Righteousness Through The Eyes Of Jesus

Let us pray…

The recently concluded Olympics was a special one for our country the Philippines. It was the first time we struck gold, our nation was ecstatic, united in awe and admiration for such a feat. One of the sports we were hoping to win a medal as well was the pole vault. A very difficult sport where a bar is being raised and a flexible pole is used to catapult oneself over the bar. The bar is raised higher and higher until the one who clears the highest bar wins. The Philippines lost in that event. In our passage this week, Jesus shows us that the standards of righteousness is a bar that is set higher than anyone can ever reach, and He shows us that only the transformation He provides is able to empower righteousness in us.

Jesus acts like our radically supernatural, sturdy pole vault, that is transformed to empower us to reach the high standards of righteousness that He has set. We learn that we cannot do it on our own, not with our own devices, or tools, or equipment. Not with our own skillset, knowledge or strength. We need a savior, that savior is Jesus.

So today we have 2 divisions. Jesus' Radical Thinking of True Righteousness, that's Matthew 5:17 to 20; and Jesus' Radical Application of True Righteousness, Matthew 5:21 to 48.

Our lesson this week is the second part of Matthew chapter 5. We find Jesus in the mountain teaching a large crowd of people. Picture Jesus in a church in a pulpit, except there is no physical walls or even a sound system. But everyone hears Him. Everyone is intently listening to what Jesus has to say.

Now, the crowds were likely asking questions about Him, wondering how this new teacher compared with the Pharisees and the scribes who had been Israel's teachers and spiritual guides. What does Jesus think about the Old Testament Laws and He answers it directly in Verse 17:

He says, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." It was important for Jesus to clarify that even though His teachings were radical and counter cultural, He was NOT superseding or abolishing God's law, but He was actually fulfilling it.

How can He do that? Well, Jesus Christ met all the requirements of the law. He was sinless. His whole life was a fulfillment of prophecy and He lived out righteousness as it should be.

And he's addressing the thinking of those around Him, giving them a better picture of what it truly means to be righteous.

It goes on in verse 18 to say, "For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished."

In Christ's eyes, righteousness means obeying the entire law. Everything that God has written and instructed must be obeyed. Nothing is to be left behind.

Now the law, the law that Christ was speaking about was everything in the Old Testament; basically all of the Old Testament that we have right now. The phrase "The Law and the Prophets" that Jesus mentioned refers to the entire Old Testament.

The Word of God was to be embraced in its entirety and true righteousness was obeying every single one of these commands. Already Jesus is pointing His audience into the height of the bar, that it includes the entire law.

And He goes on in verse 20 to say, "For I tell you unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven."

What's the significance of the Pharisees? The Pharisees were laymen who adhered to the law. In fact, they added so much more to the law. They're sometimes called the scribes as well. This group governed over the religious life of the Jews in Jesus' day.

And the teachers of the law were honored as those who knew the law and lived out the law. No one would think of themselves more righteous than the Pharisees or teachers of the law BUT, as one writer points out, the Pharisees were "People seeking to project a thriving exterior that denies and ignores the emptiness inside."

Now Jesus is not only saying you need to be as righteous as the Pharisees, but He's saying you need to be MORE righteous than they are, and He's making it the minimum condition of getting into the kingdom of heaven. It's radical.

This crowd was led by the Pharisees and the teachers of the law. The Pharisees were the ones who determined how a righteous life was to be lived, both by their example and by their rules. This crowd would have thought that it was impossible to surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.