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4.
Jesus' authority as the Saviour
It is plain in the Sermon that Jesus knew the way of salvation
and taught it. He was able to declare who was blessed and who was
not. He could point to the narrow gate which led on to the hard
way which ended in life. And he was quite clear which kind of
house would survive the storms of judgement, and which would founder.
But if we penetrate more deeply into his message, we find that he not
only taught salvation; he actually bestowed it. Even in the
beatitudes he appears in the role of one who virtually himself
distributes blessedness and gives the kingdom. Professor Jeremias
thus quotes with approval J. Schniewind's insistence 'that the
beatitudes are concealed testimonies by Jesus to himself as the Saviour
of the poor, the sorrowing etc.'
Or consider how Jesus appointed his hearers, that little group of
peasants, 'the salt of the earth' and 'the light of the world'.
How could they possibly have a restraining and enlightening influence in
the world? Only because they followed Jesus. it is because
he himself was not 'evil' as he described the rest of mankind (7:11)
that he could impart to them some of his goodness and make them
'salt'. It is because he did not share in the universal darkness
but was himself 'the light of the world' (John 8:12), that he could
impart light to them and make them shine.
It is further significant that in Matthew's Gospel the Sermon on the
Mount (chapters 5-7), representative of Jesus' words, is followed by an
account of his practical ministry (chapters 8 and 9), representative of
his works. For here we see him claiming authority to forgive sins
and actually bestowing forgiveness on a paralysed man (9: 2-6), and then
likening himself as the Saviour of sinners to a physician of the sick
(9:12).
5. Jesus' authority as the Judge
The whole Sermon on the Mount was preached against the sombre background
of the coming day of judgement. Jesus knew it was a reality and
desired it to be a reality in the minds and lives of his
followers. So he declared the conditions of salvation and warned
of the causes of destruction, especially in his graphic portrayal of the
two ways and their two destinations.
Much more striking than this emphasis on the certainty of future
judgement was his claim that he himself would be the Judge (7: 22,
23). The self-centredness of the scene he described is quite
extraordinary. Three times he used the personal pronouns 'I' and
'me'. First, he would himself be the Judge, hearing the evidence
and passing the sentence. For on that solemn day, he said, 'many
will say to *me* "Lord, Lord".... and then *I* will
declare to them....' Thus the accused will address their
case to him, and he will be the one to answer them. No-one but he
will decide and declare their destiny. Secondly, he will be
himself the criterion of the judgement. People will bring forward
as evidence their use of his name in their ministry, but this will be
inadmissible as evidence. '*I* never knew you,' he will say to
them. The destiny of human beings will depend not on their
knowledge and use of his name, but on their knowledge of him
personally. Not service for Christ, but relationship to Christ
will be the issue. Thirdly, the sentence he pronounces will be
concerned with him also: 'Depart from *me&, you
evildoers'. The terribleness of the 'destruction' (Matt. 7:13) and
of the 'ruin' (Matt. 7:27) which he predicted is that it will involve
banishment from his presence. No worse fate could be envisaged, he
implied, than eternal separation from himself.
Thus did the carpenter of Nazareth make himself the central figure of
the judgement day. He will himself assume the role of Judge (and
later in Matthew's Gospel he describes in greater detail how he will
'sit on the glorious throne' to judge mankind (25: 31 ff).
Further, the basis of the judgement will be people's attitude to him,
and the nature of the judgement will be exclusion from his
presence. It would be hard to exaggerate the staggering
egocentricity of these claims.
Next: (6) Jesus' authority as the Son of
God
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