March 12, 2023

Astonished By his Authority: Matthew 7:28-29 (Sermon)

ABSENT

Mike Bettig and Joe Koehler are with thirty other guys at the Men’s Retreat this morning. If you missed it, join us for TM4L, Training Men for Life, Saturday, April 1st. That is no joke. We will meet at Sawyer/Here, downstairs, at 7 AM.

Jeff

Pastor Jeff is not here this morning because he is preaching for Pastor Rich Zieger of Real Life Church in Three Oaks. We have a close affiliation with his church. Pastor Rich is home recovering from pancreatitis.

Leadership Transition

Last week, Pastor Jeff mentioned that he is retiring at the end of the year. I was thinking about that. Did you know we have had 123 views for our services on YouTube since Sunday? People tune in from around the world. What if someone heard Jeff’s announcement and sent a cover letter, resume, and sample sermon to our church? This letter is made up, by the way. What if his cover letter read,

Application

To Whom it May Concern,

I heard you are going through a leadership transition. And I wanted to put my name out there as a candidate for Senior Pastor. I have been in the ministry for about a year now. I don’t have formal education or a degree; however, I have seen God move in powerful ways. I have a gift of teaching and healing. I have even cast out demons. Some may call me charismatic, but I avoid labels and most titles. I have a large platform. I have several interns that follow me around in my ministry. For the most part, my work has been itinerant. I have moved quite a bit.

PAST

Before preaching, I worked in a trade for over a decade in our family business. I am single with no children. Southwest Michigan could feel at home with the lake and the rural setting. I enjoy the outdoors and am comfortable working indoors. I am a man for all seasons. I am a mix between introvert and extrovert, perceptive and intuitive, and a thinker and feeler. I am flexible, faithful, and up for an adventure.

LINK

I appreciate your consideration. See my link for my attached sermon.

CONTENT

Say we read this letter and click the link. His message was only thirteen minutes long. That was the entire sermon. In it, he assured his audience that he wasn’t against the Bible but lived it out and fulfilled its prophecy. He repeated his points and used powerful word pictures and analogies. However, he didn’t tell any jokes or stories. He didn’t quote any pastor or commentary. He didn’t go into the Greek or Hebrew language. There was no three-point application, alliteration, or acronyms. He didn’t have a children’s message or bulletin outline.

On top of that, he dared to call his listeners evil and hypocrites. He even said the hearers must be more godly than the religious leaders of the day to get into heaven. Finally, he ended his short message by saying that you are spiritually doomed if you hear his sermon and don’t put it into practice.

Hire

Would you hire him? You go back to that original application and discover another link. In it, he tells you that he is a Messianic Jew, and attached is his family tree. He can trace his lineage to King David. What would you think? You might like a thirteen-minute message. Would you file his email in the trash? That is not how the crowd responded to Jesus’s thirteen-minute message 2000 years ago. Where I would not give someone like this a chance, there was an electrified air of hope for the Messiah. This fictional depiction of an applicant was what Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount. His words filled that space and made the response to his sermon more understandable. Let’s take a look and see how the crowd responded.

Bible

If you have your Bibles, open them to Matthew chapter 7, verses 28 and 29. And would you please stand with me in honor of the Word?

“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes” (Matthew 7:28–29 (ESV).

Prayer

Let’s pray. Dear God, thank you for your Word. Please help us understand it and transform us through it. We need your help. In Jesus’s name, amen. You may be seated.

Context

The central theme of Matthew is to follow the promised king into his kingdom. Matthew tells Jesus’s story from the earliest times. First, he tells Jesus’s family history. In chapter 3, Jesus’s relative, John, baptized him. Then in chapter 4, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to fast, pray, and face temptation. Afterward, he called his first disciples. He went around the countryside preaching the kingdom of God, healing the sick, and casting out demons. Finally, we get to chapter 5 and begin the Sermon on the Mount. It is unlike any other message we have heard or have of Jesus. It starts with seven qualities of the disciple resulting in spiritual blessings amid earthly suffering.

Seven Beatitudes

Jesus then gave a mission to the disciple using two images: salt and light. The Sermon on the Mount speaks to the heart and lives of his followers worldwide.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus defined himself not in opposition to the teaching of the Jewish people but in fulfilling it.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets

He set the disciple’s goal to surpass the most religious of the day; the bar was high. The objective of the disciple was righteousness.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets

Righteousness Surpassing the Religious

Then, Jesus moved into the body of his teaching.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets

Righteousness Surpassing the Religious

Six Laws of Righteousness

He talked about six laws that equate to right living in some people’s minds, culminating in a call for loving one’s enemies. It was an aim of perfection, a life mirroring a God. Then, in chapter 6, he gave three acts of righteousness contrasted with several ways of accomplishing them.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets

Righteousness Surpassing the Religious

Six Laws of Righteousness

Three Spiritual Practices and Their Rewards

He compared the pursuit of earthly wealth and possessions with heavenly ones.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets

Righteousness Surpassing the Religious

Six Laws of Righteousness

Three Spiritual Practices and Their Rewards

Two Treasures

Finally, in chapter 7, he discussed how we relate to others and God the Father.

Seven Beatitudes

Salt and Light in the World

Jesus Fulfills the Law and Prophets

Righteousness Surpassing the Religious

Six Laws of Righteousness

Three Spiritual Practices and Their Rewards

Two Treasures

Relating to Others and God the Father

His instructions drive us back to the beginning of his message: the heart and a need for holiness and godliness. Humility, poverty, sorrow, hunger, and thirst for righteousness, mercy, and purity result in life following Jesus’s teaching. The sermon concluded with several contrasting images of those who listen and apply this message and those who don’t. Heaven is on the line, and Jesus’s teaching was at the center of being right before God the Father.

Philip Yancey’s Summary

I like how Philip Yancey summarized this:

Thunderously, inarguably, the Sermon on the Mount proves that before God we all stand on level ground: murderers and temper-throwers, adulterers and lusters, thieves and coveters. We are all desperate, and that is in fact the only state appropriate to a human being who wants to know God. Having fallen from the absolute Ideal, we have nowhere to land but in the safety net of absolute grace. (Philip Yancey)

Oswald Chambers once wrote:

The Sermon on the Mount is not a set of rules and regulations - it is a picture of the life we will live when the Holy Spirit is having His unhindered way with us.

(Oswald Chambers)

Other non-religious people have spoken of the Sermon on the Mount in awe. President Harry S. Truman stated,

“I do not believe there is a problem in this country or the world today which could not be settled if approached through the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.”

How do we respond to Jesus’s teaching?

Did you do what Pastor Jeff asked last week in his sermon? Did you study this passage for thirty minutes? If you did, what did God say to you? Perhaps, you didn’t. I was on vacation and can’t say I did. Life slips away, and we have new mercy to seek the Lord. Let’s consider our passage, regardless of our work or lack of work.

Structure

Let’s look at the structure. Yes, there is a structure in these two verses. Understanding a structure of a passage helps us understand the point. We see three thoughts organizing these verses:

Occasion

Reaction

Reason

Let me repeat those points,

Occasion

Reaction

Reason

Big Idea & Transformational Intent

The point of the passage is that Jesus is more than an ordinary teacher. This drives us back to the beatitudes in chapter 5.

OCCASION

Regarding the occasion of his teaching, we understand that this is the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus’s audience was his disciples. Yet, in our verses, we learn there was another audience, the crowd.

REACTION

In regards to their reaction, they were “astonished.” Matthew used the word “astonish” several times. We see it in chapters 13, 19, and 22. Let’s look at each use.

Chapter 13

In chapter 13, Jesus went to his hometown of Nazareth and began to teach in the synagogue. The audience was “astonished.” Look at verse 53.

And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things? (Matthew 13:53–56 ESV, Italics mine)

Jesus was teaching and doing mighty works. The people were surprised that a local, low-class, uneducated, inexperienced man taught and acted as he did.

Chapter 19

In Matthew chapter 19, Jesus encountered a rich young ruler. He asked Jesus how to get into heaven. Great question. How did Jesus respond? Do you remember? He told the young man to obey the Bible. He said he did. Jesus told him, “Great, you have one more thing to do.” What was that? “Go sell everything you have, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow me.” Would you? Over the years, I have struggled because I could not picture myself following Jesus’s invitation. What did that young man do? He had the opportunity to be the thirteenth disciple. He could be part of the inner circle. I long for that. Wouldn’t it be incredible to see Jesus that closely? What did that young man do? He left Jesus depressed. We don’t know what happened. He left unwilling to obey. Maybe he had another opportunity to follow down the road. But we know that Jesus turned to his disciples and said it is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle than to enter heaven. And how did the disciples react? They were “astonished.” The crowds were astonished in chapter 7. The people in Nazareth were astonished in chapter 13, and the disciples were astonished in chapter 19.

Chapter 22

Then, in chapter 22, Jesus went to Jerusalem. There, he taught by telling stories we called parables. The Pharisees and the Herodians were listening and watching. They didn’t like what they heard and saw. They tried to trap him by asking about taxes. He famously had them bring out a coin. He asked whose picture was on it. They answered, “Caesar.” Then Jesus made the declaration, giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. How did the crowd react? Guess. [Astonished?] Wrong. You are close. I tricked you. They “marveled.” It is a different Greek word. However, a few verses later, the Sadducees tried to trap Jesus, also. They told him a man had died. He had a wife and a bunch of brothers. In the Jewish tradition, his brothers were to marry this widow. One brother at a time. Each subsequently died. The next brother married her; he died, then the next. You might think the Sadducees were testing Jesus’s crime investigative skills. Something fishy was going on with this widow. But no, they wanted to try his theology. They wanted him to answer what happens to marriage in heaven. It was a gotcha moment. The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection. You die, and that is it. But Jesus could see through every trap. He flipped the script. He referenced the Old Testament to show that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob still existed, and he added that there is no marriage in heaven. Mic drop. The crowd was “astonished.” So, in Galilee, Nazareth, Jerusalem, and his inner circle, people responded to Jesus with “astonishment.” Other translations use the word amazement. It can mean astounded or overwhelmed.

REASON

Reason part 1

Why? Why was the crowd astonished in chapter 7? Look at verse 28.

“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority” (Matthew 7:28–29 ESV).

They were astonished at his authoritative teaching. We have looked at the word astonished; let’s look at the word “authority.”

AUTHORITY

Authority: Soldiers

In chapter 8, Jesus went to the town of Capernaum. There was a man who was a soldier, a centurion. He owned a slave who recently became paralyzed. He appealed to Jesus to heal him. Jesus offered to visit. The man stated:

“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:8–9 ESV, Italics mine)

He understood what Jesus could do with a word. Jesus agreed and healed. The soldier was correct. Jesus had authority over sickness and disease. He could make the lame walk, give sight to the blind, stop chronic bleeding, and raise the dead with a single word.

Authority: to Forgive Sins

In the next chapter, chapter 9, we read that Jesus could heal the sick and had the authority to forgive sins. Now, we can forgive sins that are against us. Yet, Jesus can forgive sin against God. He could do that because he was the Son of God. He had authority unlike any other (Matthew 9:6 –7).

Authority: to Grant Authority

In chapter 10, Jesus gave his authority to others to heal and cast out demons (Matthew 10:1). He could delegate his authority. He shared what he had.

Authority: All

Matthew concludes with Jesus making this great declaration:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20 ESV, Italics mine)

Jesus had and has all authority. He hasn’t changed. He continues to have all the authority in heaven and on earth.

Reason Part 2

What astonished the crowd? Look at Matthew 7 again.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28–29 ESV)

Jesus taught, unlike their religious leaders. He spoke clearly and definitively. He quoted the Old Testament but not spiritual experts. In verses 17, 20, 22, 26, 28, 32, 34, 39, and 44, he quoted himself in chapter 5. He says something like “I say to you” nine times.

“For truly, I say to you” v. 17,

“For I tell you” v. 20,

“But I say to you” v. 22,

“Truly, I say to you” v. 26,

“But I say to you” v. 28,

“But I say to you” v. 32,

“But I say to you” v. 34,

“But I say to you” v. 39,

“But I say to you” v. 44.

This type of authoritative messaging stood out like a full moon. Not only that, he called people out. He drew hard lines. I imagine he made everyone a little uncomfortable. He makes me uncomfortable, even now. He went so far as to say that on judgment day, people would call him Lord, and he will tell some to depart from him workers of lawlessness. Jesus put him and his words as the center of hope and help. One’s spiritual destiny rested on allegiance and adherence to his teaching. Jesus is still central and the authority over all.

APPLICATION

Does that astound you? Does his message amaze you? If it does, is that enough? Is being astonished enough? What happens when the revival is over? Consider the crowds. They followed him the next day, but most didn’t continue to the cross. Consider the astonished crowds in Nazareth. They said, in chapter 13:

And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:53–58 ESV, Italics mine.)

The astonished were offended. They were astonished but didn’t repent. Jesus said they didn’t believe him. The Pharisees went further. They heard Jesus and were so angry that they sought to kill him. Why? Jesus’s authority threatens our autonomy. Most people don’t like being told what to do or to be led. We want to be our bosses and leaders in many situations. Jesus said he was the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father but through him (John 14:6). Being amazed is not enough.

LET Jesus Shape Your Life

Are we willing to let Jesus shape our lives? Is his kingdom first and his righteousness the first thing on our to-do list? He said:

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24–27 ESV)

How do we hear Jesus? What is he saying? He wants our hearts. He wants to be the Lord of our lives, all our lives. Where do you sense resistance in your life to Jesus’s authority? Such a question is why our Men’s and Women’s retreats are so important. They provide space to think more carefully about our spiritual health. Not all of us can attend retreats, but you and I can take a moment to pause and consider. Where is there a place in your life where you need to submit to Jesus?

Is it your pride?
Is it in your lust?
Is it your anger?
Is it your love?
Is it your prayer life?
Is it with your money, possessions, or priorities?
Is it your anxiety and worry?
Is it how you treat others?

Where do you need to submit yourself to Jesus’s authority?

If you are struggling with a sense of condemnation, don’t despair like the rich young man who left Jesus. Instead, remember that the disciple’s heart is humble, poor in spirit, and hungering and thirsting for rightness with God. The heavenly Father is here to help through Jesus, who fulfilled this teaching perfectly. He died to make us right. He died in love with you. He can do what you and I can’t. He has that much authority.

Prayer

Let’s pause to pray and take a moment to reflect on Jesus’s authority in our lives. Where do you need to submit to Jesus’s authority? How doe he want you to respond?