Church Fathers Commentary Luke 6:46-49

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Every one that cometh unto me, and heareth my words, and doeth them, I will show you to whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who digged and went deep, and laid a foundation upon the rock: and when a flood arose, the stream brake against that house, and could not shake it: because it had been well builded. But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that built a house upon the earth without a foundation; against which the stream brake, and straightway it fell in; and the ruin of that house was great." — Luke 6:46-49 (ASV)

The Venerable Bede: Lest anyone should vainly flatter himself with the words, Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, as if only words, and not works, were required of a Christian, our Lord adds the following: But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things that I say? It is as if He were asking why they boast of producing the leaves of a right confession, but show no fruit of good works.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: But lordship, both in name and in reality, belongs only to the supreme Nature.

St. Athanasius of Alexandria: This, then, is not the word of a man, but the Word of God, manifesting His own birth from the Father, for He is the Lord who is born of the Lord alone. But do not fear the duality of Persons, for they are not separate in nature.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: He then shows the advantage that arises from keeping the commandments, or the loss from disobedience, as follows: Whoever comes to me and hears my sayings... is like a man who built his house upon a rock...

The Venerable Bede: The rock is Christ. He digs deep; through the precepts of humility, He plucks all earthly things from the hearts of the faithful, lest they serve God out of regard for their temporal good.

St. Basil the Great: But lay your foundations upon a rock—that is, lean upon the faith of Christ, so as to persevere, immovable in adversity, whether it comes from man or God.

The Venerable Bede: Alternatively, the foundation of the house is the resolution to live a good life, which the perfect hearer firmly lays by fulfilling the commandments of God.

St. Ambrose of Milan: Alternatively, He teaches that obedience to heavenly precepts is the foundation of all virtue. By this foundation, this house of ours can be moved neither by the torrent of pleasures, nor by the violence of spiritual wickedness, nor by the storms of this world, nor by the cloudy disputations of heretics. Hence it follows, But the flood came...

The Venerable Bede: A flood comes in three ways: either by unclean spirits, by wicked men, or by the very restlessness of mind or body. Insofar as people trust in their own strength, they fall away; but as long as they cling to the immovable rock, they cannot even be shaken.

St. John Chrysostom: The Lord also shows us that faith profits a person nothing if his way of life is corrupt. Hence it follows: But he that hears and does not, is like a man that without a foundation built a house upon the earth...

The Venerable Bede: The house of the devil is the world, which lies in wickedness. He builds it upon the earth because he drags down from heaven to earth those who obey him. He builds without a foundation, for sin has no foundation; it does not stand by its own nature, for evil is without substance. Yet whatever evil is, it grows up in the nature of good.

Because “foundation” is so called from “fundus” (Latin for “bottom”), we may rightly understand that “fundamentum” (Latin for “foundation”) is used here for “fundus.” Just as someone who has fallen into a well is held at the bottom, so the soul that falls away remains stationary, as it were, at the very bottom, as long as it continues in any measure of sin. Not content with the sin into which it has fallen, it sinks daily into worse things and can find no bottom, as it were, in the well to which it might anchor itself.

As every kind of temptation increases, both the truly bad and the falsely good become worse, until at last they come to everlasting punishment. Hence it follows: Against which the stream did beat vehemently. The force of the stream can be understood as the trial of the last judgment, when, with both houses finished, the wicked will go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Alternatively, those who lay the foundation of their spiritual building upon the quicksand of doubt, which relates to opinion, are building upon the earth without a foundation. A few drops of temptation wash such a building away.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Luke begins this long discourse of our Lord in the same way as Matthew, for each says, Blessed are the poor. Many things that follow in each narrative are similar, and the conclusion of the discourse is found to be altogether the same—I mean, with respect to the men who build upon the rock and the sand.

It might then be easily supposed that Luke recorded the same discourse, yet omitted some sentences that Matthew kept, while including others that Matthew did not. This might be supposed, were it not that Matthew says the discourse was spoken by our Lord on the mountain, while Luke says it was on a plain with our Lord standing.

However, it is not considered likely from this that the two discourses are separated by a long period of time, because both evangelists, before and after this section, relate similar or identical things.

It may, however, have happened that our Lord was at first on a higher part of the mountain with His disciples alone. He may have then descended with them from the mount—that is, from the summit—to a flat area, which was some level ground on the side of the mountain able to hold large crowds. There He stood until the crowds gathered to Him. Afterwards, when He sat down, His disciples came nearer, and He delivered the same discourse to them and to the rest of the multitude who were present.