Parables of Doing

Exodus 24:7 And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the hearing of the people; and they said: 'All that the LORD hath spoken will we do, and we will obey (lit. "we will hear").

When the Rabbis read Exodus 24:7 they noticed something curious wording of the Israelite vow. How can the "doing" of the covenant precede the "hearing" of it? Some argued "...we will do and (then) we will hear" meant that they resolved to do Torah before they even heard its injunctions. From this some got that the doing of Torah took precedence over the study of Torah. Others disputed that both were equally important. Thus they launched into "Parables of Doing" to explicate the matter. One Rabbi, Elisha ben Abuyah, seized on the primacy of "doing" in a parable he taught:

If a man does good deeds and studies much Torah, What is he like?
To a man building first with stones and then with bricks;
Even when much water comes and the water stays (the building) does not move from its place.
And if a man does not do good deeds and studies much Torah, What is he like?
To a man who builds first with bricks and then with stones;
Even with a little water (the building) is turned upside down.

Another parallel:
If a man does good deeds and studies much Torah, What is he like?
To a tree that stands by the water, his foliage is small and his roots are large;
And if a man does not do good deeds and studies much Torah, What is he like?
To a tree that grows in the desert, its foliage is great and its roots are small; with a weak wind it is uprooted and tossed away.

Still another parallel:
If a man does good deeds and studies much Torah, What is he like?
To plaster painted on stones; Even when it is washed with running water, it does not move from its place.
And if a man does not do good deeds and studies much Torah, What is he like?
To plaster painted on bricks; Even when only a little rain drops, it is dissolved.

In Luke chapter 6 we encounter Christ teaching with one such "Parable of Doing":

Luke 6:46 "Why do you call Me, `Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 "But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

It can be easily shown then that Jesus was probably borrowing his parable from those in circulation in the Rabbinic circles of his time. His point, like Elisha ben Abuyah's, is very basic. Hearing the word of God, without doing it, does not serve the student any better than an abacus he knows how to use but never employs to good use. It is in the use where the worth of the instrument stands the test of time. A good student is able to succeed in life with it because its use becomes second nature to him...and is thus able to remain steadfast on a solid foundation no matter what deluge life might throw at him.