TAKES ON Matthew 5:17-32
by Roland
17 ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
The “law and the prophets” was an idiom (or shorthand for the entirety of scripture). He came not to abolish: Get behind me you supercessionists. He came to fulfill all the promises of the scriptures—not abolish them and start some new religion or spiritual project or announce some new plan of God’s to renew the fallen world. The original plan was still in place and effective—every jot, tittle, commandment and promise. It’s just that it was working out in very unexpected ways (so unexpected that the Wrinkles and Barnes of that day didn’t see it when it was standing before them; (actually I did, I just didn’t want you to know). Jesus switched up and upset all known perspectives (he had a penchant for doing that). Jesus was fulfilling Jeremiah 31:31: The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more. All the law and prophets hinged on the fulfillment of that promised new covenant, ie the Shema reworked to include the Levitical supplementary commandment (he had a penchant for doing that): “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’(Mt 22) (And, yes, at the center of that is taking care of the poor—and the annoying, disgusting, mean, worthless, wrongdoers, disagreers and those who just piss us off) That’s what he was talking about when referring to the law and prophets. “I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” was both an eschatological promise and a currently effective commandment in the newly-inaugurated Kingdom. “Stop worrying about shrimp—I’ve got bigger fish to fry. I took care of your fatal lack of righteousness by a mere declaration (this is the meaning of “justification”). Now I am launching a new project all in fulfillment of the original promise. Israel couldn’t complete its vocation so I became an Israelite to do it myself.”
18For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished
“Till heaven and earth pass away” is also an idiom—like saying “when hell freezes over”—because it is never going to happen, so better get used to it. In the very next verse He reaffirms the eternal kingdom.
20For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus didn’t simply write off as worthless the great and faithful scripture hearers and doers of His day and who had gotten Israel through the inter-testamental tortures and Syrian genocide. He was pointing out that that the religious elite had kept hanging on to their ethnic markers and exclusivism (which had served them and Israel so well in the past) when it was no longer needed and it was, in fact, becoming a gigantic negative and inhibitor of any possibility of hearing the gospel. Romans 10:3: 3For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they have not submitted to God’s righteousness. 4For Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
Murder/Anger; Adultry/Lust and Mere-Decree Divorce/Now You Gotta stick With It
Here’s another three big time shifts in perspective. When you were in your infancy, I had to tell you not to go around killing people, not to have sex with women not your wives and I allowed you to get divorce easily. Without all of this grade school and clear cut rules, your community and culture would had been rent to pieces (and My grand plan with it). But now I’m telling you not to get angry, let alone murder; not (intentionally) lust let alone have sex with men or women not your wives and stay married if at all possible. SO WHAT IS JESUS SAYING? He’s saying: “I am no longer giving you the 613 rules you required in your infancy. Now I am writing the Shema+ on your hearts because I don’t want you to simply follow rules (and I don’t want you to turn the oral and written accounts of all this stuff into a new rule book to turn to every time the puck goes over the glass without an opposing player touching it). You are now more mature and my Father’s plan is more advanced and I want you to be changed by a renewing of your mind and heart so that you become more fully human/complete as an ikon of Me (telios:perfect) so that you can act as my agents in bringing to fruition this Kingdom I have begun here on earth (not in heaven). I want you to not be angry, not lust and not divorce quickly NOT because I am telling you to but because it will come naturally and inexorably as the by-product of the newly-transformed more-fully human that you will become by (and here’s the greatest commandment) “FOLLOWING ME!” (not by following my brand new rule book—or by professing assent to to any man-made orthodoxies that somebody else thinks they see in my Word which they have turned into a rule book.)
“I am doing a new thing!” (Is 43) When I Am becomes All-In-All, He will be our God and we will be His people (Finally!) and there will be no Gentile nor Jew– and no rule book.
Back to my pew.
by Jack Irwin
What is the “Righteousness of the Pharisees” that Jesus mentions in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:20)? A Blog by Jack Irwin, M.Div. March 18, 2014
I was thinking about this a lot recently since our Pastor is preaching through the Sermon on the Mount for Lent, as we prepare for Resurrection Sunday (Easter). Also, we at our church are meeting in several study groups each week during Lent to discuss and learn from the Sermon on the Mount.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks this seeming conundrum:
“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 5:20
The “law” is an important concept here. We know the Jewish “Law” as that provided by God through Moses and recorded in the “Torah,” the Pentateuch or first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus. Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. We Christians primarily think of the Ten Commandments as representative of the Law. However, In the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus says, “You have heard it said…” he is speaking of the teachings about the Law by the Pharisees and the “teachers of the law.” So now we must ask, What do they teach as the “Law”? Jesus’ criticisms tells us what Jesus finds lacking in not only their teaching of the law but in their practice of the law, which ties into what Jesus’ means by the “righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.”
Let’s explore what Jesus means by the “righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.” How should we interpret this? In this blog I use the acronym R of P for the words “righteousness of the Pharisees,” in order to shorten the blog.
A. The Great Mistake
First: the mistake in interpretation made by many: That “righteousness of the Pharisees” is equivalent to the righteousness of God. This approach assumes that the word “righteousness” means the same thing wherever it is used. So, they conclude that Jesus is lauding the Pharisees as “righteous people,” holding them up as an example to exceed in order to enter the kingdom of heaven. The typical response to this interpretation is, “Woe is me! I can’t achieve that!”
Some quote Isaiah 64:6a “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” This seems to confirm our woe! Any attempt by us to be righteous is only a filthy rag compared to that righteousness of the Pharisees. Therefore, even Scripture says we will never come close to exceeding the righteousness of the Pharisees. This still leaves a problem of woe: We remember what the disciples said to Jesus, Then who can be saved?
Second, to solve this woeful problem, people jump outside the Sermon on the Mount to other scripture, saying that Jesus solves our problem of not exceeding the high bar of the Pharisees’ righteousness. How? Well, Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins, and now God can receive us into heaven on the basis of faith (thank you, Luther) and not on righteous works. While this certainly is a tenet of orthodox Christianity, it is wrong to apply it to the question of what does the R of P that Jesus mentions mean.
B. The first rule of interpretation is to look in the passage itself, before we go anywhere else.
In the phrase “righteousness of the Pharisees,” “righteousness” is modified by being that which the Pharisees practice. There is no evidence from the verse 5:20 to support a conclusion that the R of P is equivalent to the righteousness of God. So let’s explore within the passage itself to see if that gives us the meaning of the R of P. We find that the entire Sermon on the Mount explains that the R of P is NOT the righteousness of God.
So, let’s see what Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount about the righteousness of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.
Under “murder” Jesus implies that the R of P confines itself to the strict letter of this one of the Ten Commandments. The R of P follows the mere letter of the law, by which some can say, “I followed the law because I did not physically kill someone.” However, Jesus points out how shallow is this application of the law and says the intent of this commandment goes far deeper.
Under “adultery” Jesus makes the same implication about the R of P as under “murder.”
Under “divorce” Jesus says the R of P is superficial. The R of P says, I have obeyed the law by giving my wife a “certificate of divorce” without regard. Jesus says by focusing on the “external” certificate they have ignored the weightier issues of divorce.
Under Oaths, Jesus says the R of P makes all sorts of exceptions and subsets of oaths, instead of just flatly applying the law “do not break your oath.” (See also Jesus words about how the Pharisees did this at Matt. 23:16-23) The R of P is a convenient structure of exceptions that fails to apply the spirit of the law.
Under Eye for Eye, for which one can find some “proof texts” in the Old Testament, Jesus rejects the R of P as wrong.
Under Love your Neighbors but Hate Your enemies, for which one can find some “proof texts” in the Old Testament, Jesus implies the R of P is incomplete. Look at the righteousness of God, Jesus says, His righteousness blesses both the evil and the good persons, both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Under Giving, Jesus says the R of P is all for show, accolades, reputation among men and self-centered. In fact he here labels the R of P “hypocrisy.” (6:2)
Under Prayer, Jesus says the R of P is that they pray that others may see them and give them accolades. Again, he here labels the R of P “hypocrisy.” (6:5)
Under Fasting, Jesus says the R of P is hypocritical, again done for show only in front of men. (6:16)
From Jesus’ own words in this passage we can conclude that he finds the righteousness of the Pharisee lacking in applying and following the full intent of the Law. Theirs is not an example to emulate, but one to avoid.
Less direct as an interpretation of what Jesus meant by the R of P, are the following words of Jesus from the same Sermon on the Mount:
Jesus says, Do not store up treasures on earth, but in heaven. (6:19-20) Continuing this thought, he says, “You cannot serve both God and Money.” (6:24) Is not this an implication of what the R of P is all about: creating “treasures” on earth and serving “money”? I think the word “money” is inclusive and representative of all the treasures on earth.
Jesus says, Do not worry about you life here: drink, food, clothes … but seek first His [God’s] kingdom and His righteousness …” (6:25-34) The obvious implication is the “His righteousness” (that righteousness of God the Heavenly Father) is much greater and different than the R of P, which is concerned with the “best” that life has to offer on earth.
Jesus says, The trees that bear bad fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. (7:15-20) Now he gets even more direct about the distinction between the R of P and the Righteousness of the King of Heaven. The R of P is literally “bad fruit” worthy of destruction.
Jesus repeats the warning of the bad trees and good trees, by the next contrast: Not everyone who says to me “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven.” (7:21-23)
The obvious interpretation of the meaning of the R of P is this: the R of P is not the righteousness that will get you into heaven. It does not measure up to the righteousness of God. He has already said the R of P gets its rewards on earth; now he says the obverse, it is NOT rewarded in heaven! The R of P is a pretty poor and low standard to judge one’s own attempts at being righteous. It does not measure up to God’s righteousness.
C. The second rule of interpretation is to look in the rest of the book, in this case the rest of Matthew’s Gospel. Matthew quotes Jesus frequently, and many of these quotes help to explain what Jesus means by the R of P, for example:
a. Matt. 9:13 “But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ ” Jesus speaking to the Pharisees. They lack mercy, while they perform the precise religious rituals of the Law.
b. Matt. 15:3 Jesus to the Pharisees, ” And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?” They invent their own “traditions” which go against the Law.
c. Matt. 16: 6, Jesus to his disciples, “Be careful. Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Jesus warns that the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees is bad stuff.
d. Matt. 23 — the whole chapter is Jesus’ condemnation of the R of P! He calls them hypocrites. He says they have neglected the more important matters of the law — justice, mercy and faithfulness (23:23). He calls them blind guides. He says they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (23:25) He says they are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. (23:28) He includes them with those who murdered the prophets (and they will put to death the greatest prophet, even Jesus). He calls them snakes and vipers, recalling the imagery of Satan the great serpent (see Genesis and Revelation). He says they will be condemned to hell! (23:33) Upon them, he says, is the guilt of the shed blood of Abel, the first murdered in the Scripture, and the Old Testament prophet Zechariah (23:35) He says they kill and stone those sent by God. (23:37)
e. What do we conclude from these other sayings of Jesus in order to interpret what he meant by the “righteousness of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law”? It is obvious, that he does not think much of their “righteousness.” He condemns it.
E. The Conclusion
When Jesus uses the words “righteousness of the Pharisees” he is almost being cynical and satirical. Compared to the righteousness of God, their righteousness is the equivalent of evil. Perhaps, Jesus realized that these leaders had fooled the populace into thinking that these leaders were the epitome of righteousness.
Jesus is applying a corrective, so that those who would follow him would realize the hypocrisy of these leaders who call themselves righteous and lead others to think that they are righteous.
In others words, Jesus is saying to them: Don’t aspire to the “righteousness” practiced by the Pharisees and teachers of the Law, but aspire to the righteousness of the Kingdom of Heaven. To put this in Jesus own words, “Be perfect, therefore, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5:48)
I know some will still be upset that Jesus commands us to be perfect. You may feel this is also an impossible goal, but look at it this way, it is better to shoot for the high goal, than to lower your standards and goals to that of the Pharisees.
by John Favalessa
Bill, Roland & Jack, How incredible is it that we are diving into one of the more difficult sermons ever given…the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew! Very tough words in scripture from our Lord indeed. I am so grateful you are giving us the benefit of your years of study and insights. I thank you for the time and effort you give us.
I will listen to Bill’s sermon again via the web and will re-read both Jack and Roland’s posts and hopefully gain more clarity.
I will only comment on one thing – Jack you end your post with Matt 5:48. “Be perfect, therefore, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Absolutely troubling on the face of it. As if not getting angry or not having lust is hard enough…now we are given an even more impossible goal!
Today I was listening to Sunday’s sermon given by Rev Dave Ratcliff (https://www.shepherdpres.org/) who preached on this very verse! What are the odds given there are 31,103 numbered verses in the bible and 365 days in a year? There we go again with a thin moment.
So we have some choices how to interpret this command to be perfect as our Father. Not just make a good try at it. So we can take it exactly as Jesus states; we can take it as hyperbole made for a point; we can interpret “perfect” to mean our complete obedience to God; we can interpret perfect to mean we should strive to fully be who we were intended to be or as the Greeks called it our telos. Some theologians argue that our purpose…our created intention…or our function is to love as God loves.
For me, Jesus’s tone seems to be serious about what he is asking us to do, but I absolutely know that I will fail in this command…I cannot even comprehend how perfect God is! So I thank God for His grace (thank you again Luther), but something in me is calling me to action…
In the illuminating book for me “Love Wins” by Rob Bell, I started to grasp the reality of how much God loves us who He put at the top of His creation. God loves us so much he gave us free will and He loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that He can be made known to us. And we are told over and over again God loves us all even the tax collectors. Incredible love…that’s the action plan. As Pastor Dave states we are children of God; we are to reflect the characteristics of God in our actions and lives. To me this is our telos.
build it!
John
by Jack
John. I purposely left the perfect verse as it stands. I want to preserve Jesus words as is. And not read something into them. I thought I could address your question in another blog.
The pint I was making in today’s blog was we are not to read something into the righteousness of the Pharisees that is not there. But we always do. Someone in our Lenten study group got it after we went thru Matt 23 tonight: they said Jesus is sarcastic when he calls the behavior of the Pharisees “righteous.”
I liked the trouble Pastor Bill waded into last Sunday when he said our actions in this life make a difference in heaven. Someone was mightily disturbed about that and said out loud to Bill, “Heaven is heaven.”. We are striking against evangelical shibboleths.
Be ye perfect means that It does matter whether your actions line up with the righteousness of God. This is the tipping point– whether creation tips toward. Evil or Goodness wh only comes from God. Why would God want you to aim any lower? Besides if your actions line up w His will (see Lord’s prayer), then the purpose of the Sermon on the Mt and the purpose of Jesus’ plan to Save the world will be accomplished — then people will see your good works And give praise to your Father in heaven.
Look at today’s culture. No praise for your doctrine or beliefs. No praise for how religious you are. But they praise you for building houses in TJ and having Family. Promise.
Look at all the good that Christians have done for mankind.
This is why I sign off this way;
For the Kingdom,
Jack
by John
and somebody yelled out from the Evans Room, “as long as it ain’t hell!”
Jack, that is exactly my point! If we are to aspire to be perfect as the Father then that means doing God’s Will here. and it all comes down to love. Love God…with all your heart soul and mind, love each other…everyone including the Samaritans (they were despised), love God’s magnificent creation that he lovingly gave us…implies caretaker responsibilities.
praying “They Will be done” implies action on our parts…build it!
john 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”.
john
by Jack
Preach it, brother! It does matter what we do for the Kingdom and as Kingdom Representatives! Christianity is not just a ticket to make me “feel good now” because God loves me or because I am guaranteed to go to heaven!
Jesus started his ministry calling disciples and telling them I will make you fishers of men. He ended his ministry saying wait for the power of the Holy Spirit and you will be my witnesses in Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth! That’s the goal of why we are here and were not raptured when we first believed in Jesus!
WE are the new Israel who will fulfill God’s promise to Abraham that thru Abraham all nations, peoples, tribes of the world will be blessed. And as Paul proved we are progeny of Abraham by faith. So let’s prove ourselves faithful.
Those who call themselves “Christians” and who are not faithful will not find themselves in heaven! That was Jesus’ message to the Pharisees who called themselves “righteous.” Jesus said in Matt 23 they were children of hell and would end up there!
This following Jesus is not child’s play. It has eternal consequences.
For the Kingdom,
Jack