Bible Study series: Matthew 7:24-29. Will you obey his words or hear them and then do as you please?
A warm welcome to this Bible study! I write to learn, so let’s learn together. I also translate to learn. The translations are mine, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to see many others, please click on this link:
In the next link to the original chapter, I comment more and offer the Greek text. At the bottom you will find a “Summary and Conclusion” section geared toward discipleship. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Matthew 7:24-29
24 Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a prudent man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down and the flood came and the winds blew and beat upon that house. And it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 And everyone hearing these teachings of mine and does not do them will be like the foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain came down and the floods came and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell. And great was its collapse!”
28 And so it happened that when Jesus finished these words, the crowds marveled at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one having authority and not as their teachers of the law. (Matt. 7:24-29)
Comments:
24-27:
“Therefore”: it follows the previous pericope, but it probably reaches back to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Apparently, we are to envisage a mixture of people in Matthew’s original community (France (p. 296). Contrast 1 Cor. 3:10-17, which talks about the suitability of the building material, whereas here the foundation is in view. In 1 Cor. 3, Paul’s foundation is also in view, but be careful how one builds on it.
“words”: as I note in many places in this commentary, it is the Greek noun logos (pronounced loh-goss and is used 330 times in the NT). Since it is so important, let’s explore the noun more deeply.
It is rich and full of meaning. It always has built into it rationality and reason. It has spawned all sorts of English words that end in –log-, like theology or biology, or have the log– stem in them, like logic.
Though certain Renewalists may not like to hear it, there is a rational side to the Word of God, and a moment’s thought proves it. The words you’re reading right now are placed in meaningful and logical and rational order. The Bible is also written in that way. If it weren’t, then it would be nonsense and confusing, and we couldn’t understand the gibberish. (Even your prophecies have to make logical and rational sense on some level.) Your Bible studies and Sunday morning sermons have to make sense, also. Jesus’s words also have Bible-based logic and rational argumentation built into it. People need to be ministered to in this way. God gave us minds and brains and expects us to use them. Your preaching cannot always be flashy and shrieky and so outlandishly entertaining that people are not fed in the long term. Movements like that don’t last over the years without the Word. I have observed this from firsthand experience in certain sectors of the Renewal Movement.
People have the deepest need to receive solid teaching. Never become so outlandishly supernatural and entertaining that you neglect the reasonable and rational and logical side of preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible.
On the other side of the word logos, people get so intellectual that they build up an exclusive Christian caste of intelligentsia that believe they alone can teach and understand the Word. Not true. Just study Scripture with Bible helps and walk in the Spirit, as they did in Acts. Combining Word and Spirit is the balanced life.
Here Jesus is referring to his entire teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. I almost translated it as “teaching” (singular, collective teaching rolled into one word) or teachings, for the noun in this pericope is plural.
“prudent”: it means: “sensible, thoughtful, prudent, wise.” A wise and prudent manager of God’s household or portion of his kingdom can figure things out by the Spirit. He knows how to plan and surrender his plan to God. He is in constant communication with God through prayer. God gives him heavenly wisdom to apply God’s kingdom principles to everyday life. It is God-given know-how. It may even include shrewdness (Luke 16:8). He has business savvy and know-how, in sizing up who the king and his kingdom are. He join it and follows him.
“foolish”: the adjective is mōros (pronounced moh-ross, and our word moron is related to it). It appears in in Matt. 5:22, where Jesus said not to call someone a fool, but he was speaking in the context of a thoughtless, mean-spirited remark. It appears here in Matt. 7:26 about the foolish man who built his house on a sandy foundation. In Matt. 23:17, he called the Pharisees and teachers of the law “fools!” He was being thoughtful and had analyzed and sized them up accurately. And finally it appears in Matt. 25:2, 3, 8 (see also 1 Cor. 1:25, 27; 3:8; 4:10; 2 Tim. 2:23; Ti. 3:9). Matthew is the only Gospel writer who uses it. BDAG is considered by many to be the authoritative lexicon of the Greek NT, and it defines the term simply: “foolish, stupid.” It also adds that the foolish person is a godless, obstinate person (see Deut. 32:6; Is. 32:6).
In Psalms and Proverbs ‘fools’ are those who leave God out of of their life (Ps. 14:1; 53:1; Prov. 12:15-16; 14:33).
The rest of the pericope sets up a clear enough contrast between those who hear and obey or do, and those who hear and do not obey or do.
Blomberg:
The wise person living in the Palestinian desert would erect a dwelling on a secure rock to protect the house from the flash floods that sudden storms created. The foolish person would build directly on the sand and would have no protection against the devastation of the elements. So too Judgment Day will come like a flood to disclose which spiritual structures will endure. Preliminary crises may also reveal authentic and inauthentic spirituality. (comment on 7:24-27)
28-29:
These verses are a nice wrap up for this wonderful teaching. The clause “And so it happened that when Jesus finished” is used at key junctures in Matthew’s Gospel: 7:28; 11:1; 13:53; 19:1; 26:1. Let’s keep track of them as we move along through the commentary.
“teaching”: in v. 28 it is the noun logos, and see v. 24 for more comment.
“teaching”: in v. 29 it comes from the Greek noun didachē (pronounced dee-dah-khay), and it is a doctrine or a set of beliefs which he taught. It was mostly practical, but he did teach them that his words were on an equal plane to the Torah, which hints at his authoritative and divine status. He will judge people, on that day. He will be the divine judge. Matthew’s high Christology.
Renewalists need much more instruction and doctrine than they are getting. Inspirational preaching about God fulfilling their hopes and dreams is insufficient. We need to discern the signs of the times or seasons (Matt. 16:3). We live in the time or season of the worldwide web. The people are getting bombarded with strange doctrines, on youtube (and other such platforms). These youtube “teachers” know how to edit things and put in clever colors and special effects, but they have not been appointed by God. They do not know how to do even basic research. They run roughshod over basic hermeneutical (interpretational) principles. These “teachers” do not seem to realize that they will be judged more severely (Jas. 3:1) and will have to render an account of their (self-appointed) “leadership” (Heb. 13:17). If they destroy God’s temple (the church), God will (eventually) destroy them (1 Cor. 3:17).
Further, my impression is that the main platform speakers on TV whose budgets are big enough to put them on TV every day don’t even know the basics about doctrine, if they were asked (I admit I’m still learning basic doctrine). Why not? They are too busy being corporate managers and even Chief Executive Officers of large churches. They are not turning over the practical side of church leadership to their elders and deacons. They do not spend hours a day—all day, every day—studying nothing but Scriptures, with good ol’ commentaries. (Maybe this one can help, a little.) They do not spend much time reading up on theology and doctrine. (Maybe my website can help, a little.)
A better translation of Eph. 4:11 reads: “Apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teaching pastors,” not pastors and teachers. Do we have teaching pastors or management or corporate pastors who specialize in organizational leadership? Or do we have psychology pastors? These areas should be turned over to a team. The teaching pastors should do nothing but study Scripture and should have the bulk of the teaching time on Sunday morning and in other services.
We need to change our ways and follow Scripture, or else much of the church will spiritually diminish and be swept away by strange teachings. Yes, good ol’ fashioned theology and even a little apologetics about difficult passages is what the global Church needs. They need the basics—even on Sunday morning, delivered by teaching pastors, not corporate, inspirational pastors.
“authority”: it is the noun exousia (pronounced ex-oo-see-ah), and it means, depending on the context: “right to act,” “freedom of choice,” “power, capability, might, power, authority, absolute power”; “power or authority exercised by rulers by virtue of their offices; official power; domain or jurisdiction, spiritual powers.”
The difference between authority and power is parallel to a policeman’s badge and his gun. The badge symbolizes his right to exercise his power through his gun, if necessary. The gun backs up his authority with power. But the distinction should not be pressed too hard, because exousia can also mean “power.” In any case, God through Jesus can distribute authority to his followers (Matt. 10:1; Luke 10:19; John 1:12). Jesus will give us authority even over the nations, if we overcome trials and persecution (Rev. 2:26). And he is about to distribute his power in Acts 2.
Never forget that you have his authority and power to live a victorious life over your personal flaws and sins and Satan. They no longer have power and authority over you; you have power and authority over them.
What Are Signs and Wonders and Miracles?
“their”: And here we have another instance of their (see 4:23; 8:34; 9:35; 10:17; 12:9; 13:54; 22:7; 22:16). Why does Matthew keep saying “their synagogue or their city or their teachers of the law? My opinion: his community has moved well past Judaism and must distinguish between the newly formed Christian community and the Jewish community.
“teachers of the law”: They were also known as scribes or legal experts.
You can see a writeup about them here (in alphabetical order):
Quick Reference to Jewish Groups in Gospels and Acts
They were the Watchdogs of Theology and Behavior (David E. Garland, Luke: Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament [Zondervan, 2011], p. 243). The problem which Jesus had with them can be summed up in Eccl. 7:16: “Be not overly righteous.” He did not quote that verse, but to him they were much too enamored with the finer points of the law, while neglecting its spirit (Luke 11:37-52; Matt. 23:1-36). Instead, he quoted this verse from Hos. 6:6: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice” ((Matt. 9:13; 12:7). Overdoing righteousness, believe it or not, can damage one’s relationship with God and others.
Jesus’s authority came from his anointing at his baptism, and the Father’s declaration that he loved his Son (Matt. 3:13-17). The teachers of the law did not have this blessing; instead, they just taught a wooden literalism and compliance, and piled their interpretations on top of previous interpretations or the tradition of the elders. Words multiplied and people were oppressed.
I like how France contrasts scribal authority with the authority of Jesus:
Whereas scribal rulings were based on the traditions of earlier interpreters of the law, Jesus has in 5:17-48 set himself up as an authority over against that interpretive tradition on the basis not of formal training or authorization but of his own confident “I tell you.” It was that sort of inherent “authority” that the people missed in their scribes, even though their office commanded respect. When to that remarkable claim is added Jesus’s assumption that he himself is the proper object of people’s allegiance and the arbiter of their destiny (5:11-12; 7:21-23, 24, 26), the crowds astonishment is hardly out of place. (p. 299)
Osborne:
The Sermon has presented the laws of the kingdom and demanded a superior righteousness (5:20) for the citizens of the new covenant community. The conclusion (vv. 28-29) cements that with the realization of Jesus’ incredible authority on the part of crowds. The Sermon is powerful both in content and form, and the foundation behind it is neither rabbinic tradition or even the Torah itself. The authority came from within, form the messianic authority of his Person. In Jesus, God has spoken in an entirely new way. The crowds could be linked with the “seekers” above, for they are interested in Jesus and his authority; yet they fail to respond as he demands. They form the audience and correspond to many readers of Matthew’s gospel. They are being called to repentance and to participation in the gospel message. (p. 279)
Blomberg:
Not surprisingly, the crowds marvel and contrast Jesus’ teaching with that of the scribes. For them the difference was one of authority. Of course the scribes and Pharisees were religious authorities, but their right to speak was always based on their ability to quote Scripture or subsequent Jewish teachers and tradition. Strikingly, Jesus quotes Scripture in his sermon only to reinterpret it, he cites no human authorities or tradition, and he speaks with directness and confidence that he himself is bringing God’s message for a new era in human history. Such preaching reflects either the height of presumption and heresy or the fact that he was a true spokesman for God, whom we dare not ignore. (Comment on 7:28-29)
GrowApp for Matthew 7:24-29
A. Simply put, are you a wise builder or a foolish one?
B. How do you know? (Jesus answers this question for you.)
C. How do you become a wise one?
RELATED
9. Authoritative Testimony in Matthew’s Gospel
1. Church Fathers and Matthew’s Gospel
2. Archaeology and the Synoptic Gospels
14. Similarities among John’s Gospel and the Synoptic Gospels
1. The Historical Reliability of the Gospels: Introduction to Series
SOURCES
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