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"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 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."
- Matthew 5:17-20
We are reading through the Sermon on the Mount, and began with the Beatitudes. Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught, "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." My study bible tells us that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions because He first performs God's will in all its fullness (3:15). Next does not transgress any of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46; 14:30). Also, He declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law (which He is about to deliver to His audience of disciples, a multitude who have followed Him from every region, we're told at the beginning of the Sermon). Finally, Christ grants righteousness, which is the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31; 8:3-4; 10:4). Jesus fulfills the Prophets by both being and carrying out what has been foretold by them.
"For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled." In the Greek text, Jesus says "Amen" for "assuredly." My study bible says it means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it." When used by Jesus in the Gospels, it's a solemn affirmation of something, a type of an oath. His use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations ( rather than at the end) is both unique and authoritative. Jesus declares that His words are affirmed before they are spoken, calling us to pay attention! A jot ("iota" in the Greek, from which we derive the letter "i") is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, while a tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters. So the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Christ's new teaching. My study bible says that all is fulfilled refers to the Passion and Resurrection of Christ.
"Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." My study bible suggests we understand that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole; the observance of the least commandments is to observe the whole Law. A violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law. Jesus' statement also reminds us of other statements He makes. In Luke 16:10, Jesus tells us "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much."
"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." My study says that a contrast between the righteousness that leads to salvation and that of the Pharisees must take into account that theirs was an outward, works-based righteousness. To exceed that in a righteousness of salvation means communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Christ.
Jesus begins to explain to us what it is to worship God in spirit and in truth. In John 4:23-24, He says to the Samaritan woman, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." First He teaches us the Beatitudes, a state of blessedness in discipleship in which we participate in this reality of the Kingdom. In yesterday's reading, He teaches what it is to hang fast to this new covenant, to be salt and light in the world, to live out discipleship as an active state of being that gives glory to God. And this is what is linked to the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees. It's not just about maintaining outward expression of conforming to commands. This is the reality of a life lived within a participation in spiritual community, in the Kingdom, and it takes heart, and soul, and mind, and strength (even body as my study bible says). Of course, Jesus as Incarnate Logos or Word means we've had hints of this through Jewish spiritual tradition all along! This is perhaps why He specifically names the Pharisees and their approach here. Psalm 51 declares, "You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise." Jesus Himself quotes two great commandments as those upon which hang all the Law and the Prophets. The first is "You shall love the Lord God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5). And the other Jesus couples with it is Leviticus 19:18, "You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord" (my italics). In Mark 12:33, Jesus says that to love God "with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." We note that this is a Kingdom of love, and that it has been so through the suggestion we find in both Old and New Testaments, just as the Word has always been the Word, present with God, and through Whom all things were made. Human beings want, and perhaps need, things to be broken down into things we can follow, things we can do and name, and rote up and claim for others to observe. But love goes way deeper than that. To worship in spirit and in truth is akin to love, something that claims all of us far more deeply than an outward observation. Love is something that keeps us going, pursuing, seeking His way, going further -- finding the things we don't yet know. Love fuels a kind of constant repentance, it is inseparable from spirit and truth, that search for the things that will help us to grow into discipleship more deeply, to not only dwell within this Kingdom, but to carry it with us as fully as possible, to grow in our ability to shine light, to be salt. This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees and scribes, and the Gospels will tell us the story of hypocrisy and things done to be seen by others. To love takes us to a completely different level, and a different kind of obedience, a different "flavor" (as Jesus teaches about salt, in yesterday's reading). To be in this world but not of it is to be a sojourner, like Moses, to give yet another "flavor" and truth from the Old Testament, but Christ fulfills everything by taking us all into His Kingdom.
