Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders

This parable compares a life based on Jesus' teachings to a flood-resistant building founded on the rock.

The Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders or the House on the Rock is a parable told by Jesus in the New Testament, found in Matthew Matthew 7:24–27 and Luke Luke 6:46–49. The parable illustrates the importance of building one's life on Jesus' teaching.

Narrative

In the Gospel of Matthew, the Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders is as follows:

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it."

— Matthew 7:24–27, English Standard Version

Interpretation

This parable emphasises the need to put Jesus' teachings into practice, and speaks of "the contrast between two sorts of people whose hearts are revealed in their actions."

Matthew's version of the parable has a "more complex narrative structure" than Luke's, mentioning rain and winds as well as floods. These forces are usually interpreted ethically, as trials of life that can be resisted by a life founded on Christian doctrine, but can also be interpreted eschatologically, as the coming end times.

The usual interpretation goes back to John Chrysostom (c. 347–407), who wrote in his Homily 24 on Matthew:

By "rain" here, and "floods," and "winds," He is expressing metaphorically the calamities and afflictions that befall men; such as false accusations, plots, bereavements, deaths, loss of friends, vexations from strangers, all the ills in our life that any one could mention. "But to none of these," says He, "does such a soul give way; and the cause is, it is founded on the rock." He calls the steadfastness of His doctrine a rock; because in truth His commands are stronger than any rock, setting one above all the waves of human affairs. For he who keeps these things strictly, will not have the advantage of men only when they are vexing him, but even of the very devils plotting against him. And that it is not vain boasting so to speak, Job is our witness, who received all the assaults of the devil, and stood unmoveable; and the apostles too are our witnesses, for that when the waves of the whole world were beating against them, when both nations and princes, both their own people and strangers, both the evil spirits, and the devil, and every engine was set in motion, they stood firmer than a rock, and dispersed it all.

Hymns

This parable has formed the theme for many hymns, such as "Built on the Rock" (Nikolai Grundtvig, 1837) and "My Hope Is Built" (Edward Mote, c. 1834), which begins:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

"The Wise Man Built His House Upon the Rock," based on this parable, is a well-known Sunday school song, often performed by children with accompanying actions.