The Sermon On The Mount v2 5 Surpassing the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees 2
In Matthew 5:17-20, Jesus made two startling statements that reveal how we should understand His teaching in Matthew chapters 5-7. First, He said that He did not come to destroy, violently remove the Law in an unauthorized way but to fulfill the Law of Moses and the prophets. Then in verse 20, He shocked the multipicture along with the religious leader s by saying unless your righteousness surpasses or exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. He plainly infers that unless radical changes were made by them, not even the religious leaders among the Jews would be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. What was wrong with their righteousness and how are we to behave so that our righteousness will please God today, going beyond their flawed righteousness?
