching of Jesus.
Rock and sand are both made of silica. All people are spiritual. To be a rock means there is a glue that holds the sand firmly together. Glass is fused sand. It is when the teachings of Jesus are fused to our character that we build on the rock. The teachings of Jesus as revealed in chapters 5 to 7 are the bedrock on which to build one’s character. Here are some passages which substantiated this claim.
Peter’s Declaration about Jesus Matthew 16
13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”14 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” 15 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”17 Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
18 Now I say to you that you are Peter (Petros-rolling stone), and upon this rock (Petra-massive rock) I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.19 And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.”
Petros or Peter is man at his best—recognizing that Jesus is Messiah. Humanly, he would have said that Jesus was a military conqueror who was going to remove the Roman presence. The Spirit revealed to Peter that Jesus was there to deliver us from our selfishness.
The terms Messiah, Christos, Anointed One, King, Son of David, Saviour are synonyms with different nuances but all call attention to the One who does for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. Yes, the Messiah does help but he is far more than a helper.
Your birth mother is your saviour. You could not birth yourself. Your mother did not need your help. You had no part in the process.
Airline pilots are your travel saviour’s. They do not need your help. Your part is to get to the airport and board the aircraft. They get you to your destination without any assistance from you.
The neurosurgeon is your saviour if you have a brain tumour. Your part is to show up! He/she does not need your help. They do better if you lie very still and offer no advise.
Paul identifies the Rock in 1 Corinthians 10
1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground.2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. (The Law Jn 1:17)3 All of them ate the same spiritual food,4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. (guided, protected, water, food, health, spiritual relationship)5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. (They did not get the relationship God was trying to have with them.)
Jesus us symbolized as a rock. Rocks are indestructible. They will be there for a long time and are valued as building material for this reason. They provide stability and reliability to human endeavors. They are apt symbols of God.
The Rejected Rock Matthew 21:42-44
42 Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures? ‘The stone that the builders rejected (did not look good enough.) has now become the cornerstone. (Most important stone.)This is the LORD’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.’ (Isaiah 28:16)
43 I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit. 44 Anyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on.” (Luke 20:18, Romans 9:33, 1 Peter 2:8)
Jesus was rejected by even his friends and disciples. He had to go and find them after his resurrection. Then they realized he was divine and their entire appreciation of who Jesus was changed. Many of those who continued in their unbelief perished in the siege of Jerusalem in 70 AD.
The great longing of the human heart is for more than we are.
When the princess kisses the frog, it turns into a powerful, handsome prince.
When the prince kisses sleeping beauty, she awakes to a wonderful life of romance.
When the prodigal son returns to be a servant, his father treats him as his privileged son with a robe, ring, sandals and fatted calf. The prodigal fails to grasp his identity as his father does. It is our sin too. We think small in comparison with God’s thinking. We are guilty of unbelief.
Those who are victorious (over their pathetic failure of imagination—Revelation 21:8 cowards are outside the city) will sit on the throne with Jesus
Revelation 3:21
Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my father on his throne.
Romans 8:14-17
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. 15 So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” 16 For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. 17 And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.
Galatians 3:29
And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are
his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.
Galatians 4:7
Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are his child, God
has made you his heir.
We inherit his character, his forgiveness, his mercy, his identification with me, his valuation of me.
Jesus knows me by name. I am precious to him. He has forgiven all my sins and written my name in his book of life. I am his royal brother. I am an heir together with Christ of God’s glory. My failures are not the interest of Jesus. His interest is that I learn to think the way he does about myself and others. He wants to inspire and fire my imagination with wonder.
In the movie, “The Chosen” when Jesus invites Matthew the tax collector to become a disciple Peter is most upset with Jesus. As if Peter was a credit to Jesus. Peter’s imagination was pathetically poverty stricken.
O Lord fire my imagination. Let me dare to think as you do!
Ian Hartley, August 2024
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