"DISCIPLESHIP AND TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS"

MATTHEW 5:17-20

          Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

          Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

          For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

INTRODUCTION

          The Chinese character for “righteousness” is most interesting. It is composed of two separate characters—one standing for a lamb, the other for me. When “lamb” is placed directly above “me,” a new character—“righteousness” is formed.

          This is a helpful picture of the grace of God. Between me the sinner, and God the Holy One, there is interposed by faith the Lamb of God. By virtue of His sacrifice, He has received me on the ground of faith, and I have become righteous in His sight.

I.      JESUS AND HIS KINGDOM AS FULFILLMENT

    OF THE OLD TESTAMENT VV. 17-19

          Perhaps Jesus’ statement in verse 16 in which He tells His disciples that they are to live in such a way that their lives become light, which results in good works that glorify the Father in heaven, has offended the Pharisees and the scribes. Therefore, they might have concluded that Jesus has come to set aside the Old Testament. To correct such a misconception Jesus states categorically that He has not come “to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill it.” "The Law and the Prophets” is another way of referring to the entire Old Testament Books. The verb translated “abolish” is a term used frequently for the destruction of buildings. Jesus’ actions and teachings appeared to the Pharisees to be doing exactly that to the Law!

          The word “fulfill” is a key to understanding this passage. The word means, “to accomplish,” “obey,” “to bring out the full meaning,” “to complete” (to bring to its destined end). In other words, Jesus will bring the law to its intended goal. To put it another way, the Old Testament points to Jesus as its fulfillment. This is what the Pharisees and the scribes have missed. This is what Mohammed, Buddha, Joseph Smith and the Mormon Church, and the Jehovah Witnesses have all missed. You see Jesus is not one among equals. He is the unique Son of God. He is the incarnate Son of God. He is without comparison. Both the Old and New Testaments find their fulfillment only in Him. God’s moral and ceremonial laws were given to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. However, throughout Israel’s history these laws have been often misquoted and misapplied. By the time of Jesus the religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules. Jesus in no way spoke against the law itself, but He spoke against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected (John 1:17).

          There are various typologies in the Old Testament that point to the person of Jesus Christ. For example, in Genesis 3:15 the seed of the woman is Jesus who crushes the head of Satan in the New Testament. The Exodus according to Matthew foreshadows the calling out of Egypt of God’s Son (Matthew 2:15). The writer of the Book of Hebrews argues that many cultic regulations of the Old Testament pointed to Jesus and are now obsolete. So here Jesus insists that just as He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies by His person and actions, so He fulfilled Old Testament law by His teaching. This is the caution: Jesus’ statement does not mean that the Old Testament books are no longer important. They are important to us today, but you must read and interpret the Old Testament in light of the person and works of Jesus Christ. In other words, Jesus is the ultimate goal of the Old Testament and thereby its sole authoritative interpreter. The Old Testament finds its valid continuity and significance in the person of Jesus Christ.

          Having set the record straight, Jesus states that until the consummation of the universe, “not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the law until it is accomplished.” The word “jot” is yod, which is the smallest of the Hebrew alphabets. In Greek it is “iota.” We have an English word called “iota.” For instance, we say there is not an iota of truth in what he is saying. That means there is no shred of truth, not a small element of truth in what he is saying. So Jesus is saying until the end of the world, not the smallest or the accent placed on any word of the Law will pass away. Does this mean that we are to continue to observe the ceremonial and ritual laws of the Old Testament? No, that is not what Jesus is saying. Let me help you to understand the way the Old Testament laws were divided:

First, we have the ceremonial laws. The ceremonial law related specifically to Israel’s worship (Lev. 1:2-3, for example). The primary purpose of the ceremonial law was to point forward to Jesus Christ. Therefore, these laws are no longer necessary after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The principle however, applies that we are to worship and love a holy God. Second is the civil law. This law applied to daily living in Israel (Deut. 24:10-11). Because the modern society and culture are so radically different from that time and setting, not all of these guidelines can be followed specifically. But the principles behind the command are timeless and should guide our conduct. Jesus demonstrated these principles by example. Finally the moral law: This is the direct command of God such as the Ten Commandments of God. These require strict obedience. The moral law reveals the nature and will of God, and it still applies today. Jesus obeyed the moral law completely. We are also to obey the moral law without any reservations.

          The problem that Jesus had with the scribes and Pharisees was that they had set aside the laws or the specific teachings of God in the Old Testament and they had formulated their own as the norm for the people. Through the years the scribes and Pharisees had developed a complex system of rules and regulations (their own interpretations of Scripture), which they equated with God’s laws. When Jesus broke their rules, they accused Him of violating God’s laws. There are some churches today that operate in a similar fashion like the scribes and Pharisees. For instance, fasting is good for every believer, but the New Testament does not command any Christian to fast. Therefore, no pastor or church can compel Christians to fast. If Christians were to fast as a corporate body it has to be voluntary, and not compulsion. Nowhere in Scripture are Christians commanded to come to the sanctuary of God barefooted. That is not a mandate from the word of God.

          The Pharisees had so completely identified their own interpretations of Scripture with Scripture itself that they could not distinguish between the two and therefore regarded Jesus as a dangerous revolutionary and wanted to kill Him (John 5:18). In their bitter and blind resentment of Jesus they had probably started rumors that Jesus was intentionally destroying the laws of God.

          With the coming of Christ many aspects of the law are brought to complete fruition. For instance, the need for sacrifices is no longer needed. Therefore, you should not go to a pastor, prophet or prophetess who demands that you bring a sheep, or goat, clothes, or jewels as a form of sacrifice to God. Jesus is God’s sacrifice for our sins. We did not take the initiative for atonement for our sins. Rather, He took the initiative by going to the cross on our behalf. You cannot please God or win His approval by operating in your own terms. You do not call the shots; God calls the shots.

          This brings us to verse 19. Here Jesus is not teaching salvation by works. But He indicates that true greatness in the kingdom of God shows itself by a serious dedication to the revealed truth of God. In other places Jesus used a child and a servant to teach greatness in His Kingdom; here He uses the idea of loving, intelligent obedience to the revealed teachings of God. The scribes and Pharisees were experts in interpreting the commandments of God without obeying them. I have said it many times that it is easy to fill your mind or head with the word of God without living it out. This is a danger for those of us who preach and teach the word of God. You can easily preach and teach the word of God without applying it to yourself. However, you expect others to conform to the teachings of the word of God. The truth of the matter is that obeying God’s word is better than explaining it. It is much easier to study God’s laws and tell others to obey them than to put them to practice. The scribes and Pharisees were experts in this. It is easy to teach about justice to all people, while you withhold justice from others who do not come from your tribe or country. It is easy to teach about morality and purity, while you are having an affair or addicted to pornography. It is easy to preach and teach about love while you discriminate against people of a different ethnicity or background. When your practice contradicts your excellent interpretation of the word of God, you have become a hypocrite. When your behavior does not match your doctrinal beliefs, you have set aside or nullified the word of God.

          The reason the church has lost her voice in the society is not that Jesus is an impostor but because many Christians do not live the way they are supposed to live. The Kingdom is not synonymous with the church. In other words, the church is not the Kingdom. A local church is part and parcel of the Kingdom, but the Kingdom is greater than any local church. It is also true that you can be a part of a local church and not belong to the Kingdom of Christ. The reason is simple. You joined the church under false pretense; you have not been washed by the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, if you joined a local church and you are not saved don’t think that you are fooling anybody. You are fooling yourself, because Jesus knows His own and His own hear His voice.

          The danger about false teachers and prophets is not limited to practice as teachers who misconstrue God’s will but also they lead others astray. But in verse 19, Jesus is not concerned about the scribes and Pharisees; He is concerned about His disciples, then and now. In other words, when you set aside the clear teachings of the word of God to justify your own actions, you shall be called least in the Kingdom of God. How are you doing at obeying God’s word in your walk with Christ?

II. THE PRACTICE OF SUPERIOR RIGHTEOUSNESS V. 20

          Matthew chapter 5: 20, is the key to the understanding of the Sermon on the Mount. In this verse Jesus gives His standard for entering the Kingdom of heaven. The standard demands a righteousness that is better than the scribes and Pharisees. The scribes were the scholars who interpreted Scriptures for the Jewish people. They were what we call the students of the Old Testament. The word Pharisee means, “Separated.” So the Pharisees were the separated ones. They considered themselves to be holy. This group came into being in the second century B.C. Jesus had conflicts with these religious leaders not because they were not good people, but because of their teachings and practices. When Jesus made the statement in 5:20 the words might have fallen upon the disciples’ ears like a clap of thunder. Jesus demanded of the disciples a righteousness, which surpassed that of the scribes and Pharisees. Everybody respected the scribes and the Pharisees. They had clout. They had power. They could expel people from both the synagogue and the temple. These religious leaders were certain that they had the kind of righteousness which pleased God! Their lifestyle matched their way of life. They were separatists. They regarded themselves spiritually superior. The scribes and Pharisees were the paradigm of the greatest righteousness imaginable within Judaism. But their righteousness was suspect in the sense that it demonstrated itself compliantly outwardly on the basis of their own rules and regulations. These religious leaders were self-righteous. They measured their righteousness by their outward performance. There is a danger of such self-righteousness in Christendom today, when people determine their spirituality on the basis of what they do, not what Christ has done. The prophet Isaiah says that our righteousness is like filthy rags in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6).

          The Pharisees were precise and scrupulous in their attempt to follow their laws. How could Jesus call us to a greater righteousness than the Pharisees’? The Pharisees were content to obey the law outwardly without allowing God to change their hearts. If you are in a local church as a member or a leader and you have not been saved, (you have not received Christ as Lord and Savior) you are just like the Pharisees. On the outside you look just fine but inwardly you have not been saved, you have not been changed; you have not been transformed by the person and power of the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees looked pious but they were far from the Kingdom of God. God judges our hearts as well as our deeds, for it is in the heart that our real allegiance lies. Be just concerned about your attitudes that people don’t see as about your actions that people see.

          Jesus is saying that His listeners and disciples need a different kind of righteousness altogether (love and obedience). The problem with the scribes and Pharisees is that they thought that they could work out their own righteousness. That is why religions are spreading like mushroom in the world today (John 5:39). On the contrary, the righteousness of God is found only in Jesus Christ, the Son of God (Rom. 3:21-26). This is the timeless truth. Your righteousness must come from what God does in you, not what you can do by yourself. True righteousness is God-centered not self-centered. Righteousness is based on reverence for God, not approval from people. God’s kind of righteousness goes beyond keeping the law to living by the principles behind the law. In verses 21-48 Jesus will teach us what the righteousness of God entails, which the scribes and Pharisees missed.


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