What Real Authority Looks Like

February 3, 2021

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7:28-29 NIV

Jesus had been teaching His disciples, but huge crowds, thousands of people, gathered to hear Him in the natural amphitheater created by the hills. The Sermon on the Mount, as we call it, was mind-boggling to the hearers. Jesus was describing the upside-down kingdom He came to initiate. He was talking to Jewish people who had been trained in the law from the time they were children about what was required to please God. There were teachers of the law in the crowd who were skilled in the finer points of the law and extra laws they had added. 

They knew Jesus was a rabbi and knew the law very well Himself. But what He said was so shocking. Over and over He said, “You have heard (speaking of the law), but I say…” He was replacing the law they had always known. He explained that He was FULFILLING the law, not destroying it, and He was replacing lists of rules with a far higher standard, the law of love.

Instead of running away from Him, seeing Him as an arrogant rabble-rouser, a fool who was speaking nonsense, and assuming He would quickly die away, the crowds were amazed and even more attracted. They saw Him as completely different from their accustomed teachers. He spoke with true authority and they did not. 

The teachers of the law had special clothes and titles which made them immediately recognized. Jesus did not. They had a special heritage and background which put them in line for their authority. He was a common carpenter’s son. They had the weight of the Temple and all the religious leaders behind them. Jesus was disliked and suspected by the authorities. How did He have such authority?

His genuine connection with God was unmistakable. He spoke of God as the Father, and the familiarity was tangible.

His compassion and unconditional love for everyone, including the last, the lowest, and the least, was apparent in every word He spoke and everything He did.

He said things that no human in their culture would ever think of on their own—it was too much against the grain of human nature.

He actually did what He spoke. He was a walking example—a sermon on feet.

Want authority? There’s your clue.

• Are you seeking authority and respect through a title, vote, position, or power? It will never truly come that way. Take your strategy from Jesus.