NOTES for Mat 7:26-27

With the parable of the two builders, the prudent and the foolish, Christ ends the Sermon on the Mount, and there is a very deep meaning in this. Of course, the Savior's words, His speech, made a deep impression both on learned, educated people and on the simplest people. We know from all four Gospels that huge crowds gathered to listen to His preaching.

And words quite often make a great impression on us too. Sometimes we hear someone's inspired sermon that touches us to the depths of the soul, and it seems that we will never again be as we were before. It seems that all of life must change at once. But time passes, and we completely forget how bright and new our life seemed to us. We return to everyday worries, technical problems, to our ordinary life. Why disrupt an established way of life, break settled relationships, even painful ones? For what? And life continues to flow as before. Most importantly, the same thing happens every day: we read the Gospels, the Epistles, the Prophets. We close the book and go on to our own affairs.

But Jesus insistently emphasizes: it is important not only to listen, but to live by the Word of God. Our life in Christ can take place only if at its foundation, like a huge stone, lie the commandments of Christ. Of which, as He Himself said, the greatest are love for God and neighbor.