“What?” you may be saying, “A
spiritual parallel between “The Three Little Pigs” and “The Wise and Foolish
Builders” of Matthew 7?” Well, if you’ll bear with me, I believe there is.
First, let’s take a look at the Scriptural context. Jesus is preaching, and
He says that anyone who hears His words and puts them into practice “is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” He’s just been
teaching his listeners about having the right heart (“Don’t judge” and “…do
unto others what you would have them do to you”), entering through the narrow
gate, being a true disciple, and watching out for false prophets—basically a
crash course in living the Christian life.
He follows up all of this by pointing the crowd back to
the proper foundation, using the analogy of people building houses—the wise man
on a rock and the foolish man on sand. You know the story—and the song—when the
rains and floods came, the house on the rock stood firm, but the house on the
sand “fell with a great crash” (vs. 27) (i.e. “went splat!”).
In the story of the three little pigs, we see three
inexperienced young pig-men heading out to seek their fortunes. This is a lot
like the crowd Jesus is preaching to in Matthew 7. They are inexperienced in
the ways of God’s kingdom, and Jesus is telling them the essentials. In the
story of the pigs, there was lack—their mother did not have the means to
provide for them. Likewise, Jesus’ listeners lacked truth and came seeking it—fortune for the spirit, so to speak.
But like the foolish builder, the first two pigs’
buildings were not made in such a way as to resist what came against them. The
enemy—the wolf— was able to overtake them, just as those whose lives are not
built on Christ are easily overtaken by the devil. I also find it interesting
that in Matthew 7, false prophets are referred to as “wolves in sheep’s
clothing”—obviously not servants of the Lord but of His enemy; that’s how Satan
often presents his lies. In the three little pigs’ case, the enemy is much more
blatant in his approach, but still bent on bringing destruction.
It is important to note that though the first two
brothers’ homes are lost as the wolf commences his huffing and puffing, the
third brother’s house doesn’t succumb to the same fate. There was strength in
the way he had built his home. Likewise, when we build our lives on Christ, we
are not easily way-laid by the circumstances of this world; what the enemy
designs for evil God uses for good—our foundation remains solid.
So the wolf tries another tactic—appealing to a weakness
of the pig, a desire for turnips. But the pig one-ups him again. So a third
strategy is devised—a fair in Shanklin; the pig goes and ends up averting and
even scaring his enemy by rolling
down the hill inside a butter churn. In the end, the thwarted wolf is so angry
that he ends up in a stew.
To see the whole parallel, we need to look at the
building materials of the first two pigs—straw and sticks. In I Corinthians
3:11-13, Paul admonishes the believers at Corinth to build on the foundation of
Christ “with care,” saying: “For no one can lay any
foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold,
silver, costly stones, wood (also
translated “timber,” i.e., “sticks”), hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it
is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and
the fire will test the quality of each person’s work.” As believers, we must
live by the Spirit, not according to the flesh or by our own devices or agendas.
Only our works done in the Spirit will be found worthy. We can’t add to what
Jesus did or live in a way that is more abundant than the life He provides—that
is simply a deception the enemy would like us to believe.
The story of the three little pigs doesn’t mention
whether or not the last pig finds his “fortune” or not but implies it by
stating that he lives “happily ever after.” Perhaps his fortune was found in
his victory over his enemy, gained through the wisdom he used against each trap
the wolf tried to set for him. In Isaiah 65, “Fortune” (or Fate) is referred to
as a god some were setting up feasts for; this chapter is a warning against
forsaking the Lord and seeking other gods.
Could it be that the mother sow was sending her sons off
not to be prosperous, as we would often think of “fortune,” but rather to seek
their fate? She only hoped that they
had the skills and sense necessary to be successful. As it turned out, only one
did.
How wonderful that we don’t have to leave our futures to
fate—that it isn’t left to chance. We have a Savior who made a way for us, and
He left His Spirit to guide us “into all truth.” We don’t have to guess or
“hope for the best.” We may not know what the future holds, but most assuredly
we can know who holds the future. The
difference in building materials is Jesus, the only real “happily ever after.”
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