| “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were amazed at His teaching.” – Matthew 7:28 |
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| An Amazing Response to an AMAZING MESSAGE Matthew, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, writes for us in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7 the sermon Jesus preached on the mount just above the Sea of Galilee. We call it the Sermon on the Mount. After writing what Jesus taught Matthew now writes how the people responded, writing that they were AMAZED. In some translations, you will find they were ASTONISHED. I am more prone to go with the word AMAZED as it conveys the idea of being STRUCK by something brilliant or phenomenal. A. T. Robertson said the Greek word conveys “they listened spellbound to the end and were left amazed.” What brought about this amazement? We are told in Matthew 7:29 they were amazed at such teaching because Jesus spoke with authority. As Jesus taught, He said what He meant, and He meant what He said. He addressed the religious issues of that day with conviction. He taught what a real relationship with God looked like. His teaching challenged conventional thinking and His teaching stirred up inward conflict. For instance, while He taught how to pray He also taught how not to pray. Several times He challenged the religious thinking of the day by saying, “But I say unto you.” He definitely taught with authority. By Jesus teaching with authority, there was a spirit of amazement for they knew they had heard truth. As you approach God’s Word, I encourage you to be ATTENTIVE and seek to ACQUIRE the truth that it conveys about God and about humanity, about you. As I approach His Word with humility and hunger, I find nuggets of wisdom and jewels of truth that do bring about amazement, and a sense of being struck with brilliance. His Word is a light and lamp to see the righteous path to walk thus avoiding the wicked, destructive path. His Word is like milk and meat that feeds our souls. His Word will pierce down to the root areas of sinfulness to root out the sin. While His Word does convict it also calls for confession that leads to cleansing. His Word provides comfort to the brokenhearted. In His Word is a word for you! Our verse to DATE the Word on July 28 (7/28) is Matthew 7:28. It says, “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were amazed at His teaching,” How have you lately been responding to God’s Word as you read it and hear it? Continue Strong being AMAZED at what God has to say to you, And remember to DATE the Word BTW – there is a great prayer to pray as you approach God’s Word that is found in Psalm 119:18. It says, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” Maybe pray, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous, wonderful, amazing things out of your law.” |