Pharisees Were Good People, but Not Good Enough
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:20, RSV.
One of Jesus' most astounding statements, it must have all but knocked the disciples and other hearers off their feet. How could anyone have more righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees?
At this point we need to let Jesus speak and not try to collapse Him into Paul. His concern is not that His followers needed His righteousness or righteousness by faith to be superior to the Pharisees. To the contrary, He is explicit that it is "your righteousness" (mine and yours) that must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.
But how could that be? After all, the scribes were a class that spent all their time in teaching and expounding God's law. They had a superabundance of dedication to God's Word. And the Pharisees were not merely good men--they were the best of men. They were a select class of some 6,000 individuals who had totally dedicated their lives to bringing about the coming of the Christ through living sinless lives.
Who could have more righteousness than a Pharisee? Look at them. First, they were lovers and protectors of the Bible as the Word of God. They had developed their massive oral tradition to preserve the true meaning of Scripture.
Second, Pharisees were completely devoted to God's law. They loved it with all their heart. Their dedication to keeping it inspired them to formulate thousands of guidelines so that they wouldn't even come close to the appearance of evil. Thus they had some 1,521 oral rules on how to keep the Sabbath. Such laws touched every aspect of their lives.
Beyond those qualities, the Pharisees were filled with missionary and evangelistic zeal and they were good "Adventists." That is, they awaited the coming of the Messiah with anticipation. Many of them believed that the Messiah (Christ) would come if the Torah (law) were kept perfectly for one day.
The Pharisees were like some of us church members. They believed all the right things and desired to do good.
But there is the tragedy: they fell short of the kingdom. We need to take stock of ourselves so that we don't end up like the Pharisees of old. They may have been the best people in the church--but somehow they weren't good enough.
Jesus knocked His hearers flat when He announced that their righteousness must exceed that of the religious athletes of the day. How?
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:20, RSV.
One of Jesus' most astounding statements, it must have all but knocked the disciples and other hearers off their feet. How could anyone have more righteousness than the scribes and Pharisees?
At this point we need to let Jesus speak and not try to collapse Him into Paul. His concern is not that His followers needed His righteousness or righteousness by faith to be superior to the Pharisees. To the contrary, He is explicit that it is "your righteousness" (mine and yours) that must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees.
But how could that be? After all, the scribes were a class that spent all their time in teaching and expounding God's law. They had a superabundance of dedication to God's Word. And the Pharisees were not merely good men--they were the best of men. They were a select class of some 6,000 individuals who had totally dedicated their lives to bringing about the coming of the Christ through living sinless lives.
Who could have more righteousness than a Pharisee? Look at them. First, they were lovers and protectors of the Bible as the Word of God. They had developed their massive oral tradition to preserve the true meaning of Scripture.
Second, Pharisees were completely devoted to God's law. They loved it with all their heart. Their dedication to keeping it inspired them to formulate thousands of guidelines so that they wouldn't even come close to the appearance of evil. Thus they had some 1,521 oral rules on how to keep the Sabbath. Such laws touched every aspect of their lives.
Beyond those qualities, the Pharisees were filled with missionary and evangelistic zeal and they were good "Adventists." That is, they awaited the coming of the Messiah with anticipation. Many of them believed that the Messiah (Christ) would come if the Torah (law) were kept perfectly for one day.
The Pharisees were like some of us church members. They believed all the right things and desired to do good.
But there is the tragedy: they fell short of the kingdom. We need to take stock of ourselves so that we don't end up like the Pharisees of old. They may have been the best people in the church--but somehow they weren't good enough.
Jesus knocked His hearers flat when He announced that their righteousness must exceed that of the religious athletes of the day. How?
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