Matthew 7:27

“And the rain descended, and the floods came,

And the winds blew, and smote on that house,”

But then he had to face the same problems as the wise man's house, the rain and the floods and the storm. But there was also one more thing that he had to face, and that was God's smiting. The distinction is emphasised by the deliberate change in verb in the parallel. One faced ‘beating on' the other faced ‘smiting'. And why? Because he had chosen not to build on a foundation. It was because he had rejected the foundation that he was smitten.

Matthew 7:27 b

“And it fell,”

This house did not stand firm, it fell. But really it was inevitable. Its fall was certain from the moment that he had refused to establish a firm foundation.

Matthew 7:27 c

“And great was its fall.”

Here Jesus disturbs His parallels in order to bring out two lessons. Firstly that it was not that this house had the wrong foundations, but that it had no foundations. For the point is that there only is one foundation, and that is the word that Jesus has brought from His Father. And secondly in order that He might complete His words on a note which would not be forgotten. ‘Great was its fall'. Jesus was not providing interesting sayings, He was preaching for decision. For He wanted them to leave with the recognition that that ‘catastrophic fall' would be the end of all who did not heed His words and obey them.