The Impact of Jesus' Words Facts for 9-13 Year Olds

Categories: Sermon on the Mount

• At the end of the Sermon, Matthew continues with a description of the impact of Jesus' teaching upon the crowds. 
• He doesn’t recap the Sermon; rather, he puts the focus on Jesus himself.
•  “And it came to pass, 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.”
• “And it came to pass” is a formal way of saying something important has happened. It also forms a transition to the next block of teaching.
• The word “finished” is from the Hebrew word, teleo, “here,” with the meaning of being “fulfilled.”
• We can think of ourselves being filled with the words of Jesus’ Sermon.
• Let’s move on to the word “crowds.” Scholars have noted that Jesus begins this Sermon by going up the mountain and having his disciples join him. 
• It gives the idea that he moves away from the crowds in order to privately teach his disciples.
• Now at the end, it seems that the crowds have been there all along as a secondary audience.
• No doubt, Matthew’s overall purpose has been to universalize these teachings for all Christ-followers, and not just for his immediate disciples.
• “Amazed” has the connotation of “losing one’s mind,” “to be struck out of one’s senses.” Sometimes it means consternation, fear, or panic.
• The Amplified New Testament translation states, “were astonished and overwhelmed with bewildered wonder.”
• This part of the phrase is most likely copied from Mark 1:22ff, when Jesus has finished teaching at Capernaum. There, too, the people are “amazed.”
• “Amazed” is in the imperfect tense, meaning continuous action; this is not a momentary response. The amazement lasts a long time.
• The word “teachings” is also in the imperfect, suggesting repeated teachings.
• The reason for all this amazement is not just the words Jesus has used, but his sense of authority (power) in speaking them.
• Going forward, Jesus will use that authority to forgive sins, heal the sick, and cast out demons.
• The crowds compare his teachings with those of “their teachers of the law.”
• These teachers are people who devote their lives to studying the law and interpreting its use for daily life.
• The “teachers of the law” would ordinarily limit their teachings to quoting scripture or interpreting (figuring out what they mean) the words of previous teachers.
• This becomes known as the “oral law,” and much of it involves trivial matters, like the proper length of a tassel or how to properly wash a cup.
• The only times Jesus quotes the law is when he wants to reinterpret it.
• Jesus repeatedly uses the phrase, “you have heard it said…but I say unto you….”
• He speaks of weighty issues: anger, blessing versus cursing, kindness, eternity.
• He speaks so forcefully that it becomes obvious that he is filled with God’s authority.
• He outlines God’s purpose for their lives.
• In 7:21 Jesus says “many will come to me,” while discussing false disciples. 
• Jesus, alongside the Father, makes distinctions between true and false disciples.
• At the end of Matthew’s gospel, Jesus will state: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt 28:18). 
• It’s an amazing claim and sets Jesus apart from all others.
• Though the crowds are amazed, there is nothing said about whether or not they follow Jesus’ teachings.
• The Sermon on the Mount calls its listeners to be doers. 
• So, it is important to observe the flow of the Sermon.
• The blessings come first; it is because of the blessings, because of God’s gifts that followers are commanded and enabled to do any of Jesus’ words. 
• No one can do any part of the Sermon without the blessings. 
• The Sermon describes a process, a way of living in relation to God and other people. 
• The moral imperatives (the commands that tell us how to think and do the right thing) of the Sermon are firmly rooted in an unconditional relation to God. 
• The path in following these commands may be difficult, but following Jesus’ words is completely tied into the Christian demand to be in practice what the Christian already is in reality—a child of a loving Father, Mother God. We practice being the child of our loving God.
• The Sermon remains the standard for those who possess the Christ spirit and live in the kingdom of God.
• And we can follow it!