Mat 7:24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.”
In Vines Word Study the word “rock” petros, as used in this context, “denotes a mass of rock.” The word “rock” translated from the word petra, like the name Peter, signifies “a detached stone or boulder, or a stone that might be thrown or easily moved.” This foundation stone is a great mass of rock that provides support, strength, and security. In the Old Testament, the prophet Isaiah foretold, “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; Whoever believes will not act hastily,” Isa 28:16. The question one needs to answer is, WHAT OR WHO IS THAT FOUNDATION STONE? To find the answer we should always turn to the scriptures.
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This statement was made by Peter when the Lord asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Mat 16:16-17. In verse 18, Jesus promised “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Many have surmised that Jesus is talking about building the church upon Peter. In reality the context shows that the church was to be built upon Christ the Son of the Living God.
Read this beautiful description of the church and the Rock: 1Pe 2:4 “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” In the very next verse Peter quotes Isa. 28:16. Jesus Christ is that living stone, chosen by God as the support of the spiritual house (See 1Tim 3:15) Notice Eph 2:20, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”
In 1 Cor. 10 Paul reminds the church of the sins of God’s people as they wandered in the wilderness. Paul wrote they had all passed through the sea (v. 1), they had been baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food (v. 2-3). In verse 4 Paul wrote “…and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.” Notice that Christ is pictured as that spiritual Rock that provided drink while the people of God were in the wilderness.
Now we can clearly see from these scriptures that the rock of Matthew 7 is Jesus Christ the Son of God!
1Cor 3:10-11 “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”