Luke 6:47

Luke 6:47, in plain English

Jesus said, 'Let Me show you what it looks like when someone hears My words and actually puts them into practice.'

Why it's here

This is the conclusion of the whole sermon. Everything He's taught comes down to this: will you do it, or just listen?

Who's speaking

Jesus transitions to His final, decisive parable.

Where it sits in the story

Jesus doesn't just want listeners — He wants doers. This parable is His way of saying: now that you've heard all this, what will you do with it? The answer matters more than you think.

The scholarly reading

Jesus announces a concluding parable: hypodeixō hymin tini estin homoios ("I will show you what he is like") — the one who comes, hears, and acts (poiōn) on Jesus' words.

Language and setting

The tripartite requirement — coming, hearing, and doing — emphasizes that discipleship is incomplete without all three elements. Hearing without doing is insufficient.

Voice

Jesus introduces the sermon's concluding parable about building on the right foundation.

Significance

The sermon's conclusion shifts from ethical instruction to a parable of judgment: the response to Jesus' teaching determines one's destiny. The parable forces a decision.

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!”

Read all of Luke 6 — Blessed are the poor; woe to the rich. Jesus delivers his version of the great sermon and demands a love so radical it includes your enemies.