Moral Righteousness – Matthew 5:17-20

I was recently in a discussion with some men in my church about ethics and a distinction was made between ethics and morals. I know this is somewhat artificial, but think of ethics as one’s standard for behavior, whether that standard is absolute in your mind or not. But think of morals as a commitment to absolute right and wrong in submission to the very character of God. You can have ethics without God, but not morals, as defined here.

An atheist can be very ethical, or we might say, “good” (though true goodness can only come from morals). The Pharisees were “good” in an ethical way, seeking to keep the Law of Moses, but their righteousness wasn’t enough. It wasn’t always moral.

“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. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes 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 does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20 ESV)

Jesus has described the nature of a kingdom participant, hungry for righteousness and very humble and merciful toward others who don’t always manage to keep the Law.  And he has described the responsibility of those kingdom participants, letting others know of the way to the Father and His kingdom.  Now he describes their relationship to the Law of God as the standard of their righteousness.

Jesus makes it clear that he did not come to relax the standards of God’s Law or God’s prophets, a general way of saying all the Old Testament.  The Law in this sense was the books of Moses, and the prophets were all the other books in our canon.  Jesus claims to be the fulfiller of all the Law.  He is saying that all the Law has borne testimony to him, and his life and death and resurrection will complete all its requirements.  In fact, not the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the yod, or even the smallest extension on a letter, like the small extension on a “d” that distinguishes it from the Hebrew “r”, will fail to be accomplished by him and by his kingdom followers.  God’s Word is absolutely authoritative and true down to the smallest element.

So to relax the standard is to reject the Word of God.  To do so makes one least in the kingdom.  To uphold them makes one great in the kingdom.  The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees looked to most as if it was in line with this, but Jesus makes the startling statement that their righteousness is not enough to get them into the kingdom.  God’s righteousness is superior to theirs and so also must be the righteousness of his kingdom followers.

We don’t hunger to be “sort of” righteous.  We hunger to be wholly righteous in a way Jesus is now about to describe in what follows in his sermon.  It has much to do with the righteousness of the heart and not just the behavior. Jesus has set himself up as the one who defines what God’s righteousness looks like.  He is the new Moses, giving the true interpretation of the Law to Israel.  He is saying the current teachers of the Law have missed it and that his followers will set a new standard. 

What another incredible challenge for us!