Matthew 7:28-29 | "When Jesus Finished These Words" [Palm Sunday]

I. Reading of Scripture

Matthew 7:28 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

Matthew 7:29 ESV

29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

This is God’s Word, Amen.

Pray

II. Introduction

Today is Palm Sunday. The Sunday before Easter, the commemoration of the “Triumphal Entry.”

Picture that scene with me.

Jesus is mounted on a donkey covered with cloaks, riding in to Jerusalem where he would be crowned King of the Jews...But not with a golden crown. Instead, it would be a crown of thorns.

He would have an audience with a high priest, a governor, and a king…But not to be honored by them. Instead, he would be condemned by them.

He would be lifted up in the eyes of the people, exalted…But not on a throne. At least, not yet. Instead, he would first be lifted up on a cross.

What would take place in Jerusalem this week, is not what the crowds expected on this “Palm Sunday.”

The crowds had their own expectations for Jesus.

They had their own version of the way His Kingdom would be inaugurated, and the way His Kingship would look like.

But Jesus had challenged all of that in His teaching.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has taught about the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. And Jesus has said some astonishing things. Things that defy expectations.

“Blessed are those who mourn.”

“If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”

“Love your enemies”

“Pray for those who persecute you.”

The Kingdom of Heaven, as Jesus reveals it, is not a kingdom of our expectations.

Entering it requires a greater righteousness than that of the scribes and Pharisees.

Entering it requires not only hearing God’s will, but also doing God’s will.

Entrance into it is through the narrow gate and by the difficult way. Few find it.

Because few are looking for it. Few expect it.

The broad gate and easy way are for those who live according to their expectations. And that way leads to destruction.

God’s Kingdom is not a kingdom of our expectations.

It is worth evaluating what our expectations of Jesus are.

What expectations do we have of Him?

What do we expect Him to do for us?

Do we leave the door open to be amazed by Him?

Do we have any allowance in our thinking and asking to be astonished by Him?

Do we believe that He is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think? (Eph 3:20)

We sing songs like “Have Thine Own Way”:

“Have Thine own way Lord Have Thine own way Thou art the potter I am the clay Mold me and make me after Thy will While I am waiting yielded and still”

Author: Adelaide A. Pollard (1906)

In singing songs like that, we affirm that God is not one of our own creations. God cannot be controlled by us. He is the potter. We are the clay. And as we are yielded to His will, He is molding us. He is fashioning us into the likeness — not of ourselves, but of Christ.

Yet, if we think we have Christ figured out, we are not yielded to Him.

If we think we understand God’s ways, we are not following Him.

It may be that we are creating an image of Jesus after our own likeness and our own desires. As if God exists to serve me, and my happiness.

In light of our text, I want to suggest, that —

If we are never amazed by the Lord, it may be that we have never known Him!

In Matthew’s Gospel, the crowds are amazed by Jesus. The synagogue attenders are amazed by Jesus. The disciples, are amazed by Jesus. Matthew 19:25 even says the disciples were “extremely amazed” by Him!

Matthew 19:25 LEB

25 So when the disciples heard this, they were extremely amazed, saying, “Then who can be saved?”

If we are never amazed by Him, do we know Him at all? Have we experienced His presence? Have we received by faith His Word?

When God’s word and God’s ways in God’s Son by God’s Spirit, confront our expectations, the result is often amazement. Astonishment. Being overwhelmed. [BDAG].

And the more we think we know about God, the more we will be amazed by Him, as he reminds us of His unlimited greatness!

Romans 11:33 ESV

33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

Easter is a time of the year for us to evaluate our expectations in light of Jesus’ teachings and Jesus’ works.

To live by faith in a way that expects the unexpected. To not put God in a box and limit Him based on our own imaginations.

To no longer do things because “That’s the way it has always been done.” Or “That’s what I like.” Or “That’s what I expect.”

That’s living by our expectations we place upon God!

Is not God doing something new, as Christ enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday? Will not God do something new when he raises Christ from the dead in power? Does God not make us new, as a new creation in Christ, through a new birth, no longer to walk according to the flesh but by His Spirit?

Brothers and sisters, we must not submit God to our own expectations, but we must live in submission to God’s expectations for us.

Jesus is the dividing line separating those who follow His teaching, and those who follow the teaching of “their scribes.”

If we expect God to do only what we want, and how we want, according to the ways God has worked before, then God may give us exactly that, and we’ll be left behind, following from a distance, part of the crowd, and watching in amazement — but never changed.

But the way of Christ is the way of self-denial. Taking up our cross and following Him. Letting Him lead according to His Word, and His Way.

Church, we have been given in 2021 and beyond, a blank slate. Empty calendars. New and still unknown opportunities.

God’s Word has not changed, but God is leading us still in His Ways.

Old programs and structures will not serve the future Church in the same way they used to. What we do and how we do it may look different in the days ahead, because the world looks very different than what it did many years ago.

None of us knows the future and what it will look like. Except this — there remains a world full of future disciples of Jesus, that do not yet know Him. And it is given to us, Christ’s Church, to go and tell them, baptize them, and teach them to obey all of His commands.

Our obedience will be measured by whether or not we are willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill the Great Commission, and whether we are willing to lay aside our expectations so we might follow Him unhindered. Yielded to His authority.

On this “Palm Sunday,” the crowds following Jesus were now going ahead of him, spreading their cloaks in the way, cutting branches from trees and spreading them on the road. And they were shouting:

“Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” Mt 21:9(b), ESV

In going ahead of Jesus, they were preparing a way for Jesus, according to their own expectations. But they would be amazed to find, that a way had already been prepared for Him, and it looked nothing like what they expected.

This Palm Sunday coincides with the conclusion of our preaching series from The Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount began with an invitation to “Come and Hear.”

Now, it ends, preparing us to receive a new invitation — an invitation to “Come and See.”

Hear what Jesus teaches. See what Jesus does.

The final two verses, framing the conclusion of The Sermon on the Mount, take us back to the beginning, to Jesus, who is the beginning and the end.

We said in Matthew 5:1 that we have no hope of hearing The Sermon on the Mount without knowing the preacher of The Sermon — Jesus.

The conclusion of Matthew 7 echos that theme, by revealing the response of the crowds to Jesus’ teaching, and by drawing our focus as hearers upon His authority.

III. Exposition

A. Matthew 7:28

Matthew 7:28 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

“When Jesus finished these sayings” is a way of bringing The Sermon on the Mount to an end.

Does this mean that this is ALL Jesus had to say?

No. Jesus had much more to teach.

But The Sermon on the Mount was over. This event of teaching had ended.

It is a rest, for us to let what Jesus has said sink in and respond, before moving forward.

In music notation, there are different kinds of notes. Quarter notes, half notes, whole notes. And there are corresponding rests. Quarter rests, half rests, whole rests. Periods of silence.

The rests are just as important as the notes in the whole song.

In the rests, you take a breathe. The rests help all the players begin the next note or phrase in the same place.

In the same way, this verse is a rest before the movement of Matthew continues and Jesus comes down the mountain, continuing His mission (8:1).

Matthew 7:28 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching,

“...the crowds were astonished at his teaching”

Isn’t it interesting, that it is the response of the crowds that is given, not the response of the disciples who had come to Him.

We are not told how the disciples responded. But we are told how the crowds were astonished, or amazed.

Why is that?

Perhaps it is because the expectations of the crowds were challenged the most?

When we are amazed we are challenged.

If I were to start floating up here on the platform, you would be amazed because your expectation of gravity tells you that floating is not possible.

Amazement often reveals the presence of a contradiction.

What Jesus taught concerning the kingdom of heaven was certainly a contradiction to what the crowds had thought.

Being amazed is a good thing! Being challenged is a good thing! Because there was a response, meaning Jesus’ word was received in their hearing and doing a work in them.

Had they heard, and not been astonished, and not been challenged, and not been moved, then they would not have received any of what Jesus taught.

When you encounter God’s Word, expect the unexpected.

Expect to be confronted with contradictions as your flesh encounters what is spiritual.

2 Timothy 3:16 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

2 Timothy 3:17 ESV

17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

God’s Word will challenge us, and correct us, and make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Tim 3:15).

But Matthew 7 doesn’t stop in verse 28.

It tells us that it wasn’t just Jesus’ teaching alone that amazed them.

It wasn’t just WHAT Jesus said, but it was HOW He said it.

I have learned that WHAT I say is important, but HOW I say what I say, can speak more than the words itself.

I learned this growing up, when I would speak with an attitude toward my parents. I was telling the truth, but they weren’t listening to the truth because all they heard was my attitude.

I learned this in my marriage. I learned this in my work. I learned this dealing with other people.

I can speak the truth, but if I package it in the wrong way, it may come across mean or insensitive and I’m not heard.

Body language, for example, matters. Posture matters. Tone matters. Inflection matters.

Has anyone ever been misunderstood in a text message, email or letter?

A text message, or email, or letter does not reveal body language, posture, tone or inflection.

If you write in ALL CAPS, are you screaming at me in anger?

If you respond to my paragraph with one word, are you ignoring me and dismissing me?

If you don’t respond to my message, did you receive it at all? Who knows? Was it even understood? I’m left wondering.

What is said is often lost in how it is received.

In The Sermon on the Mount, we have what is said.

We have a record of Jesus’ words. We have His teaching.

We have the email, the text message, the letter.

But what we don’t have, and what verse 29 tells us, is the HOW. The body language. The posture. The tone. The inflection. How Jesus taught.

This is something that cannot be derived from the printed words alone.

And how did Jesus teach?

What moved the crowds to be astonished? What does the Scripture lead us to believe amazed the crowds, even more than WHAT Jesus said?

It is all described in one word: authority.

B. Matthew 7:29

Matthew 7:29 ESV

29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

This verse tells us WHY the crowds were amazed at His teaching. Not because of the teaching itself, but because Jesus taught with authority.

Jesus taught with the right to control and govern the things He was speaking about (LN).

And that authority produced a response in the hearers.

Why were the hearers moved by Jesus’ authority? Why were they astonished? Why were they amazed?

Because anyone who has authority, means what they say.

The crowds were astonished when the realized that Jesus could DO something about what He was SAYING.

And this meant that they were obligated now, responsible for, what they had heard. Because what they had heard, was given to them with authority.

As I preach to you the Word of God, I do not preach with my own authority. If I did, you could feel quite comfortable and not be challenged or moved.

But as I prepare and preach, I preach with an appeal to God’s authority. That’s why I preach His Word.

There is no authority in my stories. There is no authority in my cleverness. In my illustrations. In the structure of my sermon, the songs or poems I may include. There is no authority in those things.

But there is authority in what God says, in His Word.

Preaching is the task of proclaiming God’s Word.

The scribes had God’s Word, but they did not teach it with authority.

The scribes were educated in the sacred writings. They were scholars. Teachers. Experts in the law, skilled in the instruction of God. (LN).

But the scribes, “their scribes,” did not speak with authority.

Notice how the scribes are identified:

Matthew 7:29 ESV

29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

“their scribes.”

A strong distinction is being made. “Their scribes.” The crowd’s scribes.

Jesus and the scribes are speaking the same language, about the same subjects, but they are not on the same side.

Jesus is distinct from “their scribes.” Jesus has authority that the scribes do not have.

We are given the authority of Christ to speak on behalf of Him — when we speak about Him.

The scribes were speaking about things they were given. Jesus was speaking about Himself. Jesus was speaking in His own Name.

That’s where the Word has authority. In Jesus. Jesus is the authority of the Word. Whenever we proclaim the Word in the name of Jesus we are proclaiming the Word with the authority of Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit who points to the same!

“Their scribes” had the words, but were lacking the authority, because they were lacking Jesus.

Jesus first teaches with authority. He will later demonstrate this authority in his deeds. But later, Jesus will give this authority to his disciples (Luz).

Matthew 28:18 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Matthew 28:19 ESV

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 28:20 ESV

20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

IV. Conclusion

A. Gospel Proclamation

The Sermon on the Mount ends with our eyes upon Jesus, and His authority. And that is where our eyes should stay, this Holy Week.

For the Word of God will show the Work of God through the events of this week.

As Jesus partakes of the Last Supper with His disciples in the upper room. Proclaiming His body as given and broken for us. Proclaiming a New Covenant in His blood poured out for us.

As he is betrayed by one of His own who sold Him out for 30 pieces of silver.

As he prays in the Garden “Not my will, but Thine be done.”

As he is arrested and put on trial. Condemned to die on the account of false witnesses.

As he is beaten and nailed to a cross. Deserving none of this — but there, because of our sin. There in our place.

As he breathes his last — and says now, not of his teaching, but of his work — “It is finished.”

As he is buried in the tomb.

And the earth waits. Expectations crushed. The disciples flee and hide.

What will happen next?