Trinity 6
Rev. Thomas Van Hemert
St. Matthew 5:17-26
Trinity 6
July 11/15, 2021
In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit.
“Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees,” says Jesus, “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now this doesn’t bode well for us. It doesn’t because the scribes and Pharisees were experts when it came to the Law. Who among us here today can say that He is an expert when it comes to studying the Holy Scriptures and living a perfect law-abiding life?
The scribes and the Pharisees were particularly faithful when it came to keeping the Law, or so it seemed. And because of this, they exhibited a sort of outward righteousness. They were righteous and seemingly good people in the eyes of their peers and within the public square. The scribes had knowledge of the Law. They were literate—they could read and write. Their job was to study God’s Law. Based on God’s Law, they were to draft legal documents—such as contracts for marriage, divorce, loans, documents for inheritance, mortgages, the sale of land and the like. Scribes were important, seemingly good people. And perhaps many of them really were.
Likewise, the Pharisees. They were outwardly good people. They were teachers of the Law. They worked to extend Jewish practices into life outside the temple. They worked to instill a greater piety in “the common people” and they promoted the true teaching of the Resurrection of the body after death. All these things are truly good. They loved Holy Scripture and studied it constantly. Thus, they loved following and teaching God’s Law, but they also loved the legal traditions of the day. They also loved their own manmade laws—laws that were not prescribed in Holy Scripture. This, unfortunately, was their downfall, as is seen quite clearly in the Gospels, especially when Jesus says in Mark’s Gospel, “In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” The Pharisees ascribed more often to the traditions of men over God’s Law. But Jesus also says, unless your righteousness exceeds that of both the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Now no one here is a scribe or a Pharisee. None of us here are experts. We are, in fact, quite the opposite. We’re sinners. None of us are particularly fond of God’s Law. We shy away from it. We are whom the scribes and Pharisees would point fingers at and call “tax collectors and sinners.” We know we’re sinners because we’re not particularly good at keeping God’s Law. Of course, one could argue and say, “Well I’ve never murdered anyone or coerced my neighbor out of $100,000 or stolen his house. I have kept God’s Law.” And if that’s true, God be praised! You have, in part, kept God’s Law. Yet, at the same time, sentiments such as this, if we boast in these things, make us comparable to that Pharisee who once said, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like the sinful tax collectors. Look at how good I am. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all I get. Look at how well I keep the Law. I am much better than some those sitting in the pew next to me.”
But then here comes Jesus, preaching the sermon of all sermons on the mountain for all to hear. Here, He expounds upon the Law. He expands the Law, in a sense, to get at its true meaning. He explains what His will, truly is for all of us. He has not come to abolish the Law. He has not come to give us a way out by destroying the Ten Commandments as if the Ten Commandments are an evil force wreaking havoc in the world. For the Law is good. And when we speak of Law and Gospel, we don’t speak of this doctrine as if it’s a form of dualism, like the “Yin and Yang Philosophy,” as if the Law is somehow bad but the Gospel is good. Both are good.
By Christ’s fulfilling of the Law, He does not make it obsolete. Both Law and Gospel are God’s holy Words to us. And so God, in His infinite wisdom and mercy, gave us the Law. Even the act of giving the Law was an act of mercy. The picture on the bulletin today shows this in great detail. It shows how the Law, in its goodness, was given to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Law, the Ten Commandments, curb our sin, they show us our need for a Savior, and they show us how to rightly and morally live. How are we to live? We live according to the Ten Commandments. Have no other God’s but the Triune God Himself. Do not take His name in vain. Remember the Sabbath Day by going to church, listen to preaching, receive the Sacrament for the forgiveness of sins. Honor parents and authority. Don’t murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t bear false witness against your neighbor. Don’t covet anything.
Should anyone dare to say, “Well yeah, that all sounds good to me. I do all of that,” or “Well I’ve done most of that. At least I’m doing better than that sinner over there,” Jesus would say, “Very well. But the Law demands even more.” For example, the Fifth Commandment, “You shall not murder,” in its essence also means that not only should you not murder anyone, but anyone who has ever been angry with his brother or sister in Christ will be liable to judgement. Anyone who has ever insulted his brother or sister in Christ by saying things such as, “You fool,” or any sort of insult or put down, or if anyone has ever even rolled their eyes when their brother or sister in Christ is talking, or if at any time held a grudge against anyone, if you have done any of this, you have broken the commandment. How many of us, even this morning, already may have cussed out the bad driver driving in front of us on the way to church or thought about giving them the finger? How many of us this week even, have allowed lustful thoughts to creep into our heads or have thought, “I have other things to do. I don’t need to come to church this week.”
Repent. Repent and receive forgiveness. Seek forgiveness where it is found: it is found in confessing your sins and by receiving absolution. The Law cannot do this. It cannot accomplish this for you. The Law cannot forgive sins. Forgiveness of sins is only found in the Gospel of Jesus.
The Law not only tells us what we shouldn’t do. The Law not only shows us our sin. For the new man in us, the Law also teaches us how to live. So if we have ever broken any of the commandments—if we have ever been angry with someone or slandered them, or spoken ill of them, the Law shows us how we ought to live. Go, don’t be divided and separated from your brother or sister. Go and be reconciled, help and support your brother or sister in Christ. Seek forgiveness from him and then come to the altar together.
It’s important to recognize the essence of the commandments. They’re God’s will for His creation. The Law is good. The Law is righteous. That means it is our moral standard. The one who is righteous is the one who keeps the Law perfectly. The scribes and Pharisees claimed to never have murdered anyone. Their claim was that they knew the Law, they taught the Law, and they kept the Law. It’s more than likely this is something you think you can claim for yourself as well. But this is a fantasy. In order to enter the kingdom of heaven, your righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. It must even be greater. Unfortunately, we are poor, miserable sinners. And that’s why this doesn’t bode well for us. Our righteousness isn’t greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees.
What’s even more disheartening is that Jesus never said the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees grants one entrance into the kingdom of heaven. So even if we were able to claim that we keep the Law as well as the scribes and Pharisees, the outlook still wouldn’t look good. How is it possible for us to achieve a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees? Left on our own, it isn’t. Does God leave us to wallow in our sin and just punishment? Should He leave us to wallow and perish in our sin? Is there a way out of this life of failure and suffering?
Do not think that Jesus came to abolish the Law or what the Prophets spoke. He came not to abolish them, but to fulfill them. The Law points to Christ. The perfect man, yet, He is God. He kept the Law perfectly for us since we could not. Jesus never sinned. He also came to fulfill what the Prophets said concerning Him.
Isaiah, for example, prophesied many things about the coming Christ. He spoke of Jesus’ miraculous birth in Bethlehem, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” Jesus came and fulfilled this prophecy. This was spoken hundreds of years before Jesus was born. His word is truth.
Likewise, Isaiah prophesied of Jesus, “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was laid the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” With clear words, Isaiah foretold that Jesus would die—that the Father would lay upon His Son the chastisement that was meant for us. But this is what mercy looks like.
This perfect, sinless, righteous Son of God, born of Mary carried His own cross and was executed in a public display, though He was guilty of no sin. His righteous exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees. Jesus was and is truly perfect in every way. He fulfilled the Law. He fulfilled all that the Prophets wrote concerning Him. And this righteousness of Jesus is given and imputed to us through the Means of Grace. This righteousness of Christ is given to us as if it’s our own, though we have done nothing to deserve it. Our righteousness doesn’t exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. It can’t. But Jesus Christ’s righteousness does and it’s given to us.
The Kingdom of Heaven is ours because of Christ, the Crucified. This is a love that makes no sense to the world. It is a stumbling block and folly to them. They think their righteousness and virtue signaling saves them. They have their own laws, their own manmade statutes. But theirs is the way of death. Christians have Christ’s righteousness. We have been united with Him in a death like His, in Baptism. So shall we certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. Jesus, in His perfect righteousness died to sin, once and for all, but now, He lives. So also must you consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
In +Jesus’ name.
