the wise aned oolish Buileders Matthew 7:26 | 1519
will be opened to you. 8 For ev ery one who asks re ceives; the one who seeks finds; i and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9“ Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your chil dren, how much more will your Fa ther in heav en give good gifts to those who ask him! 12 So in ev ery thing, do to oth ers what you would have them do to you, j for this sums up the Law and the Proph ets. k
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13“ En ter through the nar row gate. l For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to de struc tion, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and nar row the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
7:8 i Pr 8:17; Jer 29:12, 13
7:12 j Lk 6:31 k Ro 13:8-10;
Gal 5:14 7:13 l Lk 13:24
7:15 m Jer 23:16; Mt 24:24; Mk 13:22; Lk 6:26; 2Pe 2:1; 1Jn 4:1; Rev 16:13 n Ac 20:29
7:16 o Mt 12:33; Lk 6:44 p Jas 3:12
7:19 q Mt 3:10
7:21 r Hos 8:2; Mt 25:11 s Ro 2:13;
Jas 1:22
7:22 t Mt 10:15 u 1Co 13:1-3
7:23 v Ps 6:8; Mt 25:12, 41; Lk 13:25-27
7:24 w Jas 1:22-25
Mt 7:24 ❖ How can we best put Jesus’ words into practice today?
not bear bad fruit, and a bad tree can not bear good fruit. 19 Ev ery tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. q 20 Thus, by their fruit you will rec og nize them.
True and False Disciples
21“ Not ev ery one who says to me,‘ Lord, Lord,’ r will en ter the king dom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Fa ther who is in heav en. s 22 Many will say to me on that day, t‘ Lord, Lord, did we not proph e sy in your name and in your name drive out de mons and in your name per form many mir a cles?’ u 23 Then I will tell them plain ly,‘ I nev er knew you. Away from me, you evil do ers!’ v
The Wise and Foolish Builders 7:24 – 27pp // Lk 6:47 – 49
24“ There fore ev ery one who hears these words of mine and puts them into prac tice w is like a 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, be cause it had its foun da tion on the rock. 26 But ev ery one who hears when the disciple faithfully prays for unbelieving family members’ salvation, shares the gospel, and demonstrates gospel values in their life. 7:9 – 11 The heavenly Father, who is absolutely trustworthy, will always give to the disciples what they really need. 7:12 Jesus’ teaching on prayer and the Golden Rule brings to light two significant points about stability in one’ s discipleship. First, stability will come as disciples learn how to depend on their heavenly Father. Second, stability will come through a healthy commitment to live for the benefit of others.
7:1 – 12 The kind of balance advocated in this passage means to take two seemingly opposite truths and live with them both at the same time, even though we may not be able to understand completely how they fit together. In this section we come across a number of issues that require us to balance two truths. Doing so is demanding, because we are always thinking and weighing our actions and thoughts. We must recognize that in the Christian life, we are always in process. But our pursuit of the goal to understand and apply all of God’ s truth is what will help us to stay balanced.
7:13 – 14 One can travel comfortably on the roomy road. However, the comfort is deceiving, because it
UNCORRECTED PROOF
True and False Prophets
15“ Watch out for false proph ets. m They come to you in sheep’ s cloth ing, but inward ly they are fe ro cious wolves. n 16 By their fruit you will rec og nize them. o Do peo ple pick grapes from thorn bush es, or figs from this tles? p 17 Like wise, ev ery good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree canends in“ destruction,” a common word for eternal punishment. The narrow gate and road are more restrictive because they are limited to Jesus and his manner of discipleship. The way of discipleship stretches throughout one’ s years on earth, ultimately leading to eternal life. 7:15 – 20 Jesus admonishes his disciples to be“ fruit inspectors” of those passing themselves off as prophets. False prophets will lead people away from God or speak prophecies that are not fulfilled. 7:21 – 23 False disciples claim prophetic status and point to charismatic activity as a sign of discipleship( v. 22). False disciples gain power“ in Jesus’ name,” but their activities are meaningless for their own eternal destiny. The ultimate authenticity of one’ s life will be proven in at the end of time. Here Jesus claims the divine right to know the inner recesses of a person’ s heart. 7:24 – 27 The audience of the Sermon on the Mount would readily understand the surface meaning intended in the parable. But would they see Jesus’ point? Would they reject the shifting sands of the religious leadership and choose instead Jesus’ words as the foundation for their lives? The choice is no less stark in our own day. Wise men and women build their lives on Jesus, regardless of the current cultural or religious values or circumstances.