Rock, Sand, and Authority

Sunday’s gospel (Matthew 7:21-29) without its context may seem a bit strange. In Matthew 5, Jesus

“went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them”.

Beginning what is known as the Sermon on the Mount: the most prodigious teaching of Jesus’s entire ministry. He begins with what we know as The Beatitudes with some of our most cherished teachings such as verse 5: “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth”: and verse 9: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God”.

This “sermon” dealt with how we ought to behave (more generous and joyful than pious) and what we should do (love God and show mercy). It represents the closest thing to Jesus speaking to us directly: it approximates the lives that all of us should lead.

Over the course of three full chapters, Jesus’s teachings go on until we get to the end of chapter 7. Here, in verses 21-27, we have the “so what now” part of the speech. It’s Jesus saying “Did you get all of that? I’m not messing around!” Then he suggests that any “who hears these words…and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock” as opposed to the fool who builds his house on sand. To Jesus, those ‘words’ were the three preceding chapters! He is finally concluding his sermon!

Then the writer gives us an interesting note at the end of the reading:

²⁸Now when Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astounded at his teaching, ²⁹for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.

The scribes had a specific job at that time. They were among the only people that could read and write, so they copied the Bible by hand, often making notes in the margins and sometimes correcting mistakes they found or “improving” the language. They had a truly powerful job as a gatekeeper to the sacred Scriptures. It also meant that they were virtually the only ones outside of rabbis and rabbinic students that would even read the Scriptures! A scribe’s job, however, wasn’t interpreting Scripture or having a relationship with God; it was simply working with the text as it was written.

We come to the Bible like those scribes. Our understanding is limited—we haven’t gone through the strict rabbinic training—nor could we claim Jesus’s knowledge of God. Adults in your religious community, as well as priests and pastors have a lot more in common with the scribes than they do with Jesus.

Perhaps that is what those people recognized when they were “astounded at his teaching”. They saw Jesus as not just some guy that really “gets” the Scripture, but being well beyond those scribes: “as one having authority”.

Who do you see “as one having authority” in your life? How do you relate to her/him?

Read The Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12. What do you think Jesus was saying? These are the first words of the Sermon on the Mount. How do you think these statements affect all of the teachings that follow? What can you take out of this teaching for your life?