22 Apr 2026

Wise and Foolish Builders

Steve Copland

In this third parable of Jesus from Matthew 7 and Luke 6 we will examine His distinction between wise and foolish builders. Like so many of Jesus’ parables, this one is a summary analogy of what He has just been teaching and so it begins with the word, ‘therefore’ in Matthew’s version (Matthew 7:26).

In Matthew’s gospel the parable comes at the end of three chapters of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount. How do we know if the parable relates to the entire sermon, or just the last part of it? The general message of the parable is ‘don’t just hear my words, but put them into practice’, therefore, we could state that this parable covers everything Jesus taught throughout His entire ministry.

However, there is also an immediate context which narrows the focus to a specific teaching. Keep in mind that the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount suggests that the Beatitudes were spoken to the disciples, however, the last part of the Sermon tells us that the crowds were amazed at His teaching, therefore, we don’t know for certain if the Sermon on the Mount was given in one day, or if Matthew’s account is a summary of Jesus’ teaching to the crowds in general over several days or weeks. Whenever a parable or passage begins with the word ‘therefore’, we must determine what was said before that is being concluded. Luke’s version gives us a clue. It reads:

46 Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.

(Luke 6:46-49)

Luke’s version of the parable begins with the words ‘why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say’. In Matthew’s gospel the ‘Lord, Lord’ language is part of a more detailed discourse so we know that we must go back in Matthew’s version to determine where the ‘therefore’ should begin. Matthew writes:

21 Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

(Matthew 7:21-23)

Matthew’s version comes at the end of the three chapter discourse, but in this passage we see a future context regarding Judgment Day with the words, ‘on that day’. If we move back through to chapter five we can see a progression which leads to this statement and the parable.

Imagine we were in the crowd listening to the teaching of Jesus. You have been brought up with the Mosaic Law all of your life and trying to keep God’s commandments. Jesus starts with the blessing statements and then tells a parable about you being the salt and light of the world. He then states that He has not come to abolish the Law and Prophets but to fulfill them and that not even a single letter will disappear from the Law until the heavens and earth disappear. He tells them that if their righteousness does not exceed that of the Pharisees they will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven (5:20). Jesus then goes through a list of topics including murder, adultery, divorce, making oaths, loving enemies and tells the crowd to be perfect even as their heavenly Father is perfect (5:48).

Throughout this narrative He constantly redefines the Law from just a set of rules to an attitude of the heart with His continual phrase, ‘you have heard it said, but I tell you’. Jesus’ interpretation of the Law is about going far beyond a command to refrain from sinful acts, but rather a command to examine our desires. He has already said He did not come to abolish but to fulfill the Law and prophets, and that their righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees.

He considered the Pharisees to be ‘whitewashed tombs’, men who had convinced themselves that they were righteous by their own works as illustrated in His words in Luke 18:9-14. Jesus was never condemning the Pharisees for exercising their will to refrain from sinful actions, but rather for pretending to have conquered their sinful hearts, especially their pride.

This point is clearly aimed at the Pharisees in His teaching of the hypocrites who pray on the street corners or standing in the synagogues for all to see them (6:5-8), or disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting (6:16-18).

Yes, the Law was given in order to establish a foundation for justice from a legal and social perspective, but it was also given for us to recognize that our hearts must be changed, we need a heart of flesh rather than a heart of stone. This is what Jesus meant when He said He came, not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, that is, to fulfill it in us by becoming partakers of the divine nature so that we have the desire, will and power to live righteousness lives. This is the heart of the new covenant. Jesus is preparing these people for the new covenant and what will be required to enter into that covenant by faith, what will be required to be born again.

Jesus’ focus now moves towards examining our priorities. He speaks about storing up treasure in heaven, and tells them ‘where your treasure is, there your heart will be also’. The passage ends with the words that no one can serve two masters for they will love one and hate the other, we cannot serve both God and money (6:19-24). But we may ask, how then can we live if we do not store up earthly wealth? Jesus answers this question, giving a discourse on trusting the Lord for His provision, to stop worrying about what we will eat or drink or the clothes we will wear. But His point is not that we should just sit and do nothing and God will provide, but that our heavenly Father knows what we need (6:31). He tells His listeners to ‘seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to us as well (6:33).

Incidentally, this wasn’t a new teaching as some claim. It was in fact the heart of the old covenant as well. Consider Deuteronomy 7:12-15;

12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land - your grain, new wine and oil...14 You will be blessed more than any other people: none of your men or woman will be childless...15 The Lord will keep you from every disease...(Deuteronomy 7:12-15)

The blessings of the old covenant came with a condition; they must pay attention to the laws and be careful to follow then. But notice that the Lord calls this covenant a ‘covenant of love’, the kind of language one uses for a wedding, not a social contract. In the previous chapter of Deuteronomy the Lord tells them to love Him with all their heart, soul and strength, and this is God’s purpose, to give and receive love. That love is demonstrated in their obedience to Him, to keep themselves holy, to reject all foreign gods and remember all He has done for them in their emancipation from slavery in Egypt. The new covenant is also about emancipation from slavery, namely slavery to sin, and Jesus is laying the foundation for the new covenant of love here in Matthew’s gospel.

In my mind, any person listening to all of this would likely understand that they cannot meet the standard that Jesus is applying. He has spoken mostly in terms of the Law and God’s standard and ended with a plea to seek God’s kingdom and to judge ourselves honestly, recognizing the plank in our own eye rather than the speck in another’s (7:1-5). This command is about honest self-examination. The Lord is saying, stop comparing yourself to others as the hypocritical Pharisees do, and compare yourself with God’s standard of righteous.

But then the message changes and He introduces hope and a warning, pointing more explicitly to the coming of the new covenant. Chapter 7:7-12 calls people to ask and it will be given to them, to seek and they will find, to knock and the door will be opened to them. He is telling them that they will have access, direct access to their heavenly Father and gives an analogy about how God will give them good gifts.

When we read Luke’s version of this passage, it ends with the words,

“13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

(Luke 11:13)

Obviously, this is a future promise which is fulfilled initially on the Day of Pentecost, and one of many teachings that point to the new covenant. But this covenant also has conditions. Hebrews 11:6 states that God rewards those who ‘diligently or earnestly’ seek Him and Jeremiah 29:13 states regarding the future that ‘you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’. Those who have heard God’s standard and been convicted by the Spirit are promised a gift for living, the impartation of the divine nature, if they seek the Lord with all of their heart, seeking first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness.

Matthew 7:13-14 then gives another condition, that of counting the cost. It reads:

13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road which leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

We are to ask, seek and knock, but the key to receiving is our willingness to walk the narrow path, as opposed to the broad path of the world. This outlines a condition of choosing Christ or choosing the world, for we cannot have both. There are those who teach that repentance is just a change of mind from unbelief in who Christ is, to a belief that He is the Messiah. When one points out that salvation has conditions which require decisions and actions, they are accused of preaching a ‘works-based salvation’.

What was Jesus’ condition to the rich young ruler who asked what he needed to do to attain eternal life? Was it just, ‘believe and live any way you like’, or ‘choose between money and eternal life’? Jesus knew this man’s heart and confronted the idol he was enslaved to, the thing he was unwilling to surrender. For others, that may be a sinful relationship, the loss of prestige, walking away from a corrupt business, being ostracized by family, but there will be a cost as Christ must be Lord. Salvation is not just a change of mind as some teach, but a change of ownership. We must belong to Christ (Romans 8) and become ‘God’s own possession’ (Ephesians 1:14).

When confronted with Jesus’ conditions for being a disciple, some people make a distinction between ‘believer’ and ‘disciple’ claiming that the latter is an optional extra. Such an interpretation fail’s to understand that ‘believe’ means to trust by faith and to cast our whole life into the hands of God to be in His will.

Jesus makes the same point regarding discipleship in Luke 14:25-33. We must put loving the Lord before father, mother, brothers, sister and our own children, indeed, even our own life. This scenario is an everyday reality for Christians in countries such as China or wherever the Church is persecuted. One does not give their life to Christ without knowing they may lose their life for Christ. In the next two parables of Luke 14:28-33, the Lord firstly speaks of counting the cost of being a disciple, and then of full surrender to Him as the king of Kings. These are the conditions to being a disciple and we are called to ‘make disciples’, not weak, self-centered converts to counterfeit, watered down churchianity.

Matthew then moves onto watching out for false prophets who are wolves in sheep’s clothing, and again this anticipates the counterfeit teachers who will try to deceive many under the new covenant with false versions of the gospel. Matthew’s version says we will know them by their fruit, and unpacks Jesus’ parable about good and bad trees and the fruit they produce (7:15-20). This passage compares true of false teachers and preachers, and the next compares true or false disciples as we now come to the ‘Lord, Lord’ language. Matthew quotes Jesus as follows:

This passage is not specifically directed at false teachers and preachers, but those who allowed themselves to be deceived by such people because of their unwillingness to walk the narrow path and depart from the world. Like the Pharisees they point to their ‘works’ as the means of their salvation. They can preach in the Lord’s name, drive our demons and perform miracles, just as Judas Iscariot had done. But, they did these things for their glory and agenda, and not to fulfill the will of the Father.

On the Day of Judgment, they stand before the Lord and hear the words ‘depart from me, I never knew you’. They are called ‘evil doers’, but how could someone who seemed to be promoting Christ be an ‘evil-doer’? Consider the people who sell their counterfeit forms of Christianity such as TV evangelists, Kenneth Copeland and the likes, people who deceive gullible and desperate people to make themselves rich?

Or these false prophets who claim to be apostles and enrich themselves with deliverance ministries, or the New Apostolic Reformation leaders such as Bill Johnson who promote power and try to convince people they can raise the dead, heal whoever they wish and do the same miracles of Christ, all the while being powerless hypocrites. Never trust a person who demands we all have the power to heal every disease who wears glasses or whose closest relatives died of cancer. These people are evil-doers who refused to accept or submit to the Lord’s will.

So, now we come to the parable of the wise and foolish builders. Luke records the parable in this way:

(Luke 6:46-49)

This passage is a summary of all we have studied from Matthew 5-7. The Lord began with the beatitudes from 5:3-12, describing the character and rewards of a true disciple. He then spoke about Israel as salt and light, His coming to fulfill the Law and Prophets. He then redefined the purpose of the Law from a set of rules which the Pharisees had turned into a salvation of works, to a personal self-examination, an honest appraisal of the desires of our hearts, and pointed us to the love of God. Then He directed His audience to the new covenant and how we can enter in this new covenant of love. He commanded us to seek out loving heavenly Father with pure hearts after judging our own motives sincerely. He told us of there would be a cost, a narrow path that few would be willing to walk.

He warned us of false prophets and teachers and told us to look at the fruit of these people’s lives, and then warned again about being deceived by appealing to our works rather than a person and life-changing relationship with Him.

The last words before the parable are a warning, a warning to know with absolute certainty that we know Him, that He is our first love, and the proof of this is in our unconditional desire to live in God’s will, having surrendered our will to Christ as Lord and Savior.

Those who hear Jesus’ words and practice them, are those who know and love Him, they have built on the rock that is Christ Jesus. The others have built on their own desires and ambitions, albeit they may be cloaked in religious garb. The storms will test each man’s decision, for all will face the storms of life. Peter wrote that we will have to suffer grief in all kinds of trials and tribulations to prove the genuineness of our faith, of greater worth than gold (1 Peter 1:6-7).

The true disciple of Chris will stand and be with Him for eternity, and the other will reap destruction, if not in this life, then in the next, as they hear the words, ‘depart from me, I never knew you’. Be sure, be very sure that you are walking the narrow path and that being in God’s will is your greatest desire, a desire that will be manifest in Him being your first love.

I pray this video/article has been an encouragement and even a challenge.

God bless