Matthew 5 - The Righteous are the Least in Heaven
 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      for they will be filled.Â
 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
It’s interesting reading the righteousness verses of this chapter without context. It tells a story. However, before going there, I would like to add at least some context to verse 20:
 17“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
First, it should be noted that Jesus is talking to the disciples. These are saved men that he is talking to. They are always Jews. They have lived their lives by the law, and are following their teacher, Jesus to hear what He will teach them. They know by now that He is the prophesied Messiah, but they do not know that He will dying… they are expecting Him to start His kingdom soon. And so, He is in part preparing them for the work that He must do, and that means giving them a perspective on the law. He knows that when Gentiles eventually the future Church, they will have to cope with whether or not they must follow the Law. Peter, in Acts will realize that the Law is not for the Gentiles. They need only believe in Christ to be saved… but then what the Jews? Paul will coping with how Jews should live Christ, and he will conclude that any sin, any act contrary to the Law, will be covered by Christ’s blood… “all is lawful, but not all is profitable.” And elsewhere he writes, “All things are lawful, but not all things edify.” And he writes this, not because the Law has changed, but because the Law is not redeeming… Christ is redeeming. Therefore, when Jesus is talking about the Law above, it is with the understanding that the Law, by itself, is not redeeming. However, it does provide a measuring rod by which to judge our lives. Now, read those verses again…
Christ has not died at this point. Though He will, His redemptive has not yet been done, and so He needs here to provide a foundation for the disciples to understand why His sacrifice will have been necessary… it is because the Law, while mandatory up until that point, is not redemptive. The reason it fails to redeem is not because it would not redeem if someone followed it perfectly for their entire life; it fails redeem because once you’ve broken one part of it, you broken the whole thing. It’s a like a large block. It only takes hairline fracture for that boulder to break, and it’s just as broken as if you’d taken a sledge-hammer to it. No in those days, the Pharisees were likely the most adherent to the Law… but even they broke it, because no man had ever lived his entire life without breaking at least one of them. That is why the Law of sacrifices was created… to cover those sins. However, it was to be Christ’s blood that wash those sins away… animal sacrifices could not do that. They can only cover, like foundation over a port wine stain… but Christ’s blood washes that port wine stain away for good… not more covering needed.
And people were living their lives, following the Law, sinning, giving sacrifices, but then being judged in Heaven for how well they followed the Law… and breaking even least of the Laws, and teaching others to do so, would put you among the least in Heaven… but at least you’d in Heaven, right? Well, only if your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees… not matches, but surpasses. So the Pharisees were not going to Heaven? What an indictment! They weren’t even going to be least in Heaven! And that is the moment when the Disciples may have realized how hard getting into Heaven on their own would likely be. But Christ did give them the key… righteousness!
Righteousness is believing God, obeying Him, and revering His name… but look at what else Christ added about righteousness before leading up to this…
 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
      for they will be filled.Â
 10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
      for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Righteousness is not something to just casually pursue. You must hunger for it! Thirst for it! Do that, and you will be filled. But if you do that, you will be persecuted. But no matter! Yours is the kingdom of Heaven! So, for your righteousness to surpass that of the Pharisees, must you follow the Law better? No. But you must believe God more. You must obey Him more. You must show more reverence for His name. It’s a tall order to be sure, but it provides clearer guidelines in my book than a set of Laws. Don’t worship the Law, worship God.
Later on in His ministry, Jesus would be asked what is the greatest law? He would say that it is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Do you believe that? Do you obey? Do you revere the name of Him who said it? Are you persecuted for it? Then yours is the kingdom of Heaven. Do you then teach not to follow the Law? Then you will be among the least in the Heaven… but at least you’ll be in Heaven.
Sounds like an awful way to end, but doesn’t the church frankly teach people they don’t have to follow the Law? Absolutely. The dietary laws, the festivals, etc. Even Jewish Christians go this route, including myself. It feels a rather conflicting leading up to the conclusion that I will be among the least in Heaven, but honestly that does not bother. I am not motivated by what my place in Heaven will be. I am motivated by my desire to love God and bring others to a redemptive relationship with Him… and if that means being among the least in Heaven, I will accept that… because we’re all the least in Heaven.
September 8th, 2009 at 6:39 am
Jesus wasn’t done with the verses above! Look at what he said in Chapter 6:
1″Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
“No” reward? Wow. That’s even worse than teaching others not to follow a certain law!
33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
I think that speaks for itself!