Astonishment at Jesus' Teaching Matthew 7:28

Matthew shared how Jesus told His disciples, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name? and in your name have cast out devils? and in your name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it”, and in chapter seven and verse twenty-eight of his book, Matthew shared how, “the people were astonished at” Jesus' “doctrine” where we read:

And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings,

the people were astonished at his doctrine:

The verse reads, “ And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, ...” Matthew began with the words, “and it came to pass” which means “and it became, came into existence, began to be and happened”, “when Jesus” or “at the time and moment Jesus whose name means Jehovah is Salvation and is the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate” “had ended” or “completed, finished, made an end of and accomplished” “these sayings” which refers to “the utterances, declarations and proclamations within the Sermon on the Mount”. Matthew began to share what happened after Jesus completed His message.

The verse goes on to say, “... the people were astonished at his doctrine:” Matthew continued with the words, “the people” or “the men and women who were overhearing Jesus teach His disciples” “were astonished” which means “were stricken by, blown away, shocked, amazed and struck with amazement” “at his doctrine” or “at Jesus' teaching and instruction”. Matthew told how the people who were listening to Jesus teach His disciples were “amazed and blown away” by His “teaching and instruction”.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how there were people overhearing Jesus as He taught His disciples upon the mountain. The acoustics were such that anyone below where Jesus was seated could hear Him speak, and although the teaching was directed toward His disciples, the people down the hill from Him could hear every word. They were “amazed”, and whenever people encounter the teaching of Jesus, they cannot help but be put in awe of Him and His words. Perhaps as we have concluded Jesus' “Sermon on the Mount” as recorded by Matthew we should revisit Jesus' words and allow the Holy Spirit of God to “amaze” and “blow us away” with His teaching and doctrine once again.

Next time Matthew how the people were “astonished” because, “he taught them as one having authority”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.