“Amazed at His Teaching”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ. Amen. The hymn we just sang [“Jesus Sat with His Disciples,” Lutheran
Service Book, 932] was specially written for our new hymnal, and I think
it’s going to become a favorite of Christians everywhere. This new hymn is
based on the well-known Beatitudes, with which our Lord begins his famous Sermon
on the Mount. The Sermon on the Mount is the longest continuous teaching of Jesus
recorded in the Gospels, taking up all of Matthew chapters five, six, and seven.
At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew concludes with the reaction of
the crowd: “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed
at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their
teachers of the law.” You may recognize that’s the exact same reaction the crowd has in
today’s Gospel Reading, as Jesus teaches in his hometown synagogue. Over
and over again, the Gospels report how the people who hear Jesus are “Amazed at
His Teaching.” And they repeatedly tell us why, what it was about his teaching
that was so amazing to them: “Because he taught as one who had authority, and
not as their teachers of the law.” What does it mean that Jesus taught with “authority”? The real
significance of that testimony becomes clear in the next chapter of Mark, when
Jesus uses the same Greek word to declare about himself, “The Son of Man has
authority on earth to forgive sins.” That’s what the people were so amazed
to hear, that’s what Jesus focused on in his teaching: the forgiveness of sins.
That key ingredient was missing in the other religious teachers of their day,
and is still missing today in all other religions except Christianity, and sadly
even among some misguided Christian preachers and denominations. When Terry and I were first married my cousin Bev brought a beautiful
cherry pie to a family dinner at our house. It looked absolutely
delicious—until you took a bite. Because, Bev had mistakenly used salt
instead of sugar. That’s why the crowds react to Jesus’ teaching the way they do.
It was such a contrast to the other religious teachers of their day.
Because, like cousin Bev’s pie, they were missing the key ingredient.
Instead of the sweetness of the Gospel, the Good News of forgiveness of sins,
they substituted the sour bitterness of the Law. That meant they could offer only a conditional teaching: “IF you do
this, and if you DON’T do that, then MAYBE God will love you, MAYBE God will
might you.” Such a legalistic, conditional teaching, predicating God’s
love and forgiveness on what WE do or don’t do, isn’t at all comforting.
It’s like salt instead of sugar. Because, you can never be sure:
Have I done enough? Does God love me? Does God forgive me? Paul answers in Romans, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of
God. . . Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by
observing the law.” You can never do enough to earn God’s love and
forgiveness, because God demands nothing less than perfection. As Jesus
says, also in the Sermon on the Mount, “Be perfect, therefore, just as your
Father in heaven is perfect.” One quality control textbook says, “perfect quality is not just
difficult, it is nearly impossible,” and goes on to suggest that 99.7% should be
considered “perfect.” With man, that is about as perfect as you can get.
But not with God. As James declares, “For whoever keeps the whole law and
yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” A conditional teaching of salvation, “IF you do this, and if you DON’T
do that, then MAYBE God will love you, MAYBE God will might you,” can only lead
to despair. As Psalm 51 says, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is
always before me. . . I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.” “The crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who
had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” What is so
different, what is so unique about Jesus’ teaching, compared to all other
religious teachers in the world? “The Son of Man has authority on earth to
forgive sins.” That is the key ingredient in Jesus’ teaching, which so
amazed the crowds, the key ingredient missing in their other religious teachers:
the sweetness of the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins. Jesus’ teaching isn’t conditional, it’s DECLARATIVE: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life
and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even
though he dies, yet shall he live.” “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and
believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day.” “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his
life a ransom for many.” “The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned.” “I am the good shepherd . . . and I lay down my life for the
sheep. . . I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” Paul very simply but so beautifully sums up Jesus’ teaching in
Ephesians: “He came and preached PEACE.” The crowds were amazed because Jesus’ teaching wasn’t conditional like
their other religious teachers, “IF you do this, and if you DON’T do that, then
MAYBE God will love you, MAYBE God will might you.” Jesus’ teaching
was so amazing because it is DECLARATIVE: “Your sins ARE forgiven. I GIVE
you eternal life.” The word Gospel means “Good News.” That’s what so amazed the
crowds who heard our Lord preach, that’s what’s still unique about Christ and
Biblical Christianity, compared to all the other religions and religious
teachers throughout history. Their false teachings might seem attractive
on the surface, but when you bite into it, you find only sour bitterness of the
Law, not the delicious, comforting, sweetness of the Gospel. That is why the crowds are “Amazed at His Teaching,” because he
declares to them the Good News, the same Good News he declares to you today:
YOUR sins are FORGIVEN. He gives YOU eternal life. “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. . . The Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” Amen.Return to Top | Return to Sermons | Home | Email Church Office
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