Sermons
Astonished At His Teaching
Astonished At His Teaching
Brenden Ashby
To be astonished is to be greatly surprised or impressed. Mark uses this word to describe many people's reaction to Jesus' teaching (Mk. 1:22). Mark explains that Jesus "was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes." What made Jesus' teaching so different from the teachers of His day?
To answer that question, we must first look at how a majority of the scribes taught. Many scribes used evasive reasoning in their teaching. They looked for "loopholes" in God's law (Mk. 7:5-13). Majoring in minors was another common theme in the scribes' teaching (Matt. 23:23). Many scribes lacked any love for the people they taught (Mk. 12:40).
Contrasted with the scribes, we see Jesus' teaching being the complete opposite. Jesus spoke the truth of God's word without looking for loopholes (Jn. 14:6; 18:37). Instead of majoring in minors, Jesus dealt with subjects of significance like life, death, and eternity (Matt. 5:11-12; 7:28-29). And Jesus genuinely loved the people He taught (Matt. 9:36).
The people of Jesus' day were greatly astonished at His teaching. Are we equally astonished at His teaching? Are we impressed with the straightforwardness of Jesus as he deals with the things that truly matter? And, if so, are we willing to follow His astonishing teaching?
