Picking Heads of Grain on a Sabbath

The Lord’s teaching about the old and the new is illustrated in this and the following history. Both histories are about something that happens on a Sabbath. The Sabbath is pre-eminently something that belongs to the law, the old. The Lord will show here how the new works.

God has given the Sabbath as a sign of the covenant. He never meant that day as a day that prevents His grace. This is already evident from the fact that God gave the Sabbath even before the Fall. He meant that day as a blessing. However, the Pharisees and scribes have made it a day that has become a yoke. The Lord maintains the Sabbath, He does not abolish it, but uses it as a day of blessing and grace, as it should always have been according to God’s purpose.

The first history takes place on the “second-first Sabbath“ (Darby Translation). Most likely this refers to the first Sabbath after the second day of the unleavened bread. The second-first Sabbath (cf. Lev 23:9-14) indicates that the first sheaf of the harvest has already been waved and so the disciples are free to eat from the ears. It is the first Sabbath day after waving the first sheaf before Yahweh. No true Israelite would have considered it lawful to eat fresh grains before Yahweh had received His share in the offering to Him of that first sheaf.

On that day, the Lord walks with His disciples through the grainfields, that is, among the blessings of God, from which the disciples eat – it does not say that the Lord did so as well. This is absolutely permissible because the first sheaf of the harvest has already been waved before the LORD, Yahweh, and because the law permits it (Deu 23:25). The Pharisees think differently. They have made their own laws, including what is and especially what is not allowed on the Sabbath. They therefore make remarks about the disciples’ behavior.

The Lord stands up for His disciples. In His answer He shows two things: the position He has and His Person. His position corresponds to that of David who is fleeing from Saul. The Lord refers to that history here (1Sam 21:1-9). David was the anointed king of God, but rejected. It was not God’s purpose that His anointed would suffer at the expense of complying with formal laws. God Who gave these statutes stands above the statutes set by Him.

In the same way, the entire Israelite system has become defective as a result of the rejection of the King, the true David. The Pharisees are concerned about side issues while rejecting Christ. Luke points out the similarity with the history of King David. The position of the Lord is exactly like that of David after his anointing and before he ascended the throne. David was in such extraordinary difficulties that he was given the holy bread to eat.

When the anointed king and his followers lack what is urgently needed, God, as it were, refuses to hold on to the ritual. How can He accept the people’s consecrated bread as food for His priests, when His king, with those who follow him, are threatened with death? In the same position is the great Son of David with His disciples. This is clear from the hunger of the Anointed and His faithful followers.

The Lord points to that history in questioning form. He asks questions that require their spiritual judgment of a situation. By responding to this, either said loud or unspoken in their hearts, they show whether they live with God or whether they only take people into account, namely themselves.

The Lord Himself gives the answer. In this answer He points to Who He is. He is the Son of Man to Whom God has subjected all things. He does not claim the right to it yet, but that does not mean that He does not have it. As such He is Lord over all things, including the Sabbath. In addition, as Yahweh, and that He is, He Himself instituted the Sabbath. It is clear that He is emphasizing His Person here. The Sabbath cannot limit Him in His goodness. On the contrary, the Sabbath is at His disposal to show His goodness. This we see in the next history.

Healing a Withered Hand

Once again, the Sabbath is discussed. Now not in connection with Christ’s position or Person, but with His power. He has the power to heal in grace, and He exercises that power, whether His opponents like it or not. He entered a synagogue “on another Sabbath” than those of the previous verses. There He is teaching. Where He comes, there is no question whether He is allowed to. He is there and teaches. There is also a man there with a withered right hand. This man cannot enjoy the fruit of the land. He cannot pick the heads of grain and rub them in his hands (Lk 6:1).

The scribes and the Pharisees are also present. They see the Lord and they see the man with the withered hand. They know the goodness and power of the Lord and expect that He is going to heal. They are waiting for that, because then they have an accusation against Him. They do not listen to His teaching, but they are waiting in suspense whether He will indeed heal, for then they can seize Him.

The Lord accepts their unspoken challenge. He lets the man take a place that is visible to all. The man obeys and comes forward. With this he takes place next to the Lord and opposite the religious leaders. He also sees that the eyes of all are on him. This does not prevent him from expecting everything from the Lord. He keeps his eye on Him and on His goodness.

Before the Lord heals the man, He asks the religious leaders a question about doing good or evil on the Sabbath. He tells them that it is about saving or destroying a life. It is about the life of the man. That life is only real life when he can enjoy unlimited enjoyment of what God has given in blessings in the land.

The Lord looks around at them all. With His all-seeing eyes He looks them in the eyes one by one. He wants to involve all in His act of grace and healing. It must be clear to all that this act has something to say for everyone of them. All have to think about whether His deed is good or evil. Then He tells the man to stretch out his hand. The man does not wonder if he can do it, not even what hand he should stretch out. He obeys, resulting in the restoration of his hand. This made him a son of the bridal-chamber and he shares in the blessing and joy of sons of the bridal-chamber.

The conscience of the religious leaders is thus hardened that the showing of grace makes them filled with rage. It leads them to deliberations on how to eliminate Christ.

Twelve Disciples Chosen

Faced with the increasing hatred of the leaders, the Lord seeks solitude for fellowship with His God. So He did when all sought Him to be healed (Lk 5:15-16). In all circumstances prayer is the refuge of this dependent Man. Instead of being held back by the hatred of religious leaders, the Lord increases the instruments of grace. He involves others in this work because He wants to reach all people with the gospel through them.

He calls His disciples to Himself after a night of prayer. None of the prophets sent by God to His people has called others to him to send them out afterward. He can do that by virtue of His majesty, but He does it as the dependent Man. He knows the will of His Father. Therefore He is not mistaken when He chooses Judas Iscariot.

He surrounds Himself here with hearts that are faithful to God, the called ones of His mercy. He calls them “apostles”, which means “sent ones”. He will send them out. He does this a few chapters further and also after He has gone to heaven. As the apostles of the Lamb, they will continue what He began.

In every list of the twelve disciples we have in the Gospels, Simon is mentioned first. The Lord gives him the name Peter. That indicates the authority of the Lord. Persons above others have the power to give or change names (Gen 2:19; Dan 1:6-7). The second is his brother Andrew. It is beautiful to serve the Lord with a brother. There is a family relationship, a religious relationship and a service relationship. We also see these three relationships with the next two disciples, the brothers James and John.

Philip is mentioned as fifth in each enumeration and thus heads the second group of four disciples. This second group consists in each enumeration of the twelve disciples of the same four disciples, whereby the order of the disciples changes. Bartholomew is probably the same as Nathanael who was brought to the Lord by Philip (Jn 1:45-50; Jn 21:2). As a result, there will have been a close relationship between them. Matthew is the author of the Gospel, also known as Levi, the former tax collector. Thomas is also called Didymus, i.e. the twin (Jn 21:2). That seems to indicate that he has a twin brother. Of his brother we know nothing, of Thomas we know that he has followed the Lord.

James, the son of Alphaeus, is the first of the third group of four disciples. In that group is also Simon, the Zealot. The Zealots were followers of Judas the Galilean, who declared that taxes should only be paid to God and not to the Romans. It is remarkable that the Lord makes both Matthew, who collected taxes for the Romans, and Simon, who opposed this, His disciples. Those who are enemies by nature, become friends in their love for the Lord. The Lord also calls Judas. In view of him, he will certainly have spoken with his Father in prayer. When Judas is called, he is not yet a traitor, but he will be.

The Lord Heals Many

The Lord descends “with them”, that is, with the disciples He has just chosen to be apostles. It is not written that they come down with Him, but He comes down with them. What a proof of mercy! The Lord is always ready to descend with us, to go with us to fulfill the task He has given. He comes down with them because He will send them out to do what He does: speak words of grace. They must therefore learn from Him what message He brings. They should not only take that message to themselves as knowledge, but His words should first do their formative work in themselves. His words are life-changing words.

He chooses a level place, where the great crowd that is with Him can see and hear Him. That crowd comes from Judaea and Jerusalem, where the ministry of the apostles must begin after He went to heaven (Acts 1:8). There are also people from outside of Israel, from the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. Grace is not limited to Israel, but is meant for all men, to the end of the earth.

The great crowd has come “to hear Him”, that is the first. His words are a blessing to listen to. Its value is great and the crowd acknowledges that. The great crowd has also come to be healed of their diseases. They are not only interested in His words. The Lord is merciful and provides for their need.

Also those who were tormented by unclean spirits are healed. They had opened themselves up to the unclean spirits and had been deceived by these demonic powers that appealed to their unclean desires. Then they experienced that they had surrendered to tormentors, from which they could not any more free themselves. The Lord is merciful and He answers a call upon Him for deliverance. It seems as if the whole crowd consists of sick people.

They all want to touch Him to be cured. The power of the Lord is noticeable present and they want to benefit from that. Without setting any conditions He heals all who touch Him. Previously, His power has become visible to show the healing effect of His teachings to the flocked Pharisees and scribes (Lk 5:17). Now there is power to heal in the presence of His disciples whom He will send out and whom He will teach sound and sound making words in the following verses (1Tim 6:3).

‘Blessed’

These ‘Beatitudes’ are very similar to those of Matthew 5-7. Yet here it is probably another occasion and another crowd. The Lord will have said things of the same content on several occasions, but in words that are fitting for each of those occasions. All preachers who speak about the same subjects on different occasions, will do so in slightly different ways each time.

In this speech, the Lord points out the character that His teaching will form in those who accept it. He speaks first of all to His disciples, while the crowds hear what He says (Lk 7:1). He lifts up His eyes upon (Darby Translation) His disciples, that is to say, that He as a Master, takes a lower place. The teaching He gives is perfectly put into practice in and through Him. He does not hand over teaching material, but a lifestyle, a behavior in which becomes visible Who God is Who came to man in humiliation in Christ.

The difference with the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel according to Matthew is evident from the form of address used by the Lord. Here He addresses Himself directly to His disciples. He speaks to them and says in view of the kingdom of God that it is “yours”. In Matthew he does not speak to any particular class, but about a particular class, and says that the kingdom of heaven is “theirs” (Mt 5:3).

In the Gospel according to Matthew He speaks of the characteristics of those who are subjects in the kingdom of heaven, a kingdom that has been delayed by the rejection of the King, but which will be established when He returns. Meanwhile, the kingdom has been established in a hidden form, as He makes clear in the parables in Matthew 13. In the Sermon on the Mount, He holds out to those who are in that kingdom, as it were, the constitution of that kingdom to which they must adhere. In the Gospel according to Luke, He points to a special characteristic of those who belong to Him, namely their relationship with Him. In the description He gives here of His disciples, He appears to presume His rejection as an accomplished fact. They share in His rejection.

In the first ones He calls blessed, the difference to what is written in Matthew is clearly expressed. Luke mentions that the Lord addresses His disciples personally and directly: “Blessed [are] you [who are] poor.” Matthew does not do that. He writes from the Lord’s mouth: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” which is general and has to do with the mind.

His followers are poor in all respects. They have neither great imagination nor great wealth. They resemble Him Who became poor for our sake (2Cor 8:9). They may be poor now, but soon they will have the whole kingdom of God as their true wealth. This prospect is the reason why the poor disciple may consider himself blessed.

The true disciple is also hungry, but the Lord says about this that he is “blessed”. In Matthew He links hunger also to ‘thirst’ and ‘for righteousness’. In Luke it is general again. Disciples are hungry for all that is of God and what they do not see in the world surrounding them. The world is not hungry for God, but casts Him out. The world pursues its own interests at the expense of everything and everyone. God is not taken into account at all.

The disciple is hungry for the time when God will reign through Christ on earth. Then he will be satisfied. All his desires for what is of God will be satisfied. The whole situation on earth cannot make the disciple happy. He suffers from it; it grieves him. However, this situation does not continue endlessly. When God reigns on earth through Christ, the disciple will laugh.

Because God does not yet rule in Christ on earth, but has been rejected, this will also be part of the disciples of Christ. The people will hate them, and will ostracize and insult them. Their name will be mentioned with contempt. And all this because they belong to the rejected Son of Man. The Lord calls them blessed. It is a blessed fate to share in the reproach that is His part.

They need not grieve about what people will do to them for His sake. On the contrary, they should rejoice about that. They did so (Acts 5:41) and many after them. What people do to them for His sake makes them glad on earth, while the thought of reward in heaven may make them extra glad. In the suffering inflicted upon them, they become partakers of the prophets who suffered from the fathers of these persecutors. People who persecute do what their ancestors have already done.

‘Woe’

Here the Lord speaks of an opposite class of people. They are people about whom He pronounces the “woe”. We do not hear this in the Sermon on the Mount. These are the people of the world who indulge in her joys and pleasures. He pronounces the “woe” over them, as He pronounces the “blessed” about the others. The difference is made by whether or not to follow Him. Although it is about a different class of people, He still speaks to “you”. He wants to impress that on the disciples.

He speaks of the rich as opposed to the poor in Lk 6:20. The poor are the poor in the general sense of the word. In the same way, the rich are the rich in a general sense. Not only the material rich, but also those who are rich in spiritual abilities and therefore can look down upon others. They do not need any consolation later on, for they already live with the ‘comforting’ thought that they have succeeded in everything and have done so without God.

The same applies to those who are satisfied. They have everything their heart desires. They also think that they have been there for others so that they also experience full inner satisfaction. They can’t solve all the misery in the world, but they did what they could. But they don’t think of God. By doing so they pass over the fact that all the misery in the world is the result of man’s sin that is also in them.

There will come a time when their complacency will be over. Also all those who see life as a big laughing party will be sobered. We can think of carnival. People save a year for it, live for it and throw off all bonds when the time has come. For them, the whole life should be carnival. They disregard God’s rights over man. Nor do they remember that through man’s sin the world has rejected the Son of God.

Those who do not live in connection with Christ can laugh for a short time, but will grieve and cry forever. The only comfort these people have is the life they enjoy on earth right now. The believers, on the other hand, will be comforted with eternal consolation when they are with the Lord Jesus (Lk 16:25).

The Lord warns that a true disciple is not appreciated by all men. Being appreciated by all men is in strong contrast to those whose names are rejected as evil for the sake of the Son of Man (Lk 6:22). If all people speak well of someone, that person is someone who is flattering everyone and does good everywhere and thinks he is a friend to everyone. He will not tell someone that he is doing wrong, and certainly he will not preach God’s judgment on sin. Such people are like the false prophets who say what the people like to hear (Mic 2:11). Such prophets are loved by the people, but not by God.

Love Your Enemies

The following are indications as to how the disciples can show the spirit of the grace of the Lord. He does not yet send His disciples, but prepares them for it. It starts with love. That is the only right mind in which grace can be shown. Love comes from the heart of God and is manifested in Christ. God and Christ are to be seen first and foremost in these verses. Only if there is an inner connection with the Lord Jesus, the disciple can also fulfill these things, because then the love of God is poured into his heart (Rom 5:5). Love becomes visible at the most when it expresses itself against enemies. Love that can flow to and even embrace an enemy is not human, but Divine.

The Lord speaks to His disciples as “you who hear”. It starts with hearing Him. Love for the Lord is apparent from hearing Him. Out of the love we see in Him, good can be done to people who hate us. In the following, the Lord speaks of various channels through which love can flow, according to the nature of the enmity we encounter. Any form of enmity gives occasion to a certain expression of love. These things cannot be put into practice by people who want it, but do not know Him Who has put it perfectly into practice and do not have Him as their life.

Blessing is wishing good to others. To do so for those who wish us evil is true imitation of Christ. When the Lord is on the cross, He asks His Father to forgive those who have crucified Him (Lk 23:34a). That is seeking blessing for those who curse you. When people reproach us, we pray for them. The Lord does not say that we should pray for ourselves, but for them. What shall we pray for them?

The disciple who walks in love does not seek retribution if he is abused, but is prepared to undergo even more abuse. He does not stand up for his rights, but allows everything been taken away from him and is prepared to give more. This is not the naive and irresponsible dealing with our life and our possessions, but the reaction to hatred and defamation because of our connection with the Lord Jesus. Thus He reacted to what was done to Him.

A disciple who walks in love gives when asked for it. He gives, because God is a Giver and because the Lord Jesus gave Himself and he has learned to know that for himself. If anything is taken from him, if he is expropriated because he belongs to Christ, he will not stand up for his rights, even if he had them. Thus it has happened that Christians have been deprived of the opportunity to study, or to start a business where others could. Christ never exercised His right to kingship. It has been taken away from Him, and He has accepted it.

Be Merciful

The disciple is out to do good to others. He does not think in negative terms. He doesn’t think: What I don’t want others to do to me, I don’t do to others either. He thinks in positive terms: What I want others to do to me, I want to do to others. This is also true of God and Christ. The Lord Jesus began to do good and then He could count on man to do good to Him.

The Lord concentrates on the previous by pointing out that it is not about the behavior of disciples among themselves. If there is love – and there should be – then it is not difficult to love. This does not give rise to any special feelings of gratitude to others. It is something that is also found among sinners. Here it is not about the characteristic of having feelings of love. It is about cases in which love is revealed when the other person does not expect it.

Also when it is about doing good it should not happen as a kind of recompense to those who have done good to us. Then there is no reason why the other person should be grateful. The people in the world act in the same way. When we lend money to someone who is in need of money and we do so with in mind the hope that we will earn something from it, when there will be a quid pro quo in any form, we have not lent selflessly, out of love. We are no better than sinners who only lend when they are sure that they will get back at least the amount they have lend.

It is about loving and doing good and lending to enemies. If we do it as the Lord meant and has done it Himself, we will receive a great reward. Moreover, we will then be real sons of the Most High. God has given love, done good, lent. When we do that, we are like Him. “Most High” is the glorious Name of God in the realm of peace, when He has laid all powers at the feet of the Son of Man. God is already the Most High. His exaltedness above all things is expressed in a special way in His exaltedness above evil.

What encouragement for disciples who are surrounded by evil and sometimes think they will be overcome by it. The Most High is exalted above it. He shows this exaltation in His mercy, which is His full goodness over the ungrateful and the evil ones instead of destroying them. If we do this, we are real sons who look like their Father. This is sonship as the Lord means it, sonship that is to the Father’s delight. Even reward is linked to this behavior.

The Lord summarizes the foregoing in one word: mercy. All people have a need for mercy. The Father has taken care of the disciples. In the awareness of that mercy, the followers of the Lord can go to all those around them to practice the previous teaching. Sons do not feel exalted above others and don’t judge. This mind and attitude are presented in the following section.

Judging Others

When the previous teaching is taken to heart, there is another danger. This danger is feeling better than others, feeling above others. God did not act like this in this world. If the disciple forgets that, a spirit of criticism gets hold of him who expresses itself in criticizing everything that does not correspond to this former teaching.

The Lord warns His disciples of a haughty spirit, the self-imagination to be able to judge everything and to think to have to do it. Judging is the forming of a strong opinion about something someone does and of which is judged that it is not good, without the disciple being entitled to this judgment. Condemnation is the rejecting of someone who, in the opinion of the disciple, is not acting correctly. The disciple must count on being judged and condemned, as he judges and condemns.

The Lord says it in negative form. If you don’t do it, it won’t happen to you either. Therefore, we must let go of our own opinions about others, give freedom to others and leave them to the Lord. We will experience that ourselves as a true liberation. Always thinking you have to judge and condemn everything is bondage. If we learn to let go, we will live in true freedom, that is to be able to serve the Lord as He likes. Instead of criticizing others, we should give others. If we do that, we will also receive recompence, and in an impressively abundant manner.

The Lord takes an example from the market. Someone who bought grain bought it in a measure. The merchant put the grain in it. He could do it loosely, but he could also try to do as much as he could do in it by pressing and shaking the grain. He could even put a head on it, so that the measure would overflow. Thus will God deal with us in abundance. We will receive from God beyond what we really have deserved. The general principle is that we are done, as we have done ourselves. This goes for both exercising criticism and giving.

In a parable, the Lord Jesus speaks of making God’s own features visible. We cannot see God, but His sons can be seen. They can be real sons, those who are made seeing by Christ and therefore know God and can show His features. However, it may also be about those who presume to be connected with God. They say they know Him and show themselves up as leaders for others. The Lord addresses us on our confession, on what we pretend to be and show to others. Do we think we see and are able to lead others? In any case, a blind person cannot lead a blind person. A blind person is someone who has no view of Christ.

If we do not see Him and don’t look like Him, we can never show the right way to anyone else. We will die, with those who follow us. That can be our children, that can be fellow Christians. A pupil should not pretend to be above his teacher. A real pupil wants to look like his teacher, like a real son wants to look like his father. And that not just a little, in some aspects, but in everything. “Fully trained” is one who is fully taught and formed entirely by the teaching of the teacher and therefore resembles him. He will be like his teacher in everything in which he is formed by this teacher. Christ was and is perfect, and we grow up to Him in all things, to the measure of the full growth of the fullness of Christ’s perfection (Eph 4:13; Col 1:28).

Perhaps our problem is not so much that we are blind. We see, we know the Lord, but our problem may be that we see so little of Him. We may not be blind, but we are severely limited in our vision and that without noticing it ourselves. We even think we see so sharply that we can notice the speck in our brother’s eye. It is only tragic that we do not realize that we have a log in our own eye. The Lord uses this exaggeration to indicate how blind we can be to our own deficits, while others see them clearly. And we just think that we can judge the small deficit in our brother’s life very clearly.

We need to know two things: Who the Lord is and who we ourselves are. A person who does not see the log in his own eye has not turned his eye to the Teacher and does not know himself. It goes even further. There is not only the presence of the log in the own eye and despite of it perceiving the speck in the eye of the other. There is also the presumption to remove the speck from the eye of the brother without even the slightest sense of the log in the own eye.

Disciples can be completely blind to their own ostentatious mistakes that irritate many around them. It is truly astonishing how such people easily point to a small obnoxiousness in a fellow disciple which irritates them and, moreover, also offer to remove what they consider to be an irritating obnoxiousness. The Lord calls such disciples hypocrites. They should first look at themselves. Only when they have seen and judged themselves in God’s light they will be able to help someone else.

Each Tree Has Its Own Fruit

A practice like that of the man with the log is bad fruit. The man is not a good tree. Because he is a bad tree, he does not produce good fruit. The self-judgment of the previous verses is applied to the trees. Judging oneself not only ensures that good fruit can come, but above all that the person himself becomes a good tree. A tree is known not only for its good or bad fruits, but also for its own fruit. Each tree produces that fruit that is in accordance with its own nature. The Christian bears the fruits of the nature of Christ. It’s about the heart and about real obedience in practice.

True goodness can only come from a good heart. From the tree and the fruit, the Lord passes on to the heart. When Christ is cherished as the good treasure in it, good comes forth from that heart. Such a person is a good person. The reverse is that someone who does not have Christ as a good treasure in his heart, he is an evil one. In his heart is an evil treasure. He thinks only of himself. What comes out of him is evil.

What treasure a person has in his heart is evident from the words he speaks. Someone who is characterized by continuous criticism, who always talks negatively about others, is an evil person. The disciple who has learned from the Teacher is out to do good to others. That will be clear from what he says. He will say good things about the Lord Jesus and about His own and wants to be of help for others, just as the Lord Jesus was a help for others. For example, the believers in Rome were people of whom Paul could say they were “full of goodness” (Rom 15:14), whereas he had previously said that man does not do good by nature (Rom 3:12).

Two Foundations

It comes down to whether we really acknowledge the Lord as Lord. We can address Him as “Lord, Lord” and call Him “Lord” with the mouth in a exaggerate way, but if we do not do what He says, it is a lie. In this respect, it is not about what we confess, but what we do, what we show in our life.

The Lord indicates what the true disciple resembles who listens to His words and acts accordingly. He illustrates this with an appealing example. The disciple who hears the words of the Teacher will show this by working hard to create a good foundation for his life house. Such a person is deeply convinced of the dangers that threaten his life. In order to have a reliable foundation for his life house, he digs deep. He is not superficial, but digs away everything in his life that offers no support. He wants a good foundation. Only the rock offers that. The rock is a picture of Christ (Mt 16:18; 1Cor 10:4). He is the foundation (1Cor 3:11).

If a disciple has built his house thereupon, there may be torrents and floods of water, but his house will not shake. It is well built because it stands on the rock. There has been dug deep into the soul, all sinfulness has come to the surface and has been confessed and judged in God’s light. Whoever has dug deep has learned to say: “Wretched man that I am!” (Rom 7:24). Then he comes to the rock: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:25a). Then there is no more condemnation (Rom 8:1). The words of Christ are the rock. By paying heed to His words, we survive every attack by the opponent. If anyone proves his faith in obedience, he will never be moved or ashamed.

However, there are also people who listen to the words of Christ but do not act on them. They are not committed to digging and deepening. They build their house “on the ground” because they believe that the “ground”, that is to say the earthly things, provides sufficient basis for their life. When the torrents come, it turns out that these things do not offer a foundation. That life house collapses and the destruction of that house is great. It becomes a ruin.

We can also apply the ‘house’ to the ‘house’ of professing Christianity (cf. 2Tim 2:20) and the ‘house’ of Israel (cf. Heb 8:8). The words “who has heard and has not acted [accordingly]” indicate exactly what has characterized Christians and Jews. If the Lord returns in glory, the hardest blow of judgment will not hit the heathen nations who have never heard the Word of God, but the professing Jews and the professing Christians to whom the Word of God has come to a rich extend. They heard the gospel, but did not obey it.