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.

I did not include all the teaching from the Sermon on the Mount but I will include the last 2 lines from Matthew 7. Jesus did not teach as the scribes taught.

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Scribes:

skribz: The existence of law leads necessarily to a profession whose business is the study and knowledge of the law; at any rate, if the law is extensive and complicated. At the time of Ezra and probably for some time after, this was chiefly the business of the priests. Ezra was both priest and scholar (copher). It was chiefly in the interest of the priestly cult that the most important part of the Pentateuch was written. The priests were therefore also in the first instance the scholars and the guardians of the Law; but in the course of time this was changed. The more highly esteemed the Law became in the eyes of the people, the more its study and interpretation became a lifework by itself, and thus there developed a class of scholars who, though not priests, devoted themselves assiduously to the Law. These became known as the scribes, that is, the professional students of the Law. During the Hellenistic period, the priests, especially those of the upper class, became tainted with the Hellenism of the age and frequently turned their attention to paganistic culture, thus neglecting the Law of their fathers more or less and arousing the scribes to opposition. Thus, the scribes and not the priests were now the zealous defenders of the Law, and hence, were the true teachers of the people. At the time of Christ, this distinction was complete. The scribes formed a solid profession which held undisputed sway over the thought of the people.

When I finished yesterday’s devotional I made a comment about the length of sermons. We set aside a time for listening to those sermons. Important issues should be addressed in a manner that does not wear out the listener. We have taken the Sermon on the Mount and parsed it into bite size pieces.

Even here in my offering to others I am aware of the need to be as brief as possible and try to hold the readers attention without making them weary, causing eye fatigue. I have not held sway over anyone. I do not have a cast of thousands hanging on my every word.

Jesus did. He held the interests of the crowds for a long time and amazed them.

And then Jesus got right back to work. He healed a leper right after finishing His sermon.

That gives me pause as to how I live my life.