In Matthew 7:28 we get a glimpse at how people responded to the preaching of our Lord. That text reads:
“When Jesus 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.”
Matthew repeats this observation in chapter 13, verse 54.
Mark reports a similar response to the teachings of our Lord. “When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.” That’s Mark 6:2. Here is the same idea in chapter 11, verse 18:“…because the crowd was amazed at his teaching.”
Luke also underscores this truth, “They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.” (Luke 4:32)
So listeners obviously recognized something unique in the way Jesus communicated. It wasn’t the same old same old to which they were accustomed. His messages literally overwhelmed them.
That same Luke passage records like this in the Amplified Bible:
“And they were amazed at his teaching, for His word was with authority and ability and weight and power.”
I have preached many times. Seldom have I come anywhere near sensing that my listeners would say my words, like Christ’s, had “authority and ability and weight and power.”
Only rarely do I recall listening to any preacher whose sermons resulted in people responding this way!
I bring the matter up because my conviction is that this is the only kind of preaching that will be powerful enough to bring revival to this desperately needy nation.
(To be continued…)
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