February 1, 2024

I love the description of Jesus’ teaching in our passage today. “He taught with real authority.” There are several ways that phrase can be interpreted, but let me give you a couple of thoughts as to what Matthew was saying in this observation.
The first is simply that Jesus was an excellent communicator. My guess is that the Pharisees and other religious leaders liked to sound intelligent. So they taught using big words and took complicated truths and made them impossible to understand. That way they made themselves look smart compared to those who struggled to understand what they were saying. Contrast that with Jesus who took complicated truth and illustrated it with stories that ANYONE could grasp. He made truth clear, compelling, and convicting. Crowds hung on His every word and couldn’t get enough of His teaching.
A second thought about this statement is that Jesus came across as a “real authority” because He WAS a real authority. Jesus didn’t talk about what He thought He knew or something that He was guessing was right. He spoke with certainty. He spoke with conviction. His teaching didn’t just come from His mind. It came from His Heart. People who heard Jesus were moved by what He said. Even if they didn’t believe what Jesus told them or follow what Jesus told them, there was no doubt in their minds that Jesus believed it. He didn’t teach out of what He had heard. He taught out of who He was. He is the Leading Authority on the things of God.
I want you to re-read that last sentence. Everyone has opinions about God. Some people have studied much, and others speak simply from what they have conjured up in their own minds. But at the end of the day none of our opinions really matter. If you want to know what God thinks, how God acts, or what God’s opinion is on various matters, go to Jesus. The only one who truly has the right to speak for God is the one who has spoken AS God. Jesus speaks with authority because He IS The Authority. That makes His the only opinion that counts. That’s God’s Word for you today.