House built on rocks and sand

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The parable, told by Jesus of Nazareth , of the house, built on rock or on sand, or of the building of a house, is about putting the teachings of Jesus into practice. It is transmitted in the gospels of the New Testament of the Bible through the gospel according to Matthew ( Mt 7.24-27  EU ) as well as through the gospel according to Luke ( Lk 6.47-49  EU ).

content

Jesus explains to his audience that those who put his teachings into action were like a man who built his house on solid rock. When a flood of water came, it could not harm the house thanks to its firm foundation. Those who heard him but did not act on what they heard are like Jesus, like a man who built his house on sand. Because the water would collapse this house.

interpretation

The parable emphasizes the importance of a foundation for the further path of life and is intended to encourage one to put the teachings of Jesus into practice.

The parable closes the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew . The Sermon on the Mount has a clear parallel in the field speech of the Gospel of Luke (Lk 6.17-49 EU ). With Luke, the parable of building a house closes this field speech.

The picture of the flood could remind of the great storm of the end times.

Extra-biblical parallels

In Abot de Rabbi Nathan there is a comparable passage in § 24 (3rd – 4th centuries, compilation 7th – 9th centuries).

There it says that someone who studies Torah a lot and does good works is like lime that is brushed on stones and braves the rain. Someone who only studies but does no good works, on the other hand, is like lime that is brushed on bricks and then soft and washed away by the rain.

effect

In 1641 the song writer Georg Neumark concluded the first stanza of his song Who only lets God rule with the verse: " Whoever trusts God the Most High / He has not built on sand ".

The German phrase “to have built on sand” is derived from this parable and means to have trusted in something that is uncertain, dubious and will consequently fail.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "Einstürzende Neubauten" (building a house on rocks or sand), Moisés Mayordomo ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 155 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ev.theologie.uni-mainz.de
  2. ^ On building a house , University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Protestant Theology
  3. ^ "Building a house", University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Protestant Theology

See also