Sunday, March 15, 2020 am
TEACHINGS OF JESUS (9)
Sermon on the Mount (8)
Exceeding Righteousness
Matthew 5:20
We
are continuing to examine the “Sermon on the Mount” in our study about
the teachings of Jesus.
Having examined the beatitudes and our influence, last week we noted how
Jesus came to fulfill the LOM.
Today we notice a warning of Jesus to those listening, For I
say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of
heaven. In our lesson
today we want to talk about righteousness, both the righteousness of the
scribes and Pharisees and how our righteousness ought to exceed that.
a.
Briefly review – what is
righteousness. We already
addressed this in the beatitudes. Righteousness
is being right based upon one’s actions.
True righteousness is being right with God based upon submitting to His
standard. Jesus emphasized
that we ought to “hunger and thirst after righteousness” (Matthew 5:6),
meaning we ought to strongly crave being right with God.
b.
The concept of the
Pharisees (of which most scribes were part of that sect – they were the
“lawyers” of the Law and also scribes – copying the LOM) began during
the years of silence, along with the Sadducees and other Jewish sects.
They were the result of Jews being spread throughout the world as
a result of the Assyrian and Babylonian captivities and ensuing empires.
The different sects were the result of different viewpoints about
how to deal with Greek culture.
There were liberals who had no problems compromising with
Hellenism (these became the Sadducees) and there were others who saw
such as dangerous to the purity of their Jewish faith (these were more
conservative and sought to find ways to ensure purity – the Pharisees
and Essenes came from this background).
We can clearly see similar comparisons today politically (which doesn’t
matter) and in the religious realms.
To preserve the purity of the Law of Moses the Pharisees sought to
separate themselves from Hellenism as much as possible (The word
Pharisee means, “separated ones”).
This resulted in very strict interpretations and applications of
the LOM, which would come to be described as the oral law.
In time, the Oral law would be treated with equal authority as
the written LOM (though not in the eyes of God).
c.
The idea of the
Pharisees was actually noble.
It originated with a desire to preserve the LOM.
This is a serious concern we have (which is WHY we need to
understand the Pharisees and what they were condemned for).
NEVER do you read of Jesus condemning one for simply being a Pharisee,
in fact Nicodemus was a Pharisee and ruler of the people (John 3:1-2).
Also, Paul was a Pharisee (Philippians 3:4-5, Acts 23:6) which is
why he was so versed in the LOM.
ALSO, you NEVER find Jesus condemning the Pharisees for keeping the LOM,
even strictly. Again, in
Matthew 23:23, Jesus noted their tithing of spices should be done.
NOTICE also Matthew 23:2-3 where Jesus said to observe whatever they
tell you to observe. More
on this later.
Jesus taught obedience – Matthew 7:21-27, John 14:15 (also Hebrews 5:9,
etc.). He also rebuked those
who disobeyed the truth or misapplied the Law on numerous occasions.
d.
During the time of Jesus
the Pharisees were more numerous
and influential with the common people.
It is said that at the time of Herod the Great (when Jesus was
born) there were about 6000 Pharisees.
It was the Pharisees who more often challenged Jesus concerning
Sabbath worship and breaking their traditions.
e.
Why was their
righteousness condemned?
There are many reasons for this.
i.
They didn’t practice what they preached - They
were hypocritical.
Matthew 23:2-4 – they taught one thing and did something else.
As we have noted, some 10 times in the gospel of Matthew the word
hypocrites is used to described the pharisees and scribes, along with
other strong words.
Luke 12:1, Jesus warned,
“Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.”
This hypocrisy is really summarized in many of the other qualities Jesus
condemned in Matthew 23. In
fact toward the end, Jesus described how outwardly they appeared clean
and beautiful, but inwardly they were corrupt and defiled (23:25-28)
ii.
They were prideful – loving the praise of men – Matthew 23:5-7, 6:2, 5, 16, etc.
They wore clothing to draw undue attention to themselves
(phylacteries, enlarging borders of their garments, etc.).
In fasting, they would cast dust on themselves to be noticed.
Also, they thought they were better than others, especially the
uneducated.
We don’t know what they did for the poor, but we know that many did
whatever they did to be seen by men and praised.
iii.
They were materialistic – Luke 16:14 notes that they were lovers of money.
Matthew 23:14 speaks about how they devoured the houses of widows.
23:25 while outside they were “clean”, on the inside they were full of
extortion and self-indulgence.
iv.
They were prejudiced – they excluded those who would not fit their mold. Matthew 23:13. They
wanted nothing to do with Samaritans and Gentiles.
They frequently looked down on the poor and the common people.
Matthew 9:10-13, when Jesus at with Matthew and his friends, the
Pharisees condemned Him for eating with “tax collectors and sinners.”
Matthew 23:16-22 – speaks of the words they used which entitled them
deceive others. It was said
that one could lie to a Gentile, but not to a Jew.
v.
They wrongly justified themselves – they compared themselves with those they judged to be worse
or despicable (cf. Matthew 7:1-5, Luke 18:10-11, the way they treated
Jesus as He taught, etc.)
vi.
They perverted the law of God – Matthew 15:3-9 where they created a loophole to free one of
the obligation to take care of his parents.
Their worship was therefore vain.
They catered the law to justify what they wanted to do – they added to
the law and took away from it.
They bound and loosed where they had no authority.
vii.
Their obedience was superficial and merit based as opposed to faith based
– the Pharisees acted is serving God was a check list that they
could follow day in and day out.
Motives such as compassion and sincerity were irrelevant.
That could be why they would create loopholes to the commandments
– they could TELL THEMSELVES that they were still following the Law
“technically”, even though they completely missed its intent.
This attitude is why we find the bragging Pharisee in Luke 18:9-12, and
obsessing over details to the neglect of their purpose throughout the
gospels (cf. Luke 13:14 where the ruler of the synagogue said, “There
are six days on which men ought to work; therefore come and be healed on
them, and no on the Sabbath day.”)
viii.
In summary –
they established their own righteousness – Romans 10:1-3, Luke 18:9.
It was THIS TYPE of behavior that Jesus was addressing AND rejecting in
the Sermon on the Mount.
a.
Understand, as
previously noted, we MUST do what God commands of us in His law.
That is what righteousness is about.
Are we hungering and thirsting to be righteous before God?
The doctrine of “faith only” is not only false, it is harmful as it
removes accountability for the one who chooses to do nothing.
Consider James 2:14-17 – faith without works is dead!
b.
The point - our
righteousness needs to come from the heart. It MUST begin there.
Our righteousness need to be genuine and the motivation to act.
Romans 10:9-10 – with the heart one believes unto righteousness.
It needs to be about glorifying God and not ourselves –
Matthew 5:16, 6:33.
Philippians 3:8-9 – Paul speaks of being found “in Him, not having my
own righteousness…but that which is through faith in Christ, the
righteousness which is from God by faith…”
Romans 6:13, do not present yourselves as instruments of
unrighteousness, but rather as instruments of righteousness to God.
When the heart is right, the deeds will fall into place easily.
We will do them because we love Him, not because we have to (cf.
1 John 4:19).
UNTIL that is the motive behind our striving for righteousness, it will
be inadequate.
c.
Without this you
will BY NO MEANS enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 25:41, 46 pictures a judgment scene where those who did not do
good things for other will face eternal condemnation.
Matthew 7:21-23 also illustrates this as Jesus equated our eternal
salvation with more than mere actions, but complete obedience.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 warns that the unrighteous will not inherit the
kingdom of God.
And
thus we contrast the righteousness of the Pharisees (and that of many
even today) with that which is pleasing to God.
Is it important that we be righteous? Absolutely.
But it must be His righteousness that we strive for.
What about you?
Are you righteous in the site of God?
How can we help you?