21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the person who does what my Father in heaven wants. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name? Didn’t we force out demons and do many miracles by the power and authority of your name?’ 23 Then I will tell them publicly, ‘I’ve never known you. Get away from me, you evil people.’
24 “Therefore, everyone who hears what I say and obeys it will be like a wise person who built a house on rock. 25 Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and beat against that house. But it did not collapse, because its foundation was on rock.
26 “Everyone who hears what I say but doesn’t obey it will be like a foolish person who built a house on sand. 27 Rain poured, and floods came. Winds blew and struck that house. It collapsed, and the result was a total disaster.”
28 When Jesus finished this speech, the crowds were amazed at his teachings. 29 Unlike their experts in Moses’ Teachings, he taught them with authority.
Read Matthew 7:21-29 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
While a number of the gospel writers share the idea we will be looking at in this passage, there is not a better example of what they mean then when we look at Matthew’s gospel. After three chapters that contain Jesus’ famous “Sermon on the Mount”, Matthew tells us what the crowd’s response was to Jesus.
“When Jesus finished this speech, the crowds were amazed at his teachings. Unlike their experts in Moses’ teachings, he taught them with authority.” (v. 28-29)
After this sermon, Jesus clearly set Himself as being a unique teacher, but the big thing Matthew tells us the crowd noticed is that Jesus “taught them with authority”. This is contrasted by saying that the experts in Moses’ Teachings did not teach with authority.
The way Matthew and the translators frame this statement is that the supposed “experts” in Jesus day spoke in a way that must not have sounded confident or authoritative. Perhaps the people had been accustomed to hearing sermons that framed Moses’ teaching with the opinions and understanding of other Rabbis. The experts were then experts in drawing opinions together, but they never had a clear understanding of where Moses’ Teachings – this translations way of saying “The Law” – ended and where the opinion of the Rabbis that are begin quoted begin.
Perhaps these experts simply carried on a tradition of simply saying the same thing as those who came before them, and it cheapened what was important to God into being simply empty tradition. If someone simply shares what we should do or not do, and they fail to share why, then an empty tradition is likely to form.
However, Jesus taught differently. He taught as one who had authority; He taught in a way that the people understood; and He taught from His own personal study of the scriptures rather than simply drawing from other Rabbis’ opinions on the scripture. Jesus taught in a way that elevated God’s standards while also giving the people a reason to obey.
When Jesus had finished preaching, the crowd was amazed. Jesus had helped them understand truths they had previously been confused by, and He gave them a clear “why” for obeying God – unlike the supposed experts of the day!
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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