Commentary - Luke 6:46-49

Bird's-eye view

At the conclusion of the Sermon on the Plain, the Lord Jesus brings everything to a sharp and unavoidable point. This is not a collection of inspiring platitudes or ethical suggestions for self-improvement. This is a declaration from the King of kings, and it demands a total response. The central issue is one of authority and submission. It is the difference between a merely verbal confession of Christ's lordship and a true, life-altering submission to it. Jesus uses the potent and practical metaphor of building a house to distinguish between two kinds of disciples, two kinds of lives, and two eternal destinies. One builds on the solid rock of hearing and obeying. The other builds on the shifting sands of hearing alone. The coming judgment, pictured here as a torrential flood, will reveal the true nature of each man's work. There is no third option.

The passage confronts us with a piercing question that echoes through the centuries: Why do you call Him 'Lord, Lord,' but do not do what He says? This is the fundamental contradiction of nominal Christianity. Jesus is not interested in fans or admirers; He is gathering obedient subjects into His kingdom. The foundation of our lives is not our profession of faith, but the reality of that faith worked out in radical obedience to the words of Christ. The storm will prove the foundation. It always does.

Outline

Verse by Verse Commentary

46 “Now why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?

Jesus begins with a question that cuts to the very heart of discipleship. The repetition of "Lord, Lord" signifies a kind of surface-level religious fervor. It is the language of enthusiastic profession. These are not people hostile to Jesus; they are among the crowd, listening, perhaps even nodding along. They are happy to give Him a title, even a lofty one. But the title is rendered meaningless by their actions. To call someone Lord (Kurios) is to acknowledge his authority, his right to command, his ownership. It is to declare yourself his servant, his slave. But their lives tell a different story. They do not do what He says. This is a fundamental contradiction, a piece of spiritual hypocrisy. Jesus exposes the chasm between their lips and their lives. A verbal confession of lordship that is not matched by a life of submission is, in the final analysis, an absurdity. You cannot have Jesus as Savior if you refuse Him as Lord, because He is one Christ. Half a Christ is no Christ at all.

47 Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like:

Here the Lord sets up the contrast. He begins with the true disciple. Notice the sequence. First, one must "come to Me." This is the initial act of faith, of drawing near to Christ. Second, this person "hears My words." This is not a casual, in-one-ear-and-out-the-other kind of listening. It is attentive, receptive hearing. But the crucial, distinguishing mark is the third step: he "does them." Hearing is necessary, but it is not sufficient. The demarcation between the wise and the foolish is not knowledge, but obedience. The true disciple is a doer of the word, not a hearer only, deceiving himself (James 1:22). Jesus is about to paint a picture, to give a vivid illustration of what this kind of integrated, obedient life looks like.

48 he is like a man building a house, who dug and went deep, and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the river burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built.

The wise man's wisdom is demonstrated by his foresight and his labor. He knows the storm is coming. He is not building for the calm, sunny day; he is building for the inevitable deluge. So what does he do? He digs. He goes deep. This is hard, unglamorous work. It is the costly, unseen effort of rooting out sin, of mortifying the flesh, of conforming one's thoughts and habits to the commands of Christ. He is not content with the surface soil. He keeps digging until he hits bedrock. This rock is Christ Himself and His authoritative Word. The foundation is "laid on the rock." Obedience is the act of laying that foundation. And when the test comes, and it will come, "when a flood occurred", the integrity of the structure is revealed. The river of trial, of persecution, of temptation, of divine judgment, bursts against that house. But it stands firm. It cannot be shaken. Why? "Because it had been well built." The stability of the house is a direct result of the quality of its foundation.

49 But the one who heard and did not do accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the river burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Now we see the foolish man. Notice the critical similarity: he also "heard." He sat under the same teaching. He had access to the same words of life. From the outside, before the storm, his house might have looked identical to the wise man's house. He may have been just as zealous in calling Jesus "Lord." But his folly is revealed in one fatal omission: he "did not do accordingly." He took a shortcut. He avoided the hard work of digging. He built his house "on the ground without any foundation." This is the life of easy-believism, of profession without practice. It is religion as a weekend hobby. It is building a life on sentiment, on emotion, on cultural Christianity, on anything other than the hard rock of obedience to Jesus Christ. And the result is catastrophic. When the same river bursts against it, the collapse is not gradual; it is immediate. And the ruin is not minor; it is "great." This is not just a setback; it is total destruction. The end of a life built on the sand of disobedience is utter and horrifying ruin.

Key Issues

Application

The application of this text is as direct as the Lord's question. We must all examine our own foundations. Do we call Jesus Lord? If so, are we doing the things He says? It is not enough to agree with His teachings, or to admire His moral character. We are called to obey His commands.

This means our private lives, our family lives, our business dealings, our politics, our entertainment, all of it must be brought under the authority of His Word. The hard work of digging deep involves repentance. It means we don't just build around our cherished sins; we dig them out. It means we structure our lives according to the blueprints He has given us in Scripture, not according to the shifting fashions of the world.

The storms are coming for all of us. They come in the form of personal tragedies, cultural pressures, and ultimately, the final judgment. The only question is whether our house will stand. A life built on the rock of obedience to Christ is the only life that will endure that storm and stand secure into eternity. Any other ground is sinking sand.