WHY KEEP THE LAW?
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5: 19-20)
Jesus offers up some interesting tidbits in these two sentences. First off, there is preferential treatment in heaven for those who do keep the Laws of God. And secondly, that it might not be very easy to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s look at that second one first.
“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Elsewhere and many times we can find Jesus condemning the so-called righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. But the point about this statement is why he condemns them: their righteousness is all on the outside. They “keep” all the laws in their actions, but never let the laws touch their hearts. The scribes and the Pharisees have forgotten God’s purpose in giving the laws. The failure of the scribes and Pharisees is not that they keep the Laws, but rather that they no longer see the Laws as a means of coming close to God but rather an end in themselves. To the scribes and Pharisees, the Laws must be kept simply because they are the Laws of God. They have lost all perception of the love of God, and because of that they have come to believe that God is somehow in the Law, rather than beyond it.
How many bow down before the rules and regulations as if they are an end in themselves? How many stick so strictly to the guidelines that they no longer see where the guidelines are going nor what the Big Picture is? We all know people in our lives whose perceptions are set that narrowly, who worry more about the Law and keeping it than they do about why God laid out the Law in the first place.
That is why Jesus says that to enter into the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness must be greater than the scribes and Pharisees. He isn’t talking about keeping the Law better than the scribes and Pharisees. As we continue on through the Sermon on the Mount, we’ll find that He is very aware of how easily we stumble. What He is talking about is how well we remember the purpose of keeping God’s Laws: that they are designed to bring us closer to the Holiness of God, to bring us into His presence to stand before Him. The Most High wants to bring everyone to that place, because He loves us so very much. He doesn’t want to leave anyone out. But the reality is that His very presence burns away unrighteousness. And if we have let the substance of our being become so contaminated by unrighteousness, there won’t be much left of us when we stand in that place.
Which brings us back to the warning Jesus gives in the first part of this passage. Whoever annuls or alters even the least of the commandments of God, and who teaches others to do likewise, that person shall be among the least in the kingdom of heaven.
Now that is an interesting point. Jesus does not say that such a person -- someone who is righteous enough to remember the purpose God has in giving the Law and who still decides to dismiss one such – is condemned and excluded from the kingdom of heaven. He just says that they are the least. He goes on to say that the person who does keep the Laws and teaches them to others will be called great in the kingdom. Such a one will be near to the throne of God and not far off.
These two verses are like breathing in and breathing out. We need to remember both parts of the passage, or we can end up like the scribes and the Pharisees, rigidly following forms while forgetting their purpose. The forms are necessary to get where we want to go – into the presence of God – and yet they cannot become more important than the destination. We cannot mistake the forms that are supposed to be our means of transportation for the final destination we are trying to reach.
We can ride the train of the Law right into the station called Heaven. We have to stay on the train, though. For the only entrance to the station is the gateway through which the tracks are laid. You can jump off the train and try to get to the station by other means, and you may indeed find the outer walls of it, but there is no other entrance to the final destination, the lobby that is before the throne of God. Let us not be one of those who has become so enamored of the train ride that we refuse to get off the train, even when it has reached the station.
Do not mistake the means for the end. The Laws are to bring us closer to the God who loves us. He has His reasons for them, and even if we don’t understand the specific reason, we should trust that He has a point to it. But most importantly, we should remember that our Lord is a merciful God, and His desire is that we strive to come as close to Him as we can. We are not excluded for failure to keep specific Laws, we exclude ourselves when we forget the purpose of them.
Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.
(Matthew 5: 19-20)
Jesus offers up some interesting tidbits in these two sentences. First off, there is preferential treatment in heaven for those who do keep the Laws of God. And secondly, that it might not be very easy to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s look at that second one first.
“Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Elsewhere and many times we can find Jesus condemning the so-called righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. But the point about this statement is why he condemns them: their righteousness is all on the outside. They “keep” all the laws in their actions, but never let the laws touch their hearts. The scribes and the Pharisees have forgotten God’s purpose in giving the laws. The failure of the scribes and Pharisees is not that they keep the Laws, but rather that they no longer see the Laws as a means of coming close to God but rather an end in themselves. To the scribes and Pharisees, the Laws must be kept simply because they are the Laws of God. They have lost all perception of the love of God, and because of that they have come to believe that God is somehow in the Law, rather than beyond it.
How many bow down before the rules and regulations as if they are an end in themselves? How many stick so strictly to the guidelines that they no longer see where the guidelines are going nor what the Big Picture is? We all know people in our lives whose perceptions are set that narrowly, who worry more about the Law and keeping it than they do about why God laid out the Law in the first place.
That is why Jesus says that to enter into the kingdom of heaven, our righteousness must be greater than the scribes and Pharisees. He isn’t talking about keeping the Law better than the scribes and Pharisees. As we continue on through the Sermon on the Mount, we’ll find that He is very aware of how easily we stumble. What He is talking about is how well we remember the purpose of keeping God’s Laws: that they are designed to bring us closer to the Holiness of God, to bring us into His presence to stand before Him. The Most High wants to bring everyone to that place, because He loves us so very much. He doesn’t want to leave anyone out. But the reality is that His very presence burns away unrighteousness. And if we have let the substance of our being become so contaminated by unrighteousness, there won’t be much left of us when we stand in that place.
Which brings us back to the warning Jesus gives in the first part of this passage. Whoever annuls or alters even the least of the commandments of God, and who teaches others to do likewise, that person shall be among the least in the kingdom of heaven.
Now that is an interesting point. Jesus does not say that such a person -- someone who is righteous enough to remember the purpose God has in giving the Law and who still decides to dismiss one such – is condemned and excluded from the kingdom of heaven. He just says that they are the least. He goes on to say that the person who does keep the Laws and teaches them to others will be called great in the kingdom. Such a one will be near to the throne of God and not far off.
These two verses are like breathing in and breathing out. We need to remember both parts of the passage, or we can end up like the scribes and the Pharisees, rigidly following forms while forgetting their purpose. The forms are necessary to get where we want to go – into the presence of God – and yet they cannot become more important than the destination. We cannot mistake the forms that are supposed to be our means of transportation for the final destination we are trying to reach.
We can ride the train of the Law right into the station called Heaven. We have to stay on the train, though. For the only entrance to the station is the gateway through which the tracks are laid. You can jump off the train and try to get to the station by other means, and you may indeed find the outer walls of it, but there is no other entrance to the final destination, the lobby that is before the throne of God. Let us not be one of those who has become so enamored of the train ride that we refuse to get off the train, even when it has reached the station.
Do not mistake the means for the end. The Laws are to bring us closer to the God who loves us. He has His reasons for them, and even if we don’t understand the specific reason, we should trust that He has a point to it. But most importantly, we should remember that our Lord is a merciful God, and His desire is that we strive to come as close to Him as we can. We are not excluded for failure to keep specific Laws, we exclude ourselves when we forget the purpose of them.
Labels: Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount
posted by Sarah | 9:29 AM
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