Do you know Jesus said that unless we exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees we will not enter into the kingdom of heaven? This is what He said,
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. {Matthew 5:20}
I don’t know about you, but I grew up scorning the Pharisees. Well, why not? All my life preachers in the pulpit preach again and again about the Pharisees and how the Lord hated them. Jesus condemned them. He told them:
Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? {Matthew 23:33}
Jesus called the scribes and the Pharisees serpents and a generation of vipers. Can you imagine Jesus calling you that? We can read the whole chapter of Matthew 23 and see what Jesus said about the scribes and the Pharisees. It is not flattering at all. As a matter of fact, the Lord was really hard on them, criticizing them left and right. So, I did not want to be a Pharisee. When someone calls you a Pharisee it literally means you’re a hypocrite. Who wants to be a hypocrite? Seriously, after seeing how Jesus feels about hypocrisy, who wants to be one? Who wants to be a Pharisee?
But there must be something about the Pharisee’s righteousness that commends them to God, because Jesus tells us unless we are better than them, we are in no wise will enter into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus told the multitude and the disciples,
“The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do…” {Matthew 23:2-3}
So the Lord approved of their teachings somehow. He doesn’t hate them for it. Apostle Paul was a Pharisee. He said that since he was a child he lived a life of the straightest sect of his religion being a Pharisee. Being a Pharisee in his time meant you lived a perfect life as a follower of God. You loved God and hated sin of any kind. You followed God straight through, not deviating from any of His commandments. You were perfect. You did not go to the left or to the right in following what God had commanded Moses to do. It meant you knew the law in and out, and you obeyed it.
Seriously now, not a lot of us can say that about our walk with God. The Pharisee’s life was in studying the word of God from morning until night. They had to know everything in it and follow it. Parents brought their children to the temple and left them there for the scribes and the Pharisees to bring them up in the knowledge of the word of God. Apostle Paul was one of those children. He mentioned in one of his writings how he was born in Tarsus in the city of Cilicia (the current Turkey), but was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a Pharisee, in Jerusalem. He said he was “taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the father and was zealous toward God.” They took obeying the word of God seriously. They wanted the blessings of God and His favor, and they knew that it started at an early age by knowing His word. How many of us now can say that about ourselves? Can we really say that we loved God and have followed His commandments since we were children? Can we really say as Apostle Paul had said concerning his life as a Pharisee, that we are blameless concerning the law? No, I don’t think so. Unless you’re a Pharisee and have known the word of God from since you were a child, and studied it morning, noon, and night, can we say we’re blameless? Not one of us can say we are as good as the Pharisee.
And yet here we are, Jesus is saying that we must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees if we want to enter into the kingdom of heaven. How in the world are we going to do it? How can we even come to being better than the Pharisees when we weren’t even brought up to know the word of God? It’s really simple: believe in Jesus Christ. We must believe that Jesus is the Messiah that God has brought to the world to be the Savior of mankind. He is God in the flesh. We must believe in Him and receive His word, and follow Him. That’s what He told the Pharisees, that unless they believed that He was the Son of God they will die in their sins. He told them,
I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. {John 8:24}
Despite all the righteousness of the Pharisees, they were still sinners. They still needed a Savior. They still needed Jesus Christ to make an intercession for the saving of their souls. They weren’t completely perfect. They still needed Jesus Christ. Jesus might have told the multitude and the disciples they should hear and do the teachings of the Pharisees, but he was also aware of their sins. They taught, but did not act on many of the things they taught. In short, they were hypocrites. He said to the crowd,
“…But do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.” {Matthew 23:3-8}
You see there is so much more than just fulfilling the works of the law. Jesus shows us clearly what was wrong with the Pharisees. He says to them,
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. {Matthew 23:23}
It’s good to do the law of God and do the works of righteousness. But in the process we must also remember judgment, mercy and faith. We cannot just follow the law blindly. We must also have the Spirit of God, His love and mercy and grace. We must also have compassion for people and forgiveness in our hearts for one another. When one falls we must uphold them and not condemn them. Because when it comes to holiness and righteousness, we all have come short of the glory of God. No one is perfect except Jesus Christ. No one can ever come near to the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We all need Him.
Christ came to fulfill the law of God. He came and fulfilled it and became the sacrifice of God that was needed to save mankind. He also fulfilled the law of mercy and grace. He did it all for us, so that through Him we can indeed exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and enter into the kingdom of heaven. Through Jesus Christ we can have God and eternal life with Him.
Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. {Matthew 5:17}
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. {Luke 13:3}
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. {Matthew 9:13}
For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. {John 1:17}
Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. {John 14:1-3}
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. {John 10:10}
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. {John 14:6}
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. {Philippians 4:13}
Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. {John 16:24}
Prayer
Lord Jesus I thank You for You in my life. I thank You for the way of salvation You have made at the cross for my sake. I thank You that You overcame the cross. Through You I have hope for eternal life.
Father, without you I could never exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees and be saved. But I hope in Your grace and mercy upon my soul today. I pray that You will save me and teach me the ways of God. Give me a heart to follow You and obey You until the end. I pray this Father in Your most wonderful and lovely name, Jesus. Thank You Father. Amen.
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