Luke 6:46-49 How firm a foundation

Luke 6:46-49 Jesus teaches on foundations and building. This section parallels Matt 7:21 and 24-27. Jesus is talking about taking His teachings seriously, that is, seriously enough to actually do what He says to do. These are indeed challenging verses, since He uses a metaphor (Luke 6:49) that implies total destruction for the house that is built without a foundation. I have seen videos of houses that were built on a bluff overlooking a lake, and then a dam burst or a torrential flood washed away the ground underneath the house. Eventually the whole house tips and falls into the floodwaters and is washed away with no trace left of where it originally stood. And so Jesus warns us to build a house with such a solid foundation that when the floodwaters come, the foundation will stand firm. And that foundation is hearing His words and acting on them.

          Whether the metaphorical flood that Jesus is talking about is trials and tribulations in this life, or the judgment in the life to come, Jesus isn't exactly specific. The nature of the things he tells people to do, such as seeking God's kingdom and valuing what God values, loving our enemies, being merciful and generous and foregoing judgment and criticism of others, bearing the fruit of the Holy Spirit -- these are all things that will work to bring God's favor. And in the day of calamity, it is God's grace that will bring us through, if we are to get through it, whether that day is a disaster in this life, or the day of judgment in the next. But these are not commands that we can obey and earn God's favor. Even then Jesus knew that it would take the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. That it would be fruit of the Holy Spirit, not works of the flesh, not obedience in the flesh, that would bring about this kind of lifestyle