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 

 

In yesterday's reading, 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 explains that Jesus fulfills the Law in Himself, in His words, and in His actions by:   performing God's will in all its fullness (Matthew 3:15); transgressing none of the precepts of the Law (John 8:46, 14:30); declaring the perfect fulfillment of the Law, which He was about to deliver to them in this Sermon on the Mount; and granting righteousness -- which is the goal of the Law -- to us (Romans 3:31, 8:3-4, 10:4).  He fulfills the Prophets by both being and carrying out what 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."  Assuredly is "amen" in Greek (ἀμὴν).  It means "truly," or "confirmed," or "so be it."  Jesus uses it here, as elsewhere, as a solemn affirmation, a form of oath.  My study Bible notes that Christ's use of this word at the beginning of certain proclamations -- rather than at the end -- is unique and authoritative.  He is declaring His words affirmed before they are even spoken.  A jot (Greek ἰῶτα/iota) is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet, while a tittle is the smallest stroke for certain Hebrew letters.  Therefore, it is the whole of the Law that is affirmed as the foundation of Christ's new teaching.  All is fulfilled, my study Bible says, 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."  Righteousness according to the Law is a unified whole, my study Bible says.  The observance of all the least commandments is to observe the whole Law, while 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 explains that righteousness that leads to salvation must exceed that of the Pharisees because theirs was an outward, works-based righteousness.  The righteousness of salvation, it says, is the communion of the heart, soul, mind, and body in Jesus Christ. 

 

 What is the righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?  How does Christ fulfill the Law and the Prophets, and that, in turn, is passed to us?  My study Bible cites St. Paul, writing in Romans 1:16-17:  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The just shall live by faith' [Habakkuk 2:4]."  What all of this implies is what my study Bible repeatedly notes, and that is the indication that our faith is a personal one, for in Christ all of this is fulfilled -- and it is our participation in His life that lends righteousness.  That is, a kind of personal depth that mirrors the "knowing" that comes with a deepening communion and relationship to another person.  Only this participation and communion occurs on levels more intimate than we know, since it involves a wholeness of body, soul, and spirit -- and our Creator knows us more deeply than we know ourselves.  Indeed, it is He who awaits our response to His call to this depth:  "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me" (Revelation 3:20).  Of course, this is fully expressed in many ways in the traditions of the Church, but nowhere more iconically so in the Eucharist, in which we are encouraged to eat Christ's body and blood (see especially John 6:53-58, in which Jesus declares that "unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you."  What this means is that the Incarnation itself, Christ the Son who lives as righteous human being, is what we feed upon and grow within in order to find and grow in the righteousness that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees.  This indicates a deep, mystical relationship, one that penetrates within us and engulfs all that we are.  It is meant to be a journey, a lifetime process of salvation, in which the righteousness of Christ becomes something personal for us in relationship to Him, in which we commune and participate through our own struggles in life, and in our seeking of Him in our hearts.  Strangely, we may come to find that in so doing, we are also in communion with the "great cloud of witnesses" St. Paul describes in Hebrews 12:1.  And in this cloud of witnesses, we also find help, support, resources, and a kind of mystical communion that makes our faith a living righteousness, an organic and growing participation in something far greater than ourselves, and with so much to offer us as we grow within it.  The personal nature of this righteousness makes it dynamic and growing, more than a set of rules, and a deepening sense of its importance, impact, and depth within us.  It will call into question our assumptions and perspective, and transform who we are with growth -- bearing fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), those fruits "worthy of repentance" to which John the Baptist called his followers in preparation for the Christ (Matthew 3:8).  We live in a modern world which would seek to deny such perception and communion within us exists, parts of ourselves we might have lost touch with, but the whole world seeks this wisdom and perception which we so deeply need.  Let us hunger and thirst for His righteousness, for we shall be fulfilled (Matthew 5:6).  Jesus says in today's reading, "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."  Our communion is meant to be all in all, something that encompasses our lives and transfigures them, like leaven in a mixture of dough, a parable Jesus will preach in Matthew 13:33.  It is only through the personal that this is possible, a deepening growth and participation "in Him in which we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28).