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Judging Others
1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same
way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you
use, it will be measured to you.
3"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's
eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4How can
you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,'
when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5You hypocrite,
first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see
clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls
to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and
then turn and tear you to pieces.
Explanation: Appropriate Judgment (7:1-27)
The rest of the Sermon on the Mount does not fit into a tightly
knit structure beyond the level of the individual paragraphs; some
elements (such as 7:6) are actually difficult to fit into their
context! This reminds us how important Jesus' teachings are to Matthew.
Even though Matthew carefully organizes most of his material, he
wants us to know all of Jesus' teachings, even when he cannot fit
them into the structure of his argument.
Nevertheless, Matthew continues to arrange Jesus' teaching in a
relevant, pastoral way for his readers. Just as outward acts of
righteousness can be misleading (6:1-18), we should avoid any external
evaluations of individuals (7:1-5) and certainly should not trust
all religious claims (7:15-23). Jesus' promise concerning prayer
(7:7-11) expands his earlier discussion of private prayer (6:5-15)
and seeking the kingdom first (6:32-33). (NIV obscures the flow
of thought by translating the first "seek" as run after;
that Greek term can be stronger, but in this context it contrasts
with the closely related term in the next verse.) Jesus' admonition
to self-examination (7:1-5), warning that few will enter God's kingdom
(vv. 13-14), observation that one's behavior reveals one's character
(vv. 15-20) and caution that our lives and not just lips must acknowledge
Christ (vv. 21-23) suitably climax in his final warning that only
those who obey his teaching will endure the judgment (vv. 24-27).
Do Not Judge Others (7:1-6)
Jesus declares that the person judging will be judged (v. 1) because
judging assumes a divine prerogative; final judgment belongs to
God alone, and those who seek to judge others now will answer then
for usurping God's position (see also 6:12-15).
God Will Judge Us the Way We Judge Others
(7:1-2)
By this point in the sermon, no one who has been taking Jesus' words
seriously will feel much like judging anyone else anyway. Still,
we humans tend to prefer applying ethics to other people rather
than ourselves. (For example, husbands tend to prefer quoting Paul's
instructions on marriage to their wives rather than his admonitions
to them, and vice-versa. Likewise, I have sometimes listened to
a sermon thinking, I wish so-and-so had shown up for church today.)
So just in case we have been too obtuse to grasp that Jesus addresses
us rather than others in 5:3-6:34, Jesus renders the point explicit
in 7:1-5. We are objects of God's evaluation, and God evaluates
most graciously the meek, who recognize God alone as judge.
Even if we knew people's hearts, we could not evaluate degrees of
personal guilt as if we understood all the genetic and social influences
that combine with personal sinful choices in making some people
more vulnerable to particular temptations (such as alcohol or spouse
abuse) than others. Most important, Jesus warns us that even if
we knew people's hearts, we would be in no position to judge unless
we had lived sinless lives, never needing God's forgiveness (vv.
3-5; compare 6:12, 14-15).Many people have ripped this passage out
of context, however. Jesus warns us not to assume God's prerogative
to condemn the guilty; he is not warning us not to discern truth
from error (see 7:15-23). Further, Jesus does not oppose offering
correction, but only offering correction in the wrong spirit (v.
5; compare 18:15-17; Gal 6:1-5).
Having right beliefs about judging is not enough. Although Jesus
regards scribal and Pharisaic righteousness as inadequate (Mt 5:20),
it is not because scribes and Pharisees professed the wrong doctrine
on this issue. Most of the sages would have probably agreed with
his basic perspective here (compare, for example, Sirach 28:1-3;
m. 'Abot 2:5), and even the particular image of measuring back what
one measures out (Mt 7:2-as in "what goes around comes around")
was proverbial wisdom. Jesus' contemporaries often affirmed his
principle and even used the same illustration, but Jesus demands
more than agreement from disciples: he demands obedience (vv. 24-27).
We Blind Ourselves When We Rationalize Away
Our Guilt (7:3-5)
We rationalize away our guilt but not that of others, and our double
standard itself renders our own behavior inexcusable (compare 6:22-23;
Rom 2:1-3). A splinter or wood chip in a neighbor's eye might render
that person blind, but a plank embedded in one's own eye would certainly
render one blind. The image is graphic hyperbole: imagine a zealous
Christian walking around with a log protruding from his eye (as
if one end of it would even fit!), totally ignorant of his impossibly
grotesque state. Just as we would not want a blind guide leading
us into a pit (Mt 15:14; 23:16), we would not want a blind surgeon
operating on our eyes; only one who sees well is competent to heal
others' blindness (compare 9:27-31; 20:29-34).
At a Bible study Joe Bayly once met a former Nazi, a participant
in the Holocaust, who complained that had missed a promotion in
the army because he objected to social dancing. Bayly remarked tongue
in cheek that "Christians were the same everywhere-they weren't
afraid to speak out, even against Hitler, when it came to social
dancing." Likewise, some conservative Christians who are quick
to judge those who do not uphold the Bible's authority have spent
little time in personal study of the Bible themselves. If Jesus
minced no words with those blinded by religious tradition in his
day, we who claim devotion to his cause must beware lest we share
more in common with them than with him.
Even When You Are Right, Do Not Impose the
Truth on Others (7:6)
This saying seems to make little sense in this context; hence varied
interpretations of verse 6 abound. Some think that dogs here are
the Gentiles (15:26) and the pearls the gospel of the kingdom (13:45).
But Jewish teachers used dogs to represent different things (not
just Gentiles) in their parables, and even in 15:26 "dogs"
is not wholly negative as it is here (see comment there). Other
attempts to narrow the saying's object to prohibiting sinners from
the Eucharist (as in Did. 9:5) also go beyond the evidence.
In its most general sense 7:6 was probably simply a wisdom saying
like Proverbs 23:9: "Do not speak to a fool, for he will scorn
the wisdom of your words" (compare also Syr. Men. Sent. 328-32).
Dogs may refer to the wicked or oppressors more generally (compare
Ps 22:16, 20; 59:14-15; Prov 26:11). It was also commonly known
that stray scavenger dogs-the main kind encountered in the towns
of Jewish Palestine-growled at those feeding them as much as at
passing strangers (Isoc. Demon. 29, Or. 1). Clearly these are people
who do not value what we have to offer them; swine also proverbially
lacked appreciation of value (Prov 11:22).
But why did Matthew include this saying here? Some connect the saying
to the preceding context by suggesting that it means it is worthless
to try to correct (7:1-5) one unwilling to listen. Others note that
while we should not judge, some people should be avoided or we must
exercise discernment. Yet taken by themselves, none of these suggestions
explain the lack of disjunction in verse 6.
Most likely verse 6 provides a transition between the preceding
and following contexts. Correcting those who will not receive correction
is futile (vv. 1-5; Prov 9:8; 23:9); we should discerningly continue
to offer wisdom (or the gift of the kingdom) only to those willing
to receive what we offer, just as God does (Mt 7:7-11). In this
case the text sounds a note of reciprocity to be repeated in verse
12 (Keener 1993:64). If verse 6 means something along these lines,
it does not allow us to prejudge who may receive our message (13:3-23),
but does forbid us to try to force it on those who show no inclination
to accept it (10:13-16; compare Carson 1984:185; Blomberg 1992:128-29;
Hagner 1993:172).
Ask, Seek, Knock
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks
receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will
be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a
stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you,
then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,
how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those
who ask him! 12So in everything, do to others what you would have
them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
Explanation: Good Gifts Guaranteed (7:7-12)
Although Matthew has already offered a longer section on prayer
(6:5-15), he emphasizes prayer again here. Because in the context
the supreme object of "seeking" is the kingdom (6:33)
and the door to be opened is the gate of salvation (7:13; contrast
Lk 11:5-13), this prayer may especially represent a prayer for God's
rule (compare 6:9-10 and the prayer for empowerment by the Spirit
in Lk 11:2-13). But in any case, the specific application of the
saying depends on its more general principle concerning how God
hears prayers of faith (21:21-22; compare 14:28-31).
God Can Supply Anything to the Righteous
Who Seek His Purposes (7:7-10)
This text indicates some important lessons for us today. First,
Jesus promises his disciples extraordinary power from God, like
that of Elijah of old. In this case the Gospel narratives (such
as 14:28-31) and other "charismatic" sayings (such as
21:21-22) demonstrate that Jesus was not speaking figuratively,
but training disciples to express bold faith. Early Jewish teaching
did celebrate God's kindness in answering prayer (Hagner 1993:174),
but rarely promised such universal answers to prayer to all of God's
people as the language here suggests; only a small number of sages
were considered pious enough to have such power with God. But both
the Hebrew Bible (for example, Gen 32:26-30; Ex 33:12-34:9; 1 Kings
18:36-37, 41-46; 2 Kings 2:2, 4, 6, 9; 4:14-28) and the Gospel tradition
(Mk 5:27-34; 7:24-30; 10:46-52; Mt 8:7-13; Jn 2:3-5) provide examples
of such bold faith. The most crucial model for bold holy persons
in Jewish tradition is probably Elijah, who despite his human frailty
(1 Kings 19:4) could summon fire from heaven against those potentially
threatening his life simply by declaring, "If I am a man of
God, may fire come down from heaven" (2 Kings 1:10, 12-15).
James likewise tells us that Elijah was a person of flesh and blood
just like us; if we begin to see ourselves as and act as men and
women of God, we will have access to the kind of miracles that Elijah
had (Jas 5:16-18).
Scripture shows us Elijah's frailties as well as his
faith. We are likewise men and women of God by God's grace, and
as we dare to believe that and to live according to the relationship
our Father has given us with himself in Christ, that confidence
will transform our prayer lives.
Second, this empowerment presupposes that we are ready to be as
committed to God's purposes as Elijah and like-minded servants of
God were. Such a call to believing prayer supposes a heart of piety
submitted to God's will; it would not apply to a man praying to
obtain another man's wife or to a woman praying for a nicer car
as a status symbol of conspicuous consumption. Although Jesus states
the promise graphically, he implicitly addresses only men and women
of God who will seek the things God would have them to seek for
the good of his kingdom and their basic needs (Mt 6:11, 19-34).
Jesus' promise is for the righteous-people who share kingdom values-asking
basic needs and requests concerning the kingdom. Jesus' disciples
were to be prophets (5:12) and holy persons, like Elijah, whose
requests God would hear.
Third, this passage's context suggests the kinds of prayers such
righteous people offer. They seek first in prayer the purposes of
God's kingdom (6:9-10, 31-33; compare Ps 9:10; 24:6; 27:4, 8; 34:14;
63:1; 69:6, 32; 70:4; 119:45; 122:6-9; and especially Prov 2:4-5;
8:17; Is 55:6; Jer 29:13), and also request that God meet their
own basic needs (Mt 6:11). The specific examples Jesus gives that
children would request are basic staples in the Palestinian diet-bread
and fish; and Jesus has already promised his hearers the basics
(6:25-34). Jesus later provided bread and fish for his followers
(14:19-20; 15:36-37), encouraging us that he will also hear our
requests for provision today. While such basics do not include mere
status symbols or other objects of fleshly appetites, they do include
whatever is ultimately for God's kingdom-anything necessary for
us to fulfill our life and call.
God's Fatherly Care Is Our Assurance That
He Will Answer (7:11)
Jesus uses the familiar Jewish method of arguing by a "how
much more" analogy. God who gives good gifts to children may
not give everything every child asks, but he will not withhold his
gifts from those who desire and seek what is right (Ps 37:4; 84:11).
Our Father will give appropriate consideration to each request his
children make, watching out for their true needs (compare Mt 6:8).
Reciprocate Good Deeds in Faith (7:12)
If those who condemn others are condemned (7:1-5), God clearly operates
on a principle of reciprocity; we must do good to people in advance
of their doing good to us, trusting God to reward us later. The
principle in this context is that as we give, it will be given to
us by God in the day of judgment. If God is the example of giving
(vv. 7-11), we should give whatever people need (5:42). How we treat
others (7:12) reveals our character (vv. 16-20) and hence reveals
our eternal destiny (vv. 13-14, 21-23). At least since a sermon
of John Wesley in 1750 this has been called the "Golden Rule"
(Guy 1959); over a millennium earlier, a Christian Roman emperor
allegedly engraved the saying on his wall in gold (France 1985:145).
This rule was a widespread principle of ancient ethics. The positive
form of the rule appears as early as Homer and recurs in Herodotus,
Isocrates and Seneca. The negative form ("And what you hate,
do not do to anyone") appears in Tobit 4:15, Philo (Hypothetica
7.6) and elsewhere; one Jewish work straddles both forms (Ep. Arist.
207). Although some commentators have tried to disparage the negative
form by contrast with the positive, both forms mean essentially
the same thing; both biblical law (Lev 19:18) and Paul (Rom 13:10)
define the positive commandment of love by means of negative commandments
(E. Sanders 1992:258-59).
The principle appears in cultures totally isolated from the ancient
Mediterranean; it appears, for example, in Confucian teaching from
sixth-century B.C. China (see Jochim 1986:125). That others would
discover this same principle should not surprise us, because one
of the most natural foundations for ethics is for a person to extrapolate
from one's own worth to that of others, hence to value others as
oneself (compare, for example, Sirach 31:15). Thus every person
is morally responsible to recognize how one ought to treat every
other person. When we treat others (such as waitresses, store clerks
or children) the way people of higher status treated people of lower
status in Jesus' day, we invite God's judgment against us. No one
so insensitive as to demean another human being on account of social
station warrants God's mercy (Mt 5:7; 6:14-15; 7:1-5).
One who observes this basic principle will fulfill all the basic
principles of the law the way God intended them (compare 5:21-48;
22:37-39). Later Jewish tradition declares that the sage Hillel,
who taught before Jesus did, had already seen this rule as a good
summary of the law. As the story goes, a Gentile approached both
Hillel and his rival sage, promising each that he would convert
to Judaism if the sage could teach him the law concisely. Hillel
declared, "Whatever you do not want someone to do to you, do
not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Law; the rest of it is
just explanation" (b.Sabbat 31a; compare ARN 25, 53B).
This is the law of love, the principle by which Jesus epitomizes
the entire humanward aspect of God's law (22:39-40; compare Jn 13:34-35),
a principle Jesus' earliest followers never forgot (Rom 13:8-10;
Gal 5:14; 6:2; Jas 2:8). What is distinctive about the principle
as it appears in Matthew is its relation to the day of judgment
(Mt 7:1-2, 13-14).
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through
it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life,
and only a few find it.
Explanation: The Narrow Way (7:13-14)
Within this chapter, verses 1-12 fit together somewhat loosely,
but the paragraphs in verses 13-27 make more sense together. Most
first-century Jewish people believed they were saved by virtue of
descent from Abraham (3:9). Yet Jesus regards the assumption of
salvation as a deception; most of his contemporaries were unsaved
(7:13-14). Those who led them showed by their lives that they were
not God's true representatives (vv. 15-20); indeed, many professing
servants of Jesus will themselves be banished from God's presence
in the judgment (vv. 21-23), for only those who truly obeyed his
teaching will stand (vv. 24-27). When one compares the great numbers
of people today who cavalierly identify themselves as Christians
yet never consider the claims of Christ, one shudders to realize
how deadly such deception remains. May we present Christ's radical
claims boldly so that more professing Christians may reckon with
the reality of his Lordship.
Jesus' image of the narrow way should have made sense to his hearers
(v. 13). Greek, Roman and Jewish writers often employed the image
of the two paths in life (for example, Sen. Ep. 8.3; 27.4; Diogenes
Ep. 30; Deut 30:15; Ps 1:1; m. 'Abot 2:9), and those particularly
concerned with the future judgment especially employed the image
of the two ways, the narrow one leading to life and the broad one
to destruction (as in 4 Ezra 7:3-16, 60-61; 8:1-3; Test. Ab. 11A;
8B).Some people's assurance of salvation is a delusion (Mt 7:13-14).
To enter the narrow gate of the kingdom we must knock, that is,
request that God make us citizens of his kingdom (vv. 7-8). The
difficulty of Jesus' way includes embracing by repentance both persecution
(5:10-12) and the ethics of the kingdom taught in the Sermon on
the Mount.
Most Jewish people in Jesus' day were religious; respecting God
and keeping his commandments were an important part of their culture.
These would be the many people of whom Jesus' hearers would think
when they heard him. Yet Jesus, like a few contemporaries who were
particularly scrupulous (4 Ezra 7:45-61; 8:1-3), declared that most
people were lost. Jesus intends his words to jar us from complacency,
to consider the genuineness of our commitment to him.
One wonders how many members in our churches today assume that they
are saved when in fact they treat Jesus' teachings lightly-people
who give no thought to their temper, their mental chastity, their
integrity and so forth during the week (compare 5:21-48), then pretend
to be religious or even spiritually gifted in church. Do we have
the courage to communicate Jesus' message as clearly as he meant
it to be conveyed, to warn ourselves and others that it is possible
for people to assume they are saved and yet be damned? Some texts
in the Bible provide assurance to suffering Christians that the
kingdom is theirs; this text challenges "cultural Christians,"
those following only Christian tradition rather than Christ himself,
to realize that they need conversion.
A Tree and Its Fruit
15"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's
clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16By their fruit
you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes,
or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit,
but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not
bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by
their fruit you will recognize them.
21"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who
is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did
we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons
and perform many miracles?' 23Then I will tell them plainly, 'I
never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
Explanation: Discern by Fruits, Not Gifts (7:15-23)
True prophets obey Jesus' teachings. Like the false prophets of
old (Jer 6:13-14; 8:11; 23:13-17; Ezek 13:1-16; Mic 3:5-8), those
Matthew warns against in 7:15 probably proclaim a gospel of false
peace, an easy way that neglects God's true demands (vv. 13-14;
France 1985:147). Matthew elsewhere warns against false prophets
(7:22; 24:5, 24) and apostate Christians and leaders in the church
(24:12, 48-51). Jesus elsewhere applies the present denunciations
of fruitless trees against the religious leaders of his day (12:33;
compare 3:8, 10; 21:19; 23:3), but because his words in this context
address prophets (which most Pharisees thought no longer existed
in their day), one suspects that Matthew wants Christians of his
own generation to take notice.
Jesus' words are not only polemic against enemies of the faith from
the outside; they are also warnings to us who claim to be Jesus'
followers. We dare not restrict the title "hypocrites"
to Jesus' religious contemporaries (6:2, 5, 16; pace Did. 8:1-2);
God's subsequent servants may share the same fate (24:51). This
passage presents us with several lessons.
False Prophets and Their Teaching Pose a
Real Danger to Believers (7:15)
They are like hungry wolves who disguise themselves as sheep. People
in Jesus' day could disguise themselves in sheepskins in the hope
of being taken for stray dogs or other animals (Jos. War 3.192).
Jesus' image is, however, more graphic than that, employing hyperbole:
wolves do not wear clothes, and changing one's hide was a metaphor
for the impossible (Jer 13:23; Jub. 37:20). By coming in sheep's
clothing, the false prophets pretend to be sheep (Acts 20:29-30)
though they are in fact hungry wolves who have come to prey on sheep
(compare Mt 10:16).
Some denominations that once evangelized peoples and held orthodox
teachings now encompass a much wider range of moral and spiritual
teaching, and many movements that remain orthodox in general nevertheless
remain susceptible to dangerous winds of doctrine. We who should
be challenging unjust reasoning in the world instead often find
ourselves fighting a defensive battle within our own ranks. For
the sake of the flock, we must exercise discernment, especially
within the church.
Evaluate Prophets by Their Fruits (7:16-20) These false prophets
(v. 15) claim to have prophesied, exorcised and effected miracles
by Jesus' name (v. 22). Although Matthew is surely charismatic in
a positive way (compare, for example, 5:12; 10:8, 40-42; 23:34),
here he challenges false Christian charismatics whose disobedience
Christ will finally reveal (10:26). Although some could prophesy
and work signs by demonic power (for example, 2 Thess 2:9; Rev 13:13-16;
compare Jer 2:8; 23:13), one could also manifest genuine gifts of
God's Spirit yet be lost (1 Sam 19:24).
Once we acknowledge that God can inspire people to speak his message
(and this would apply to gifts like teaching as well as prophecy),
how do we discern his genuine representatives? Like his follower
Paul, Jesus subordinates the gifts of the Spirit to the fruit of
the Spirit (compare 1 Cor 13) and submission to Jesus' Lordship
(1 Cor 12:1-3). Jesus' words about fruit thus refer to repentant
works (Mt 7:21; 3:8, 10), recalling Jesus' ethical teachings in
5:21-7:12.
Much of today's church may miss out on prophecy altogether, which
is not a healthy situation (1 Thess 5:20). Prophecy remains a valid
gift until Jesus' return (1 Cor 13:9-12), and we should seek it
for our churches (1 Cor 14:1, 39; Grudem 1982; Keener 1996:79-130).
But wherever the real is practiced, the counterfeit will also appear
(a phenomenon I as a charismatic have witnessed frequently; compare
1 Cor 14:29; 1 Thess 5:21).An adulterous minister may exhibit many
divinely bestowed gifts-sometimes because God is answering the prayers
of people in the congregation-but such ministers are unworthy of
our trust as God's spokespersons as long as they continue in sin.
Yet Jesus wants us to look even closer to home. Do we become so
occupied with "the Lord's work" that we lose sight of
the precious people God has called us to serve? Do we become so
preoccupied with our mission and our gifts that we neglect a charitable
attitude toward our families and other people around us?
Yet the image of the tree and the fruit also reminds us that behavior
flows from character, and in Christian teaching character comes
through being born again rather than merely through self-discipline
(see Odeberg 1964:72). Our own best efforts at restructuring unregenerate
human nature are doomed to failure (Gal 5:19-21). By contrast, a
person transformed by and consistently dependent on the power of
God's Spirit will live according to the traits of God's character
because of God's empowerment, just as trees bear fruit according
to their own kind (Gal 5:18, 22-23).
God Will Expose Our Hearts on the Day of
Judgment (7:21-23)
Some people claim to accept Jesus as a great teacher, but no more
than a teacher. Yet a central component of Jesus' teaching is the
revelation of his identity, and in this passage as in Matthew 25:31-46,
Jesus claims the role of final judge.
Churchgoers today are no more automatically saved than those who
ate with Jesus in the past (as is often noted, attending a church
no more makes one a Christian than entering a garage makes one a
car). Not those who claim to "know" Jesus but only those
who do the Father's will have any claim on Jesus (12:50). Jesus
thus borrows biblical language for righteous enmity toward the wicked
(Ps 6:8; 119:115) to banish them from his presence (Mt 7:23; compare
7:19). I never knew you is a formal repudiation of the person (25:12;
compare 26:70, 72, 74; France 1985:149).
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts
them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the
rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew
and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had
its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words
of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man
who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose,
and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with
a great crash."
28When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed
at his teaching, 29because he taught as one who had authority, and
not as their teachers of the law.
Explanation: Obeying Jesus' Words (7:24-27)
Another early Jewish teacher, while illustrating this point with
many examples, went so far as to say that one who studies Torah
and has good works "may be likened to" one who lays a
foundation of stones and then of bricks, so that rising water or
rain cannot overturn it. But one who studies Torah and has no good
works is like one who builds with bricks on the bottom, so that
even a small amount of water overturns it (ARN 24A).
But Jesus here refers to his own words the way other Jewish teachers
referred to God's law (Jeremias 1972:194). The language at least
implies that Jesus is God's prophetic spokesperson (Ezek 33:32-33)
but is more authoritative than is typical even for prophets; in
this context (Mt 7:21-23; see also 18:20), the claim is far more
radical. One cannot be content with calling Jesus a great teacher,
for he taught that he was more than a mere teacher; one must either
accept all his teachings, including those that demand we submit
to his Lordship, or reject him altogether. Jesus is not one way
among many; he is the standard of judgment.
The Hebrew Bible often employed the rock image for the security
Israel had in God if they obeyed him (for example, Deut 32:4, 18,
31; Ps 18:2, 31, 46; 19:14), including in a time of flood and disaster
(Is 28:14-19). The storm could represent any test, but surely represents
especially the final test, the day of judgment (for example, Jeremias
1963:8-9; compare Mt 24:37-39). Jesus' clear assurance of deliverance
in the final test contrasts with the fears of some of his contemporaries;
many people had little certainty of the afterlife (see, for example,
Plato Apol. 29AB, Phaedo 64A; Bonsirven 1964:167-68). Jesus spoke
with unparalleled authority (Mt 7:28-29).
Epilogue: Jesus' Hearers Recognize
His Authority (7:28-29)
The crowds respond to Jesus' teaching as disciples and crowds often
responded to his other acts: with awe (8:27; 9:8; 12:23; 22:33;
compare Jn 7:46). What astonished them so much about Jesus' teaching
was not his use of proverbs, parables, hyperboles or other standard
pedagogic devices of his day; what astonished them was his claim
to authority, a theme that climaxes in Matthew 28:18. Other Jewish
teachers regularly cited earlier sages' opinions, and though later
teachers sometimes came to regard their tradition as tantamount
to God's Word, Jesus' contemporaries never would have claimed, like
Jesus, that people would be judged according to how they treated
their words.
With greater authority than the scribes who expound the law, greater
authority than Moses who gave it (5:1), the authority indeed of
the One who will judge humanity on the final day (7:21-23), Jesus
declares God's word, and the people recognize that he speaks with
authority unlike their other teachers.
