The Sage and the Fool: The Story of the Two Builders

The Sage and the Fool: The Story of the Two Builders.

The Sage: A person known for wisdom, understanding and discernment; for developing the practical art of living skillfully; for growing in moral intelligence; for being able to practice the truth in daily life; for expressing astute insight and shrewd street smarts; for applying knowledge to make thoughtful decisions and healthy choices; for knowing the difference between wise and foolish, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, good and evil, true and false; for effectively demonstrating a practical spirituality; for choosing to live into Wisdom itself, the Person of Jesus the Anointed One.

The Fool: A person who doesn’t know what is best for himself; who doesn’t learn from mistakes; who is habitually rebellious; who does not consider the consequences of his behavior; who stubbornly remains unteachable; who is content with self-satisfied ignorance; who ignores counsel and discipline; who pridefully rejects a reverence for God; who has access to the truth but rejects it; who is impulsive and unable to control emotions; who is not concerned about moral blindness; who is unaware of his self-destructive lifestyle; who does not recognize the need to change his thinking and behavior; who is gullible, naïve and dim-witted.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many might works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23).

Prelude to the Story. The opening words of the closing section in Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount are actually scary good, and I do mean scary. Evidently one can have a powerful ministry, including even prophecy and exorcism, and still not be personally known by God. Apparently, one can do great things for God but still not truly know God or be known by Him. One’s whole identity could be wrapped up in doing things for the Lord, but not with the Lord. The bottom line is developing a friendship with the Lord, a deep union, a profound relationship in which God and the individual are not merely passing acquaintances. External religion is inadequate. Demonstrating piety misses the point. Religious showboating leads nowhere. Mere God-talk is vanity of vanities. The Holy-Rollers sadly end up being the Great Pretenders, going down the drain. Shockingly, one can do mighty works in God’s name and nonetheless be a “worker of lawlessness.” Yes, someone could be a certified miracle-worker and not actually be doing the will of the Father.

“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 the 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).

The Two Builders:

1. The Sage. The prudent, sensible, practical, wise builder had the good sense to dig below the surface of the ground until he found the bedrock. He then built his house on the rock foundation. The Holy Land has rock everywhere. Some rock is just below the surface, and other rock may be ten feet down. Everybody knows that the wise housebuilder doesn’t stop digging until you hit the rock.
2. The Fool. The stupid, lazy, foolish, impractical builder didn’t bother digging at all. He ignored the obvious and just thoughtlessly built his house on the sand or clay at the surface of the ground. This builder didn’t bother to listen to what was certainly advised by those around him, stubbornly proving to be surprisingly incompetent, with no concern about the consequences of his foolishness.

The Process of House Construction. Since everything was built by hand, including the digging and the construction, house-building was only accomplished by rigorous work, strenuous effort. Building a home was very difficult, and even dangerous. Much building was done in the summer, although the hardened ground was like iron to dig. Home builders wanted to get the job done before the winter rains. If the foundation was not on a rock foundation, then the rain would soften the ground, the walls would weaken, and the house would collapse. Only an extremely foolish person would build right on the ground with no rock foundation.

The Story’s References to the Hebrew Bible:

According to biblical scholar Kenneth Bailey, Jesus combined two prophetic references when designing this story. Messiah Jesus was a spiritual genius and a noted scholar of the Hebrew Bible, and He unfailingly used His Scripture as the backdrop for whatever He said. On the recommendation of another Bible scholar, Sheridan Larson, I am adding a third prophetic stream. The third is a remarkable piece of Scripture, and obviously all three portions are major aspects of Jesus’ references in the parable. All the Jewish listeners would immediately be aware of all this and make the connections.

1. Isaiah 28:14-18refers to a time when God would build in Zion on a “tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He who believes in it will not be shaken.” Every Jew knew that at that time there was a sacred rock, called “The Foundation,” slightly elevated off the ground, sitting in the center of the Holy of Holies, which is in the center of the Temple, which is in the center of the world. With this parable, Jesus is boldly claiming to in fact be the Holy Rock, the Foundation, the fulfillment of Isaiah’s precious cornerstone. He is saying that if you build on Him as the true foundation, by both listening to and acting upon His words, nothing will shake you. You will be unshakeable through life’s storms. Jesus is asserting that the Foundation Rock, built by God, is Himself. His body is the new Temple, the Third Temple, so don’t forget to build your life on Him, through hearing His words of truth, trusting Him and those words, and obeying His will.
2. Ezekiel 33:29-33is another prophetic stream Jesus refers to in this parable. Ezekiel talks directly to his Jewish hearers, warning them that they won’t hear God’s love song, since they are those who hear God’s words, but do not put them into practice. They are listening, but they don’t act on God’s words. This is the context of the parable, and every Jew in the audience would immediately remember Ezekiel’s words of warning.
3. Zechariah 4:6-10is the third prophetic word that Jesus references in this story. Again, every Jew would immediately think of this reference to the “stone of distinction” when hearing Jesus speak the parable. Let these amazing words of scripture speak for themselves: “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by My spirit – said the Lord of Hosts. Whoever you are, O great mountain in the path of Zerubbabel, turn into level ground! For he shall produce that excellent stone; it shall be greeted with shouts of ‘Beautiful! Beautiful!’” And the word of the Lord came to me: “Zerubbabel’s hands have founded this House and Zerubbabel’s hands shall complete it. Then you shall know that it was the Lord of Hosts who sent me to you. Does anyone scorn a day of small beginnings? When they see the stone of distinction in the hand of Zerubbabel, they shall rejoice.” What a stunning description of Jesus!

I AM THEY – My Feet Are on the Rock (Official Music Video) – YouTube

Reflections on the Parable:

1. Jesus says some scary words to start the parable. Some will be lost, even though they are able to repeat what amounts to them merely a religious mantra. Even if they address God, even if they say, “Lord, Lord.” This parable is fair warning to all of us, that religious God-talk isn’t evidence of salvation. We need to hear the truth at the heart level, but we also need to practice the truth in our daily lives, with God’s strength and enablement. If we only pay lip service to God, then we aren’t truly building our lives on the Precious Cornerstone, and we’re only kidding ourselves… We don’t know Him, and He doesn’t know us.
2. Both houses were hit by storms. Both experienced challenges and difficulties. Following Jesus doesn’t mean we are magically protected from life’s storms. One home was unshakeable, the other wasn’t. Build your life on the true Rock, the spiritual Foundation, and you will be left standing strong during and after life’s inevitable storms.
3. There’s a reason this parable was spoken by Jesus at a crucial time in his teaching, after His big sermons in Matthew (on the Mount) and in Luke (on the Plain). It’s a summing up of what He wants the audience to take away after all those words in those sermons. Hear and do. Listen and practice. Trust and obey. Build on the Living Stone.
4. There was no doubt in the Early Church’s mind that Jesus fulfilled the messianic prophecies of Isaiah 28:16, Psalm 118:22, and Zechariah 10:4, that Christ came out of Zion to be the Foundation Rock upon which to build one’s life and salvation. Jesus Himself claimed to be the Living Stone, the Cornerstone that the builders rejected in Matthew 21:42.Paul says so in Ephesians 2:20 and 1 Corinthians 3:11. Peter says so too, in 1 Peter 2:4,6. And Luke repeats all that in Acts 4:11. Many who were in Jesus’ audience in this parable of the two builders believed the story to be messianic, fulfilled in Jesus, that He is the Foundation Stone upon which the wise builder built his house. And true to His Word, when we build on Him, we are unshakeable. Let us dig deep till we find this Foundation. Then let us build our house, through God’s strength, through thought, word and deed.

“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished (“ekplesso”) at His teaching, for He was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.’ (Matthew 7:28-29).

1. ASTONISHED: “ekplesso”; a strong Greek word for astonished; amazed; dumfounded; awestruck; overwhelmed at something extraordinary; struck out of one’s senses; takes your breath away, even to the point of panic. There were at least fifteen gospel events in which the Greek superlative “ekplesso” was used to communicate a radical amazement, astonishment, wonder at Jesus. Jesus was met with overwhelming astonishment after His Sermon on the Mount ( 7:28); by His hometown friends as they rejected Him (Matt. 13:54); after His teaching on the inadequacy of wealth (Matt. 19:25); after His conversation with the Sadducees about heaven and the resurrection (Matt. 22:33); at His synagogue exorcism (Mark 1:22, 27); after His healing of the deaf and mute man (Mark 7:37); after He whipped the moneychangers in the Temple (Mark 11:18); at His brilliant level of understanding with the rabbis at just 12 years of age (Luke 2:48); after casting out a demon with just a word (Luke 4:32, 36); at the exorcism of a demon-possessed boy (Luke 9:43). “Clearly Jesus spoke with such glory and power emanating from him that his words were like thunderbolts in their hearts. May we hear his words in the same way today.” (Dr. Brian Simmons).
2. Jesus spoke “with authority.” The Scribes did not. They based everything on what they only repeated from their tired tradition, nothing new, no fresh bread. They were experts in repetition, like religious robots. They didn’t speak from the heart, from life experience. They talked a good show, but their personal lives were inconsistent with their teaching. They didn’t “own” their fancy religious words. Jesus, though, spoke with authority. He spoke from a pure heart that was consistent with His authentically holy life. He “owned” His profound teaching. He spoke fresh words from God, new, yet in the spirit of Hebrew scriptures. Jesus was the genuine article, the wise “author” of His own words, which was the source of His life-giving power and authority, astounding the crowd.

Larry Norman – My Feet Are On The Rock – [Lyrics] – YouTube

Follow-Up Questions:

1. How do we make the giant leap from merely saying ‘Lord, Lord’ to actually developing a deep and profound friendship with Jesus?
2. Is it really possible that one could effectively be demonstrating spiritual gifts and still not be known by God? Is this hyperbole or literal fact? Have you ever seen this happen in someone?
3. Digging deeper in the spiritual life is hard work. Finding the foundation stone takes effort and attention. Discovering the rock of God, and then building on His life-giving words, is not a passive exercise. It’s true that faith begins solely through grace, not effort. But it does take work, rigorous effort, to then build our life on the Rock. Have you found this to be true?
4. Building on sand could be understood to mean basing your spiritual life on external piety, emotions, self-promotion, personal feelings, accolades, and religious accomplishments. All of these things can shift with time and circumstance, are superficial, and are an unstable foundation. What else could be considered building on sand?
5. Describe an effective teacher you’ve had who “spoke with authority.”
6. The words of Jesus are solid rock, foundational. How do we go about working the words into our life (Peterson). What are some building spec’s on building our life on His words?