Matthew 5:20 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 5:20

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These words, we must remember, were spoken in the presence of the scribes and Pharisees, who were on the edge of the great crowd and listening in. The scribes and Pharisees are not to be admitted into the kingdom of heaven. It is a stunning statement; they had to listen. All their understanding was put into question whenever he spoke, but not in a negative way. With a single statement they are all riveted on him. John the Baptist had said something similarly devastating about them (Matthew 3:7-10), but these words marked Christ out in their minds as an enemy. Nevertheless Christ speaks the truth, and although these were the religious leaders of the people, he could not leave their apparent show of virtue in place when he knew it to be hypocrisy. The damage that they did by this false example to the people was immense and effectively blocked the way into the kingdom of heaven for the masses. If their version of righteousness was left to stand, then God does not see the heart, and an outward display of uprightness is enough to fool him as well as the people. This was their great secret and it was worth a lot to them. It gained the honour of the people and their public expressions of respect, but it was obtained by an act of deception, for it was all on the outside and there was no reality to it in their hearts; it cost them little to put on this show before the people. Christ, who had come to bear witness to the truth, and who is the light of the world must expose all falsehood and hypocrisy, for the light makes all things visible. It was inevitable that their hypocrisy would make them the enemies of God, for in deciding to follow that path they had made a decision to walk in the darkness, and now their ploy was exposed. Christ spoke to his disciples gathered around him in the hearing of the crowds. Salvation is by grace alone, but there is a standard to commit to for all who have faith and who wish to be members of the kingdom of heaven. That standard is far higher than anything that the scribes and Pharisees could attain to. Christ exposes all their righteousness as a sham, empty of any real value. To God this is nauseating because it is all put on like a mask, and behind it is something far worse than the common unrighteousness of the ordinary people. That is bad enough and will certainly take the people to hell, but the phoney display of integrity which the Pharisees put on was something worse, because hypocrisy knows the standard and yet does not keep it. It admits by this playact that it should be different, but since it does not want to change, it fakes righteousness as if that is sufficient. Your hypocrisy is exposed in the sight of God, Christ in effect says to them. To the people, via his disciples, he says, Forget about the Pharisees. They are no example at all. See through them and see them for what they are. Their display contains no true humility, no love for truth, no kindness and mercy. If you are to be in the kingdom of heaven, your hearts must at least contain some true righteousness, something that God sees is not entirely put on. The starting point is to know that you are a sinner, and to come for forgiveness. He teaches the people to see them as deceivers, as false examples of righteousness. Christ has to deal with the subtlety of wicked men, and he does so with force, for that is the appropriate response of heaven. Matthew 23 exposes their shallow masquerade.

Application

Where will I get righteousness from? I cannot produce it for myself. The scribes have failed to produce it. I will only get it by drawing it from Christ, by believing in him so I can be just before God. I hide under Christ’s wing, as though I had deserved heaven, and his righteousness is imputed to me. At the same time he plants real integrity in my heart, an integrity that hates all that is false and done only for show. I think of deep, deep nature of law of God.

There were whole areas of their lives the scribes did not look at, did not want to look at. Righteousness does not say, ‘I will vaguely repent every day, but tolerate large areas of my life which are not brought before God.’ It is possible that all of us have some areas we leave out of our self-examination. Repentance keeps us close to God. What is central to the Jews in Exodus? Sacrifice, the mercy seat. Sin must be dealt with in order to come close to God. The experience of closeness to God means repentance often. Repentance keeps you appreciative also. It keeps the heart soft and tender towards God. It keeps us close to one another. I repent and know I deserve nothing from the Lord, so how can I now disdain a brother in a censorious way? It gives me new tolerance and sympathy for others. It keeps us humble. There is a very simple route to humility – repent often. It restrains us also. I cannot be wayward when I repent often. When we do develop great sins, our repentance has become general only.

Do we repent in the right way? Let us be clear that to believe in God is not the same thing as repenting. The devil tempts us to think that because I believe certain things, it means I am right with God. Herod believed; he feared and protected John, but it never changed his life. Many of the chief rulers believed in Christ but never confessed him, never repented and came to him (John 12). It may be the same with those who are converted. Repentance may have lapsed to a very superficial state. We are apt to be superficial. There is always a tendency for us to come in general terms. Are our prayers of repentance always the same? We need to examine ourselves more closely before the Lord.

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Matthew 5:20 Commentary and Bible Study