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Authority of Jesus (Matt 7:28-29)

How did people react to this sermon?  They were amazed and astonished at what he said because he taught as one who had the authority to say such things.  He wasn’t quoting other rabbis or schools of theology.  He was himself the origin of authority.  When he did quote Moses or others he did so only to show how his teachings were superior.  This was not to say that Moses got it wrong, but rather that Jesus came to finish the work that was started under the Mosaic Law.  He would be the one to fulfill this law not simply by his teaching, but by his very being.  This is one major difference between Jesus and other religious figures.  Others could only claim to be teachers or at best prophets, but nothing more.

Unfortunately, today people no longer seem to be amazed at this sermon and his teachings.  They try every way possible to turn these truths into something abstract.  Their point is to make it unnecessary for anyone to take it seriously as a way of life. They turn it into a form of idealism where one can only meditate upon it, but certainly not apply these teachings to their reality.  Was Jesus giving this sermon just for the mere reason of establishing a “Christian Ideology?” No!  So, when you read or listen to these teachings simply allow yourself to become amazed and astonished.  This will be the beginning of true understanding.

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Doers of the Word (Matt 7:21-27)

 The next set of verses are very difficult for some to not only understand, but also to accept that they may apply to them.  There are some who call Jesus their Lord, prophesy in his name, cast out demons, and even perform miracles who will not enter into God’s kingdom.  Jesus warns us that the bottom line is that we must do the will of his Father.  Everyone who hears this sermon and does them is like the wise man who properly prepares himself like a builder who prepares his house for a storm. Such a house is built upon a solid foundation that will not give way in a storm.  The one who did not build his house properly loses everything because the foundation is destroyed by the flood waters bringing down the house along with it.

We should not simply gloss over these verses like they don’t affect us. The gospel of Jesus is not simply that he died for our sins, but it is the complete teaching of Jesus. He is telling us here that a true believer begins with this truth—Jesus is Lord!  Everything is built upon this truth.  We do not lay a foundation of works nor one of half-truths.  We begin with the belief that Jesus is truth and everything else is built upon that foundation.

How do we feel when we hear the Sermon on the Mount?  Are we willing to listen to what Jesus is telling us or are we satisfied with a Hallmark version of it where its sting is removed so as not to offend anyone?  Are these simply nice words to repeat like poetry or are they words to live by?  Jesus seems to feel that we must live by them if we are to be the wise man in this parable.  I agree.

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False Prophets (Matt 7:15-20)

These verses are directly related to the previous verses on the wide gate and broad way. Here Jesus warns of false prophets.  From Jesus’ time till now they have existed and still exist today.  These are people who claim to be speaking about the things of God when, in fact, they are deceivers.  So, outwardly they appear to be like sheep, but inside they are ravenous wolves.  So how can we tell the difference? These wolves are people who have an extreme appetite or hunger for wealth and power.  Although they appear to be driven by Biblical teachings, they are really driven by greed, wealth, and power.  Many such wolves have been fooling naive believers with their false performances for generations, but eventually their true motives are revealed.

Jesus tells us that we can know them by their fruits.  Sometimes this gets a little tricky because they are very good at their sheepish disguise.  We must look for love not in their words or even in their deeds, for both can be imitated, but in their character (this is their real fruit). It is their character that is faulty because it is like bad fruit from a bad tree.  Even if it looks good, it is rotten to the core.  Rest assured that their reward will be justly deserved for all the deception that they have spread.

2 Peter 2:3 (ASV)
3  And in covetousness shall they with feigned (false) words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.

The King James and American Standard Version are closest to the proper Greek interpretation of this verse in Peter.  We can see the fulfillment taking place today where churches are concerned more with the production of their service than its content.  Believers have been turned into merchandise.  Making money off the Word of God in books, movies, and speaking engagements have priority over the real teachings of Jesus.  Let us remember how much Jesus charged for his teaching—nothing!  As a matter of fact, Jesus paid the ultimate price for us to listen—his death on a cross.  But over the years of my experience I realize that this is all that they have.  They do not have any real understanding of Jesus and therefore can’t teach what they themselves do not know.  They would be far better to be quiet sitting in the pews listening than to be preaching from the pulpit.

2 Corinthians 11:13-15 (KJV)
13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Paul warns us as he warned the Corinthians to be careful of appearances.  Many false prophets will appear to be apostles of Christ even to the point of looking like angels of righteousness.  It is one thing to preach about righteousness and another to be righteous. But God will not be fooled by them and they will suffer a righteous judgment by their own words.

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The Wide and Narrow Gate (Matt 7:13-14)

How then do we enter into God’s kingdom?  We must enter through the narrow gate and difficult path. It is a narrow gate in the sense that we must accept the teaching that not all religions will get you there.  Even the Pharisees who practiced Judaism and the Law of Moses will not automatically be accepted into God’s kingdom.  This doesn’t mean that we must be perfect in order to enter.  Rather, it means that not everyone will be allowed in simply because they perform the correct rituals, say the correct prayers, or be sanctioned by some religious authority.  This goes against many pastors and theologians today who want us to believe that the gate is wide and inclusive of everyone regardless of their beliefs and conduct.  It is true that Jesus speaks about a wide gate and broad path of inclusion, but he tells us that those who travel on that road will end in destruction.  The narrow gate and path are the only ones that lead to life and few will find it. 

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)
9  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Scripture tells us that Jesus wants to include as many as possible, but they must enter through the narrow path into the narrow gate.  These are not those who are already righteous, but those who truly want to be righteous and recognize that true righteousness is in him (Christ) alone. 

In these verses Jesus is teaching us that there are many who will fall into error.  There are many false religions that may sound great, but are deceiving many.  There are even many pastors who have extracted some Biblical truths only to mix them with human psychology or philosophy in order to create a deceptive form of Christianity that has drawn many people into to their churches.

The narrow gate also refers to the idea that we must enter God’s kingdom as an individual and not as a group.  This gate only has enough room for one person to pass through at a time.  We don’t enter into God’s kingdom because we are members of the correct church or denomination.  Each of us will stand before Christ as an individual, naked, and stripped of all religious identity. We cannot assume that just because we are with the crowd or the majority that we are on the correct path.  Jesus actually teaches that the opposite is true.

The term “narrow path” is actually translated from a Greek word that means narrow in the sense of being very difficult to pass through.  This narrow path implies that life will be a struggle for believers as we live in this world.  The world will resist us because it resists true holiness. It is a difficult path because our family and our friends may reject us.  We may lose are jobs and some may lose everything that they have including their lives on account of God’s kingdom.  But although it is a path of struggle, it is the only one that will eventually lead us into God’s eternal kingdom of peace and holiness. 

In this sermon Jesus certainly didn’t bend his truth in order to recruit followers. In fact, he made it very clear that those who were willing to follow him better prepare themselves for this difficult path. This path hasn’t changed simply because we now live in the 21st century. If anything, it is getting more difficult to live such a life since Jesus’ teachings are becoming more obscured by a Hallmark imitation of his truth.

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The Law and the Prophets (Matt 7:12)

In this one verse Jesus is able to condense both the sayings in the Law and the sayings of the Prophets into one sentence. 

Matthew 7:12 (KJV)
12Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

The order of Jesus words is very important if you want to understand the truth behind them.  It is not whatever others do to us, do back to them.  It is what we desire others to do to us, we are to do to others.  The major difference is that our moral and ethical behavior should not be a reaction to other people’s behavior, whether good or bad, but as followers of Christ our behavior ought to set the pattern for others to follow.  Therefore, we should not and cannot blame others for our behavior because we are supposed to be the example set before men like a light that shines upon all mankind.  If we are going to be a testimony before unbelievers, there’s a good chance that we may be their only contact with Christ. How will you represent him?  Paul teaches that we ought to be above the reproach of others. (Col 1:21-23, I Timothy 3)

Colossians 1:21-23 (NKJV)
21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled
22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight–
23if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

In other words, there should be nothing that anyone can say about us that would cause them to think we are a hypocrite in our testimony.  We must remember that we are an example and model of Christian behavior to others.  Too many believe that this responsibility is only placed upon pastors and priests, but Jesus teaches that it is for all his followers.  This is the moral code for all Christians which has been called, “The Golden Rule.”  But this is not the proper term to use since it is not a rule to kept as though it is simply another law that we need to struggle with.  It is meant to teach us the moral code that God had always taught to his people. It is used as a test to see if we truly understand our obligation to God and to man and if we are placing God’s holiness above our own.  

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Seek and Find (Matt 7:7-11)

These verses are a continuation of the declaration that Jesus makes when he tells us to seek God’s kingdom above all things. For if we sincerely seek after God’s kingdom as our first priority, we will find it.  And if we knock, he will answer.  Knocking is a way of letting someone know that we are waiting outside for them to give us entry.  So, we need to let God know that we want to enter into his kingdom and he will answer us by making entry possible. Each of us may knock or ask in a different way, but we must all come to that point in our lives that we know that we want to enter his kingdom and acknowledge that he is the one who must open the door. 

But exactly what is God’s kingdom? It is everything that Jesus taught in this sermon.  If this doesn’t appeal to you, than there is little point in asking to enter, but if you are moved by what you hear, than there is no other place you will find such peace except in his kingdom.

For those in Jesus’ audience who might doubt that God would really listen to their needs he compared God to a human father.  He asked what kind of a father would give his son a stone when he asked for bread or a serpent if he asked for a fish?  Of course Jesus knew that there were fathers who did not take care of their children, but notice that he personalizes the question by specifically using them as an example?  He asks, “Is there anyone among you would not help his child?”  Obviously, only a cruel and hateful man would do such a thing, and none of them would admit to such a thing.  So his challenge becomes rhetorical.  

Jesus acknowledges that men, even though they are evil, would still take care of their families.  Then it makes perfect logic that God would be even more likely to take care of us, his own children.  Jesus’ argument is that if evil people take care of their children, how much more would a holy God  take care of his children?

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Judgment (Matt 7:1-6, 7:15-20)

I would be the first to say that we are not here to be judges against sinners, but rather to bring salvation to them and bring them into the freedom from sin that Jesus offers.  We are to be what he was, which is an example of holiness and righteousness rather than judges of their sin. .

When it comes to sin we would be much better off looking within ourselves in order to purge ourselves of all sin before we go out looking at the sin of others.  Jesus taught this directly by his parabolic example of those more concerned with taking out the splinter (mote) from their brother’s eye rather than removing the log (beam) from their own.  However, we must take this advice in the greater context which includes his attitude towards the hypocrite and false prophet.  Although he does warn us against judgmentalism he also warns us not to bring his holy word to those who are so depraved of truth that they will turn on us to destroy us as found in verse 6.  So in order to determine just who these people are who are depraved of truth we must make a judgement.  So Jesus is not only permitting us to judge such people, he is commanding us to do so for our own safety.

The problem I see here is that many people tend to stop reading after verse 4 where Jesus warns against judgmentalism and they never get to verse 15 where Jesus tells us to beware of false prophets. When he tells us to beware and judge their fruits he is telling us that we must make a judgement as to their truthfulness, sincerity, and holiness. In verse 17 he even refers to them as corrupt.  Determining if someone is truthful, sincere, holy or corrupt is a judgment—is it not?

So to summarize Jesus’ teachings on judgement we have to say that, first of all, we are not here to be judgmental of others simply because they don’t agree with us. Neither are we here to judge the sins of the world—for that would be a never-ending job that would take us away from our true mission of bringing salvation—besides true conversion can only come when they feel the judgment of God not ours.

We are here to judge what is holy and righteous from what is evil and sinful mostly for our protection and the protection of our faith. Our judgment is to be made against those who say they believe, but continue to live in sin.  Their rejection of all judgment of sin challenges the existence of sin itself for by denying sin they justify their own practice of it while still claiming to be Christians. Such people fall in the category of being false prophets and hypocrites and must be called out for being such. 

We cannot become absorbed in the sins of others for then we become distracted from our true mission to the world of sinners which is to be models and examples of holiness for the purpose of bringing them to the Lord.

Our judgment must not be based upon our desire to make ourselves look righteous for this is self-righteousness, but must be to preserve the holiness and righteousness of Christ as he manifests these through the believers of the church.

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Treasures of the Heart (Matt 6:14-34)

Verse 21 ought to be memorized by every Christian, especially pastors and evangelists because it helps to identify our spiritual direction.  Jesus says that the things that we treasure reveal where our heart is.  This is how we can determine the sincerity of pastors, evangelists, and others claiming to represent God.  Are their lives entangled in mansions, luxury cars, and church buildings that cost millions?  If they are, than we can feel pretty certain that their message will not lead us to the same place that Jesus’ teaching takes us.  Too many evangelists have tried to convince us that God rewards them with wealth and prosperity because of their faithfulness.  But Jesus teaches us that this isn’t so.  His teachings make it very clear that true Christians will be persecuted and reviled not because they are wealthy, but because they preach God’s holiness.  Therefore, God does not validate our faith with wealth, but rather with persecution.

What Jesus is saying about the eye and the light of the body is that if we see spiritual things clearly when we have the correct spiritual attitude and because of that our soul will benefit; but if we are blinded by the material things of the world, we will see life from a distorted point of view that reaches deep into our hearts and blinds us from (His) truth.

In the next verse Jesus makes the distinction even more emphatic when he describes trying to mix wealth and spirit as trying to serve two masters. You cannot love both—they are incompatible no matter how hard some try to teach differently.  You cannot serve God and wealth!  One will most certainly turn you against the other.

What then should we do?  First of all, we should not worry about the material world. This includes what we eat or drink or what we wear.  Today it would include what we drive or how big our home is.  Even nature teaches that God takes care of even the birds of the air.  And how can we compare the latest clothing styles to that of the lilies of the field or any other beautiful flower?  They do nothing to add to the spiritual beauty seen in a true believer. 

Because many seek satisfaction in the material world they develop anxiety, which comes from not achieving their material goal.  Such anxiety or worry cannot change anything.  Material things are simply not important to Jesus.  Our true beauty is in our spiritual purity not in how we decorate our bodies.  These are the things that the world worries about.  God knows our needs and they are under his control.  We must not be concerned with such things but be satisfied with what God gives us.  Whatever we have is sufficient.  The bottom line is that this life is not the life that we ought to be concerned about—it is our eternal spiritual life that concerns the faithful believer.

Listen to the beautiful advice that Jesus gives us in verses 33-34:

Matthew 6:33-34 (KJV)
33But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

The only way to grow as a Christian is to learn that we must seek after God’s kingdom and his righteousness above all things.  Don’t get caught up in the anxiety of what will happen to us tomorrow because there is enough evil to be concerned with today.   

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On Fasting (Matt 6:16-18)

Jesus had great insight into the depths of man’s motives.  For that reason he warns us not to be like the hypocrites who try to act out when they fast.  They do this for the attention that they get from their audience.  They do this so that their actions will be validated by others.  For this reason Jesus tells us that they already received their reward, which was human attention. 

But when we fast we must not put on a show for others.  We should not even let others know we are fasting; in other words, carry on business as usual.  By fasting in this manner we are fasting for the right reasons and will be rewarded from God. 

Why do we fast? Perhaps hunger reminds us of our human frailty and dependence upon God.  Or maybe there are times that we want God to know how serious we are about our devotion to him above physical comfort.  Whatever the reason we fast it should be kept between us and God and if we do this we will receive payment. The word used here is μισθός and gives us the idea of a payment for services rather than a reward for having done something courageous.

It would be good for many evangelists to note that Jesus warned against putting on a show for crowd.  He called such people hypocrites, meaning actors.  I guess that we can assume that they also have already received their payment in the physical wealth and popularity that they have accumulated. 

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On Prayer (Matt 6:5-15)

Now Jesus warns us not to pray like the hypocrites, but exactly what is a hypocrite?  The word has evolved in our language to mean someone who says one thing and does another, but that doesn’t seem to fit here.  It is interesting to note that the word hypocrite, ὑποκριτής in Greek, originally meant an actor who plays a role of another person.  It is not truly who he is, but merely an artificial person.  That definitely fits much better because Jesus goes on to say that these hypocrites would put on quite the performance by standing in synagogues and street-corners just so that they could be seen by others.  So again such people have already received their reward. 

Jesus tells us that the correct way to pray is to be quiet and alone where the focus can be on our heavenly Father.  When you pray in this manner you will be rewarded openly.  Here again, I take this to mean that such prayer transforms our character into a more humble person rather than into someone who has become proud and arrogant about their prayers where their focus is more on how impressive they sound to others.

He then tells us that our prayers are not heard because of their eloquence and length for if God is truly infinite he already knows our needs even before we ask.  So then one might ask, “Why then do we pray if God already knows what we need?”  The reason is not that God needs to hear our audible prayers before he answers them, but rather they are spoken so that we can be transformed by putting our needs into words.  Our words complete our ideas and thoughts and also complete the emotion behind them.  I think that we fail to understand just how important the spoken word is to our psyche.

So then when we pray incorrectly like the hypocrites we become the center of attention and importance.  But when we pray with correctly we become humbled in the presence of God as he becomes the true focus of our thoughts and needs.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Jesus gives us an example of how we ought to pray.  We address our prayers to God as our Heavenly Father.  We also proclaim the importance of his Name which is Yahweh (Jehovah).  The importance of this is to make the connection between the identity of Yahweh in the Old Testament with our Father in the New.  Many overlook this intimate connection that is extremely important in understanding the true nature of Christ.  

We must look forward to the coming of God’s kingdom rather than want to postpone it until we finish all our projects and the power of his kingdom will be just as wonderful on earth as it is in heaven.

We only need to ask for whatever is sufficient for this day.  In this way we are encouraged to live during this moment and not be so concerned for the future that we miss what’s happening right in front of us.

We ask for no more than what we are willing to do ourselves.  So when it comes to forgiveness we must be willing to forgive others because by doing that we pass God’s forgiveness on to others through the exercising of our forgiveness.

The next part of the prayer is very difficult for most people because sin is so attractive and its whole purpose is to lead us into evil.  But we are to ask God to take away temptation.  We are not to try to live on the edge of sin like many do.  We must remember that temptation is the beginning of sin.  If we could only repeat these words in this prayer with passionate sincerity we would be so much holier than we are.  Why should we want to be holy?  Because God is holy and so is his kingdom.

In verse 14 Jesus addresses forgiveness as being directly related to our forgiving of others.  This is not as though we are earning forgiveness by the act of forgiving others; it is rather our accepting the principle of forgiveness as being part of God’s character.  This fits nicely into our belief that the source of our transformation is not in anything that we do but is in God himself and that only by our love for him can we be transformed into the image of Christ.  If we do not forgive others, we are not letting our love for God work within us and by not forgiving others our faith becomes mere religious ritual. 

To better understand what Jesus is saying we first need to understand more about what forgiveness is.  According to the usage in this prayer forgiveness is not the same thing as when we forgive someone when they say they are sorry.  The forgiveness Jesus is speaking about is a response to a moral debt owed to us by another.  This is the general theme throughout this sermon: we must be prepared to show mercy to others if we expect God to show mercy to us.  By so doing we give others a chance to actually practice repentance by changing their behavior.  How do we forgive them and to what extent?  In the same manner that we want God to forgive us.  

When we consider forgiveness under these terms it eliminates the possibility that man can accomplish this by means of his own will. The source of our forgiveness than is not the human will, but the love of God.