“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:”
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The Sermon's closing parable: two builders, two foundations, one storm. The wise builder hears and does — the same pairing as verse 21's hearing and doing the Father's will. The rock foundation is the word of Jesus, the Sermon itself, the teaching of the one who fulfills the Law and the Prophets. James 1:22–25 makes the same point: be doers of the word, not merely hearers who deceive themselves. The storm is not the test of the foundation's quality but the revelation of what was always there — the storm does not create weakness in the house; it reveals what the builder's choice of foundation either sustained or failed to provide.
Church Fathers on Matthew 7:24
Because there would be some who would admire the things that were said by the Lord, but would not add that shewing forth of them which is in action, He threatens them before, saying, 'Every man that hears these words of mine, and does them, shall be likened to a wise man.'
He said not, I will account him that hears and does, as wise; but, 'He shall be likened to a wise man.' He then that is likened is a man; but to whom is he likened? To Christ; but Christ is the wise man who had built His house, that is, the Church, upon a rock, that is, upon the strength of the faith.
Or the great ruin is to be understood that with which the Lord will say to them that hear and do not, 'Go ye into everlasting fire.' [Matt 25:41]
Read all 6 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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