BibleProject | One Story That Leads to Jesusનમૂનો

Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount with shocking words. Anyone who hears and acts on Jesus’ interpretations of Torah builds a house on a good foundation. However, anyone who rejects his teaching will find their homes swept away. This is flood language.

Jesus’ watery metaphor recalls the Noah story, where floodwaters swept away those who ignored God, but Noah’s household listened and lived. Jesus also echoes the prophets’ use of flood imagery to symbolize enemy “seas” of pursuing attackers (cf. Isa. 8:7-8; Ezek. 13:10-14). These old stories convey one common theme: Life comes from God. People who listen and act according to his instruction experience his protection through chaos and death.

Notice, Jesus is suggesting that following his instruction will yield the same positive result as following God’s instruction. The gathered crowd is flabbergasted.

They’ve heard teachers before, in the synagogue, on the streets of Judea, sometimes even in the dusty middle of nowhere. Jesus is different. Instead of citing credentials or quoting famous religious leaders, he teaches Torah as if it comes from his own heart, as if he wrote it. Then he comes down the mountain and does things only God can do.

Look closely at the first three people Jesus heals: a leper, a slave, and a woman. What do all of these people have in common? Their world considers them to be “less than.” Jesus goes to them first. As he said in the Beatitudes at the beginning of his Sermon on the Mount, the Kingdom comes near to the poor in spirit, the mourners, and the meek.

Reflection Questions

• Compare the faith of the Roman centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 with the disciples’ lack of faith in 8:23-27. Why do you think it was so hard for the disciples to fully understand Jesus?
• Jesus calms the stormy sea by speaking to it, creating order out of chaos. Where in the Hebrew Bible have we seen Yahweh calm chaotic waters? What do these hyperlinks tell us about this story?