Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Christian Podcast Central

Home
Evangelical - Sponsored
Jesus in HD 76: How Firm is Your Foundation?

Jesus in HD 76: How Firm is Your Foundation?

Last updated on: February 24, 2016 at 3:18 am by Christian Podcast Central

Jesus in HD 76: How Firm is Your Foundation? 2016-02-24T03:18:12-08:00 Christian Podcast Central

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Jesus in HD 76: How Firm is Your Foundation? Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Jesus was a master-builder, a trained and professional artisan, a teknon, a worker in wood and stone.

As you will hear in this PODCAST, Jesus knew all about soil, sand, rock, and proper foundations on which a house can stand strong and secure against floods and winds.

Matthew 7:24-29 (NKJV)

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Matthew says that the people there were astonished by his authority. So, what does astonished mean? The word literally means to be struck out of one’s senses. Their minds were blown! They had never heard teaching such as this before. Jesus was a rabbi who “out-rabbi-ed” all their other rabbis. You see, Jesus not only understood the text of the Torah, as any rabbi or scribe worth their salt did, but He went way beyond that, explained the application of the words and the intent behind the words. He explained the spirit of the law, not just the letter of the law. In other words, He not only explained the meaning of God’s word, but God’s reason for writing it in the first place.

And, what was it about Jesus’ authority that He spoke with that separated Him from the scribes? Well, for starters, the word Matthew used for “authority” is the same word Jesus used when He said that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins; and then went on to heal the paralyzed man while also forgiving his sins – all on the Sabbath. And those who saw this stood in amazement at the authority given to a man to heal and beyond that, to forgive sins. (Matthew 9:1-8)

Then, we see the same word used again in the next chapter when Jesus called together His twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal all kinds of sickness and diseases.

Jesus spoke with all this authority – from God Himself – when he taught.

So, getting back to the passage in Matthew 7, the question becomes, on what foundation are you and I building our lives? Because it’s a 100% certainty that metaphoric (and some actual) floods and storms will ravenously and unexpectedly devastate our lives.

Now, notice that as Jesus describes the wise man in the midst of the storm, He doesn’t say that the wise man got on his knees and prayed that the storm go away. Rather, the wise man actually had prepared for it by laying the right foundation.

And notice that Jesus doesn’t say that he merely built on rock, but that he built his home upon THE rock. So what is the rock?

Well, first we have to consider the foolish builder. He built his home on a foundation that appeared to be solid – after all the sand Jesus referred to seems hard enough to construct upon. But was brought to reality when the storm brought down his house by quickly eroding the eluvial sand with its wind and rain.

Then consider that storms – both metaphoric and real – are a natural part of life. They don’t reflect God’s grace, mercy, nor anger with us. In fact, He actually uses them for His purpose of drawing us closer to Him.

If we are built upon a foundation of the rock.

So, what is the rock?

The rock isn’t Jesus (close but no cigar). The rock is His words and our obedience to them. The rock is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7.

As Jesus said at the very end of His most famous sermon: “whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

That morning, upon that hill, Jesus was laying down a foundation upon which people could build their lives. And if we build our lives on a foundation of THE rock, then the storms that will inevitably rage against us do not have to be devastating, but we can endure them and even glorify God through them.

Uncategorized

bible

build your house upon the rock

christian

christian bible study podcast

christian culture podcast

Previous Post

July 25, 2014

Meeting People Head On with Ray Schmautz 4: Adapting to God’s Game Plan

Next Post

July 25, 2014 Reflections of Grace 39: Living From the Heart, part 2

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Brad Stine Has Issues Christian Podcast Central Classic Podcast Experience God Life Grounded Ouxano Parent Like You Mean It The Protest Show with Thor Ramsey The Summit Lecture Series Uncategorized What You’ve Been Searching For

Select a Month July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 June 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz