Matthew 7:28-29 English Standard Version

The Authority of Jesus

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount. When we look for that sermon we will find the beginning of it in Matthew chapter 5. It goes on for 3 full chapters.

Not since Moses heard directly from God, speaking face to face, had man encountered God speaking directly to them. The bible is full of messages from messengers, angels and prophets but to hear directly from God Himself, this was the first time the masses heard God speak.

Make no mistake here, Jesus Christ is the second person of God, One in unity and mind and will with God the Father and The Holy Spirit, the third person of God. His sermon that day was an expository of the mind of God bringing all the words that were spoken before into clear concise terms that no one had ever heard before. There was no need for a scribe to tell them what the scriptures meant, He was clarifying nearly everything.

In places, His words contradicted the interpretation of the scriptures given to the people by their scribes.

Matthew 5:21 begins “You have heard” and then in verse 5:22 He says “But I say”. He repeats that pattern on the subjects of anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, loving our enemies, and then beginning in chapter 6 addressing attitudes and behaviors that the scribes may have never addressed in their teachings because they were just too personal.

God was getting personal with the people. This is something only God can do.

In chapter 7 Jesus shifts into high gear and relates to the people on how to make life better for them addressing judgments, prayer, seeking God’s favor, treating one another, and winding down His sermon with the valuable topics of fruit, a personal relationship with Him and finally the Rock upon which we stand.

In short, do not read chapter 5 of Matthew and think you have gotten everything God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ has to say to us on a personal level. There is more, there is always more.

Now we have the Third Person of God, the Holy Spirit to tell us all that He has to say today.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.

Nothing breeds contempt for God more than success. Only in this passage are the words “pride of life” put together. Why is that?

We reach out to the hurting, those who need help, those that feel the pain of a life that is not successful. We do so because we have been there where they are and we found a way out of our despair. Those with “pride of life” look to nothing but their own success, their own satisfaction, their own desires.

When we were lost sinners those successful people turned a blind eye to us because we had nothing they wanted, they were users, not givers. This is why our witness is strongest with those that suffered as we suffered. Our experiences are not uncommon but most of us do not live our lives pointing out what we were that is not evident in the life we live now. The life we live now has to speak for itself.

For example, I post these devotionals on facebook, X and hiscup.net and I post nothing there but these articles. In facebook I belong to different groups, family, high school mates, and special interest groups. I am not different in those groups, I just do not flood the group with the gospel. Anyone in those other groups are free to check my profile and see what I post. Some follow, some do not.

I’ve heard that a zealot cannot change his mind and will not change the subject. That really wears on people and they stop listening. I have other interests and opinions but I only share those where it is appropriate. I blend in without changing who I am.

My example from Jesus is in how He could be with sinners without changing. He did not call them out for their sins and shielded them from the Pharisees of that time. A shield does not mean a behavior is acceptable, only that He was willing to keep them from the pain inflicted by others.

John 3:17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

In order to seek approval from God, one must first see there is a God and secondly that He loves them. Jesus showed them He is love and that was attractive.

Show the love and then they will want to know how we got there.

The path of the righteous walks with Jesus.