Jesus has just finished His Sermon on the Mount. Matthew – who is writing this account with thee hindsight of time – now details us the impact His sermon has had, “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.”
The goal of any opportunity to teach, preach or expound God’s Word is to accurately reflect something of the Lord to the people you are influencing. Only then will then have something of true value to add to themselves, and/or hear something that will have power to change them more into the likeness of Jesus Christ. That might amaze, but the goal is never to simply amaze. That is the objective of the secularist in speaking to crowds. That is the objective of the entertainer, the objective of the proud and haughty. To speak so that people will be amazed is to purpose that they should focus on the speaker, not on the truth of God. The result is wonder and delight for yourself as a speaker, not wonder and delight in God.
For all but Jesus, that is nothing short of idolatry. A normal speaker – a regular teacher or preacher – who amazes the crowd at the exposition, interpretation or application of God’s Word – is taking glory that belongs to God and depositing it to their own credit. That is not a small error to be casually overlooked. Jesus however, is not a regular speaker. He is the Son of God, very God of very God. He is God. To worship Jesus is to worship the Father, for “the Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being.” So, He is not a regular teacher, nor is He a regular preacher. So when Jesus amazes the crowd, He does so righteously. He also does so easily.
Jesus has just been explaining God’s Word. He did not have the benefit of a microphone or a loudspeaker or a sound system. He did not have powerpoint, or slides, or photos of any kind. He did not have a whiteboard, a chalkboard or even a pulpit. He did not have a prop (aside from the birds of the air and the flowers of the field). He did not have the benefit of a worship band to help prepare the crowd’s mindset. He did not have the benefit of advance notice of the opportunity to speak, so He had no time to first sit down and do an exegesis or time to practice. He just had what He knew of God’s Word and a crowd in front of him.
Of course, amazing a crowd is no guarantee that they will leave permanently changed. We know that because ultimately, many of these same people would be part of the crowd that demanded His crucifixion and jeered at Him hanging on the cross. Even though they were amazed at His teaching, and even though they recognized His authority, they did not rise to defend Him en mass when He was brought out to be crucified. These facts tell us that all who witness for the Lord must know that it is not merely the skill, knowledge and craftsmanship of the speaker that affects change in the congregation. It is the willingness of the people to hear from God. If they are willing to hear from God, then when they hear from God they will not be merely amazed, but changed. If they are not willing to hear from God, even if God Himself speaks to them, they will simply leave amazed instead of changed.
That is a freeing principle to know. For if we know His Word, and we know Him, we can simply and faithfully speak of our experience of both Him and His Word, and know that it will be fulfilling to those who hear it. Actually, that is all Jesus ever asks of His people; To be faithful witnesses of Him, to bear testimony of His Word and how He has spoken to us – that is enough for any crowd. Better still, such testimony brings much glory to God. For instead of God speaking directly to them, those who are being saved still find wonder and delight in what God is saying through You, to whom He has already spoken. Our witness results then in much fruit.
If however, we faithfully witness to those who are not keen to hear from God, we find that at most they find wonder and delight in the way we speak, not in God who is speaking through us. They leave amazed instead of changed. Our witness has nevertheless been effective, but instead of a harvest of changed lives the result is a congregation of hardened hearts. The fruit we harvest then, is their accolades and appreciation instead of changed lives. Either harvest is to the benefit of the faithful speaker, but only one is to the benefit of the crowd.
It is natural that the preacher should wish to please his hearers, but it is spiritual for him to desire and aim at the approbation of God.
A.W. Pink
APPLICATION: Intentionality
Let our witness be faithful. Let the result be entirely God’s doing.