I am a Jesus pusher!!! “You have heard that it was said to those of old, . . . But I say to you” (Matthew 5:21-22). What is the authority of Jesus as He gives these illustrations? The basis of Jesus’ authority is His submission to the Father. I can rely on His words because He is a helpless Man (“poor in spirit”) sourced by the Father, the mind of God. How do I know this is the case? The Scriptures validate it. The Trinity God reached into the depth of His heart, encompassing His nature. He placed His nature into our world; it appeared in written form, the Scriptures. Jesus, the Second Member of the Trinity, leaped into our world and submitted Himself to the nature of God, the Scriptures. God filled Jesus’ nature (Matthew 3:26). The nature of God shaped and determined His words and His life. The nature of God shaped and determined His words and His life. All contained in the nature of God is seen in the Scriptures of God, and everything in the nature and Scriptures is in the fullness of Jesus, the authority of the words, “But I say to you.”
What about the authority of the scribes and Pharisees? Jesus admitted they studied the Scriptures because they believed eternal life was found there (John 5:39). What is the difference between Jesus and these scholars? The lives of the scribes and Pharisees demonstrated the opposite qualities of God’s nature. Jesus’ woes to the scribes and Pharisees were based on their improper demonstration (Matthew 23). He called them “hypocrites.” The demonic nature of self-centeredness sourced them. The new creature of the Kingdom was not self-sourced! You cannot live for self and be a Kingdom person. “Self” is helpless; Jesus must fill us! I am a Jesus pusher!!!