A Better Righteousness

In Sunday school we often come to understand the Pharisees as Jesus’ primary antagonists in the Gospels. In our black and white thinking at that age it makes sense that if Jesus is the hero of the story, the Pharisees are the bad guys. And if Jesus were to tell us – as he does in Matthew 5:20 – that our righteousness is to exceed and surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees, we’d think they’re “bad” so that makes sense. But to those listening to Jesus, this would have absolutely confounded them. The Pharisees were the religious elite, who had turned the Old Testament scripture into 248 commands and 365 prohibitions. What does a “better” righteousness look like in comparison to that? Is it about adding commands until we get an even 1000? But in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus introduces a new equation for a better righteousness. And not just that, he provides example after example in how to apply it to our own lives. We’ll dig into that and more in tonight’s continuation of the “What If?” series – “A Better Righteousness.”