5:20
Our righteousness has to surpass that of the Pharisees. Jesus and the gospel do not in anyway lessen the levels to which we are called. However, this does not mean that there is an even higher standard we need to reach in order to “get to heaven”. We are saved by grace through faith, not by works. But that salvation involves being born again, transforming our lives to be ever more Christlike. The succeeding verse will focus on this. The Pharisees focused on outward appearances, Jesus focuses on the heart, on inward attitudes, and it is our inward attitudes, our heart, that ultimately produces the outward actions. The Jews had produced hundreds of pages that supposedly interpreted the Law, leading to all sorts of regulations. Jesus’ teaching is not that the Law was wrong (He wrote it after all!) but that the Jewish religious leaders had completely missed the point. Jesus will now make the point clear.
5:21
Jesus now begins to explain what He means when He says our righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were seen as the strictest in terms of adherence to the Law. So saying their righteousness must exceed that of the Pharisees would be quite an amazing thing for the disciples to hear. When Jesus says “You have heard it said ..” He is not contradicting the Law, rather He is going against the teaching of the religious leaders. The Pharisees focused on the outward obedience, Jesus focused on the heart. “You shall not murder” is, of course, one of the ten Commandments (Ex 20:13). The teachers of the Law expanded on this to say that if you did murder someone then you would be subject to judgement.
No comments:
Post a Comment