Reflection on Mt 5:20
For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
If we want to be honest about love, we need to lay the foundation of righteousness (or justice). Today, people often speak about love. You can hear this word in every other sentence; however, to many it means anything but true love. Righteousness towards God means to give Him what belongs to Him – the first place in our life, true worship, submission, and observance of His laws and commandments. Then we are obliged to practise righteousness towards our neighbours. Here, unfortunately, many Christians, even persons consecrated to God, lack a proper understanding of righteousness. The current trend is a purely subjective egocentric approach looking to one’s own interests and rights. The rights and interests of others are mostly ignored. This is the cause of quarrels, hatred, etc. People usually view righteousness through selfish spectacles of delusion. They demand too much from others, while they themselves have no sense of justice. Apparently the Pharisees used the same measure: outwardly they appeared to people as a model of piety and of keeping God’s laws; however, Jesus warns against their righteousness: “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” It is one thing to make mistakes and another to be willing to admit these mistakes, to make amends for them, and to learn from them.
Scripture speaks of God’s righteousness: “… that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.” (Phi 3:9) Jesus satisfied justice by dying for our sins. We who believe in Him thus have the forgiveness of sins and salvation in Him. This is God’s righteousness. Jesus made satisfaction for all our sins. We cannot be saved on our own, by our own works, without Christ. Pagan systems are based on various austerities aimed at achieving self-salvation. This is a false path that leads to self-deification and pride. The essential thing for us to receive God’s righteousness is true humility – to admit our sins, to give them to Jesus, and to strive to abide in union with Him to the end of our life. Whenever we fall, we must rise as soon as possible and continue on the Way, which is Jesus. This is the way of salvation and life. No one can be saved without receiving this righteousness of God. We need to know it. He who does not receive Christ does not receive God’s righteousness in which we are justified and in which our sins are justly paid for.
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