§ 6. The Sermon on the Mount (According to Matthew)

astonished

The Greek for "astonished" (ἐκπλήσσω) has its basis in fear or even panic. The lexicon includes such definitions as:

"astonished" (ἐκπλήσσω)

drive out of one’s senses by a sudden shock, amaze, astound;

to be panic-struck, amazed, especially by fear;

to frighten someone into doing something.

Why would people react to the Lord's teaching with a mixture of fear? The gospel uses this word to convey the binding nature of Jesus's teaching. The people realized they were being called to action. It matters what we do in service to God in our lives.

teaching…as one who had authority

Authority binds. A person in authority speaks binding words. If a police officer gives you instructions, you must follow them; the officer has authority to arrest (bind!) those who do not obey the law. Teaching with authority means binding the words of God, as Jesus said, "Whoever hears My words and does them…."

In contrast, the scribes maintained copies and read the text of the Bible to the people, but they did not fulfill its commandments.

Matthew 23:2–3

The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

Solomon also understood that the power of binding God's word excels the usefulness of human scholarship.

Ecclesiastes 12:11–12

The words of the wise are like goads, and like nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are given by one Shepherd. My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.

In their teaching without authority, the scribes:

• left questions unanswered, left matters up to interpretation, rather than "goading" people to action;
• focused on unimportant details rather than "nails firmly fixed";
• confused cultural values for divine precepts "given by one Shepherd";
• thus, failed to call people to repentance.

Consider the account of "What Defiles a Person" in Matthew 15. The question the scribes asked in verses 1–2 reflects all the problems outlined above:

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.”

It is clear Jesus is answering these problems directly in His response to the disciples later:

Matthew 15:17–20

“Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

The Lord's response marks a stark contrast with the teaching of the scribes.

• The scribes were worried about the traditions of their nation—or at least the scribes of generations past (Matthew 15:3).
• Their application focused entirely on food and physical cleanliness, completely missing the point (Colossians 2:23).
• God wants the heart to be clean, and an impure heart is known by its produce: "evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander" (Matthew 15:19).

The scribes' approach left people wondering what was and was not the right thing to do, focused on earthly procedures instead of spiritual earnestness, honored generations past instead of God, and made no mention of anything actually identified in the Law as sinful—let alone how to avoid it. This is a stark contrast indeed with the teaching of the Lord in the sermon on the mount!

and not as the scribes

Jesus mentioned the scribes earlier in this sermon when He said, "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:20). This saying must have jarred the crowd because they considered the scribes to be religious authorities.

Do not mistake the error of the scribes as a general condemnation for learning, skill, and knowledge. These can be useful to the Master, if genuinely employed in His service. The warning is that any scribe, or person of letters (γραμματεύς), runs the risk of becoming purely academic if they make no practical application.

When a teacher does not call the people to repentance, their teaching becomes purely academic. It might be interesting, dynamic, entertaining, charming, comforting, many other things. But it's not binding, and thus it's not teaching the way Jesus taught!

There are many purely academic preachers. These interject phrases into their teaching to prevent their words from being binding.

• "as I see it"
• "my reading of this"
• "you may differ with me on this"
• "in my judgment/view"
• "not everyone will agree, but hear me out"

Such teaching and preaching, however, is just as popular today as it was in the first century. Paul charged Timothy to preach with "reproof, rebuke, and exhortation [to action]," warning that people would instead "accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions."

2 Timothy 4:1–4

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.