WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:25.839 Well, some years ago I was having a conversation about religion with a man who was not a Christian. 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:32.820 And I asked him in the course of our conversation whether he had ever read the Bible for himself, and he said that he'd read some of it. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:37.240 I asked him what parts he'd read, and he said that he had read the Sermon on the Mount. 00:00:39.980 --> 00:00:45.920 That's the very portion of the Gospel of Matthew that we're finishing tonight and that we've been preaching through in the evenings here at Trinity. 00:00:46.280 --> 00:00:54.340 Now, I don't know where this man had read the Sermon on the Mount, but my guess is that it was in school somewhere, either an English class or a comparative religion class. 00:00:54.340 --> 00:00:57.940 I think a lot of people encounter the Sermon on the Mount this way. 00:00:58.740 --> 00:01:05.100 And it's no surprise that someone would choose this text of all texts in the Bible as a kind of summary of Christian teaching. 00:01:06.060 --> 00:01:07.780 Blessed are the poor in spirit. 00:01:08.780 --> 00:01:09.540 Love your enemies. 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:12.280 Don't show off when you pray. 00:01:13.219 --> 00:01:15.180 Don't be enslaved by the love of money. 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:17.840 Don't be a judgmental hypocrite. 00:01:18.600 --> 00:01:22.680 These are the kinds of teachings that all sorts of people can get behind. 00:01:22.680 --> 00:01:27.760 You don't have to be a Christian to think that people ought to treat one another the way they want to be treated. 00:01:28.820 --> 00:01:32.420 And that, I think, is why the Sermon on the Mount has such a wide following. 00:01:32.560 --> 00:01:40.640 In fact, when people talk about liking Jesus but not liking Christianity, I think they're usually thinking about the Sermon on the Mount and teachings like it. 00:01:42.020 --> 00:01:49.020 I can almost guarantee you, though, that they are not thinking about the two verses that we are going to be talking about tonight. 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:52.939 Matthew chapter 7, verses 28 and 29. 00:01:53.439 --> 00:01:57.399 Now, if you're following along in one of the Pew Bibles, you can find that on page 812. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:59.399 The big numbers are the chapter numbers. 00:01:59.500 --> 00:02:00.920 The small numbers are the verse numbers. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:05.399 And I'm going to start reading a little bit above this in verse 24 just for a little bit of context. 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.199 Matthew 7, chapter 7, starting in verse 24. 00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:11.819 Jesus said, 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:41.819 00:02:41.819 --> 00:02:44.599 Now, verse 28. 00:02:46.239 --> 00:02:51.459 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching. 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:57.500 For he was teaching them as one who had authority and not as their scribes. 00:02:58.959 --> 00:03:03.379 Now, the sayings talked about in verse 28 are the entire Sermon on the Mount. 00:03:03.879 --> 00:03:05.740 Matthew chapters 5 through 7. 00:03:05.959 --> 00:03:07.859 At this point, Jesus is done preaching. 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:13.960 He's just ended his exhortation to actually do the things that he's said. 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:21.080 And Jesus knows it's a lot easier to listen and not along than to actually put teachings to use. 00:03:21.880 --> 00:03:22.820 So Jesus tells them, 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:23.600 Do what I say. 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:29.260 And Matthew then wraps up this sermon with a short little comment about how people received it. 00:03:29.980 --> 00:03:31.320 They did not fall asleep. 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:33.940 They did not secretly text in their laps. 00:03:34.140 --> 00:03:36.940 As I know some of you may be tempted to do tonight. 00:03:36.939 --> 00:03:40.020 No, it says that they were astonished. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:48.259 Now, every preacher has had the experience of preaching a sermon and afterwards having someone come up to them and say, 00:03:48.620 --> 00:03:52.599 I loved your sermon so much, especially when you made such and such a point. 00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:57.379 Only they never actually made such and such a point or even said anything about it. 00:03:57.699 --> 00:03:59.500 This happens all the time to preachers. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:01.520 People often hear what they want to hear. 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:04.419 But sometimes people are pretty perceptive. 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:07.459 And here it seems that the audience actually got it. 00:04:08.019 --> 00:04:08.859 They got it right. 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.439 Now, I'm sure afterwards they talked with one another about the specific things he said. 00:04:13.879 --> 00:04:19.500 But the summary Matthew gives is of their reaction of astonishment at Jesus' authority. 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:21.639 So let me ask you, 00:04:21.639 --> 00:04:24.939 How do you feel about authority? 00:04:26.659 --> 00:04:30.740 I think there's something very American about distrusting authority. 00:04:31.959 --> 00:04:34.120 This is a country with a revolutionary beginning. 00:04:34.860 --> 00:04:38.459 It was a country from the beginning where you didn't have to tip your hat to anybody. 00:04:38.459 --> 00:04:43.319 We know our rights and we're not afraid to invoke them. 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:50.239 And if that's true in politics, well, how much more true is that in personal beliefs and actions? 00:04:51.139 --> 00:04:52.579 You know, our national motto is, 00:04:52.759 --> 00:04:54.240 E pluribus unum, out of many one. 00:04:54.339 --> 00:04:55.719 But it could just as well be, 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:57.159 You can't tell me what to do. 00:04:57.599 --> 00:04:58.620 You're not the boss of me. 00:04:58.620 --> 00:05:06.220 Do you think that there is a place for legitimate intellectual and moral authority? 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:10.480 Or should everyone be able to just find their own way? 00:05:11.379 --> 00:05:12.480 Be their own authority? 00:05:14.079 --> 00:05:16.639 If you're not a Christian and you're here tonight, you're very welcome. 00:05:16.759 --> 00:05:17.379 I'm glad you're here. 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:23.480 This is a key question for you to be thinking about as you evaluate and consider the Christian faith. 00:05:23.939 --> 00:05:26.600 Because at the very center of Christianity is a king. 00:05:26.600 --> 00:05:28.800 He's a kind and wise king. 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:30.320 But he's still a king. 00:05:30.900 --> 00:05:33.840 And he claims to have the authority to tell you what to do. 00:05:35.140 --> 00:05:38.900 If you are a Christian already, this is just as important. 00:05:39.460 --> 00:05:42.240 For we don't like being told what to do any more than anyone else. 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.379 We must come to grips with the authority of Jesus. 00:05:47.700 --> 00:05:52.340 In fact, I think it's safe to, in my mind, it's safe to say that the most important lesson from the Sermon on the Mount 00:05:52.339 --> 00:05:56.779 comes in these two seemingly inconsequential verses. 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:05.139 I want to suggest that most of us don't really get the Sermon on the Mount when we read it or when we hear it preached about. 00:06:06.939 --> 00:06:10.559 Oftentimes we like the Sermon on the Mount because it affirms the things we already believe. 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:12.899 People read it and say to themselves, quite right. 00:06:13.579 --> 00:06:14.220 Just so. 00:06:14.980 --> 00:06:17.019 I don't like those religious hypocrites either. 00:06:18.019 --> 00:06:24.000 We might not actually follow Jesus' teaching, but we think that they're actually pretty good as far as it goes. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:27.680 Of course, some parts of it are harder than others. 00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:32.060 Loving your enemies is not a very comfortable or easy thing to do. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:38.800 And it might never actually occur to us that we are the hypocritical religious types, whatever we believe. 00:06:39.920 --> 00:06:42.360 But at least we agree with the Sermon in theory. 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:44.259 We're not astonished. 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:47.920 This seems like self-evident moral truth. 00:06:49.139 --> 00:06:51.000 And so we miss something critical. 00:06:51.000 --> 00:06:55.279 What is so astonishing about this sermon? 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:59.060 What causes the crowds to gasp and murmur? 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:07.660 If you read these two verses, you'll see that it's not the message of the Sermon on the Mount that amazed people. 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:09.540 Although I'm sure there was some of that. 00:07:10.379 --> 00:07:12.259 It's the way Jesus taught. 00:07:13.540 --> 00:07:17.600 So our goal for this evening is to try to enter into Jesus' world as best we can 00:07:17.600 --> 00:07:22.140 and learn to feel this astonishment again with the people who heard him at the beginning. 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:25.060 And in order to do that, we need to do two things. 00:07:25.160 --> 00:07:28.740 First, we need to ask ourselves, how did the scribes teach? 00:07:29.400 --> 00:07:30.720 These teachers of the law. 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:35.420 Our text tells us that Jesus did not teach like them, so we need to know, well, how did they teach? 00:07:36.540 --> 00:07:40.080 And second, we need to say, how was Jesus teaching different? 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:44.419 We see that he taught with authority, but what does that actually mean? 00:07:45.199 --> 00:07:49.759 If we can understand this question, we will unlock the rest of the Sermon on the Mount. 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:52.539 And in fact, I think we'll unlock the whole message of the Bible. 00:07:54.399 --> 00:07:56.099 So how did the scribes teach? 00:07:57.339 --> 00:08:00.860 Well, the word scribes here just means teachers of the Jewish law, the Torah. 00:08:01.539 --> 00:08:06.039 The Jewish teachers of the law had a method of teaching that I think most of us will find very familiar. 00:08:06.040 --> 00:08:09.220 They taught by referencing and citing authorities. 00:08:10.020 --> 00:08:13.379 Of course, their chief authority was the Bible, the books of the Old Testament. 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:17.600 But they also collected the sayings of wise and learned biblical interpreters. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:24.860 A century or two after the Sermon on the Mount, some of these teachings were collected and began to be codified in the Talmud, 00:08:25.240 --> 00:08:27.680 the classical Jewish book of biblical interpretation. 00:08:27.980 --> 00:08:32.159 And if you've ever seen a copy of the Talmud, it has a central body of text, 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:35.939 and then it has notes around it on that body of text, 00:08:36.079 --> 00:08:38.259 and then it has notes around that on the notes, 00:08:38.539 --> 00:08:41.279 and it kind of goes out in concentric circles kind of like an onion. 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:48.039 It's a book, but it's also an ongoing conversation among scholars over the centuries 00:08:48.039 --> 00:08:50.559 about how to understand and apply the Bible. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:53.899 Now, the Talmud wasn't around when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:57.279 but the teachers of the law were operating under similar principles. 00:08:57.279 --> 00:09:03.120 So, if you were teaching or debating about a point of theology or biblical interpretation, 00:09:03.459 --> 00:09:04.779 you would cite biblical texts. 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:07.919 You would reference famous scholars in order to make your point. 00:09:09.079 --> 00:09:10.779 Now, this makes a lot of sense to us. 00:09:11.379 --> 00:09:13.179 The scribes wanted to be faithful to the Bible. 00:09:13.639 --> 00:09:16.980 They wanted to make the very best use of scholarship they could. 00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:19.639 What they didn't want to do is just make things up. 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:21.860 And that can be dangerous. 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:23.879 If you've grown up in the church, 00:09:23.879 --> 00:09:27.220 then you've no doubt been in a lot of Bible studies that went something like this. 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:29.759 First, we will read a few Bible verses aloud. 00:09:30.299 --> 00:09:32.279 And second, we will go around and ask the question, 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:33.419 what does this mean to you? 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:39.000 But what it means to us is actually not nearly as important as what it means. 00:09:40.220 --> 00:09:41.699 You can't just make things up. 00:09:42.360 --> 00:09:43.120 You need evidence. 00:09:43.199 --> 00:09:44.259 You need a solid authority. 00:09:44.679 --> 00:09:49.159 This is why college students are supposed to argue a certain way when they write research papers. 00:09:49.240 --> 00:09:52.279 You cite the proper authorities to show that you know what you're talking about. 00:09:52.279 --> 00:09:53.819 And no, Wikipedia doesn't count. 00:09:53.820 --> 00:09:58.520 But Jesus doesn't really teach this way. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:02.120 He doesn't name check famous teachers who came before him. 00:10:02.700 --> 00:10:04.600 He doesn't include any citations. 00:10:05.520 --> 00:10:09.220 I mean, you can imagine how some of these scribes might have reacted to the Sermon on the Mount. 00:10:10.360 --> 00:10:13.680 Jesus, I can tell you worked hard. 00:10:15.260 --> 00:10:19.120 You have some interesting ideas, but a really scanty works cited page. 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:23.440 Go and read Rabbi So-and-So, and then let's try again. 00:10:23.539 --> 00:10:24.060 C+. 00:10:24.060 --> 00:10:27.039 Or if you're at Yale where they don't give Cs, B+. 00:10:27.039 --> 00:10:31.580 Here's the key thing about the scribes. 00:10:32.480 --> 00:10:34.299 They wanted to teach with authority. 00:10:34.820 --> 00:10:36.820 But they taught with a borrowed authority. 00:10:36.820 --> 00:10:42.300 You should believe what I say because it's what the best scholars before me have said. 00:10:42.379 --> 00:10:46.160 It's what the prophets themselves says because it's what the law of Moses said. 00:10:46.860 --> 00:10:49.220 It's authority, but it's a borrowed authority. 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.180 So then what was so different about Jesus' teaching? 00:10:54.420 --> 00:10:56.100 Well, he taught with real authority. 00:10:56.640 --> 00:10:58.800 With personal authority. 00:11:00.000 --> 00:11:03.200 Now, certainly Jesus often cited the Bible to make points himself. 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:04.440 He did that all the time. 00:11:04.440 --> 00:11:09.460 And it's not that he was unwilling to wade into these sort of scholarly rabbinical debates. 00:11:09.560 --> 00:11:10.240 He did that too. 00:11:10.780 --> 00:11:12.100 But here's the key thing. 00:11:12.420 --> 00:11:16.980 Jesus taught with a unique authority that was rooted in his person, in who he was. 00:11:17.920 --> 00:11:20.760 He thought people should believe him because he said it. 00:11:21.940 --> 00:11:25.100 And I think the best way to just make this clear is actually just to look at some examples. 00:11:26.420 --> 00:11:30.060 We could look almost anywhere Jesus teaches, but let's stay in this Sermon on the Mount. 00:11:30.160 --> 00:11:31.800 Turn back with me to Matthew chapter 5. 00:11:31.799 --> 00:11:34.639 I'm just going to run through a bunch of them very quickly. 00:11:34.740 --> 00:11:37.379 This is the first section of the Sermon on the Mount. 00:11:37.599 --> 00:11:39.399 Look at Matthew chapter 5, verse 21. 00:11:40.459 --> 00:11:46.139 You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder, and whoever murders will be liable to judgment. 00:11:47.079 --> 00:11:51.779 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment. 00:11:51.779 --> 00:11:53.220 Verse 27. 00:11:53.220 --> 00:11:57.000 You have heard it said that it was said you shall not commit adultery. 00:11:57.439 --> 00:12:03.480 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:05.179 531. 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:09.980 It was also said whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce. 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:16.879 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the grounds of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery. 00:12:17.820 --> 00:12:18.180 533. 00:12:18.420 --> 00:12:25.159 Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn. 00:12:25.300 --> 00:12:28.500 But I say to you, do not take an oath at all. 00:12:29.560 --> 00:12:30.180 Verse 38. 00:12:30.179 --> 00:12:32.819 You have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 00:12:33.099 --> 00:12:37.159 But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil. 00:12:38.159 --> 00:12:38.899 Verse 43. 00:12:39.179 --> 00:12:42.039 You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. 00:12:42.379 --> 00:12:47.399 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:51.000 Now it's the same pattern again and again. 00:12:51.219 --> 00:12:53.199 And it's meant to drive this point home. 00:12:53.199 --> 00:12:54.779 This is what astonished the people. 00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:58.679 Most of the teachings Jesus quotes here are from the Bible. 00:12:58.679 --> 00:13:00.179 From the Old Testament law. 00:13:00.259 --> 00:13:01.659 Even from the Ten Commandments. 00:13:02.719 --> 00:13:05.399 Jesus doesn't say that these teachings are necessarily wrong. 00:13:05.479 --> 00:13:06.919 But he does say that they're out of date. 00:13:07.939 --> 00:13:12.599 They have been rendered obsolete by the fact that he is now on the scene and he's teaching. 00:13:12.939 --> 00:13:18.299 What the rabbis say, what the Bible says, those things don't matter as much as what I'm about to say to you now. 00:13:19.219 --> 00:13:20.399 I say to you. 00:13:21.579 --> 00:13:23.819 It's his personal authority that matters. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.459 I hope you can understand why people are so astonished. 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:30.859 Several years ago I got a parking ticket. 00:13:32.599 --> 00:13:36.979 And it was only a $25 parking ticket, but it came with $130 in court costs. 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:38.739 So it ended up being pretty expensive. 00:13:40.219 --> 00:13:41.399 I thought it was outrageous. 00:13:41.599 --> 00:13:43.639 And I actually thought I wasn't guilty of the violation. 00:13:43.759 --> 00:13:44.979 So I decided to fight it. 00:13:45.439 --> 00:13:48.419 I went to the place where I'd been assigned the parking ticket and I took pictures. 00:13:48.419 --> 00:13:52.459 I paced off the distance from where I'd parked to the nearest no parking sign. 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:53.539 It was like 60 yards. 00:13:54.240 --> 00:13:56.919 And I took my pictures and my evidence into court. 00:13:57.299 --> 00:13:59.299 I showed them to the prosecutor beforehand. 00:13:59.719 --> 00:14:00.899 And he dropped the charges. 00:14:00.899 --> 00:14:04.279 And I walked out of that courtroom feeling like Perry Mason. 00:14:06.179 --> 00:14:08.379 That was the high point of my legal career. 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:10.259 I don't know much about being a lawyer. 00:14:10.600 --> 00:14:13.639 But I do know that there's a certain way that you argue in a court of law. 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:17.759 I did not walk into the court and say, the law says that I cannot park on the street. 00:14:17.959 --> 00:14:19.039 But I say to you. 00:14:20.039 --> 00:14:20.819 That I can. 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:24.220 I'd have been laughed out of court. 00:14:25.020 --> 00:14:26.520 I don't get to make the law. 00:14:26.640 --> 00:14:27.700 I'm subject to it. 00:14:28.460 --> 00:14:30.120 I answer to the law. 00:14:31.700 --> 00:14:32.960 But Jesus is different. 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:37.400 When he says, I say to you, it means something different. 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:41.120 You'll never hear Jesus say, well, that's just one man's opinion. 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:44.040 I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. 00:14:44.880 --> 00:14:46.580 You have every right to think differently. 00:14:46.580 --> 00:14:49.600 Your sex life. 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:50.900 What you do with your money. 00:14:51.540 --> 00:14:52.840 How you treat your employees. 00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.940 The resentment you harbor to people who have hurt you and treated you terribly. 00:14:57.460 --> 00:14:58.680 And all these things. 00:14:59.300 --> 00:15:02.400 Jesus comes to you and he says, I make the law. 00:15:05.280 --> 00:15:07.660 And the Gospel of Matthew is an amazing book. 00:15:08.460 --> 00:15:10.940 Everywhere we see Jesus acting with real authority. 00:15:11.060 --> 00:15:16.000 And if you keep reading into Matthew chapter 8, you'll read the account of Jesus healing a man with leprosy. 00:15:16.000 --> 00:15:20.500 The sick man comes to him and says, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. 00:15:21.100 --> 00:15:23.080 And Jesus says, I will be clean. 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:25.960 It's his word and his will that counts. 00:15:26.360 --> 00:15:27.320 And then the man is clean. 00:15:28.200 --> 00:15:30.620 Jesus' authority is not merely moral or intellectual. 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:33.240 It extends even over physical creation. 00:15:34.799 --> 00:15:37.279 You may have heard the story of King Canute. 00:15:37.559 --> 00:15:41.440 The man who was king of England and most of Scandinavia around the year 1000. 00:15:41.440 --> 00:15:48.140 And the legend has it that King Canute once commanded that his chair should be set on the shore when the tide began to rise. 00:15:48.139 --> 00:15:52.720 And then he spoke to the rising sea saying, you are a part of my dominion. 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:55.019 And the ground that I am seated upon is mine. 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:57.439 Nor has anyone disobeyed my orders with impunity. 00:15:57.840 --> 00:16:03.059 Therefore, I order you not to rise onto my land nor to wet the clothes or body of your Lord. 00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:09.500 But the sea carried on rising as usual without any reverence for his person and soaked his feet and legs. 00:16:09.500 --> 00:16:16.320 Then he moving away said, all the inhabitants of the world should know that the power of kings is vain and trivial. 00:16:16.799 --> 00:16:23.480 And that none is worthy the name of king but he whose command the heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:31.200 Now if this story is accurate, Canute had sense enough to recognize the limits of his own rather impressive authority. 00:16:32.059 --> 00:16:35.840 And he also recognized the infinite extent of Christ's. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:43.440 If you keep reading all the way through the Gospel of Matthew, you'll see that the Gospel is always talking about God's kingdom. 00:16:43.580 --> 00:16:44.340 The kingdom of heaven. 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:45.139 What is it? 00:16:45.200 --> 00:16:45.980 What is God's kingdom? 00:16:46.100 --> 00:16:48.820 Well, it's wherever God's rule is established. 00:16:49.780 --> 00:16:54.840 More than that, the Gospel of Matthew tells that it's wherever Jesus Christ himself is established. 00:16:56.420 --> 00:17:01.500 The Sermon on the Mount isn't just a collection of moral sayings that reasonable people can agree about. 00:17:01.500 --> 00:17:07.539 No, it's Jesus' way of saying, this is what life is going to be like when I'm the king. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:15.319 Once you understand this point about Jesus' authority, it changes the way you read the Sermon on the Mount. 00:17:16.819 --> 00:17:20.000 Lots of religions have some version of the golden rule. 00:17:21.099 --> 00:17:27.700 But the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, the teachings, are the personal commandments of a king over his people. 00:17:27.700 --> 00:17:32.319 You've heard all sorts of things said by all sorts of people for a long time. 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:34.660 But now I say to you, 00:17:35.840 --> 00:17:40.600 So what is Jesus saying to you? 00:17:43.420 --> 00:17:44.860 And how will you respond? 00:17:44.859 --> 00:17:51.179 The Sermon on the Mount exists to bring you face to face with that question. 00:17:51.679 --> 00:17:56.659 To cause you to meet Jesus' authority in a narrow alleyway so you can't get around it. 00:17:57.579 --> 00:17:59.319 And force you to make a decision. 00:18:01.159 --> 00:18:06.139 Because Jesus isn't just speaking to crowds on a mountaintop 2,000 years ago. 00:18:06.979 --> 00:18:09.839 He's speaking to individuals like you and me right now. 00:18:09.839 --> 00:18:15.159 Perhaps you sometimes pray the Lord's Prayer. 00:18:15.279 --> 00:18:17.079 Or maybe just memorized it when you were a child. 00:18:17.319 --> 00:18:18.559 That's in the Sermon on the Mount. 00:18:18.699 --> 00:18:20.199 That's how Jesus teaches us to pray. 00:18:20.899 --> 00:18:22.359 And if you pray the Lord's Prayer, you pray, 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:26.559 Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 00:18:27.639 --> 00:18:35.099 That's another way of praying that God's rule will be recognized and obeyed as fully here on earth and in our lives. 00:18:35.519 --> 00:18:37.319 As it is by the angels in heaven. 00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:41.559 Can you pray that prayer with full sincerity? 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:47.619 What would your life really look like if you put yourself under his authority? 00:18:50.159 --> 00:18:52.059 I don't know what's happening in your life. 00:18:52.599 --> 00:18:55.099 I know that some of you are probably at points of transition. 00:18:55.619 --> 00:18:58.980 Maybe you've just moved to town and you're setting up a new life here. 00:18:59.619 --> 00:19:02.159 Maybe you're starting a new job or academic program. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:08.160 If so, it's worth thinking about how you can recognize Christ's authority in your life. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:14.360 What truths is Jesus calling you to believe? 00:19:16.040 --> 00:19:20.640 What acts of courage or compassion is he calling you to take? 00:19:20.640 --> 00:19:26.560 What wicked desires is he calling for you to resist and put to death? 00:19:29.080 --> 00:19:30.680 Now, Jesus is a humble man. 00:19:31.620 --> 00:19:34.520 Next week in the evening service, we'll begin a series through the book of Philippians. 00:19:34.780 --> 00:19:37.720 A book which talks all about Jesus' humility. 00:19:38.560 --> 00:19:41.460 He doesn't consider himself above asking nicely. 00:19:41.460 --> 00:19:53.779 He's still a king who speaks with real authority. 00:19:57.819 --> 00:20:02.299 Now, there's another aspect of Jesus' authority here in this sermon that we haven't mentioned yet. 00:20:03.259 --> 00:20:04.120 Jesus can command. 00:20:04.940 --> 00:20:06.420 But he can also make promises. 00:20:07.579 --> 00:20:09.559 And the Sermon on the Mount is full of promises. 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:11.099 Let me just point out a few. 00:20:12.099 --> 00:20:12.839 Matthew 5, 6. 00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:17.799 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 00:20:18.819 --> 00:20:19.799 Matthew 6, 6. 00:20:19.879 --> 00:20:23.440 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. 00:20:23.960 --> 00:20:26.960 And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 00:20:28.500 --> 00:20:30.220 Matthew 6, 31 through 33. 00:20:30.759 --> 00:20:34.500 Therefore, don't be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? 00:20:34.859 --> 00:20:36.720 For the Gentiles seek after all these things. 00:20:36.720 --> 00:20:38.799 And your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. 00:20:39.559 --> 00:20:42.279 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. 00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:45.079 And all these things will be added to you. 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:47.619 Matthew 7, 7. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.139 Seek and you will find. 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:56.579 Jesus can make these promises to all of us because he speaks with authority. 00:20:57.139 --> 00:20:59.639 He doesn't have to check with the boss and make sure it's okay. 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:08.680 The kingdom and the satisfaction and the truth and everything else that we need is his to give. 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:14.500 Now a little bit later in Matthew, the scribes come to Jesus and they challenge him. 00:21:14.980 --> 00:21:16.960 You can just listen as I read from Matthew 16. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:20.980 And the Pharisees and scribes came and to test him. 00:21:21.059 --> 00:21:23.319 They asked him to show him a sign from heaven. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:23.960 He answered them, 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.240 When it is evening, you say it will be fair weather for the sky is red. 00:21:27.460 --> 00:21:30.460 And in the morning, it will be stormy today for the sky is red and threatening. 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:33.120 You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky. 00:21:33.340 --> 00:21:35.680 But you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 00:21:36.480 --> 00:21:38.980 An evil and adulterous generation asked for a sign. 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:42.120 But no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. 00:21:42.119 --> 00:21:43.799 So he left them and departed. 00:21:45.079 --> 00:21:49.659 The teachers, some of the same people we're talking about, they came and asked him for a miracle. 00:21:50.239 --> 00:21:54.919 And the issue is the exact same one we're tackling in Matthew 7, 28 and 29. 00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:58.979 Who are you to be saying and doing these things? 00:21:59.559 --> 00:22:02.719 By what authority do you do these things? 00:22:04.159 --> 00:22:09.559 But these Pharisees and Sadducees, here they don't want a biblical verse or a citation of a rabbinical scholar. 00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:14.000 What they want is a miracle, a sign from heaven, undeniable evidence. 00:22:16.019 --> 00:22:17.899 You might be asking the same question. 00:22:18.779 --> 00:22:22.619 Yes, you can see as I talk and as you look at the Bible for yourself, 00:22:22.700 --> 00:22:28.919 you can see that Jesus claims a great deal of authority, incredible authority, astonishing, improbable authority. 00:22:29.460 --> 00:22:32.940 But maybe it's just insanity or vain glory. 00:22:33.899 --> 00:22:37.099 How can I really know that this authority is his? 00:22:37.099 --> 00:22:43.259 Well, Jesus says the only sign these people will get is the sign of Jonah. 00:22:43.439 --> 00:22:44.779 And he's talking about the resurrection. 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:46.480 You may remember the story of Jonah. 00:22:46.599 --> 00:22:47.659 Jonah's swallowed by the whale. 00:22:47.779 --> 00:22:49.459 Three days, he's in the belly of the whale. 00:22:49.639 --> 00:22:52.039 And then he's sort of vomited back up onto the beach. 00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:54.480 And Jesus is saying, look, three days I'll be in the grave. 00:22:54.559 --> 00:22:57.599 And then I will emerge again before many eyewitnesses. 00:22:57.639 --> 00:22:59.899 This is the sign that these teachers will receive. 00:22:59.959 --> 00:23:02.279 This is the sign that all of us receive. 00:23:03.240 --> 00:23:05.539 It's the seal which guarantees the message. 00:23:05.539 --> 00:23:11.779 If you were here this morning, you heard Greg preach about his own investigation into the resurrection 00:23:11.779 --> 00:23:14.639 when he was wrestling with the truthfulness of the Christian teaching. 00:23:16.099 --> 00:23:22.319 That's where you should go to the resurrection if you have questions about the veracity of Jesus' authority. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:26.159 But Jesus also talks about the weather. 00:23:27.519 --> 00:23:30.980 He answered them, when it is evening, you say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red. 00:23:31.079 --> 00:23:34.019 And in the morning, it will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening. 00:23:35.259 --> 00:23:36.119 What is he saying? 00:23:36.679 --> 00:23:41.399 If we really boil it down, Jesus is saying, look, you look at the sky and you can predict the weather, 00:23:41.779 --> 00:23:44.059 but you can't see what's right in front of your face. 00:23:45.379 --> 00:23:47.339 Jesus doesn't need to give a sign from heaven. 00:23:47.779 --> 00:23:49.099 He is the sign from heaven. 00:23:49.099 --> 00:23:57.959 And so we all of us find ourselves in the very same place that those crowds did on the lakeshore so many years ago. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:01.419 Jesus speaks like no one else. 00:24:02.699 --> 00:24:05.419 He claims authority that we could never dream of. 00:24:05.740 --> 00:24:09.519 Real authority that gets into the details and decisions of our lives. 00:24:10.799 --> 00:24:13.359 We are witnesses to his words and deeds. 00:24:14.639 --> 00:24:15.959 How will we respond? 00:24:15.959 --> 00:24:16.000 How will we respond? 00:24:19.099 --> 00:24:20.019 Let's pray. 00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:31.459 Father, you are the king of all. 00:24:31.460 --> 00:24:43.019 And you have sent your son to share with us the truth that can save us, that can fulfill us, and make us stand today and forever. 00:24:44.600 --> 00:24:46.900 We ask that you would give us strength to obey. 00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:50.180 Give us wisdom to recognize the truth. 00:24:51.019 --> 00:24:55.200 And the humility to lay aside our own foolish claims to authority. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:57.420 It does not belong to us. 00:24:59.039 --> 00:25:03.660 And we pray these things in the name of our Lord, the only Lord, Jesus Christ. 00:25:04.840 --> 00:25:05.279 Amen. 00:25:05.660 --> 00:25:06.100 Amen. 00:25:08.660 --> 00:25:14.759 At this point we do some Q&A. 00:25:14.980 --> 00:25:21.200 So if you have a question you've been wanting to ask, now is a great time to go ahead and ask it. 00:25:21.580 --> 00:25:22.380 Does anyone have a question? 00:25:22.380 --> 00:25:22.400 Does anyone have a question? 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:22.420 Does anyone have a question? 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:34.960 Any at all? 00:25:35.500 --> 00:25:36.380 Yeah. 00:25:36.380 --> 00:25:41.380 Yeah. 00:25:56.380 --> 00:25:56.980 Yeah. 00:25:58.500 --> 00:26:06.160 So the question is, what are my thoughts about how Christians are supposed to take on Jesus 00:26:06.160 --> 00:26:07.960 authority or express Jesus' authority? 00:26:08.560 --> 00:26:08.759 Yeah. 00:26:08.840 --> 00:26:14.279 In the book of Titus, no, sorry, in the book of Jude, it talks about the deposit once and 00:26:14.279 --> 00:26:20.340 for all entrusted to the saints, which is the body of Christian teaching, which is entrusted 00:26:20.340 --> 00:26:26.019 as a gift, and it's meant to be kept sort of pure and undiluted and passed on through 00:26:26.019 --> 00:26:26.420 the ages. 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:32.660 And so this is why we have a Bible that comes from the apostles' teachings and is passed 00:26:32.660 --> 00:26:32.980 on. 00:26:32.980 --> 00:26:38.680 I think the primary way that we kind of can transmit Jesus' authority, we can never claim 00:26:38.680 --> 00:26:44.500 this kind of authority, our authority is borrowed as well, is by holding fast to the apostolic 00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:49.039 teaching, which comes from Jesus, and faithfully proclaiming it where we go. 00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:51.759 And so that's our goal. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:58.519 And to the extent that we do that, we can teach with the authority of Christ. 00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:02.099 And in any way we depart from it, our authority is lost. 00:27:02.900 --> 00:27:08.460 So we ought to have some humility because, of course, we ourselves cannot ever perfectly 00:27:08.460 --> 00:27:12.059 understand and know the mind of God and communicate his truth. 00:27:12.879 --> 00:27:15.440 But we should strive to do it. 00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:16.319 So good question. 00:27:17.079 --> 00:27:19.160 Any other questions or comments? 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:19.300 Yes. 00:27:23.980 --> 00:27:24.340 Yeah. 00:27:24.340 --> 00:27:24.420 Yeah. 00:27:32.820 --> 00:27:33.180 Okay. 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:35.820 Okay. 00:27:35.900 --> 00:27:36.680 You're moving on Wednesday. 00:27:36.900 --> 00:27:37.680 We'd like us to pray for you. 00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:38.580 We're happy to do that. 00:27:38.820 --> 00:27:39.279 And what's your name? 00:27:39.980 --> 00:27:40.300 Barbara. 00:27:40.519 --> 00:27:40.860 Barbara. 00:27:41.040 --> 00:27:41.279 Okay. 00:27:41.420 --> 00:27:42.380 Let's actually do that real quick. 00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:43.400 Let's pray for Barbara real quick. 00:27:43.759 --> 00:27:44.640 Father, we pray for Barbara. 00:27:44.640 --> 00:27:48.580 We pray that on Wednesday her move would be smooth and everything would go well and that 00:27:48.580 --> 00:27:51.460 your power and provision would be apparent. 00:27:51.600 --> 00:27:52.720 We pray these things in Christ's name. 00:27:53.060 --> 00:27:53.220 Amen. 00:27:53.940 --> 00:27:54.340 All right. 00:27:54.360 --> 00:27:55.700 Let me close with a question for you. 00:27:55.780 --> 00:27:57.420 And we'll just have one or two people answer it. 00:27:58.000 --> 00:28:03.860 Use your historical imagination and imagine that you are there in this crowd as Jesus is 00:28:03.860 --> 00:28:05.520 teaching on the mount. 00:28:06.380 --> 00:28:13.980 And assume that this crowd leaves and departs still talking about Jesus and the way he taught 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:18.819 with authority and that some of them leave convinced that he teaches with a real authority 00:28:18.819 --> 00:28:21.539 and that some reject the authority. 00:28:22.680 --> 00:28:26.940 What's different in the paths and lives of those two groups of people? 00:28:27.860 --> 00:28:31.680 In the months or years following the sermon, what would you expect to be different? 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:36.700 You can't hear me? 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:43.059 So imagine some of the crowd who heard Jesus preach heard him teach with authority and they 00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:47.059 placed themselves under it and believed that he had the authority that he claimed to have 00:28:47.059 --> 00:28:48.299 and that others did not. 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:52.720 What would be the differences in their lives following that sermon as they leave and go 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:55.960 about in the weeks and months to come, they go about their everyday lives. 00:28:56.120 --> 00:29:00.160 How would their lives look different from the group that rejected the authority? 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:02.519 What would they be doing differently? 00:29:11.100 --> 00:29:11.500 Yeah. 00:29:11.500 --> 00:29:11.580 Yeah. 00:29:11.579 --> 00:29:30.579 Okay, so they would try to kind of change their behavior and their life to match up with 00:29:30.579 --> 00:29:35.159 the teachings in specific ways and not just do things based on their feelings or impressions. 00:29:35.399 --> 00:29:35.839 Okay, great. 00:29:36.019 --> 00:29:36.359 Absolutely. 00:29:36.899 --> 00:29:37.539 Any other thoughts? 00:29:37.539 --> 00:29:44.299 All right, well, something for you to think about as you go from here. 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:47.119 You can reflect about Jesus' sermon as well. 00:29:47.180 --> 00:29:47.740 Thank you so much.