Luke 6:46-49	Matt 7:21-27
46 "Why do you call me,	21 "Not everyone who addresses me as
'Master, Master,'	'Master, Master'
and not do what I tell you?
	will get into the empire of Heaven---
	only those who carry out the will
	of my Father in heaven.
	22 On that day many will say to me,
	'Master, Master,
	didn't we use your name
	when we prophesied?
	Didn't we use your name
	when we exorcised demons?
	Didn't we use your name
	when we performed all those miracles?'
[see Luke 13:27 below]	23 Then I will tell them honestly,
	'I never knew you;
	get away from me,
	you subverters of the Law!'
47 Everyone who comes to me	24 Everyone
and pays attention to my words	who listens to my words
and acts on them---	and acts on them
I'll show you
what such a person is like:	will be like
48 That one is like a person	a prudent man
building a house,	who built his house
who dug deep
and laid a foundation on bedrock;	on bedrock.
when a flood came,	25 Later the rain fell,
the torrent	and the torrents came
	and the winds blew
slammed against the house,	and pounded that house,
but could not shake it	yet it did not collapse
because it was well built.	since its foundation rested on bedrock.
49 But the person	26 Everyone
who listens [to my words]	who listens to these words of mine
and doesn't act [on them]	and doesn't act on them
is like a person who build a house	will be like a stupid man,
on the ground without a foundation;	who built a house on sand.
	27 When the rain fell,
when the torrent	and the torrents came
	and the winds blew
slammed against it,	and pounded on that house,
it collapsed.	it collapsed---
And so
the ruin of the house was total.	it totally collapsed."
Luke 13:26-27
26 "Then they'll start saying:
'We ate and drank with you,
and you taught in our streets.'
27 But he'll reply:	[see Matt 7:23 above]
'I don't know
where you come from;
get away from me,
all you evildoers.'"

Style

The two sayings that conclude Q's sermon add no new insights, but warn the audience to take the previous instruction seriously. The first appears in two forms: an ironic question (Luke 6:46) and an apocalyptic threat (Matt 7:21). Both versions are paraphrased in other sources, Matthew's in a second century sermon ascribed to Clement of Rome and Luke's in one of the oldest surviving fragments of a gospel, the Egerton papyrus:

But perceiving their [in]tention, Jesus got a[ngry] and said to them:
"Why do you call me 'Master' with your mouth
and still don't [do] what I say?"
---pEger 2:3

For he says:
"Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord' shall be saved,
but one who does righteousness."
---2 Clem 3:4

The next saying is a double parable that is typically Jewish in both style and imagery.  It is composed of balanced comparisons, one positive, the other negative.  The terms are classic metaphors for doom and endurance---storms, floods, buildings, rock---which were often invoked by biblical prophets and sages.  Several rabbis of the late first and early second centuries are credited with creating similar parables to stress the need of putting teaching into practice.  For example:

Aboth 3.18	Aboth de R. Nathan 24
Eleazar ben Azariah said:...	Elisha ben Abuyah says:
"One whose wisdom exceeds his deeds,	"One who has good deeds,
	who has studied much Torah,
to what may he be likened?	to what may he be likened?
To a tree whose branches abound	To a person who builds first
but whose roots are few;	with stone and then with brick;
and the wind comes	even when a lot of water comes
and uproots it	and collects beside them,
and overturns it....	they are not moved.
But he whose deeds exceed his wisdom,	But one who has no good deeds,
	though he has studied Torah,
to what may he be likened?	to what may he be likened?
To a tree whose branches are few,	To a person who builds first
but whose roots abound; so that	with brick and then with stone;
even if all the winds in the world	when even a little water collects
come and blow against it,
it cannot be stirred from its place.	immediately they are overthrown.

Between these sayings Matthew puts another Q passage (Matt 7:23) that Luke records seven chapters later in a context that suits it better (Luke 13:26-27).  Given this sermon's emphasis on tolerance, a threat of condemnation seems out of place at this point.

Attribution

Call and obey	%	Red	Pink	Grey	Black	WA	Print
Luke 6:46 Matt 7:21 pEger 2.3 2 Clem 3:4 3 Clem 4:2		0 0 0 0 0	41 14 33 4 5	36 27 33 14 18	23 18 33 82 77	39 18 33 08 09	grey black grey black black
Depart from me
Matt 7:22-23 Luke 13:26-27		0 0	4 4	11 11	85 85	06 06	black black
Rock or sand
Luke 6:47-49 Matt 7:24-27		0 4	12 8	38 38	50 50	21 22	black black

The conventional tone of the conclusion to Q's sermon makes it difficult to trace either the parable of the builders or the critique of lax disciples directly to Jesus. The emphasis on "doing" is typical of Jewish and Jewish Christian preaching apart from anything Jesus said. Compare, for instance, this statement by Paul:

For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous,
but the doers of the Law who will be justified.
---Rom 2:13

Or this passage from a letter credited to Jesus' brother James:

But be doers of the word,
and not just hearers who delude themselves.
For if any are hearers of the word and not doers,
they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror;
for they look at themselves,
but when they depart immediately forget what they are like.
But those who look into the perfect Law -- the Law of liberty -- and persist,
who are not hearers who forget but doers who act --
they will be blessed in their doing.
---James 1:22-24

There is no distinctive element in the sayings that conclude the sermon in Q to indicate that they were formulated by Jesus himself rather than someone else in the early Christian community.  Matthew obviously framed the first saying as a warning to apostles of Jesus, who -- like Paul -- did not require strict observance of the Mosaic Torah. This underscores the earlier disclaimer that only Matthew includes in his version of Jesus' sermon:

"Don't imagine that I have come to annul the Law or the Prophets.
I have not come to annul but to fulfill."
---Matt 5:17

Paul is witness (see Gal 2) that the question of Torah observance became a major issue only after the crucifixion, as Christian missionaries began recruiting significant numbers of non-Jews to join the early Jesus movement.  So it is more likely that Matthew's insistence on upholding the Torah was intended for his own audience, rather than that of the pre-crucified Jesus. Moreover, the fact that this theme is absent from Luke's version of these sayings indicates that it is not even traceable to Q.   

The irony of Luke's version of the first saying, however, is similar to that in genuine Jesus sayings. And pEger 2 supports Luke in crediting this comment to Jesus. But the comment itself is something any exasperated teacher might make.  So most Fellows agreed that it does not distinguish the voice of Jesus from that of other sages.