Jesus Christ our Divine Teacher

⁵ 너희 안에 이 마음을 품으라 곧 그리스도 예수의 마음이니 ⁶ 그는 근본 하나님의 본체시나 하나님과 동등됨을 취할 것으로 여기지 아니하시고 ⁷ 오히려 자기를 비어 종의 형체를 가져 사람들과 같이 되었고 ⁸ 사람의 모양으로 나타나셨으매 자기를 낮추시고 죽기까지 복종하셨으니 곧 십자가에 죽으심이라 ⁹ 이러므로 하나님이 그를 지극히 높여 모든 이름 위에 뛰어난 이름을 주사 ¹⁰ 하늘에 있는 자들과 땅에 있는 자들과 땅 아래 있는 자들로 모든 무릎을 예수의 이름에 꿇게 하시고 ¹¹ 모든

입으로 예수 그리스도를 주라 시인하여 하나님 아버지께 영광을 돌리게 하셨느니라. ⁵ Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷ but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹ Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹ and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phi 2:5-11)

²⁸ 예수께서 이 말씀을 마치시매 무리들이 그 가르치심에 놀래니 ²⁹ 이는 그 가르치시는 것이 권세 있는 자와 같고 저희 서기관들과 같지 아니함일러라 예수께서 산에서 내려오시니 허다한 무리가 좇으니라. ²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ²⁹ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. (Mat 7:28-8:1)

FCF: We tend to ignore Jesus’ authority and insist on our own way.

주제: 예수님은 주님이시기에 그분의 권세에 응대해야 합니다.

Theme: Because Jesus is Lord, we must respond to His authority.

Introduction: We assume learning is essential for success. As soon as babies are born, they begin to study their rooms, moms, and the other family members. As early as they are four, they go to kindergarten. They go through elementary, junior high, and high school. And, many of them go to college or graduate school. A few go for Ph. D level education. We spend more or less about 30 years at school. In our educational processes, teachers play a critical role in educating us. So, they deserve our attention and respect. However, students these days pay no longer due respect to their teachers. Once in a while, I read a news article that tells us a shocking story that a fifth-grade student or a junior high school student engages in a fist fight with his or her teacher. I heard from my home stay son Insung that students no longer listen to their teachers. When teachers try to stop their students from misbehaving in class, they are not allowed to exercise corporeal punishment for the rebellious. Kids and their parents hurl abusive languages against teachers. A lot of students do sleep during classes because they study at other teaching institutes until after midnight. Teachers complain that it is getting harder to teach kids because they neither listen to them nor follow their directions. Teachers’ authority being disregarded, students’ rights take ascendancy over teachers’ rights. So, learning today seems to be only for the sake of economic success. There is no education for character development. When I grew up, teachers were regarded as father or mother figures. They were respected and given attention. There is a drastic different between my generation and the current generation of young people in responding to the authorities at school. If students don’t respect their teaching authorities, they can’t learn any.

            It is the same with our spiritual learning that we receive from the Lord Jesus Christ or His church authorities. If we are like unruly students, we won’t grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will turn away from Him. But if we respect His authority, we will listen to Him and practice what He says. We will grow more like Christ. Matt. 7:28-8:1 focuses on the authority of Jesus Christ as the Lord, in particular, the divine Teacher. The concluding comment of Matthew draws our attention to the person and authority of Jesus, so that we will respond to Him as we ought to. Jesus has exhorted His listeners to enter the narrow gate and walk on the hard path leading to eternal life. He has urged them to discern false teachers by their fruits. He has warned them against false profession and hearing. Then, He has called on them to hear and practice His teaching on the kingdom and the kingdom life. It is time for His listeners to respond to His teaching. Matthew briefly describes the response of His hearers in general. He shows us the effects of the Lord’s Sermon on the Mount (7:28-29, 8:1). I want to look into how they have responded to Jesus Christ and His teaching, so that we would respond to Him in the same way and truly learn from the Lord and Teacher. My theme today is that because Jesus is Lord, we must respond to His authority. Such a response leads us to true learning. For the sake of true learning, I would suggest the following three from the text. First, we must…    

      I.         예수님을 경외하라.

Have awe of Jesus.

Verse 28 tells us that we must respond to Jesus in reverential awe. It says, 예수께서 이 말씀을 마치시매 무리들이 그 가르치심에 놀래니. ²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, The Greek verb ἐκπλήσσω (“ekplesso”) means to cause to be filled with amazement to the point of being overwhelmed, amaze, astound, overwhelm. It refers to being overwhelmed with fright. Those who listened to His teaching were amazed with an overwhelming sense of awe and fright. We can easily imagine the scene where the Lord Jesus sat down to teach His disciples. The multitudes were crowded around Him to see what kind of man He might be and what kind of teaching He might give. They were there out of curiosity to see who this country Man was. At first, the majority had prejudice against Him. Jesus was not trained in any rabbinic school. He did not receive any formal education. He had no tie or connection with any famous rabbi. He was an ordinary Man. When they considered His background, there was nothing that attracted their hearts. He was a son of Joseph. He was a carpenter by trade. There was a rumor that He was born out of the wedlock. But here He sat down on the Mount to teach the law of God and instruct them how to live as God’s people on earth. What a contrast between His personal, humble background and His solemn, authoritative message! Such a contrast made them overwhelmingly amazed.

Of course, they heard about the news that He was performing miracles, healing the sick, and casting out demons. At any rate, they ventured to come to hear Him. As they were listening to His interpretations of God’s law, they couldn’t leave the place. They were captivated by His great teachings. He pierced through the depths of their hearts and debunked their depravities. They were pricked in their consciences as He proclaimed His message. He was powerfully speaking to their hearts. So, they were appalled by His divine presence on the Mount. What they heard was drastically different from what they heard from their religious teachers. They felt something different and unique about His strange Teacher and His kingdom message. Their hearts were awakened when He instructed, challenged, and warned them against the sins of religious hypocrisy, greed, self-centeredness, or pride in their hearts. They were unable to stop their hearts from feeling a sense of awe before this Man. “Who is this Man?” “Where did He get all this teaching and wisdom?” “Is He the Prophet that God sent unto us?”

The Gospels record people’s awe for the Lord’s wise teaching. Luke records religious teachers were astonished at how 12 years old Jesus questioned them and answered them (Luke 2:47). Mark 6:2 says: And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, 안식일이 되어 회당에서 가르치시니 많은 사람이 듣고 놀라 가로되 이 사람이 어디서 이런 것을 얻었느뇨 이 사람의 받은 지혜와 그 손으로 이루어지는 이런 권능이 어찌 됨이뇨. "Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? Instead of feeling awe before Jesus, however, Jewish religious teachers raised questions about His identity and authority. They couldn’t accept His message about Himself and His kingdom. They desperately sought to entrap Him with their questions. Matthew 22 records interlocutions between various Jewish groups and the Lord Jesus. Some Herodians were sent by the Pharisees to ensnare Him with the question “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” The Lord defeated their scheme with the wise answer: 가로되 가이사의 것이니이다 이에 가라사대 그런즉 가이사의 것은 가이사에게, 하나님의 것은 하나님께 바치라 하시니" "Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." (Matt. 22:21).

The Sadducees, the intellectual, rational, self-interested aristocrats, who denied the existence of spiritual beings, questioned Him about the resurrection. They laid a hypothetical question before Jesus: seven brothers who married the same woman, one after another died without having an heir through her. “Whose wife would she be at the time of resurrection?” Jesus answered them: ²⁹ 너희가 성경도 하나님의 능력도 알지 못하는 고로 오해하였도다 ³⁰ 부활 때에는 장가도 아니가고 시집도 아니가고 하늘에 있는 천사들과 같으니라. "You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. ³⁰ For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven (Mat 22:29-30). One lawyer tried to trap Him about God’s law, asking Him “what the greatest commandment is in the law.” Listen how wisely He summed up the law and the prophets: Love your God with your entire being and love your neighbor as yourself (Matt. 22:37-40). After this, Jesus asked them one question: 다윗이 그리스도를 주라 칭하였은즉 어찌 그의 자손이 되겠느냐. If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" (Matt. 22:45). Listen to the concluding comment of Matthew: 한 말도 능히 대답하는 자가 없고 그 날부터 감히 그에게 묻는 자도 없더라. And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions (22:46).

How has His Sermon on the Mount affected you? What effect has it brought upon you personally? How have you responded to Him? One answer that we have learned from His original hearers is that we must be astonished at Him and His teaching. We must respect and revere Him as Divine Teacher. Without having reverential awe of Him, we won’t learn much from Him. The way we respond to His teachings depends on what kind of relationship we have with Him. If we revere Him as our Savior and Lord, and love Him with all our hearts, we will pay utmost attention to His Word and try to learn as much as possible. But, if we are not interested in Him, we won’t give an ear to His teachings. Surely, we won’t learn anything from our teachers without having a good relationship with them.

Years ago, I remember having read one of the pathetic news from the Joongang daily newspaper. It was about the violence inflicted upon a public-school teacher by a mother and her two daughters. The mother visited the school to set a counseling date for her daughter. All of a sudden, she and her daughters beat the teacher up in front of the other students. They were arrested for violence. Can you imagine a parent together with her middle school kids beat the teacher up? What can her kids and the other kids learn from this? Is there anything her daughter can learn from her homeroom teacher? When I grew up, we highly respected the teachers, regardless of whether they were good or bad teachers. Their mere presence signaled the message that we had better behave ourselves. Now, it seems that we regard teachers as those who sell their knowledge for money. However, we were taught to respect such figures as elders, teachers, national leaders, and parents. Nowadays, we no longer esteem them highly. The Bible teaches us to respect them.

As in Jesus’ day, however, Jesus is mocked, misrepresented, maligned, marginalized, or rejected. Some even don’t want to hear the name “Jesus.” Years ago, one of my friends’ fathers said this way, “Don’t come to my house if you are going to talk about Jesus!” Some people hate the name Jesus. The media caricature the person of Jesus to the tastes of their audiences. The sellers commercialize Jesus for their monetary gains. Some politicians employ Jesus to woo the hearts of evangelicals. Even some churches use the holy name “Jesus” to advertise their greatness and fame. Where is wonder, that is, reverential awe of Jesus Christ? Where is amazement for His divine word? We must revere Jesus in awe as our Divine Teacher. More than anything else, we need His excellent and unique teachings on life and the way of salvation. Our overfamiliarity with Jesus and His teaching may prevent us from having awe in His presence. We may assume we know everything about Him. We must recover our holy awe of Jesus Christ our Divine Teacher. As a little baby feels wonder about petty things, so we should feel wonder about our Lord. We must strive against a banal sense of familiarity, so that we kneel before our Divine Teacher. If we treat Jesus as one of the teachers, then we won’t learn to live a good, meaningful life.

Reverential awe of Jesus partly represents emotional attitude toward Him and His teaching. It should be translated into submission. This is my second point, which is…    

    II.         예수님께 순복하라.

Submit to Jesus.

If we truly have awe of Christ and His teaching, we will submit ourselves to His divine authority. The authorities are God-ordained. If we rebel against them, we are creating chaos in the name of personal freedom. Thus, submitting to Christ’s authority is necessary for a meaningful, orderly life in the world. It is essential for our spiritual learning. George Orwell’s Animal Farm illustrates the importance of submitting to the authorities. Animals rebel against the Jones family. But their rebellion made the pigs ruling aristocrats. Farm animals hoped to create a society where they could be equal, free, and happy. But the ruling pigs were greedy, harsh, working for their gains. Their farm suffered under the dictatorship of a pig. Anti-authoritarian spirit today is rampant in society. It seems people confuse authoritarianism with authority. In his book Mere Morality: What God Expects from Ordinary People, Lewis B. Smedes said, “authoritarianism is sick compensation for weakness whereas authority is a healthy expression of strength.” We must understand authority is God-ordained, so that we learn to submit to God-endorsed authorities for peace and safety.

Our relationship with Him determines our attitude toward Jesus’ authority. Our attitude toward Jesus’ authority determines whether we will learn from His teaching or not. As Matthew focuses on His Person in vv. 28-29, we must submit to the authority of Jesus Christ. After the disciples saw the winds and waves obeying His voice, they were amazed, saying, 이 어떠한 사람이기에 바람과 바다도 순종하는고. “What kind of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” (Mat 8:27). All His teachings, miracles, signs, and works recorded in the Gospels ask us the same question: What sort of man is this? Most probably, His listeners on the Mount raised the same question: what kind of man is this?

In vv. 28-29, we find a glimpse of the answer as follows: ²⁸ 예수께서 이 말씀을 마치시매 무리들이 그 가르치심에 놀래니 ²⁹ 이는 그 가르치시는 것이 권세 있는 자와 같고 저희 서기관들과 같지 아니함일러라. ²⁸ And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, ²⁹ for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. He was not an ordinary teacher. He was the God-sent Teacher who was powerful enough to elicit awe and wonder from His hearers. He was the teaching authority to whom the multitudes must submit. He was totally different from Jewish religious teachers who sought to teach others with appeal to authoritative teachers in history. They never taught others on the basis of their own authorities. They appealed to famous rabbis and their interpretations. They quoted famous commentators to instruct others about the law of God. Their greater problem was they didn’t practice what they taught others.

However, the Lord Jesus was the authority Himself. He didn’t appeal to Jewish rabbis. He was the Lawgiver Himself. He gave people His authoritative Word. In the OT, the prophets often said “Thus says the Lord.” They delivered God’s message, not their own message. They were God’s mouthpieces. But Jesus didn’t say, “Thus says the Lord.” Rather, He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you.” This means that He was not a human teacher, but the Divine Teacher. He was the authority who dictated what to do and how to live. His authority was not human, but divine. It was a perfect combination of power and character. He was not giving His personal opinions on morality but His divine interpretation of God’s law. He was the Lawgiver as He said, “I say to you.” His message was not man-made, but God-given.

We define the authorities as those of influential character. A dictator has absolute authority. Whatever he says becomes the standard and law. So, people fear him, but do not love him. A knowledgeable professor has authority over his subject. Let’s say he is a medical professor. He has wide field experiences. His expertise on the heart is well respected. There is no one in the field who exceeds his knowledge and ability. His students learn from him, taking notes of his lectures. His patients follow carefully his directions and prescriptions. But he is working primarily for money. At the same time, he doesn’t keep his own guidelines for healthy heart. He is a heavy smoker and drinker. Though he teaches others how to maintain good health, he doesn’t teach himself to stay healthy. Indeed, both of them, the dictator and the doctor, have authorities. But we don’t respect them. We may respect their authorities, but we don’t honor their characters. So, their authorities are inadequate to bring about our heartfelt submission.

The Jewish religious leaders taught others and yet failed to practice what they taught others to do. They were hypocritical, wishing for man’s praise and honor. In contrast, Jesus perfectly kept what He taught and humbled Himself to serve God and others in love. The cross is the ultimate expression of His humiliation and love for our sake. Our divine Teacher is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our Leader. He was unlike Jewish religious leaders who sought man’s praise and respect and sought their own glory. These people were not true authorities whom we owe our respect. Matt. 23:8-10 says: ⁸ 그러나 너희는 랍비라 칭함을 받지 말라 너희 선생은 하나이요 너희는 다 형제니라 ⁹ 땅에 있는 자를 아비라 하지 말라 너희 아버지는 하나이시니 곧 하늘에 계신 자시니라 ¹⁰ 또한 지도자라 칭함을 받지 말라 너희 지도자는 하나이니 곧 그리스도니라. ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ (Mat 23:8-10)

Jesus’ authority is essentially different from theirs in that He has power and character in a perfect harmony. He has power to teach others how to live. He has power to determine their eternal destiny. He has power to fulfill the law and the prophets. He has power to dictate what to do and what not to do. In His Sermon, we find who this Teacher is. We see His claim on His divine identity. Matt. 5:11-12 reveals His claim on the divinity. It says: ¹¹ 나를 인하여 너희를 욕하고 핍박하고 거짓으로 너희를 거스려 모든 악한 말을 할 때에는 너희에게 복이 있나니 ¹² 기뻐하고 즐거워하라 하늘에서 너희의 상이 큼이라 너희 전에 있던 선지자들을 이같이 핍박하였느니라. ¹¹ "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. He told His disciples that they would be greatly rewarded in heaven for being persecuted for His sake. In other words, He was their God for whom they should be ready to die. He paralleled Old Testament prophets who were persecuted for Yahweh’s sake with His disciples who would be persecuted for His sake. He placed them as the light of the world and the salt on earth. His disciples were like OT prophets whom Yahweh sent out to the world. In this parallel, we do see Jesus’ divine identity.

Also, Jesus claimed He was the Messiah. He said: 내가 율법이나 선지자나 폐하러 온 줄로 생각지 말라 폐하러 온 것이 아니요 완전케 하려 함이로다. "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them (5:17). Not only was He born, but also He came to fulfill God’s purpose. He was sent by His Father into the world to fulfill all the prophecies made in the OT. In other words, He was the Anointed One, the Messiah who would come in due time to deliver His people from the bondage of sin and its dominion. He was the One who would come as their King, Prophet, and Priest, the One who would offer Himself as a perfect Sacrifice to satisfy God’s justice. He was the promised One who would set them free from sin.

Furthermore, Jesus claimed that He would be the final Judge, the Determiner of everyone’s eternal destiny. He said: 나더러 주여 주여 하는 자마다 천국에 다 들어갈 것이 아니요 다만 하늘에 계신 내 아버지의 뜻대로 행하는 자라야 들어가리라. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (7:21); 그 때에 내가 저희에게 밝히 말하되 내가 너희를 도무지 알지 못하니 불법을 행하는 자들아 내게서 떠나가라 하리라. And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' (7:23); 그러므로 누구든지 나의 이 말을 듣고 행하는 자는 그 집을 반석 위에 지은 지혜로운 사람 같으리니. "Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock (7:24). Jesus was equivalent to Yahweh in the OT because the Greek word “qurios” applied to Jesus was used for Yahweh. He will pass the sentence of eternal condemnation to those who refuse to practice His Word. He will judge those who reject His lordship.

            What kind of man is this Jesus? Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Savior, and the Judge of all. He is the Divine Teacher and Authority who has divine power and perfect character. The knowledge of this demands this: we must submit ourselves to His divine authority.

            Not only should we fear Him, but also we should submit to His divine authority. There is one more we must do in response to Him. Thirdly, we must…

  III.         예수님을 따르라.

Follow Jesus.

Matt. 8:1 says, 예수께서 산에서 내려오시니 허다한 무리가 좇으니라. “When he came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.” His Sermon on the Mount was finished. Instead of going home, great crowds followed Him. Those who were astonished at His teaching, those who were amazed at His authority, continued to follow Him. Just imagine Jesus was taking the lead and large crowds were following their divine Teacher. Like the good Shepherd, He was leading His flock in front of them. And some of them became His followers, learners, and disciples. However, others went back to their places to take care of their normal or urgent businesses; some went away from Him because they didn’t like His demands; others postpone following Him because they were unsure about His authority. Some initially followed Him and later quit following Him as they heard He was sentenced to crucifixion. Others gave up following Him later because of persecution or hardship.

But there were still those who clung to Him to the end. They eye-witnessed His miracles, learned His teaching on the kingdom of God and other important issues. He cast out demons, healed the incurable, fed thousands of people with little, or calmed the raging sea. They were there when He did all this. They saw Him maligned and mistreated by Jewish religious leaders. They saw Him outwit them. They witnessed His triumphal entry into Jerusalem. They saw His anger when He drove out merchants from the temple. But many of them left Him when He was arrested. Even the apostles were not with Him as He prepared Himself for the coming crucifixion. When He was walking toward the place of His execution, many jeered at Him. But there were still those following Him. At His crucifixion, only a small few were witnessing His last moment. However, after He rose from the dead, He came to the small band of His fear-gripped disciples. He taught them again about His kingdom and commissioned them to the evangelization of the whole world. After they witnessed His resurrection, they continued following Christ, proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of them died for their Lord and His gospel. The apostle John who survived all the other apostles witnessed His heavenly glory and died for Him. Through all this, many left Him and only a few stuck to Him.

Even today, only a few are following Jesus as Lord. We must belong to such people. Instead of following political leaders, celebrities, sport stars, we must follow Jesus Christ. Instead of following our ambitions, plans, or purposes, we must follow Him to the end. While following Him, we may experience persecutions and hardships for His sake. While learning and imitating Him, we must follow Him. While witnessing of His eternal gospel, we must walk with Him toward the Celestial City. No matter what we suffer, we must never stop following Him. Where He is, there we must be. In fact, He has sent His Spirit to us. Now, we are with Him through His Spirit. At the end, we will be with Him forever. We will have perfect union and fellowship with Him. Until then, we must follow Him, no matter what.

Following Him costs us much. It may cost us money. It may cost us relationships. But we must still follow Him because He is the only Way to true, happy, eternal life. No matter how tough it is for us to follow, we must follow Him. Our family, pastime, business, or anything must not come before Him. He is the preeminent Teacher who gave Himself up as perfect sacrifice for our sins. Following Him means to follow His path. His path is the way of the cross. It is the way of self-sacrifice. When He invites us to come, He intends for us to come and die. The way of the cross refers to a life of trial and tribulation, a life of self-denial. He set an example for us, so that we emulate Him. His example on the cross reveals His self-giving love. Following Jesus is a matter of life and death. If we don’t follow Him, we follow something or someone else. We may follow our desires and dreams. We may follow power, pleasures, possessions, prosperity, or popularity rather than Jesus. Christ never followed money, pleasure, popularity, or power. Instead, He always followed His Father. Like He followed His Father, we must follow Him, because the Father has saved us from eternal destruction through His Son.

Though He had a humble, solitary life, we must follow this most influential Man. He was born in an obscure village, the Child of a peasant woman. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty, and then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never owned a home. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a Cross between the two thieves. His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth while He was dying-and that was His coat. When He was dead, He was taken down and laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Such was His human life-He rises from the dead. Twenty wide centuries have come and gone and today He is the Centerpiece of the human race and the Leader of the column of progress. All the armies, the navies, all the parliaments, all the kings, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that One solitary Life. We are following this most powerful and influential Man-God.

Thus, following Jesus is a matter of faith. It reveals whether we truly believe Him as our Lord and Savior. It reveals whether we truly fear Him and submit to His authority. If we truly believe Jesus as our Divine Teacher, we will hear and do what He says. As for us, Jesus Christ is our Teacher, Savior, King, Shepherd, Friend, Comforter, Judge, and God. We have to follow Him for who He is and what He has done for us. Though we may be tempted to quit following, we have to cling to Him. We must remember following Him is a life-long journey. Like the Christian man in the Pilgrim’s Progress, we take the same journey to follow Christ until we get to the place where He is. We want to be with Him. What is more striking is that He desires to be with us more than we desire to be with Him. His love for us is infinitely greater than our love for Him. Thus, His grace compels and enables us to follow Him to the end. Since His love makes us follow Him, we must set our hearts aflame with His love. His love that fills our hearts will bring us to wherever our Shepherd leads us. We can surely trust His leadership. He is our sure and best Guide. Let’s commit ourselves to His gracious guidance.

Conclusion: As we conclude our study on the Sermon on the Mount, we must set our focus on the Person of Jesus Christ. Let’s listen to Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones: 많은 이들이 묻고 싶은 질문은 다음과 같다: 왜 우리가 이 설교를 실천해야 하지? 왜 우리가 이렇게 두려운 경고에 귀를 기우려야 하지? 만약 우리가 이 말씀에 우리의 삶을 순응하지 않는다면 하나님을 대면할 때 우리에게는 어떤 소망도 없게 될 것이라는 것을 왜 우리가 믿어야 하지? 이 모두에 대한 진정한 답변은 마태복음 7장의 마지막 두절이 우리의 관심을 이끄는 그 주제이다. 그것은 바로 이 분이다. 이러한 말씀들을 하신 바로 그분, 이 가르침을 주신 그분이다. 달리 말하면, 산상 설교의 부분 부분을 살펴본 후에 우리가 그 설교를 전체로 놓고 볼 때, 깨달어야 할 점은 우리가 산상설교에서 발견하는 언어의 아름다움이나, 그 설교의 완전한 구조, 인상적인 그림들, 뛰어난 예화들, 소재의 관점과 그것이 제시된 방법에서 본 놀라운 균형에만 관심을 기우려서는 안된다는 것이다. 사실 우리는 더 나아가야 한다. 산상설교를 고려할 때 도덕적, 윤리적, 영적 가르침에서 멈추어서는 절대로 안된다. 이 모든 것들은 놀랍고 중요한 것들이지만 우리는 그것들을 넘어서 말씀 전도자 이신 바로 그 분께로 나아가야 한다. But the question many may be tempted to ask is: Why should we practice this Sermon? Why should we pay heed to this terrible warning? Why should we believe that, unless we are indeed making our lives conform to this pattern, we shall be without hope as we come face to face with God? The real answer to all that is the subject to which we are directed by these last two verses of Matt. 7. It is the Person Himself, the Person who uttered these sayings, the One who has delivered this teaching. In other words, as we consider the Sermon on the Mount as a whole, having gone into its various parts, we must realize that we must not concentrate only upon the beauty of the diction, the perfect structure of the Sermon, the impressive pictures, the striking illustrations and the extraordinary balance which we find in it, both from the standpoint of material and the way in which it is presented. Indeed, we can go further. When we consider the Sermon on the Mount, we are never to stop even with the moral, ethical, spiritual teaching; we are to go beyond all these things, wonderful though they are, and vital as they all are, to the Person of the Preacher Himself.

            People today say about Jesus: “I do admire Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t believe His claim to be God.” As C. S. Lewis said, “a man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.” We must make our choice. Either Jesus is the Son of God or else a crazy man. Our choice determines our response to Him. Indeed, the Sermon on the Mount requires of us to respond to its Subject Jesus Christ. How do you respond to His message and His Person? You may ignore Him, but remember it is to your hurt. You may give up following Him, but remember it is to your destruction. You may be tempted to quit following Him on the way to heaven, but remember we must persevere in His grace. We have heard His Sermon for many months. Now, let’s ask ourselves: Is His first listeners’ awe ours? Does His authority amaze us, so that we will submit to Him? Do we follow Him, wherever He leads us, trusting Him? Again, we must depend on His love and grace. We must set our eyes on Him alone. The Lord says, 내가 곧 길이요 진리요 생명이니 나로 말미암지 않고는 아버지께로 올 자가 없느니라. "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn. 14:6). By Christ’s enabling grace, let’s have awe of Him, submit to His authority, and follow Him to the end. Jesus deserves all from us. Let’s praise Him with all our hearts. 

Benediction: ²⁴ 여호와는 네게 복을 주시고 너를 지키시기를 원하며 ²⁵ 여호와는 그 얼굴로 네게 비취사 은혜 베푸시기를 원하며 ²⁶ 여호와는 그 얼굴을 네게로 향하여 드사 평강 주시기를 원하노라. ²⁴ The LORD bless you and keep you; ²⁵ the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; ²⁶ the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace (Num. 6:24-26).