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“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.”
— Matthew 7:28–29
Let us look at what the Word of God says. The central theme of this song and this passage is authority—specifically, the unique, divine authority manifested in the words of Jesus.
The people who heard Him were not impressed merely with the beauty of His language or the originality of His ideas. They were astonished—literally “struck out of themselves”—because they encountered something they had never met before: speech that carried the authority of God Himself.
This is not only a historical observation. It raises a vital question for us today:
The lyrics highlight repeated themes: *“He spoke with authority, not like the scribes… His words carried power, they struck the hearts of the people… My teaching is not my own… It comes from the One who sent me… The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority.”*
At the heart is this reality: true spiritual authority is not human, but derived; not self-generated, but God-given; not theoretical, but effectual.
Matthew 7:28 comes at the conclusion of what we commonly call the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5–7). Jesus has just finished one of the most comprehensive statements of kingdom ethics anywhere in Scripture.
Consider the context:
He is not quoting endless chains of rabbinic tradition. The scribes and Pharisees constantly bolstered their statements with authorities: *“Rabbi so-and-so says…” “The fathers teach that…”* Their authority was derivative from human tradition.
By contrast, Jesus speaks this way:
He does not argue. He declares. He does not speculate. He commands.
The people recognize there is a different quality about this Man. John 7 records a similar reaction. When officers are sent to arrest Jesus, they return empty-handed and testify: “No one ever spoke the way this man does” (John 7:46).
The context, therefore, is this:
God has stepped into human history in the person of His Son, and He speaks. When He speaks, men and women are astonished, because the voice of God is being heard in human words.
The song rightly emphasizes:
“The crowds were astonished at His teaching—
He spoke with authority, not like the scribes.
His words carried power,
they struck the hearts of the people.”
The New Testament does not present Jesus as a religious innovator among many, but as the final, decisive Word of God: “In these last days he has spoken to us by his Son” (Heb. 1:2).
To understand the depth of this passage, we will look at two key Greek words:
1. “Amazed” / “Astonished”
2. “Authority”
### 1) “Amazed” – *ekplēssō* (ἐκπλήσσω)
Matthew 7:28 – “the crowds were amazed at his teaching”
The Greek word is ἐκπλήσσω (ekplēssō). It is a strong verb. Literally, it means:
It is not mild interest or polite respect. It is a kind of inner shock. When Jesus spoke, people did not simply say, “That’s interesting.” They were confronted. They were dislodged from their previous assumptions.
This helps us understand the line:
“His words carried power,
they struck the hearts of the people.”
The word *ekplēssō* contains the idea of being *struck*. True authority in the Word of God strikes the human heart. It does not merely inform. It confronts, convicts, and compels.
Hebrews 4:12 explains why:
> “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates…”
When the people heard Jesus, they encountered living, penetrating Word, not dead doctrine.
### 2) “Authority” – *exousia* (ἐξουσία)
Matthew 7:29 – “because he taught as one who had authority (exousia), and not as their teachers of the law.”
The Greek word is ἐξουσία (exousia). It is vital to understand this term.
Exousia carries two main ideas:
1. Right – the legal or moral right to act, command, or decide
2. Power – the effective ability to bring about what one commands
It is not mere dynamis (raw power or ability). It is authorized power. The right to exercise power and the effective backing to enforce it.
Illustration: A policeman stopping traffic does not rely on his physical strength, but on his authority—the backing of the government behind him. The person who resists him is not resisting a man, but a system of authority.
Jesus’ authority was not:
It was divine exousia—God’s own right and power operating through a man perfectly submitted to Him.
This sheds light on Jesus’ own explanation in John 7:16:
> “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.”
And again in John 14:10:
> “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
True exousia is delegated. It comes from the One who sends.
Jesus’ teaching carried authority because it was the Father speaking through the Son, by the Spirit.
Thus, when Jesus later says, “All authority (exousia) in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18), He is claiming:
Understanding *exousia* helps us see why the people were astonished. They were not hearing opinion. They were standing before the throne of God, hearing decrees.
We will now walk through the themes of the lyrics, line by line, and see how Scripture interprets Scripture.
### A. “The crowds were astonished at His teaching…”
This corresponds directly with Matthew 7:28 and parallel statements:
Wherever Jesus taught, the reaction was the same: amazement, astonishment, wonder. This is consistent because the same Person is speaking, the same God is behind Him, and the same authority is being exercised.
The astonishment was twofold:
1. Content – He interpreted the Law in a way that penetrated to the heart.
2. Tone and impact – He spoke as if He Himself were the *standard*.
Example:
“You have heard that it was said… ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But *I say to you* that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:27–28).
He does not merely quote the commandment. He defines its full intent. Only the Lawgiver has that right.
### B. “He spoke with authority, not like the scribes.”
The scribes based their teaching on:
Jesus exposes this in Mark 7:7–8:
> “They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules. You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
By contrast, Jesus’ authority flows from:
Luke 4:18 shows the foundation of His authority:
> “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news…”
Authority in speech is inseparable from the anointing and the source. The scribes’ words were grounded in man. Jesus’ words were grounded in God.
### C. “His words carried power, they struck the hearts of the people.”
This line aligns closely with many New Testament descriptions of the reaction to the Word.
In Acts 2:37, after Peter’s Spirit-filled preaching:
> “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Brothers, what shall we do?’”
The phrase “cut to the heart” is very similar to what we saw in *ekplēssō* (astonished)—the idea of being pierced, struck, deeply affected.
The reason is that the same authority that was in Jesus’ words is now operating in the message of His apostles. Why? Because they, too, are no longer speaking on their own authority, but as men sent, commissioned, and empowered by Jesus (John 20:21; Acts 1:8).
Theologically, this is crucial:
Divine authority, when it comes through the spoken Word, always produces a crisis.
People are either:
In Nazareth, the same authoritative words that amazed them initially eventually enraged them, and they tried to throw Him off a cliff (Luke 4:28–29). The issue is not the deficiency of the Word, but the response of the human heart.
### D. “The people were amazed and said, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’”
This line quotes John 7:15:
> “The Jews there were amazed and asked, ‘How did this man get such learning without having been taught?’”
They recognized a depth of knowledge and understanding in Jesus, but they could not account for it in their categories. He had not been trained in the rabbinic schools. He did not present Himself as the product of human institutions.
This parallels Acts 4:13, where the religious leaders witness the boldness of Peter and John:
> “They realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men… and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Here is a central biblical pattern:
Education has its place, but it cannot substitute for divine commissioning and impartation.
### E. “Jesus answered, ‘My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me.’”
This is John 7:16, and it is the key to understanding Jesus’ authority.
There are two important truths in this statement:
1. “My teaching is not my own.”
Jesus refuses to claim independent originality. He is not a religious genius, inventing a new doctrine. He is a Son, perfectly representing His Father.
2. “It comes from the one who sent me.”
His teaching is the message of the Sender, not the creation of the messenger. This is the essence of biblical authority: to speak not from oneself, but from God, as one sent.
John 8:28–29 confirms this:
> “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me… I always do what pleases him.”
Here we see the spiritual law of authority:
### F. “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
This line reflects John 14:10.
Notice the deep theology here:
1. “I do not speak on my own authority.”
Again, Jesus declines self-originating authority. He is not independent.
2. “It is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”
The Father is in the Son, working through the Son.
The Father’s work is accomplished through the Son’s words.
This reveals the Trinitarian pattern of divine action:
When Jesus speaks, the Father works. Therefore, His words are not mere information. They are operations of God in verbal form.
The same principle is true for us in measure. When we are truly under the authority of Jesus and filled with His Spirit, our words, aligned with His Word, become channels of God’s operation—bringing conviction, healing, deliverance, and order.
### G. “They were amazed at His teaching—He spoke with divine authority.”
Here the song draws the theological conclusion:
His authority was not merely moral influence or persuasive skill. It was divine.
John 5:26–27 says of Jesus:
> “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge…”
The Father gave the Son authority. It is divine in origin, comprehensive in scope, and final in judgment. This is the authority that astonished the crowds.
Colossians 2:9 declares:
> “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form.”
Therefore, when He speaks, the fullness of God is expressed in human language. That is why the people were astonished. They were encountering God’s final, decisive speech in a human voice.
It is not enough to admire Jesus’ authority from a distance. Scripture calls us to respond in faith, obedience, and alignment. We must ask: How can we relate rightly to this authority, and how can we walk in the measure of authority God intends for us?
I will outline four practical steps.
### 1) First, we must submit ourselves to the authority of Jesus’ Word.
Before we can speak with authority, we must learn to live under authority.
James 1:22:
> “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”
If we treat Scripture as optional, we forfeit authority. Authority flows along the line of obedience.
Practical questions:
Authority in prayer, in spiritual warfare, in ministry, is directly connected to our personal submission to the authority of Christ in everyday life.
### 2) Second, we must renounce speaking “on our own authority.”
Jesus said, “The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority” (John 14:10).
We must make a clear decision:
We will not use Scripture to promote our own agenda, ministry, status, or opinions.
This means:
Paul models this in 1 Corinthians 2:4–5:
> “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power…”
We must ask the Holy Spirit to cleanse our motives, that when we speak the Word, we are not seeking to establish our authority, but to represent His.
### 3) Third, we must depend on the indwelling presence of the Father and the Son by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus said, “It is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work” (John 14:10).
For us, under the New Covenant, this principle continues through the indwelling Spirit.
Galatians 2:20:
> “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
If we desire our words to carry spiritual weight:
This includes:
### 4) Fourth, we must align our confession with the Word of God.
There is authority not only in what we preach, but in what we confess.
Romans 10:9–10 shows the connection between faith, confession, and salvation. Revelation 12:11 says believers overcome the accuser “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.”
When we align our mouths with the Word of God:
This should be practiced consciously:
We do not speak in our own name, but in the name and authority of Jesus, grounded in His written Word.
### A Proclamation of Faith
Speak this aloud:
> I proclaim that Jesus Christ is the One who teaches with divine authority.
> His words are not the opinions of man, but the voice of God.
> I acknowledge His Word as the final authority in my life—above my feelings, above my traditions, above human opinions.
> I renounce speaking on my own authority and choose to submit my mouth to His Lordship.
> The same Father who worked through Jesus now works in me by the Holy Spirit.
> As I abide in Christ and His words abide in me, I will speak the Word of God with boldness,
> and His authority will operate through my life—
> to convict, to heal, to deliver, and to establish His kingdom.
> I receive the authority of Jesus over every power of darkness,
> and I choose to live under His authority in complete obedience.
> Jesus is Lord over my mind, my heart, my tongue, and my destiny.
> Amen.
### Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ,
I bow before You as the One who speaks with all authority in heaven and on earth. I confess that many times I have treated Your words lightly, as if they were only suggestions. Forgive me.
Father, I thank You that You spoke fully and finally in Your Son. Holy Spirit, bring the words of Jesus to life in me. Write them on my heart. Expose every area of resistance and disobedience. I choose to submit entirely to the authority of Your Word.
Cleanse my lips from idle, self-centered, and manipulative speech. Let my mouth be an instrument of Your truth. As I yield to You, let the authority of Jesus be manifested through my life—bringing conviction where there is sin, comfort where there is sorrow, and deliverance where there is bondage.
Make me a faithful witness of the One whose words astonished the crowds. May people who hear me not be impressed with me, but confronted with You. I ask this in the name of Jesus, to the glory of the Father.
Amen.
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