Luke 6:43-49
A House on the Rock
Read the passage
43No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
44For each tree is known by its own fruit. Indeed, figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor grapes from brambles.
45The good man brings good things out of the good treasure of his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil treasure of his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
46Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but do not do what I say?
47I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them:
48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
49But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”
Berean Standard Bible
Read aloud
Jesus says a good tree does not bear bad fruit, and a bad tree does not bear good fruit. Each tree is known by its fruit. People do not gather figs from thornbushes or grapes from a bramble bush.
He says a good person brings good from the good treasure of the heart, while an evil person brings evil from what is stored there. The mouth speaks from what fills the heart.
Jesus then asks why people call Him “Lord, Lord” but do not do what He says. He compares the person who comes, hears, and obeys to someone building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on rock.
When floodwaters rise, that house stands because it has been well built. The person who hears without doing is like someone who builds on the ground without a foundation. The collapse is immediate and complete.
Both builders hear Jesus' words. The difference lies in what they do with them. In the same way, calling him Lord can sound right while leaving a life unchanged. The tree and the house expose the same problem: outward words cannot conceal forever what is growing in the heart or what a person has built upon. Jesus calls his hearers to come to him and actually live by what he says.
How We Know
Jesus compares people to trees known by their fruit and closes with the image of a house built on a foundation. Matthew 7:15-27 contains the related teaching, including the fruit test and the two builders. Luke's compact arrangement presses the question of what kind of life grows from the heart.
Questions
1 How is a tree known?
AnswerA tree is known by its fruit. Jesus uses fruit as a picture of the words and actions that reveal what fills a person's heart.
2 What does the mouth reveal?
AnswerThe mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. Repeated words can reveal what a person has been storing within.
3 Who is like the builder on rock?
AnswerThe person who comes to Jesus, hears His words, and does them is like a builder who digs deep and lays a foundation on rock.
4 What tests a foundation?
AnswerThe flood tests it. A household's hidden commitments become visible when pressure, loss, temptation, or conflict arrives.
What This Means for Us
Jesus joins confession to obedience. Calling Him Lord is not empty, but it must become a way of living. A family cannot build a durable faith on admired sayings alone.
Good fruit grows over time, so do not confuse one failure with a person's entire character. Look for repentance, truthfulness, and a pattern of action that increasingly matches Jesus' words.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, plant Your word deeply in our household. Make our speech and actions show what we truly treasure, and give us grace to repent and rebuild whenever our foundation has been weak. Amen.