Matthew 7:24-29

Summary: As Jesus comes to the close of the Sermon on the Mount, he employs a group of images in the latter half of chapter 7 (gates, roads, wolves, trees, fruit, foundations), all intended to drive home that he and his teaching demand a decision–the most important decision of our lives. The two builders differ not in their hearing of Jesus’ word but in how they respond to it (i.e. only one acts on it). Jesus is teaching that it’s possible to know his word quite well, even to be quite fascinated by it, and still to build our lives upon some other foundation. What’s finally at stake in the sermon on the mount is whether we see Jesus for who he really is–the divine Son of God sent to redeem the world–and whether we live and prioritize our lives accordingly.