How something begins is important, but how something ends might be more important. There are many famous endings that stand out to me in popular literature. A few of my favorite endings are found in books. The Pilgrims Progress ends with that great moment where Christian finally reaches the Celestial City after his long grueling journey. Also the final book in the Narnian Chronicles, The Last Battle, where the Pevensie children reach New Narnia and experience the glory and beauty of going further up and further into heaven coming face to face with Aslan once again. And of course the end of The Lord of the Rings, where Sam comes home to his family and says, “Well, I’m back.” These are fitting ends to great tales.
Well after working through the whole Sermon on the Mount, we’ve now arrived at a greater and more significant end, and it is a fitting end indeed.
Matthew 7:28-29, “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.”
Held within these two final verses in Matthew 7 are three realities, we need to see and be astonished by. The first reality to see is about Matthew and how he arranged his gospel, the second reality to see is about the crowds astonished response to Jesus, and the third reality to see is about the reason why the crowds were so astonished with Jesus.
Astonished at Matthew’s Arrangement (v28a)
This first point has to do with Matthew and his work in writing his gospel. v28 begins with the phrase, “And when Jesus had finished…” This phrase might not seem all that important but in the context of Matthew’s gospel as a whole the phrase is very important.[1] It occurs only five times in Matthew’s gospel, and each time its used it marks the end of a large section of Jesus’ teaching. Here in v28 it marks the end of the Sermon on the Mount. It’s used next in 11:1 when Jesus finishes teaching on the mission of the twelve disciples. Then we see it in 13:53 where Jesus finishes speaking in parables about the Kingdom. Later on in we see the phrase in 19:1 when Jesus finished teaching on discipleship and discipline. Then finally we see it occur in 26:1 as Jesus finishes teaching on eschatology, or on the end.
This is important for us to see because in this we see Matthew doing some careful crafting work in arranging this material to be more easily accepted by his Jewish audience. Of all that Matthew could’ve chosen to include from all that Jesus taught, he chose to put these things into his gospel. And of all the ways Matthew could’ve arranged his material, he chose to put it in five large discourses, each ending with this phrase that begins v28. Why did he do this? One reason might be that the Jews are used to the number five. There are five books in the Torah written by Moses (Genesis – Deuteronomy), and that there are five discourses in Matthew’s gospel seems to give the impression he’s presenting Jesus as a new kind of Moses. And, there are five books in the Psalms (many written by David), and that there are five discourses in Matthew’s gospel seems to give the impression he’s presenting Jesus as a new kind of David. This is wonderful to see. Matthew at work, being carried along by the Spirit to write this, intentionally seeking to show his audience the glory of Jesus Christ in both the structure and in the content of his gospel.
This is the first thing to astonishing reality to see in v28-29. The second is…
Astonished at Jesus’ Teaching (v28b)
Here in this second point we move to the crowds, and we see the great impression the Sermon on the Mount made on them. It says in v28b “And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at His teaching…” Though the Sermon on the Mount began in 5:1 with just Jesus and His disciples, crowds have followed Him up this mountain and gathered to hear Him preach, and on hearing Him they were astonished.
This word astonished means just that, an astonishment, an amazement, it could even refer to someone being overwhelmed or overcome. This same word occurs later on in occurs in 19:25 when the crowds are astonished after hearing Jesus teach on the difficulty of entering into the Kingdom if you’re rich. It also occurs in 22:33 when the crowds are astonished after hearing Jesus teach on the resurrection. Truly, the teaching of Christ is astonishing. Have we not seen much of this all these past many months as we’ve slowly walked through the whole Sermon on the Mount? Indeed we have.
We heard the Beatitudes at the start of chapter 5. How wonderfully and beautifully and clearly Jesus laid out the map of the Christian life, about what happens in us and to us if we follow Him.
We heard Him teach on the nature of the Law at the end of chapter 5. How He came not to abolish, but to fulfill the Law and all the OT. And we listened in awe as He gave six examples on what that means, how the religious professionals had twisted the Law, teaching it as if it were just a matter of mere externals. And yet Jesus brings out the true nature of the Law, that it always pointed to a deeper reality, and that He has come to show us this.
We heard Him teach on the nature of hypocrisy in chapter 6, and we listened with rapt attention as He unfolded religious phonyness in giving, in prayer, and in fasting. In this section He gives us the Lord’s Prayer, and much as He did before, He shows us true religion, how we must strive to be in private what we show ourselves to be in public, doing all our giving, praying, and fasting for the glory of God and rather than to receive glory from man.
Then we heard Him point us heavenward in the end of chapter 6, as He taught us about treasures in heaven and the cure for anxiety. How there really is a place where moth and rust does not destroy and that our Father in heaven really does care for us even more than the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.
And finally we heard Him drive the sermon home by laying us bare all throughout chapter 7, pointing us to decision time and time again with those crossroads moments where we must choose one way or another. In this we must reckon with Him, who He is, and what kind of man or woman we will be.
Lesson? There is nothing so comforting and nothing so convicting…nothing so hard and nothing as healing as the teaching of Jesus. So, on one hand being astonished at Jesus is very understandable. Why? Because Jesus was and remains to be astonishing! There is no one like Him. His teaching, therefore, is divine, just as He is.
But on the other hand being astonished at Jesus is a warning to us, because not all astonishment ends in faith and love toward Jesus. In 13:54 we see another particular moment of astonishment very similar to this one. Jesus had just taught a crowd of people in the temple in His hometown, and the people 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.” This is the same sense we get here in v28. Yes, this crowd that heard the Sermon on the Mount was astonished, indeed they were, but did they believe in Him, follow Him, or love Him? The rest of Matthew tells us they did not.
Church, the warning in the crowd’s astonishment is that it’s possible to be impressed, and stunned, and astonished at Jesus and at His teaching, and remain in unbelief.
There is a good example of this in the ministry of George Whitefield. Whitefield was a preacher and evangelist in the 18th century, a close friend of John and Charles Wesley, and a large contributing factor to the founding of Methodism, as well as first Great Awakening. After being ordained in the Church of England he was not assigned a church, so he took to the outdoors, and preached in fields to many who would not normally come into the church. He grew to be so popular that he often preached to thousands of people at once. On some instances it is said that he had up to 20,000 people coming out to hear him. He mainly ministered in England, though he did travel to preach in Scotland, Ireland, Bermuda, and America many times as well. To say he was a man gifted by God is an understatement. God had given Whitefield a powerful voice. On many occasions while he was preaching to these vast crowds out in the fields it was reported that his voice could be heard clearly two miles away. But a powerful voice wasn’t his only gift from God, Whitefield had an unusual eloquence about him that captivated all who heard him. One of his biggest admirers was none other than Benjamin Franklin. Franklin would often travel to hear Whitefield preach and on one of those occasions Franklin said the following about Whitefield, “Every accent, every emphasis, every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well turned, and well placed, that without being interested in the subject, one could not help being pleased with the discourse: a pleasure of much the same kind with that received from an excellent piece of music.”
What makes this such an intriguing story is that Franklin never embraced the gospel, yet he loved was often deeply moved and stirred when he heard Whitefield preach. He loved to hear Whitefield preach, finding it as pleasant as sweet singing, yet he was never interested in the subject. Hmmm, seems to be the exact problem in view in v28, with this crowd who just heard the Sermon on the Mount.
Church, only in a fallen sinful world is it possible to be impressed by and astonished with Jesus and His teaching, and remain in unbelief. So as great as it is to be astonished with Jesus, astonishment is not the same as faith. Do you know something of this? Has your soul been deeply moved by Jesus? Whether reading the Word for yourself, or singing His praise, or hearing a sermon, many are moved to tears and moved to great emotional response, but is their life and heart change? Is their hatred for sin and love for the Lord growing? May we not be those who merely astonished and impressed by Jesus’ teaching. May we find Him altogether lovely from His teaching.
Astonished at Jesus’ Authority (v29)
Here in this third point we see the reason why the crowds were so astonished with Jesus. It was all about authority. Look at v28-29 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.”
So now we see the reason for the crowd’s astonishment, it was the authority of Jesus that stood out over against the supposed authority of the scribes. This is quite a bold claim to make in v29.[2] It implies that Jesus has a greater power, a greater insight, a greater handle on, and a greater ability than these normal religious teachers. It was the scribes, after all, who were the authorized teachers of the day, and here it seems there are already hints of an impending collision, or contest of authority, between the traditional teachers and this upstart Galilean Preacher.[3]
But why did the crowds arrive at such a conclusion? Did Jesus say anything in this sermon that would’ve led people to believe He had greater authority than the scribes? That answer is an easy yes. Jesus didn’t pull any punches in this sermon. Many moments stand out where Jesus’ authority stands out as strong over against the traditional teaching of the scribes and other religious leaders.
Two ways in particular.
First, in 5:20 Jesus says it black and white, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Of all that Jesus means in this statement is certainly the reality that the righteousness of these Jewish teachers isn’t enough. That a deeper and truer righteousness is required in order to enter into heaven. Remember, in this time these religious teachers appeared to be the most holy people in the nation. They spent their lives teaching the Law, expounding the Law, and applying the Law to all kinds of situations in life. Yet, even though everyone held them as most holy people and as the paragons of virtue, they tragically misunderstood and misinterpreted the Law.[4]
So by saying “…unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…” Jesus isn’t talking about beating the scribes and Pharisees at their own game, He’s speaking of a different kind righteousness altogether.[5] Certainly, the scribe and Pharisee had a kind of righteousness. But it was a righteousness restricted to the exterior of life. There were rigid rules and strict behavioral limitations, but it largely neglected the internal, the heart level realities within us. This was the problem with their so-called righteousness.
By speaking this way Jesus is clearly saying the way of the scribe and Pharisee is the wrong way and that if we’re to enter the Kingdom of God we must come by a different way.[6] A way that radically internalizes total obedience to God. That Jesus said this back in 5:20 would’ve certainly led people to believe He had a greater authority than their traditional teachers.
Second, not only did Jesus call into question their supposed ‘righteousness’ but the manner in which Jesus taught this sermon was vastly more authoritative than most people were used to hearing. What I mean is this. The scribe and the Pharisee would’ve done a lot of teaching as part of their duties as scribes and Pharisees, certainly. But their normal manner of teaching was to quote the great authorities of their tradition.[7] Most everyone in that day frowned on originality, so in order to gain a hearing and a good following they would’ve had to quote from authorities.[8] From Abraham, to Moses, to Joshua, to Samuel, to David, to Elijah, to Isaiah, and on. They would even quote teachers among their own day like the famed Rabbi Gamaliel, and discuss the nuances of positions and debates between all these authorities. This would’ve been the normal manner of teaching the people usually heard.
But what did Jesus do? He didn’t come and quote any authority. He didn’t even do what these prophets of old did and say, “Thus saith the Lord…” No. Jesus comes and says, “You have heard it said, but I say to you…I say to you…I say to you.”
His was an authority people had never seen before. Jesus presents Himself as not just another Rabbi and not just another teacher but, mysteriously and wonderfully, Jesus presents Himself as the final authority on all matters of faith and practice.[9] Do you feel the weight of that? Do you recognize how incendiary this is?! Do you see the massive shift taking place in the ministry of Jesus as the New Covenant dawns?! No longer is it the OT Law that carries the final word! No longer is it the OT Prophets that carry the final word! No longer is it anything else in the Judaic tradition that carries the final word! Jesus comes and says its Him! His words and His teaching have the final say.
So this crowd was astonished indeed.
Conclusion:
To end, I want to say this. I really hope the Sermon on the Mount has had an effect on you. I pray that you are astonished at Jesus as well. But, it’s my prayer that you’d be astonished into believing in Him, astonished into following Him, and loving Him all your days. Perhaps the most astonishing thing is the end of the story. That Jesus, the One with all authority would lay it down in His death on the cross, and take it up again in the resurrection from the dead. Church, there is none like Jesus. He stands alone, we stand amaze
[1] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13 – WBC (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993) li.
[2] R.T. France, Matthew – NICNT (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 2007) 298-299.
[3] France, Matthew, 299.
[4] Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1971) 1:201.
[5] France, The Gospel of Matthew, 189.
[6] Leon Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew – PNTC (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1992) 112.
[7] Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 193.
[8] Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew, 184.
[9] Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 194.
