FOR I SAY TO
YOU, THAT UNLESS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS SURPASSES THAT OF THE SCRIBES AND
PHARISEES: lego (PAI) gar humin hoti ean me perisseuse (3SAAS) humon e
dikaiosune pleion ton grammateon kai Pharisaion (Mt
23:2, 3, 4, 5,23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28; Luke 11:39,40,44; 12:1; 16:14,15;
18:10, 11, 12, 13, 14; 20:46,47; Romans 9:30, 31, 32; 10:2,3;
2Corinthians 5:17; Philippians 3:9)
Charles Simeon writes...
IT would be a gratification to many
to know the lowest degree of piety that would suffice for their
admission into the kingdom of heaven. But to have such a line drawn for
us, would be by no means profitable: for it may well be doubted, whether
any, who under present circumstances are slothful in their pursuit of
holiness, would be quickened by it; and there is reason to fear that the
zeal of many would be damped. Information, however, of a nature not very
dissimilar, is given us; and it will be found of the highest importance
to every child of man. Our blessed Lord has marked out for us a line,
that must be passed by all who would be numbered amongst his true
disciples. There were certain characters, very numerous among the Jews,
characters much contemplated and much admired; these, he tells us, must
be surpassed. To equal the most exalted among them will not suffice: our
righteousness must exceed theirs, if ever we would enter into the
kingdom of heaven. The persons we refer to were the Scribes and
Pharisees; the former of whom were the learned teachers and expositors
of the law; the latter were a sect who affected peculiar sanctity, and
were regarded by the people as the most distinguished patterns of piety
and virtue. The two were generally associated together in the
Scriptures; because the Scribes, though not necessarily, yet, for the
most part, belonged to the sect of the Pharisees: and, so united, they
were considered as having all the learning and piety of the nation
concentred in them. But, notwithstanding the high estimation in which
they were held, our Lord most solemnly affirmed that none of them could,
in their present state, be admitted into heaven; and that all who would
be counted worthy of that honour, must attain a higher righteousness
than theirs.
This information, I say, is valuable;
because, though it is not so definite as to encourage any to sit down
contented with their attainments, it serves as a standard by which we
may try our attainments, and a criterion whereby we may judge of our
real state. (Read the entire sermon -
Matthew 5:20 Evangelic And Pharisaic
Righteousness Compared - Goto Page 98)
Righteousness (1343)
(dikaiosune
[word study] from
dikaios [word study]
= being proper or right in the
sense of being fully justified being or in accordance with what God
requires) is the quality of being upright. In its simplest sense
dikaiosune
conveys the idea of conformity to a standard or norm. In this sense
righteousness is the opposite of hamartia (sin), which is defined as
missing of the mark set by God.
In this sense righteousness is the opposite of hamartia (sin),
which is defined as missing of the mark set by God.
Dikaiosune is
rightness of character before God and rightness of actions before men.
Righteousness of God could be succinctly stated as all that God is, all
that He commands, all that He demands, all that He approves, all that He
provides through faith in Christ (Click
here
to read Pastor Ray Pritchard's interesting analysis of righteousness
in the Gospel of Matthew).
Spurgeon comments that...
The scribes and Pharisees were
supposed to be righteous beyond all others. “Nay,” saith Christ; “you
must go beyond them.” They were, after all, superficial, flimsy,
pretentious, unreal in their righteousness; and we must have a far
nobler character than they ever attained, or we “shall in no case enter
into the kingdom of heaven.”
Dwight Pentecost has some
helpful insights on this verse writing...
How good does a man have to be
to go to heaven? No man is so depraved that he thinks bad people go to
heaven. He instinctively recognizes that heaven is reserved for good
people. So the question is not, Will bad people go to heaven? The
question is, Just how good do good people have to be to go to heaven?...
Pharisaism was a clever system devised to circumvent the requirements of
the holiness of God and the demands of the Law. The Pharisees had the
Law in their hand. They knew the revelation of the holiness of God
revealed there. They knew the requirements of God as to the conduct of
righteous men, but they realized they could not attain that standard.
Therefore, they devised a system which essentially circumvented the
requirements of the Law to make it possible for men to attain a
substitute set of standards.
The Pharisees said that if one
lived up to their interpretation of the Law, they would be acceptable to
God. The Pharisees had codified the Scriptures into 365 negative
commandments and 250 (Ed note: actually 248) positive commandments, and
taught that if men kept all these, they would be acceptable in the sight
of God. But every one of the commandments they had set before men had to
do with external conduct. They were concerned only with external acts.
They had interpreted the Law of God to apply only to outward acts, never
to the thoughts that produced the act. They said it is wrong to murder a
man, but said nothing about the hate that produces murder. They said it
is wrong for a man to commit adultery, but nothing about the lust that
produces adultery. They said it is wrong to steal, but said nothing
about the covetousness which leads a man to steal. As long as a man was
not caught in some act, he was righteous in the sight of the Pharisees.
(Pentecost,
J. D. Design for living: Lessons in Holiness from the Sermon on the Mount. Kregel Publications)
Surpasses
(4052)
(perisseuo from perissós = abundant)
(Click
word study of perisseuo)
means to superabound, be in excess, to
o overflow, to excel or to be in abundance.
Perisseuo carries the idea of exceeding the requirements, of
overflowing or overdoing. It means to exceed a fixed number of measure,
to be left over and above a certain number or measure.
Perisseuo - 39x in 35v - Matt
5:20; 13:12; 14:20; 15:37; 25:29; Mark 12:44; Luke 9:17; 12:15; 15:17;
21:4; John 6:12f; Acts 16:5; Rom 3:7; 5:15; 15:13; 1 Cor 8:8; 14:12;
15:58; 2 Cor 1:5; 3:9; 4:15; 8:2, 7; 9:8, 12; Eph 1:8; Phil 1:9, 26;
4:12, 18; Col 2:7; 1 Thess 3:12; 4:1, 10. The NAS renders
perisseuo as abound(8), abounded(1), abounding(1),
abundance(3), abundant(1), better(1), cause to abound(1), cause to
abound*(1), excel(2), have an abundance(3), have more than enough(1),
having abundance(1), increasing(1),lavished(m)(1), left over(4),
leftover(1), live in prosperity(1), make abound(1), overflowed(1),
overflowing(2),surpasses(1), surplus(2).
Paul a Pharisee explains the
righteousness Jesus is referring to...
But whatever things were gain to me
(as a Pharisee, a Hebrew of Hebrews, etc), those things I have counted
as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be
loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but
rubbish in order that I may
gain Christ, and may be
found in Him,
not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but
that which is through faith
in Christ,
the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith
(see notes
Philippians 3:7-8;
3:9)
Writing to the Romans Paul
asks...
What shall we say then? That
Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even
the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of
righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not
pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over
the stumbling stone, (see notes
Romans 9:30;
9:31;
9:32)
Guzik illustrates just how
fanatical the scribes and Pharisees were with a modern story...
The Pharisees were so scrupulous
in their keeping of the law that they would even tithe from the small
spices obtained from their herb gardens (Matthew 23:23). The heart of
this devotion to God is shown by modern day Orthodox Jews. In early
1992, tenants let three apartments in an Orthodox neighborhood in Israel
burn to the ground while they asked a rabbi whether a telephone call to
the fire department on the Sabbath violated Jewish law. Observant Jews
are forbidden to use the phone on the Sabbath, because doing so would
break an electrical current, which is considered a form of work. In the
half-hour it took the rabbi to decide "yes," the fire spread to two
neighboring apartments. We can exceed their righteousness because
our righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees in kind, not
degree. (Matthew
5)
MacDonald comments...
Jesus uses hyperbole
(exaggeration) to drive home the truth that external righteousness
without internal reality will not gain entrance into the kingdom. The
only righteousness that God will accept is the perfection that He
imputes to those who accept His Son as Savior (2 Cor. 5:21). Of course,
where there is true faith in Christ, there will also be the practical
righteousness that Jesus describes in the remainder of the Sermon.
(MacDonald, W., & Farstad,
A.
Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and
New Testaments. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)
Scribes
(1122)
(grammateus from grápho = write) is literally a writer. A
grammateus includes the ideas of scribe, secretary, and
occasionally town-clerk (depending on the context). For the Jews a
grammateus was a man learned
in the Mosaic law and in sacred writings. In the Septuagint
grammateus was frequently used for a political officer who assisted
kings or magistrates by keeping written accounts of public acts and
occurrences or royal revenues (2Ki 12:10). Their education made them
indispensable in many civilizations, as they were needed to keep all
military, government, legal, and financial records.
The books of Ezra, Nehemiah,
Daniel, Chronicles and Esther also indicate something of the beginnings
of the movement, whereas Josephus and the NT speak of this group in a
more advanced stage of development.
Ezra was referred to as a
scribe...
"Ezra had set his heart to study
the law of the LORD, and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and
ordinances in Israel....Artaxerxes, king of kings, to Ezra the priest,
the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, perfect peace. (Ezra
7:10,12)
Like Ezra the earliest
scribes were found only among the priests and Levites. They
recorded, studied, interpreted, and often taught Jewish law.
Believing the Babylonian
Captivity and Exile had come because of a lack of knowledge of and
obedience to the Torah, the Law, the Israelite exiles devoted themselves
to the study of the Old Testament. On them fell the duty of
multiplying copies of the law and of teaching it to others (Ezra 7:6,10,
11, 12; Nehemiah 8:1,4,9,13)
The scribes became
experts in and were considered authorities on the interpretation of the
Scriptures during the Inter-testament Period. They preserved the law and
were its defenders, especially in the Hellenistic period, when the
priesthood had become corrupt. Scribes devoted themselves
to the careful study of the text, and laid down rules for transcribing
it with the most scrupulous precision. As time passed on the "words of
the scribes" were honored above the Law. It was a greater crime to
offend against them than against the Law.
Israel had two kinds of scribes,
civil and ecclesiastical. The civil scribes functioned somewhat
like notaries, and were involved in various governmental duties.
Shimshai (Ezra 4:8) was such a scribe. The ecclesiastical scribes
devoted their time to study of the Scriptures, and came to be its
primary interpreters and articulators. As Jesus explained in Mt 5:21-48,
despite their exposure to the Word of Truth, they missed the profound
spiritual intent of the Word, specifically God's intent to change and
effect our hearts. And they had fooled most of the populace who had a
common saying that...
“If only two people go
to heaven, one will be a scribe and the other a Pharisee.”
In view of this
high regard that Jesus' audience doubtless had for the Scribes and
Pharisees, one can imagine the shockwaves produced by His declaration
that the only ones who would go to heaven were those whose righteousness
greatly surpassed that of the Scribes and Pharisees!
Most of the
scribes belonged to the
party of the Pharisees, and were "professional students" and became the
defenders and authorities regarding the Jewish law, both Scriptural and
traditional. The Scribes were often referred to as lawyers
because they were entrusted with the administration of the law as judges
in the Sanhedrin (cf. Mt 22:35). They were a highly honored, prestigious
group among the Jews, who recognized them as the key scholars of
religious Judaism. The Scribes gathered around them pupils who
they instructed in the Law and they expected their students to revere
them beyond even what one would normally give to parents. The pupils
were expected to retain the material taught and to transmit it without
variation. Scribes were generally conservative and literal in
regard to their interpretation of Scripture, but they were also
generally legalistic and strict in regard to both the ceremonial
(feasts, days, etc) and the moral law. Those of the scribes who were
Sadducees were liberal in their interpretation of Scripture, not
believing in such things as the resurrection and angels (Acts 23:8).
Whether conservative or liberal, however, the scribes of Jesus’ day were
alike in their opposition to Him.
Although scribes were the
supposed experts in the Law, they like the Pharisees concerned
themselves entirely with external observance of the law and tradition
and paid little if any attention to heart motives or attitudes. The
righteousness practiced by the scribes and Pharisees also fell short of
God’s righteousness because it was partial, woefully incomplete. The
righteousness practiced by the scribes and Pharisees also fell short of
God’s righteousness because it was partial, woefully incomplete. In many
ways the scribes and Pharisees were like liberal theologians of our day
taking Scriptural terms and redefining them to suit their own human
perspectives and philosophy. They reworked biblical teachings, commands,
and standards to produce variations in keeping with their own desires
and capabilities. They knew they could not be holy in the same way
God is holy-and had no desire to be-so they simply changed the meaning
of holiness. The righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was
completely self-centered, produced by their fleshly efforts for the
purposes of self-glory. Their practices were designed to accomplish
external, showy things about which they could boast and be proud. Their
satisfaction came when they received approval and commendation from men
not the approval of God!
Scribes in the time of our
Lord Jesus, were the primary public teachers of the Jews and were
esteemed as the interpreters of Scripture...
And gathering together all the chief
priests and scribes of the people, he (King Herod) began to
inquire of them where the Christ was to be born. And they said to him,
"In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written by the prophet, 6
'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE
LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER, WHO WILL
SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL'" Matthew 2:4, 5, 6
And His disciples asked Him, saying,
"Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?"
Matthew 17:10
And Jesus answering began to say, as
He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the
Christ is the son of David? Mark 12:35
Scribes wore long
robes and loved pre-eminence
And in His teaching He was saying:
"Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and
like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the
synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, Mark 12:38,39
The manner of the scribes'
teaching contrasted with that of Christ
for He was teaching them as one
having authority, and not as their scribes.
Matthew 7:29
(note); cf Mark 1:22
Scribes would seat themselves in
the chair of Moses...
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes
and to His disciples, saying, "The scribes and the Pharisees have
seated themselves in the chair of Moses (equivalent to a
university’s “chair of philosophy.” To “sit in Moses’ seat” was to have
the highest authority to instruct people in the law. Jesus is stressing
the fact that this was an imaginary authority the scribes and Pharisees
claimed for themselves. There was a legitimate sense in which the
priests and Levites had authority to decide matters of the law (Dt
17:9), but the scribes and Pharisees had gone beyond any legitimate
authority and were adding human tradition to the Word of God);
3 therefore all that they tell you,
do and observe (as far as it was in accordance with the Word of God),
but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things, and do not
do them. 4 "And they tie up heavy loads (extra-biblical traditions,
legalism), and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves are
unwilling to move them with so much as a finger. 5 "But they do all
their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries
(to make them more prominent, even "super spiritual"!), and lengthen the
tassels of their garments. 6 "And they love the place of honor at
banquets, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7 and respectful
greetings in the market places, and being called by men, Rabbi (Jesus
condemns not the title per se but the pride and pretense they associated
with the title). Matthew 23:2-7
Scribes annulled the commandments
of God for the sake of their own traditions.
(Jesus declared they were) thus
invalidating the word of God by your tradition which you have handed
down; and you do many things such as that." (Mark 7:13)
Scribes were condemned by Christ
for hypocrisy
"Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel about on sea and land to make
one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son
of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23:15
Scribes were frequently Pharisees
and actually defended Paul
And there arose a great uproar; and
some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to
argue heatedly, saying, "We find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a
spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" Acts 23:9
Scribes were often offended at out
Lord’s conduct and teaching
But when the chief priests and the
scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who
were crying out in the temple and saying, "Hosanna to the Son of David,"
they became indignant, 16 and said to Him, "Do You hear what these are
saying?" And Jesus * said to them, "Yes; have you never read, 'OUT OF
THE MOUTH OF INFANTS AND NURSING BABES THOU HAST PREPARED PRAISE FOR
THYSELF'?" Matthew 21:15-16
5 And Jesus seeing their faith said
to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven." 6 But there were
some of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts,
7 "Why does this man speak that way? He is blaspheming; who can forgive
sins but God alone?" 8 And immediately Jesus, aware in His spirit that
they were reasoning that way within themselves, * said to them, "Why are
you reasoning about these things in your hearts? Mark 2:6-8
16 And when the scribes of the
Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax-gatherers,
they began saying to His disciples, "Why is He eating and drinking with
tax-gatherers and sinners?" 17 And hearing this, Jesus * said to them,
"it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are
sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." Mark
2:16-17
And the scribes who came down
from Jerusalem were saying, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "He
casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons." And He called them to
Himself and began speaking to them in parables, "How can Satan cast out
Satan? (Mark 3:22-23)
Scribes tested the Jesus so that
they might be able to accuse Him...
And the scribes and the
Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the
midst, 4 they said to Him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in
adultery, in the very act. 5 "Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone
such women; what then do You say?" 6 And they were saying this,
testing Him, in order that they might have grounds for accusing Him.
But Jesus stooped down, and with His finger wrote on the ground.
John 8:3-6;
The Scribes were active in
procuring our Lord’s death
From that time Jesus Christ began to
show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things
from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be
raised up on the third day.
Now Herod was very glad when he saw
Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been
hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. 9
And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. 10
And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him
vehemently. Luke 23:8-10
Scribes opposed the
disciples teaching about Jesus...
And it came about on the next day,
that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in
Jerusalem; 6 and Annas the high priest was there, and Caiaphas and John
and Alexander, and all who were of high-priestly descent. 7 And when
they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, "By what
power, or in what name, have you done this?" Persecuted the Christians
Acts 4:5-7; 6:12 ;
Pharisees
(5330)
(Pharisaios) is a word that is transliterated from the Hebrew.
The Hebrew is apparently derived from parash which in turn is
related to the Aramaic word peras signifying to separate, owing
to a different manner of life from that of the general public.
The problem with the system of
achieving acceptance with God is highlighted in Mark 7 in which Jesus
warned His disciples against the doctrine of the Pharisees declaring
that
IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' "Neglecting the commandment
of God, you hold to the
tradition
of men." He was also saying to
them, "You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep
your tradition. "For
Moses said, 'HONOR YOUR FATHER AND YOUR MOTHER'; and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS
EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER, LET HIM BE PUT TO DEATH'; but you say, 'If a
man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine you might have
been helped by is
Corban
(that is to say, given to God),'
12 you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his
mother;13 thus invalidating the word of God by your
tradition
which you have handed down; and
you do many things such as that." (Mark 7:7-13)
Torrey gives a Scriptural summary of the Pharisees:
A sect of the Jews Acts 15:5, the
strictest observers of the Mosaic ritual Acts 26:5; By descent,
especially esteemed Acts 23:6; They were characterized as Zealous of the
law Acts 15:5; Philippians 3:5 ; Zealous of tradition Mark 7:3,5-8;
Galatians 1:14; Outwardly moral Luke 18:11; Philippians 3:5,6 ; Rigid in
fasting Luke 5:33; 18:12 ; Active in proselytizing Matthew 23:15 ;
Self-righteous Luke 16:15; 18:9 ; Avaricious Matthew 23:14; Luke 16:14 ;
Ambitious of precedence Matthew 23:6 ; Fond of public salutations
Matthew 23:7 ;Fond of distinguished titles Matthew 23:7, 8, 9, 10 ;
Particular in paying all dues Matthew 23:23 ; Oppressive Matthew 23:4
;Cruel in persecuting Acts 9:1,2 ; Believed in the resurrection and
supernatural world (angels) Acts 23:8 ; Made broad their phylacteries
Matthew 23:5 ; Their opinions, a standard for others John 7:48 ; many
priest and Levites were of John 1:19,24; Many rulers, lawyers, and
scribes were of John 3:1; Acts 5:34; 23:9 ; Had disciples Luke 5:33;
Acts 22:3; Some came to John for baptism Matthew 3:7; As a body,
rejected John’s baptism Luke 7:30.
In the interactions with Christ: Often invited by Luke 7:36;
11:37 ; Condemned by, for associating with sinners Matthew 9:11; Luke
7:39; 15:1,2 ; Asked for signs by Matthew 12:38; 16:1 ; Tempted by, with
questions about the law Matthew 19:3; 22:15,16,35 ;Watched by, for evil
Luke 6:7 ; Offended, by his doctrine Matthew 15:12; 21:45; Luke 16:14;
Declared the imaginary righteousness of, to be insufficient For
salvation Matthew 5:20 ; Declared the doctrines of, to be hypocrisy
Matthew 16:6,11,12; Luke 12:1 ;Denounced woes against Matthew 23:13-33
;Called, and evil and adulterous generation Matthew 12:39 ; Called,
serpents and generation of vipers Matthew 23:33 ;Called fools and blind
guides Matthew 23:17,24 ; Compared, to whited sepulchres Matthew 23:27
;Compared, to graves that appear not Luke 11:44 ;Left Judea for a time
on account of John 4:1-3 ; Imputed Christ’s miracles to Satan’s power
Matthew 9:34; 12:24 ; Sent officers to apprehend Christ John 7:32,45 ;
Often sought to destroy Christ Matthew 12:14; 21:46; John 11:47,53,57
Barclay has some interesting
historical details about the Pharisees writing that...
In many ways the Pharisees were
the best people in the whole country. There were never more than 6,000
of them; they were what was known as a chaburah, or brotherhood. They
entered into this brotherhood by taking a pledge in front of three
witnesses that they would spend all their lives observing every detail
of the scribal law. What exactly did that mean? To the Jew the Law was
the most sacred thing in all the world. The Law was the first five books
of the Old Testament. They believed it to be the perfect word of God. To
add one word to it or to take one word away from it was a deadly sin.
Now if the Law is the perfect and complete
word of God, that must mean that it contained everything a man need know
for the living of a good life, if not explicitly, then implicitly. The
Law as it stood consisted of great, wide, noble principles which a man
had to work out for himself. But for the later Jews that was not enough.
They said: “The Law is complete; it contains everything necessary for
the living of a good life; therefore in the Law there must be a
regulation to govern every possible incident in every possible moment
for every possible man.” So they set out to extract from the great
principles of the law an infinite number of rules and regulations to
govern every conceivable situation in life. In other words they changed
the law of the great principles into the legalism of by-laws and
regulations.
The best example of what they did is to be seen in the Sabbath law. In
the Bible itself we are simply told that we must remember the Sabbath
day to keep it holy and that on that day no work must be done, either by
a man or by his servants or his animals. Not content with that, the
later Jews spent hour after hour and generation after generation
defining what work is and listing the things that may and may not be
done on the Sabbath day. The Mishnah is the codified scribal law.
The scribes spent their lives working out these rules and regulations.
In the Mishnah the section on the Sabbath extends to no fewer than
twenty-four chapters. The Talmud is the explanatory commentary on
the Mishnah, and in the Jerusalem Talmud the section explaining the
Sabbath law runs to sixty-four and a half columns; and in the Babylonian
Talmud it runs to one hundred and fifty-six double folio pages. And we
are told about a rabbi who spent two and a half years in studying one of
the twenty-four chapters of the Mishnah.
The kind of thing they did was this. To tie a knot on the Sabbath was to
work; but a knot had to be defined.
“The following are the knots the
making of which renders a man guilty; the knot of camel drivers and that
of sailors; and as one is guilty by reason of tying them, so also of
untying them.”
On the other hand knots which
could be tied or untied with one hand were quite legal. Further,
“a woman may tie up a slit in
her shift and the strings of her cap and those of her girdle, the straps
of shoes or sandals, of skins of wine and oil.”
Now see what happened. Suppose a
man wished to let down a bucket into a well to draw water on the Sabbath
day. He could not tie a rope to it, for a knot on a rope was illegal on
the Sabbath; but he could tie it to a woman’s girdle and let it down,
for a knot in a girdle was quite legal. That was the kind of thing which
to the scribes and Pharisees was a matter of life and death; that was
religion; that to them was pleasing and serving God.
Take the case of journeying on the Sabbath. Ex16:29 says:
“Remain every man of you in his
place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.”
A Sabbath day’s journey was
therefore limited to two thousand cubits, that is, one thousand yards.
But, if a rope was tied across the end of a street, the whole street
became one house and a man could go a thousand yards beyond the end of
the street. Or, if a man deposited enough food for one meal on Friday
evening at any given place, that place technically became his house and
he could go a thousand yards beyond it on the Sabbath day. The rules and
regulations and the evasions piled up by the hundred and the thousand.
Take the case of carrying a burden. Jeremiah 17:21, 22, 23, 24 said:
“Take heed for the sake of your
lives and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day.”
So a burden had to be
defined. It was defined as
“food equal in weight to a dried
fig, enough wine for mixing in a goblet, milk enough for one swallow,
honey enough to put upon a wound, oil enough to anoint a small member,
water enough to moisten an eye-salve,”
and so on and on. It had then to be
settled whether or not on the Sabbath a woman could wear a brooch, a man
could wear a wooden leg or dentures; or would it be carrying a burden to
do so? Could a chair or even a child be lifted? And so on and on the
discussions and the regulations went.
It was the scribes who worked out these regulations; it was the
Pharisees who dedicated their lives to keeping them. Obviously,
however misguided a man might be, he must be desperately in earnest if
he proposed to undertake obedience to every one of the thousands of
rules. That is precisely what the Pharisees did. The name Pharisee means
the Separated One; and the Pharisees were those who had separated
themselves from all ordinary life in order to keep every detail of the
law of the scribes. (Adapted from William Barclay's
The Gospel of John: Volume 1. The Daily Study
Bible Series, Rev. ed. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press).
YOU SHALL NOT
ENTER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: ou me eiselthete (2PAAS) eis ten basileian
ton ouranon
(Mt 3:10; 7:21; 18:5; Mark 10:15,25; Luke 18:17,24,25; John 3:3, 4, 5;
Hebrews 12:14; Revelation 21:27)
You shall not enter -
"Not" is the double negative (ou me) the strongest way to say "no" in
Greek.
Spurgeon comments...
These are solemn words of
warning. God grant that we may have a righteousness which exceeds that
of the scribes and Pharisees, a righteousness inwrought by the Spirit of
God, a righteousness of the heart and of the life!
Near the end of His sermon, Jesus
warned that...
Not everyone who says to Me,
'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who
does (present tense
=
habitually, not perfection but
the general direction! The "pattern" of their life) the will of My
Father who is in heaven. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord,
did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and
in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them,
'I never (not even at any time, never at all) knew you; DEPART FROM ME,
YOU WHO PRACTICE (present tense
=
habitually) LAWLESSNESS.' (see
notes
Matthew 7:21;
7:22;
7:23)
In John Nicodemus a
member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, commented on the
fact that many knew He had come from God because of His signs. Jesus got
right to the point and...
answered and said to him,
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God (Heaven).." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man
be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's
womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God (Heaven). (John 3:3-5)
Kingdom of Heaven (see
kingdom of heaven)
Place yourself for a moment in Jesus'
audience. You are a Jew and for years you have watched the Scribes and
Pharisees meticulously keep the Law (or what you thought was the Law).
And you knew that as it was said "if
only two men are allowed to enter Heaven, then one will certainly be a
teacher of the law and the other a Pharisee." No one else was even
considered a viable candidate in comparison! The need to surpass the
righteousness of the religious professionals would have come as a total
shock.
In Mt 5:21-48, Jesus proceeds to
illustrate what He meant by a surpassing righteousness, explaining that
the righteousness of the Pharisees was only skin deep. Jesus begin to
explain that God's righteousness called for true heart conformity to
God's holy Law, not merely external and ceremonial but real and
spiritual. Using six illustrations, Jesus explains what true
righteousness from a new heart should look like.
No Power
(Ro 7:6-note)
- I remember seeing a newspaper
photograph of three signs nailed to a big oak tree. Their message was
obvious. On the top sign were printed the words, "No Trespassing," on
the middle one, "No Hunting," and on the bottom, "No Nothing."
The newspaper's accompanying comment read, "'No Trespassing,' 'No
Hunting,' well, that's a landowner's prerogative. But 'No Nothing' makes
you want to beep your horn, shout out the window--anything to resist a
little."
The apostle Paul was very familiar with the urge behind such a response.
In Romans 7 he pointed out that the law actually awakens rebellious
desires within us (Ro 7:5-note). Being told not to do something excites our
sinful nature to express itself.
Our rebellious response to negative rules points out our need for a
strong, compelling motivation to do what's right. Paul said that we can
go beyond a list of do's and don'ts to a love relationship with Christ
Himself (Ro 7:6-note). The law carries with it the sentence of death because of
our inability to keep it (Ro 7:10-note). But being united to Christ results in
life.
By daily walking and talking with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we
can go from "no" power in the law to all power in Him. --M R De
Haan II (Our
Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by
permission. All rights reserved)
Though freed from the law
with its stern demands--
No longer ruled by its harsh commands--
I'm bound by Christ's love and am truly free
To live and to act responsibly. --DJD
In Christ, God's love was
expressed and His law was satisfied.
