Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. – Matthew 5:19-20

Once again we see Jesus making a radical and somewhat confusing statement. What does he mean when he says that we must be “more” righteous than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law? They were the religious elite of their day - righteousness was their profession for crying out loud. How can we compete with the pros?

The Pharisees were absolutely fanatical about keeping the law. They talked about building a “fence around the law/torah.” For example, the law said that they were not to do any work on the Sabbath. In order to avoid breaking this law, the Pharisees developed an extremely detailed and complex list of what did and did not count as “working,” even to the point of limiting the steps you allowed to take to and from your house on the Sabbath day! These detailed and complex moral codes were the “fence” which they believed would keep them far away from ever breaking a law of God. 

For the average person in Jesus day, the Pharisee’s idea of obeying the law (being righteous) was simply an impossible standard. Then, along comes Jesus, who says that you have to be even more righteous than they guys who set the seemingly impossible standard!

What does Jesus mean??

There are really two things that Jesus is saying about what it means to be righteous in God’s eyes. 

First – Righteousness is not merely a matter of conforming to the external rules or laws. Righteousness is a matter of the heart. The greatest commandment is love. However, it is possible for a person to act in kind and loving ways on the outside while harboring bitterness and anger on the inside. The Pharisees were good at keeping the external rules, but many of them had judgmental and hard hearts. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 23:25-26: 

Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Jesus is teaching us that surpassing the righteousness of the Pharisees means to go beyond mere external obedience and conformity to a transformation of the heart.

Second – The Bible makes it abundantly clear that nobody is righteous on his or her own. 

As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one. Romans 3:10 

None of us can keep perfectly keep the law of God internally or externally. We all fall far short. Ah, but the Bible also tells us that there is One who has kept the law and it is through him that we can become truly righteous! Romans 10:4 puts it this way:

Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes. 

You see, when Jesus said that nothing will disappear from the law until everything is accomplished (Matt. 5:18), he was talking about himself! He totally and completely fulfilled the requirements of the law – for us! 

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

Do you realize what this means?? Because of Jesus Christ, your righteousness does surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law! This is the beauty and mystery of the Gospel!

Take a few moments to praise and thank God for his gift of righteousness to you in Jesus Christ…

Ask Jesus to help you see where your external actions and your internal attitudes need to brought into conformity with his gospel…

Prayer:
Lord Jesus we acknowledge that without you we have no righteousness and no hope at all. We trust you completely as our righteousness before God and we humbly ask you to transform our hearts conform our lives into your image – Amen.

Jeff Frazier