Parable of the Wise and the Foolish Builders
In the Gospel of Matthew, the parable appears at the end of the Sermon on the Mount as follows: Everyone therefore who hears these words of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house on a rock.[1] This parable emphasizes the need to put Jesus' teachings into practice, and speaks of "two sorts of people whose hearts are revealed in their actions".By "rain" here, and "floods," and "winds," He is expressing metaphorically the calamities and afflictions that befall men; such as false accusations, plots, bereavements, deaths, loss of friends, vexations from strangers, all the ills in our life that any one could mention.And that it is not vain boasting so to speak, Job is our witness, who received all the assaults of the devil, and stood unmoveable; and the apostles too are our witnesses, for that when the waves of the whole world were beating against them, when both nations and princes, both their own people and strangers, both the evil spirits, and the devil, and every engine was set in motion, they stood firmer than a rock, and dispersed it all.[4]Cornelius a Lapide gives a similar interpretation, writing, "The rain, wind, and rivers are all temptations and adversities whatsoever, whether coming from the world, the flesh, or the devil.
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