Pentecost 3

June 1, 2008
Matthew 7:15-29

“Now when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were amazed at his
teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as
their scribes.”
What’s the most amazing thing you have heard in your life?
What’s the most amazing thing you have heard in the past year?
What’s the most amazing thing you have heard in the past week?
If we were to poll the congregation you would probably say something
like, “I heard about David Blaine holding his breath for seventeen
minutes on the Oprah Show.” Or “I heard about the overwhelming
support for the people in Windsor who lost their homes and businesses.”
But how many of you would say “the most amazing thing I have heard
recently was the Sunday sermon”?
That’s what many of the people that we find listening to Jesus’
Sermon on the Mount would have said. They were literally astounded.
By what?
• By His elevation of the sinner and those humble in heart and
spirit;
• By His denunciation of the self-righteousness of the Pharisees;
• By His proclamation of the Kingdom of God to all people!
• But MOST Importantly, they were amazed at His explication of
God’s Word—as only God could do!

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Jesus Christ, true man and true God, taught the Word of God with
authority.
We hear this word “authority” and we basically we respond in one of
two ways: We either relish it or reject it. When facing a disaster, be it
on a global, national, or personal scale, we like the fact that there is
someone who has the wisdom, experience and ability to handle the crisis
or resolve the conflict. On the other hand, when desiring to think,
believe, or act in a manner that is pleasing to us, we despise authority.
At one time people welcomed and respected authority. Many of you
may remember the days when, if a child got in trouble with the teacher
at school, they would be in twice as much when they got home. Today it
is the teacher, not the student, who will probably be taken to task.
This holds true not only in the civil realm, but in the ecclesiastical
as well. We could rightly say that the Reformation was a negative
response to the authority of the pope. That legacy lives on today, which
explains why churches spring up according to the whim of one person,
or why many pastors do as they please in their congregations, in effect
functioning as mini-popes; or why people change churches with such
frequency, after all, if I don’t like what I am seeing, hearing, or
experiencing, rather than humble myself and submitting I will simply
take my ball and go and play elsewhere. It is the American way. But it
is not the Christian way. For the Christian is subject to civil authority,
as we are taught in Romans 13, and willingly submits to the authority of
Christ. Why? Two reasons:
Christ Himself submitted to authority. He submitted Himself to
the authority of the Father who sent Him, as we are told in Phil. 2; and
He submitted Himself to Pilate and the High Priest Caiaphas, who,

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though they were sinful human beings, nevertheless held a position of
authority even over Jesus in so far as it concerned his crucifixion and
human nature. So by submitting to authority we are in essence
following the example of Christ. It is why the early martyrs willingly
went to their deaths rather than mounting an insurrection.
The other reason we submit to authority is because Christ our
Lord has been given all authority. We heard Him make that clear two
weeks ago in Matthew 28 when He said “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given unto me.” But this is not the only place where
Scripture bears witness to Christ’s Authority. One of the best is found
in Ephesians 4 where St. Paul tells us that Christ was raised from the
dead, and seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenly places, far
above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name
that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And the
Father put all things under His fee, and gave Him as head over all things
in the church, which is His body.”
If we believe the Scriptures are God’s Inspired and inerrant word
—which I pray we do—then we must also believe that as Christians we
are called to submit to authority, the foremost of which is Christ.
We will see Jesus exercise that authority by healing diseases and
driving out demons. But do you know where we see, and hear, that
authority being exercised most clearly? In His proclaimed Word. In the
Gospel. It is this Gospel authority that causes the crowd to be amazed,
for He is convicting His listeners of unrighteousness!
The scribes taught what many religious leaders and pastors teach
today—that people are basically good, and can get better with a bit of
effort and faith. But Jesus does NOT teach that. Here on the Sermon

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on the Mount—the first of His official proclamations, He says that
unless our righteousness exceeds that of the Pharisees we cannot enter
the kingdom of God. That, dear friends, is impossible. And Jesus
proceeds to point out how impossible it is:
• For if we are angry at our brother, or says “you fool” to him—we
are in danger of the hell fire;
• Or if we have looked at another woman—or man—lustfully—we
are in danger of the hell fire;
• Or if we have failed to love our enemies, or have not given more
than the beggar has asked for—we are unrighteous in the eyes of
God.
So I ask you, dear sinners, does these authoritative words of Jesus apply
to you? Yes, they do. And so do the rest that He speaks in this sermon
—the purpose of which is to point out our unrighteousness, and direct
us to the Righteous One, Jesus Christ.
Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy
in Your name, and cast out demons in Your Name and perform many
miracles in Your name?’ This is the plea of the person, even Christian
person, who is relying on their own acts of righteousness. And then I
will declare to them, ‘Depart from me you evildoers, I never knew You.”
Why did He not know them? Because they did not know His
righteousness. For you see, we do not earn our righteousness—
Scripture tells us that there is No one who is righteous, not even one
(Rom. 3:10)—Rather, Christ earns it for us. But now the righteousness
of God has been manifested apart from the Law. Even the righteousness
of God through faith in Christ Jesus for all those who believe. For there

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is no distinction, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but
are justified freely as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus.(Rom. 3:21-24)
Jesus, the sinless savior, the righteous lamb of God, took the sins of the
unrighteous world upon His shoulders, carrying them to the cross, and
depositing them in His death with His heavenly Father. Therefore He
alone has the authority to declares us righteous. He is doing that in the
Word that He is proclaiming to the people listening to the sermon on the
mount, and He is doing that through the Word that is being preached to
you today. The crowd was amazed by it—others not so much, for we
are told that some found this to be a hard teaching. What about you?
Are you put off by the Gospel? Do you find the Word of God to be
boring? Do you put most sermons in the “sleeper” category? Do you
desire something different, titillating, entertaining? Or are you amazed
by the simple, straightforward, cut to the quick message of the Gospel
which convicts us of our unrighteousness and leads us to repentance and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?
Herein lies the key—for it is one thing to be amazed by Jesus’
teaching—it is quite another to believe. Thomas was amazed when He
saw the resurrected Lord. But do you remember what Jesus said?
“You believe because you have seen. Blessed are those who have not
seen and believe.”
Regardless of what the world thinks of Jesus the fact is He has
authority—All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Him—
and we will see Him come again in the clouds on the last day wielding
that authority. The question is, when He does will He find you to simply
be amazed—or will you be found believing?

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Amen.