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.