Jesus Taught with Authority 

Put yourself in the shoes of Jesus’ audience.

See the Galilean hillside, sloping gently down to the Sea of Galilee. Hear the water as it laps the shore; listen to the calls of the birds as they circle overhead. Smell the flowers and grasses of the spring fields. Feel the sun on your face, the wind in your hair.

Join the crowds as they jostle together for a closer look at the One who is speaking. Close your eyes if you wish. Travel back twenty centuries. Join the first hearers of Jesus’ greatest sermon. Hear it again, for the very first time. And choose to live under the authority of these words, today and for the rest of your life.

Now read the entire Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5–7, slowly and carefully. 

When Jesus finished his powerful teaching, Matthew says that “the crowds were amazed at his teaching.” “Amazed” translates a word which means to be beside yourself with astonishment, to be spell-bound, literally “struck out of themselves.” Do you personally feel that amazement? 

They are amazed because “he taught as one who had authority.” 

“Authority” means literally “out of your own being.” It is a power that you possess, which no one needs to confer on you. I have the authority to call a staff meeting, but not a special session of the Texas Legislature. You have the authority to do some things, but not others.

The prophets typically began, “Thus says the Lord.” Jesus never did because he was and is the Lord. Twelve times in this Sermon he says, “I say unto you.” No Rabbi in Jewish history had ever done this. His words were the word of God and his Word never goes away:  “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

“The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:13). 

Reflect on how blessed we are to receive God’s word from Jesus. God is not a distant, capricious God who keeps us second-guessing. Instead, he gives us love. 

What actions or attitudes in your life are unbiblical? 

Where is there bitterness toward another person, coveting a possession, lust of eye or mind, or pride of heart? 

Decide that you will confess it and live by the light of God’s word.