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

 "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

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 comments here that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions.  This happens when He performs God's will in all its fullness (3:15), as He transgresses none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30), He declares the perfect fulfillment of the Law which He was about to deliver to them, and finally by granting 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 the very things that they foretold.

"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 Greek, what Jesus says here (translated as assuredly) is "Amen."   My study bible defines "amen" as meaning "truly" or "confirmed" or "so be it."  Here, Jesus uses it as a solemn affirmation, a type of an oath.  His use of this word at the beginning of various proclamations (as opposed to at the end) is both unique and authoritative according to my study bible.  Jesus declares, in effect, His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (in Greek, iota) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet (equivalent to letter "i").  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Jesus' new teaching.  All is fulfilled refers to the fullness of Christ's Passion and Resurrection.

"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 comments that righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole.  That is, the observance of all the least commandments is to observe the whole Law.  At the same time, the violation of the least commandment is considered a violation of the whole Law.

"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 bible says that righteousness that leads to salvation has to exceed that of the Pharisees, as theirs was an outward, and works-based righteousness.   The righteousness of salvation, it says, is the communion of heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ.

There is a fullness in Christ that calls us to wholeness.  That is, to a perspective of wholeness in terms of our entire lives.  This wholeness seems to extend, also, in many directions and is not a simple understanding.  For example, Jesus talks about the fullness or wholeness of the Law, saying that not a jot or tittle is left out.  Elsewhere He will say that "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" (after telling the parable of the Unjust Steward; see Luke 16:1-13).   In the final verse of the same passage, He remarks that, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."  Thus, He gives another aspect of what it means that the righteousness He teaches is one of wholeness in which nothing is left out:  our hearts are serving one thing or another.  There is no exemption.  We must make a choice:  either we're "all in" for God or else we're not.  A partial righteousness isn't really righteousness; God calls us to fullness.  In this sense of a righteous life, it isn't as if we add up all our little discrepancies on one side and our fidelities on the other, and the biggest total wins.  It's more like our heart -- the center of ourselves -- is either with God or not.  Somehow there is something we love and prize above all else, and that guides our lives.  The message seems to be that it is not as if there are a few things that count and the rest doesn't or is unimportant.  It's all important.  It all matters.  And that's where we start.  While we will all make mistakes, the fullness of the life Christ teaches us about is a way of life through participation in Him, or rather in the life He offers us.    We love or we do not love, we seek that communion or we don't.  Each of the beatitudes or blessings of the Kingdom which Jesus taught at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount is important (see this reading), and He is still referring to these things which make His disciples "salt" and "light" for the world (see yesterday's reading, above).   We might prize being a peacemaker but leave out the part about meekness, accepting life on the terms we need to and bringing it all before Christ to find a righteous way through.  We might think that to be poor in spirit or to fully depend upon God is a worthy goal, but how do we actually do that if we decide we can leave out being merciful as part of our way of life?  It is in this kind of fullness that we really see the whole meaning of redemption and salvation, that it is for all the fullness of what it means to be you or me with nothing held back or left out.  Because if I leave out a piece of my heart, there is no telling where that little piece of exception will lead the rest of me, nor how it affects my thinking in all other dimensions.  I can't really tell, moreover, what I might be missing about the bigger things when I'm allowing myself to be distracted and pulled away by the littler things I think don't really count.  Jesus is telling us that His righteousness is all of a whole, just as our lives aren't fragmented into little pieces but are all a part of us, who we are.  And it is in the fullness of identity that we really find true discipleship, because in our communion with Christ is where we find who we truly are.  If our focus is only partial, we're dividing ourselves into fragments and pieces; the entire practice of discipleship, on the contrary, is meant to pull us all together in one place with one focus and all under the umbrella of Christ and where He places us.  Let us note also the focus on teaching that is brought up in today's passage.  Jesus says, "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."  Just as in speaking about believers as salt and light in yesterday's reading (above), Jesus is very conscious of speaking to His disciples as those who will set an example, who will not only be the nominal leaders of His Church, but also the faithful who mirror His righteousness so that everyone learns and understands from them.  If I sit at table as an upright person who brings honor to a community, but steal one of the spoons when I think no one is looking, then the little child to whom I pay no attention but watches what I do is going to learn precisely what from my example?  On the other hand, if I show mercy under the same circumstance, when I think no one is looking, and the child I'm not paying attention to observes that, what do you think that child learns about righteousness from me?  Each act will make an unforgettable impression, as each of us no doubt has had similar experiences.  Each acts speaks to the fullness of an attitude toward righteousness, either deprecating or elevating its importance in our esteem.  Let us consider, then, Jesus' words for today.  Is there some little corner of life that has been let slide because of its seeming unimportance?  This isn't about following rules so much as it is bringing everything to a prayerful presence in our communion with Christ.  We aren't being called toward a kind of obsessive-compulsive or overly scrupulous practice of our faith.  Rather, we're called to this wholeness, a life in which we bring our whole hearts to God for all things and grow and learn through time in that dependence.  Let us live this prayerful life aware of God's presence and tender mercies with us through all things.