Matthew 5:20–26
[Jesus said:] “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.” (ESV)
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, by your Word, lead us to true sorrow and contrition over our sins, that we might put our hope and trust in Christ alone, our Savior, who is our righteousness. Amen.
The Righteousness Needed to Enter the Kingdom
In Christ Jesus, whose holy incarnation, death, and resurrection, has won for you the righteousness needed to enter the kingdom of heaven, dear fellow redeemed!
If you have taken to heart the words of Jesus from our lesson today, you should rightly feel cut to the heart. Do you think you have been doing a pretty good job of keeping the commandments? I remember thinking that I had when I was five or six years old. I didn’t have a golden calf like the Israelites—I could check off the first commandment! I can remember missing only two church services when I was a child—one because I had the flu and the other because I had a broken arm, and neither of those were my fault. I could check off the third commandment. The fifth commandment was easy—I had certainly never murdered someone! But is it that easy? Is that all it means to keep the commandments? Then I remember learning about these words from Jesus in Sunday School. Had I gotten angry with my brother? I was the youngest of seven siblings, so that’s not too hard to guess. Had I insulted or called someone a mean name? My clean slate wasn’t looking so clean. And then, I realized that brother doesn’t just mean my literal brother, but anyone. Had I wanted to hold on to the anger against the kid who threw a rock at me to hurt me? Had I been slow to accept his apology? You bet. But now, Jesus told me, I had to forgive him. I had to reconcile with him. Before I came to church, while I might not be able to physically go to him, I would need to repent of the anger I had held on to and truly forgive him. This was hard. I hadn’t been keeping the Ten Commandments as well as I had thought.
In this section from the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches us the true meaning of the Law. What does God require from us? It’s not just the outward keeping of it—like not murdering your neighbor. It’s your thoughts, words, and deeds. You might not have murdered someone, but have you gotten angry or failed to show love to your neighbor? Well, then, you have failed to keep the fifth commandment. You are guilty. While we only have this brief section from this sermon from Jesus, he goes on to talk about lust, careless language, loving your enemies, and much more. He shows what the Law truly requires—the righteousness we need to enter the kingdom of heaven.
But before we get into what we should learn from Jesus’ words, let’s remember the context. Our lesson comes from Jesus’ sermon on the Mount. There was a great multitude who had come to hear Jesus preach near the Sea of Galilee. You can imagine long sloping hills leading down to the sea covered with grass and a tree here and there. And here stood Jesus with thousands of people below him. Some sitting, some standing, and doing the normal things people in crowds do. The people in the crowds had come for different reasons. Certainly, there were some who had come in earnestness of faith, who had been waiting for the kingdom of God, and now they hear it in the voice of Jesus. Others, no doubt, were simply listening with idle curiosity—who is this new teacher and what is he all about? There were likely others who were sitting and desperately listening to every word that came from his mouth, who knew they deserved death, like the tax-collectors, adulterers, and sinners, who, so often in the Gospels, are those who are the most open to Jesus’ words. They had given up the idea of earning their own salvation and so looked for the Savior of sinners. Interspersed between all these people were the scribes and Pharisees. Throughout Jesus’ ministry they always seem to be in the crowd. They are listening, but they are listening critically. They want to trap Jesus. They didn’t want to learn about Jesus and his word; they wanted to use his words against him.
The scribes and Pharisees are an interesting group. These were very religious people, steeped in the Scriptures, who lived pious lives. While there were some among them who came to believe in Jesus like Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, or later, the Apostle Paul, the vast majority, though they heard him preach and witnessed many miracles, refused to believe or trust in him. We sometimes think that people would believe in Jesus if they could just see a miracle, but this is not true. Faith comes by hearing, not seeing. Think of the conversation between Abraham and the rich man in hell. The man in torment asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers so that they wouldn’t end up in the same place as him. But Abraham said, “’They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’” Just because they saw the miracles didn’t mean they would believe in him.
The Pharisees and scribes even admitted that Jesus was a great teacher and surely a prophet sent from God. But still… they didn’t want to believe in him. They refused to believe—even after seeing him perform great miracles and hearing him preach. Why? Because they refused to relinquish their rights of earning their way to heaven. You see, the scribes and the Pharisees were work righteous. They had come up with many laws beyond the Scripture for them to keep. For example, they took God’s command so literally, that they limited the number of steps they could take on a Sabbath day—the day of rest. They argued among themselves whether it would be a sin to spit on the Sabbath. They finally concluded that it would be if you spat on the dirt, because that would be watering the ground, which was work. However, if you spat on a rock, it wouldn’t be.
While we might view these rules as excessive and even humorous, it does highlight their devotion to the Lord—their desire to want to serve God. Because of their diligent study of the word, zeal for maintaining the laws, the people respected them. They took their religion seriously. And this helps us understand why Jesus’ words would have absolutely shocked the crowds: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
While there might have been a few snickers in crowd for Jesus saying this, it honestly would have cut anyone to the heart. If I can’t even live like the Pharisees, how could I ever enter into the kingdom of heaven? I can’t do it—not even close.
The Pharisees thought that by their keeping of the law, they could ensure their entry into the kingdom. This type of thinking comes natural to human beings. If I live a good life, if I try hard, God will acknowledge my efforts. Now, you might say, “I never think that way.” I’d push back on you and say, do you compare yourself to others? Do you like thinking about other people’s shortcomings and how you have remained above the fray? Do you make levels of things that are not good, but not as bad as other things you could be doing in order to justify your actions? Well then, you are functioning like a Pharisee. King Solomon said, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
The reason Jesus teaches us the true meaning of the Law is to get us to realize that we cannot do it on our own. We can’t save ourselves. You need help. I need help. Now remember how I said our lesson for today begins a long section where Jesus shows what it truly means to keep the law? While this is convicting to us, it also highlights how comforting Jesus’ words are that he said before our lesson, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.”
Think about that. He did not come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. He came to live the life of perfect obedience that God’s law requires. He loved his heavenly Father above all things. He honored his parents and authorities. He loved his neighbor. When we would have been yelling and getting angry for all the injustices against us, Jesus didn’t. When he was hurt by others, he prayed for his enemies! He didn’t try to spare his life at the expense of others, he laid down his life to spare his enemies! For our sins of anger, Jesus was condemned as a murderer in our place. He suffered the pangs of hell on the cross to pay our debt, paying the last penny.
Jesus is the righteousness we need to enter the kingdom of heaven. And this is good news! Because you have it! “[God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21). In Baptism, we are taken out of the bondage of our sin and taken into the household of faith. The forgiveness that Jesus won for us becomes our own in Baptism. As those who have been baptized in Christ Jesus, we have been buried with him “by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4).
As those who have been baptized into Christ, you have been freed from the threats of the law—in Christ, you have done it all. You can check off all the boxes, because it is finished. And this changes our entire perspective in life. In my adult instruction classes, we go over a list of important questions every Christian should know. One of the questions is, “Does God want us to keep His Ten Commandments in order to get to heaven?” The answer is “no.” How do I get to heaven? “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” However, the follow up question is, “Are we to strive to keep the Ten Commandments?” The answer is “Yes!” Of course we should strive to walk in the newness of life. We want to live for him who gave his life for us, and he gives us the power to do so through the means of grace. However, we don’t do good works because we have to, but because we want to.
Now, I’d like to close with one final thought. There are two ditches you and I can fall into: pride or despair. They are really two sides of the same coin. It’s easy to become prideful like the Pharisees, but it’s also easy to become despairing—to think that you are not enough, that you are dirt, that you fail in your role as husband or wife, mother or father, employer or employee. While I appreciate self-improvement and self-help books, I think this type of thinking can also weigh on peoples’ consciences. Parents feel like their not doing enough. Young people feel like they aren’t smart enough, good looking enough, and everything in between.
So, listen here: By faith in Christ, you are righteous. God loves you. The law is fulfilled. If the devil, the world, or your own sinful flesh tries to make you feel like you aren’t good enough or couldn’t or shouldn’t be saved—then tell them to be quiet. Listen to Jesus. “It is finished.” “Given and shed for you, for the remission of sins.” “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” “Lo, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Christ is your righteousness. That’s who you are by faith and that is the righteousness that is needed to enter the kingdom of heaven. And this, my dear friends, is all that is needed! Amen.