Overflowing Righteousness

Mercy and love are the defining characteristics of Christ’s disciples, and they reflect the essential nature of His Father – Matthew 5:43-48.

Jesus exhorted us to become “perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect,” yet how can we reflect the perfect righteousness of God? Our Lord's answer is clear - By performing acts of mercy, especially to our enemies. Self-sacrificial love goes to the heart of Christ’s message and demonstrates the merciful nature of His Father. Was the Nazarene not the Messiah who submitted to an unjust death for us when we were the “enemies of God”?

Performing acts of kindness is how we, as disciples of Jesus, “fulfill the Law and the Prophets,” and thus achieve a level of righteousness that “exceeds that of the Scribes and Pharisees.”

[Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash]

In the preceding clause, Jesus used a Greek term that means “superabounding, overflowing, overwhelming.” We are summoned not just to do a little “more than” the Scribes and Pharisees, but to engage in a level of righteousness that vastly exceeds that of the strictest religious sects of the Jewish nation. But is this not an impossible goal for imperfect human beings? - (Matthew 5:17-20).

As Christ’s followers, lavishing mercy on opponents and persecutors is not optional but pivotal. It is what it means to deny our needs and rights, and to “take up the Cross daily” and follow Jesus “wherever he leads.”

Despite the extreme difficulty of this challenge, Jesus declared, “Therefore, you will become perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” The conjunction “therefore” connects this exhortation to what preceded it, namely, Christ’s call for his followers to love their enemies. That is how we become “perfect as his heavenly Father” - (Matthew 5:43-48).

This paragraph concludes the larger literary unit in Chapter 5 of the Gospel of Matthew that began with Jesus declaring that he came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. What was germinal under the Law came to fruition in his life and teachings, and what Christ now requires of his disciples exceeds the requirements of the Mosaic Law and the “traditions of the elders” of Israel. Unless our “righteousness superabounds more than the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees” we cannot hope to enter the Kingdom of God.

Christ’s declaration concerning the “Law and Prophets” was followed by six examples of how our “righteousness” surpasses that of the “Scribes and Pharisees.” Jesus did not simply reaffirm the statutes of the Law - He pierced through to their true intent, and this comes to the surface in how we treat others, especially our “enemy.”

In the Law’s prohibition against murder, Jesus found the principle that we should not even harbor anger toward others. Hatred leads to bitterness, and bitterness to murder. Instead of just refusing to kill an opponent, we must seek reconciliation with anyone who offends us, and we must pray for our enemies and do them good. Evil is overcome by positive actions - (Matthew 5:21-26).

Likewise, we must do more than simply abstain from adultery, lying, or murder. Life in Christ’s Kingdom demands something more than conforming to the letter of the Law. It is insufficient not to lie. We must become truth-tellers in every interaction with others.

Jesus turned the idea of an “eye for an eye” into the moral principle of “turning the other cheek.” He repudiated the popular interpretation that added the clause “and hates his enemy” to the original love command.

Since the Law explicitly commanded love for fellow Israelites but omitted any mention of Gentiles, so the self-serving argument went, hatred of enemies was permissible under the Mosaic Law. Thus, the Scribes and Pharisees “transgressed the commandment of God by their traditions” - (Leviticus 19:18, Matthew 15:3).

MERCY, NOT RETALIATION

Jesus rejected the wrongheaded and, sad to say, popular interpretation of his contemporaries. Since the commandment of God prohibited any act of vengeance, the Law does not allow hatred for anyone, whether Jew, Gentile, friend, or foe, let alone committing acts of evil against them.

The man conditioned to think as the world does chooses to retaliate against anyone who acts against or simply threatens his interests. In contrast, as Christ’s disciples, we are exhorted to love our enemies, pray for them, and do them only “good.”

Does God not send His rain on the just and the unjust? This statement is derived from the final clause of Leviticus 19:18. After commanding Israel not to take vengeance, God stressed His identity: “I am Yahweh,” the God who shows mercy to the deserving and the undeserving, “Yahweh,” the One who keeps His promises. He is the God who “desires mercy, not sacrifice,” indeed, He rejoices in mercy and blesses the merciful!

If we limit God’s love to friends and family, how are we any better than tax collectors or Gentiles, let alone the outwardly devout “Scribes or Pharisees”? Loving our enemies is foreign to our sin-dominated natures. Love is much more than an emotion or abstract concept. It is demonstrated in acts of mercy. As Paul wrote, “If your enemy is hungry, feed him! If he is thirsty, give him something to drink!”

Jesus engaged in the ultimate act of mercy when he “gave his life as a ransom for many.” Included under the term “many” are his friends and his “enemies”:

• “For if being enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by his life” – (Matthew 20:25-28, Romans 5:10, 12:20, 1 John 3:18).

Righteousness is not demonstrated by restraining ourselves from committing sin. It is manifested by the good we do to others, especially for our opponents and persecutors.

The simple command of Jesus to love our enemies is profound, and contrary to the practices and beliefs of this fallen world. His commandment to love our enemies demonstrates eloquently that in his Kingdom there is no place for hatred, violence, or retaliation.

It is through proactive love and deeds of mercy that our righteousness superabounds, and our abundance overflows to those around us.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Law and the Prophets - (Jesus came to fulfill all the things that were promised and foreshadowed in the Hebrew Scriptures, the Law and the Prophets)

• The Narrow Road - (To follow Jesus wherever he goes necessitates a lifetime of self-denial and sacrificial service for others and a willingness to lose all for the Gospel)

• True Greatness - (As his disciples, we are called to engage in self-sacrificial service for others just as Jesus gave his life as a ransom for many)