The Authority of Christ

Matthew says that the people were astonished at Christ because He taught with authority.  It is amazing how when men present their own ideas as a guide to others, they either devolve into relativism and uncertainty, or inflate themselves into demigods whose every word - even those which are self-contradictory - is presented as a divine pronouncement.  Jesus does neither, because He does not speak from Himself, but proclaims the word of the Father.  Everywhere in this sermon, Jesus only takes what God has said all along through the Old Testament prophets.  But Jesus treats the Old Testament as an authority -  the Word of God.  The Jews treated it relativistically, putting more stock in their own traditions.  Today, when religious men try to use the Bible as a cover for their own ideas, they follow the same pattern as the Jews.  Their sermons become relativistic liberalism; or self-inflated oratory.  But when the Word of God is treated as God's Word, men may speak with authority as Christ did.