Jesus' Knockout Punch

Today, we come to the end of our Punch in the Face email/blog series where we have been looking at the shocking words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapters 5 through 7. And to see if we were paying attention, Jesus concludes his sermon with this...

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it." (Matthew 7:24-27, ESV)

If you are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount or grew up in church, these words probably don't surprise you. But can you imagine a first-time listener, after hearing such startling teaching from Jesus on subjects like anger, lust, divorce, retaliation, and more, to then hear Jesus have the audacity to say, "If you do what I say, your life will be great. But if you ignore my words, your life will be a disaster." Who does this guy think He is?

The Son of God, that's who.

As the Son of God, the Word Made Flesh, Jesus breathed out the words of Scripture and lived their truths perfectly. So He, and He alone, as the author of Scripture, has the authority to tell us how to live. Yes, this means some of what He teaches runs counter to our internal desires or the dearly held beliefs of the culture around us. But His words are for our good. In other words, His punch to your face isn't intended to harm, but to heal.

So will you give Him all of you? Will you abide by His words, even when they are uncomfortable or feel unnatural or seem shocking to those around you? Will you let Him knock you out of your earthly slumber and awaken you to His heavenly ways? Because your decision to follow and trust Him will make all the difference in your life, even when the storms and floods come your way.