In this Sunday’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Christ continues to teach the crowds on the mountainside. He chastises them by saying that those who pay him lip service (call him “Lord, Lord”) but fail to do the will of the Father will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Even those who do mighty deeds in Jesus’ name may not make the cut. George Haydock, an English priest and Bible scholar writing in the 1800s, explained, “Many who have the Lord continually in their mouths, but care little about putting on the Lord, or penetrating themselves with his true spirit, will find their presumption, and the false consciences they have made to themselves, wo[e]fully disappointed.”
Stunned
Jesus’ words no doubt stunned many Jewish listeners, accustomed to demonstrating religious devotion through compliance with a great many external requirements in the Torah. But what appears to have stunned the crowd as much if not more than Jesus’ words was the authority with which he delivered them. “When Jesus finished these words, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”
St. John Chrysostom
In a fifth century homily, St. John Chrysostom observed, “But most of all they were astounded at His authority. For when He said these things, He did not refer to another, as even the prophet Moses did, but everywhere He showed that He Himself was the One who had the authority to decide. For even when He was establishing laws Jesus continually added, ‘But I say to you.’ And when He was reminding them of the final day of judgment, He showed that He himself is the One who will bring justice, both through the punishments and through the honors. This is what made such a commotion among them.”
Are we still astounded that God visited us in person and spoke with authority? Is there a commotion today?
