Simply Jesus - Authority

Matthew 7 & 8

Today in most of the world access to teaching and preaching is easier than it has ever been. With the click of a mouse you can download teaching from preachers around the world. A preacher can step out of a pulpit in Australia and moments later you can have it in your iPod to listen to or even watch on video on your home TV. (Thanks to Apple TV)

However these few chapters we have been reading over the last few days we read a sermon from Jesus as he sat on a mountain side and spoke to the crowds following him. It would only take a few minutes to read in one sitting but it contains some incredible teaching about the Christian life.

At the end of Ch 7 we read: "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."

As a preacher this really got under my skin. The crowds were used to hearing the local teachers of the day but their words were not finding a home in their hearts. Jesus words were different. they impacted people in a great way they carried authority.

When sharing the message of Jesus, in the pulpit or in the office, we need to remember its our intimacy with Jesus that gives authority rather than our intelligence and wise words.