Lk 6:43-49
Listening and practicing: The passage concludes Jesus’ sermon on the plain. In the section concerning a tree known by its fruit (vv 43-45), Luke continues the theme of personal transformation which he began earlier in the sermon. The Christian can only give what he or she has already achieved. For Luke, each follower of Jesus must be constantly in the process of conversion, if he or she is to assist others in the same process.
Persons cannot instruct others in the way of Christian discipleship, without always rediscovering its meaning for themselves.
The parable about the two foundations (vv 46-49) highlights one of Luke’s primary themes: listening and doing the word. In Luke’s church, Christians who confess Jesus as “Lord, Lord” are those who listen to his word and then put it into practice. People who do what they hear are stable in times of crisis.
Luke has already presented a panorama of characters who listened to the word and practiced it: Zechariah, Mary, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna, John the Baptist, and Jesus himself. For Luke, belief is grounded in listening to the word of God and practicing what was heard in daily life. In other words, faith dictates lifestyle.