The House on the Rock

“So when you give to help someone in need, don’t sound a trumpet ahead of you, the way the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to get praise from people. I tell you for certain, they already have their reward.

“But when you give, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand does. Then your giving will be a secret. Your Father sees what is hidden, and he will reward you openly.

“When you pray, don’t act like the hypocrites. They love to stand in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets and pray, so that people will see them. I tell you for certain, they already have their reward.

“But when you pray, go into your own inner room. Close the door, and then pray to your Father, who is in secret. Your Father sees what is hidden, and he will reward you openly.

“When you pray, don’t say the same empty words over and over, as the Gentiles do. They think they will be heard because they say so much. So don’t be like them. Before you ask him, your Father knows what you need.”

“If you forgive people for their wrongs, your heavenly Father will forgive you too. But if you don’t forgive people for their wrongs, your Father won’t forgive your wrongs either.

“When you fast, don’t be like the hypocrites, with their sad faces. They make their faces look dreadful so that people will see they are fasting. I tell you for certain, they already have their reward.

“But when you fast, wash your face and put oil on your head. Then it won’t be people who see you fasting, but your Father, who is in secret. Your Father sees what is hidden, and he will reward you.”

“The eye is the lamp of the body. If you have a good eye, your whole body will be full of light. But if you have a bad eye, your whole body will be full of darkness. And if the light that is in you is darkness, how deep that darkness is!

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and look down on the other. You can’t serve both God and Mammon.”

“Look at the birds in the sky. They don’t sow seed or reap a harvest or gather anything into barns. Your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you much more valuable than they are?

“Which of you can make his life one moment longer by being anxious?

“Why are you anxious about clothing? Think about how the lilies of the field grow. They don’t work hard, and they don’t spin thread. Yet I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was not dressed like one of these. God dresses the grass of the field like this, though it is growing today and will be thrown into the oven tomorrow. So won’t he do much more to clothe you, you of little faith?

“So don’t be anxious and say, ‘What will we eat?’ ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ It is the Gentiles who go after all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need every one of them.

“But seek God’s Kingdom and his righteousness first, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. Tomorrow will be anxious about itself. Each day has its own share of trouble, and that is enough.”

“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over. The same measure you use for others will be used to measure back to you.”

In Luke, Jesus told a parable to them: “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but when he is fully trained, every disciple will be like his teacher.”

“Why do you notice the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but don’t give a thought to the wooden beam in your own eye?” Jesus asked. “How can you tell your brother, ‘Brother, let me pull the speck out of your eye,’ while you yourself don’t see the beam that is in your own eye? You hypocrite! First pull the beam out of your own eye. Then you can see clearly, and pull the speck out of your brother’s eye.

“Don’t give what is holy to the dogs, and don’t throw your pearls in front of the pigs, or they might trample them, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

“Who among you would give his son a stone if he asked for bread? Or who would give him a snake if he asked for a fish? You are evil, and yet you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

“Therefore, whatever you desire for men to do to you, you shall also do to them; for this is the law and the prophets.”

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inside are savage, hungry wolves. You can tell what they are by their fruits. Do you gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?

“It is the same with trees. Every good tree produces good fruit, but the rotten tree produces bad fruit. It isn’t possible for a good tree to produce bad fruit, or for a rotten tree to produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t grow good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. And so you can tell what they are by their fruits.”

Luke gives it like this: “No good tree produces rotten fruit, and no rotten tree produces good fruit. Each tree is known by its own fruit. People don’t gather figs from thorns, or grapes from a bramble bush. The good man brings what is good out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings what is evil out of the evil treasure of his heart. The mouth speaks out of all that fills the heart.”

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will go into the Kingdom of Heaven,” Jesus said. “Whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven will go in. Many will tell me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we speak as prophets in your name? Didn’t we drive out demons in your name? Didn’t we, in your name, do many mighty works?’ Then I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Leave me, you who do evil.’”

In Luke, Jesus asks, “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but don’t do as I say?”

“And whoever hears these words of mine and doesn’t do them is like a foolish man. He built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell, and its fall was great.”

In Luke, Jesus tells it this way: “I will show you what anyone is like who comes to me and hears my words and does them. He is like a man building a house. He dug, went down deep, and set his foundation on the rock. A flood came up, and the stream crashed against that house, but couldn’t shake it, because it was built on the rock. But whoever hears my words and doesn’t do them is like a man who built his house on the bare ground, with no foundation. The stream crashed against it, and at once it fell. That house was completely ruined.”

When Jesus had finished saying all this, his teaching astonished the crowds, because he taught them with authority, not the way the scribes taught.