Hearing, Doing, and the Authority of Jesus
We have come to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount, and before we take in the last movement of this passage, it is worth pausing to look back at where we have been. There is a reason the Sermon on the Mount continues to arrest and unsettle readers across the centuries. These are words such as the world had never heard.
At the end of the sermon, Matthew tells us that the crowds were amazed—astonished—because Jesus was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes (Matthew 7:28–29). They had never heard anything like this. The scribes tended to cite authorities. They leaned on a tradition of commentary. But Jesus spoke with an authority that was intrinsic—an authority that did not borrow its weight from anyone else.
That authority confronts us as well.
The words of Jesus are not simply inspiring. They are not merely comforting. They are not just “good principles.” They are a summons to decision. And the question that hovers at the end of the sermon is unavoidable: Who is this Man who speaks these words—and what will we do with them?
This is not a small question. It is the most momentous question any human being can face. And the Sermon on the Mount does not let us postpone it indefinitely.
A Sermon That Presses for a Decision
One of the striking themes in the conclusion of the sermon is the way Jesus narrows the field. He does not give us a dozen options. He does not present a menu of spiritual preferences. He does not tell us to “find what works for you.”
Instead, He brings us to a crossroads.
Two roads.
Two gates.
Two trees.
Two builders.
Two foundations.
Two outcomes.
In other words: two alternatives.