“Jesus and the Pharisees” – “A Righteousness that Surpasses” – Matthew 5:17-20

I had six judges overseeing the Waco bankruptcy court while I served there. Some where there for only a few months or a year or so. I got along well enough with each of them, but there were two that stood out for the contrast on how they viewed the law.

One judge maintained that the law was there as a guide, but that we could expand the law as we saw fit if all the parties would agree. His thought was that we should give every case the possibility to succeed, within limits.

The other judge considered the law to be the final word. It didn’t matter if we could agree to extend or alter the law to fit a specific purpose, if it meant the successful completion of a case. To him, the law was the final arbiter of decision making for the court.

The former judge focused on the spirit of the law. The latter judge focused on the letter of the law. Which was the better philosophy is open to debate. Some could argue that bending the law to fit different circumstances makes a mockery of the law. Others could argue that the laws are guidelines to show us the broad way to go, but each case is unique and the law should allow a leeway regarding each case.

When Jesus began His public ministry, He and the Pharisees clashed regarding the way they saw the law and Scripture. The Pharisees wanted a strict interpretation and obedience to the law. Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27).

Not surprisingly, these same arguments are being made in today’s world. How we view the Bible and how we view our relationship with Christ affects the way we relate to our world and to each other.

Background

When we look at the Gospels, we readily see the Pharisees as the bad guys because of their opposition to Jesus. There is a validity to this view, but when we paint the Pharisees as bad guys we fail to see why they were so opposed to Jesus. To see why they fought against Jesus, we need to understand where the Pharisees came from.

The Pharisee movement grew out of the Babylonian exile. God had condemned Israel to exile for their disregard for the law and for their relationship with Him. The Pharisees listened to the prophets and came away with the commitment that God’s law was to be obeyed, and that the people could only return to God if they return to the law.

Their commitment to the Law and the prophets was a reflection of their love for God. Paul’s words speak to their commitment to God. In addressing the crowd in Jerusalem, Paul said, “I am a Jew, born in Tarsis of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today” (Acts 22:3). The Pharisees were men and women who loved God with all their heart, and they understood that the way to express that love was through obedience to the Scripture.

Being devoted to God, the Pharisees were deeply religious. Their name means “separated ones,” because they distinguished themselves in being separate from the rest of society. They were involved in the religious practices of their day, setting aside times for prayer, for fasting and for the giving of alms.

Their devotion to the Law was so strong that they developed rules to prevent them from inadvertently violating the Law. Their traditions grew up around their devotion to God and to the Bible.

These deeply religious men and women were strong in their defense of their faith. Convinced that they had the only true understanding, they were not afraid to stand up against those who threatened their faith or their understanding.

Into their world came a man who was unlike any other man they had encountered. This man did things that only a person sent from God could do. He stood out from the crowd. The Pharisees were looking for a Messiah, and this man could very well fit the bill. They began to follow Him around, listening to what He had to say and watching what He did.

When they began to pay attention to Jesus of Nazareth, they quickly discovered a man who was not made in their mold. In their eyes, He was loose with the Law. He desecrated the Sabbath on a regular basis. He followed some of their practices, but He also flaunted some of their traditions. Rather than seeing Him as the Messiah, they began to see Him as a threat. They began to see Him as a heretic, someone who had to be opposed if they wanted to protect their way of life, because their way of life was the only way to preserve Israel and please God.

And so we have the growing opposition and animosity to Jesus from the Pharisees. Ultimately, the clash between them would lead to Jesus’ crucifixion. As Caiaphas the high priest said of Jesus, “You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish” (John 11:50).

Over the next few weeks, we will examine the differences between Jesus and the Pharisees, beginning with today’s passage in which Jesus tells us that we must have a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees if we hope to enter into the kingdom of God.

Today’s passage concludes the introduction to the Sermon on the Mount. There are those who question whether there ever was a time when Jesus sat on a mountain and made the proclamations recorded in Matthew 5-7. They don’t dispute that the words recorded are the teachings of Jesus. They just aren’t sure if there was a specific setting in which Jesus laid out the lessons found in the Sermon. They argue that Jesus said the things over the course of His ministry, and that Matthew simply put them all together in this one place to highlight the overall lesson, which is summed up in the Golden Rule. Personally, I believe the actual Sermon on the Mount took place.

Whether or not there was a specific Sermon on the Mount is really immaterial. There is no dispute that Jesus said what is written in these chapters, and we would do well to not only hear them but put them into practice (cf. Matthew 7:24-27).

Central Truth: Jesus and the Pharisees had a different understanding of righteousness.

Jesus’ view of Scripture and righteousness:

1. He fulfills Scripture (17-18)

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. I tell you the truth, 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.

There are all sorts of ways to try to discredit someone. One of the ways is to call into question a person’s patriotism and commitment to society’s ethos and practices. If we can convince enough people that a particular person’s views are a threat to what we hold near and dear to us, we can oust that person’s influence and cause deaf ears to be turned toward him or her.

This was probably what was happening to Jesus. As the Pharisees began to oppose Jesus, one of their arguments was that Jesus didn’t hold to the Scripture. He ignored many of the traditions of the Pharisees, and for them, the traditions were almost as sacred as the Law.

Jesus’ words are spoken to refute the argument that He was here to destroy the Laws and the Prophets. If anything, His words tell us that Jesus had a great reverence for Scripture, and that He recognized the Bible as God’s inspired word.

Jesus tells the crowd that not only is He not seeking to destroy the Law and the Prophets, but that He has come to fulfill them. When we see Jesus, we see the embodiment of the Word, and we see how the word is to be lived out through His example. What follows in the remainder of the Sermon are examples of how Jesus fulfills the Law and the Prophets. He focuses not on the letter of the law but the spirit of the law. His lesson is that what we do or don’t do isn’t nearly as important as to why we do what we do or don’t do what we don’t do. Jesus looks beyond the written word to see the heart of the person. It’s what motivates us that matters, not some written rules and regulations.

Jesus came to fulfill the law by living it out in relation to the Father and to those around Him. Jesus expressed His love for the Father in the way He loved us.

His commitment to the Law and the Prophets is demonstrated in the way He describes the long-lasting effect of the Bible. He told us that every aspect of the Law and Prophets was so important, that even the dots over the i’s and the crosses of the t’s were to be honored.

It is in how we honor the Law and the Prophets that Jesus and the Pharisees disagreed. The Pharisees saw the law as the final word; Jesus saw the law as a guide to living, a doorway to express our love for the Father and the Son as we follow the Holy Spirit.

2. We have a duty to obey & accurately teach Scripture (19)

Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commandments will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

When we read about the kings of Israel in 1 and 2 Kings, we see a pattern. When God tore the kingdom apart from Rehoboam, God raised up Jeroboam to reign over the northern tribes that made up Israel. Rehoboam continued to rule over the tribes of Judah and Benjamin, and his kingdom came to be known as Judea.

Jeroboam was insecure in his kingdom. He knew that the religious traditions of the tribes lay in Jerusalem, and he was afraid that the tribes would return to Judea because of the religious ties. To counter this, Jeroboam had two golden calves created, and placed one calf in Bethel and the other in Dan. He told the people that these were their gods who brought them out of Egypt and ordered them to worship the calves (cf. 1 Kings 12:25-33).

God punished Jeroboam for his sacrilege. The condemnation for him and his heirs was this: “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, walking in the ways of Jeroboam and in his sin, which he had caused Israel to commit” (1 Kings 15:34).

Jesus comes to this idea when He says the words we read in this verse. Jesus is so committed to Scripture that He expects us to follow Scripture. He also expects us to be accurate teachers to those who come after us. Whether we are teaching our children or a class or a church, we have a responsibility to be accurate in our interpretation and in our living it out. How we live out the Bible is a lesson to others as to whether or not we really believe it.

Jesus tells us that if we fail to live according to God’s will and teach others to do the same, we are least in the kingdom. Instead, there is the expectation that we will hear the word and do it, and teach others to do the same (cf. Matthew 7:24-27).

Jesus, who fulfills the Law and Prophets because He embodies them, expects us to obey Him and teach others to obey Him, too.

3. Righteousness goes beyond reverence for Scripture (20)

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.

There are all kinds of standards in the world. Some standards are easy to achieve, while others can seem unattainable. Frying an egg without breaking the yolk seems like an easy standard to reach. Sure, there will be times when the yolk breaks, but with practice and experience, it can be easily attained. Certain sports records, on the other hand, seem impossible to break. Recently a man ran the first sub-two-hour marathon. That’s an average speed of 13 miles an hour. I don’t know how much lower it can go, if it can go any lower.

When Jesus told the crowd that their righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, jaws must have dropped all around Him. The standard of righteousness in Israel at that time was generally believed to be the Pharisees. These men and women lived up to high standards built around obeying the laws not just of God but of the traditions. The traditions were developed to protect the law. For instance, Moses was told that a person could receive 40 lashes from a whip. To go beyond that was violating the law. The tradition, then, was to limit the lashes to 39 in number, in case someone miscounted.

If Jesus’ standard of righteousness was to go beyond a strict adherence to the law, to the Scripture, then how could anyone hope to achieve such a standard? Jesus knew the answer, and He gave His answer in the remainder of the Sermon. He showed a new way to interpret the laws and traditions, focusing on the motives and the heart of the person, not just the outward appearance. For instance, it was quite possible to avoid the literal killing of a person, but Jesus included character assassination and disparaging people into that law. Adultery was defined by Jesus as not just the actual act, but the treating of a person as only a means of sexual desire. Prayer, fasting and alms giving were no longer to be practiced in such a way as to garner the praise of people, but to further the kingdom of God. And on and on until Jesus says, “Treat people the way you want to be treated, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 7:12).

This is the crux of the problem with Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees insisted on upholding the law, regardless of how it affected people or society. Obey the rules to the letter and God will not exile us again. Jesus said the law is there to guide us, but the most important thing is the way we treat each other and ourselves. For Jesus, relationship trumped obedience.

Ultimately, the only way to achieve a righteousness that surpasses the Pharisees is to have a life of faith in Christ, learning to walk in the Spirit and to express our love for Him through the way we love our brothers and sisters.

Conclusion

How we regard laws and regulations reveals a great deal about how we relate to our world. The bottom line we need to look at is what’s more important—to help raise all people up, or to hold people to standards that, quite frankly, we often fail to live up to ourselves. We can believe our lot in life is to point out the sins of others with condemnation, we embrace the Pharisee viewpoint. If we believe our lot in or it is to point others to Jesus through the way we relate to them. Sadly, we can’t do both.

As we approach a new year, let us resolve to choose this day what we will do, asking God o show us the right way and walking in the way Jesus would have us do.