Radical Flourishing (Matthew 5:19–20)
In Matthew 5:17–18, the Lord Jesus makes clear that human flourishing is inseparable from lawful living. His unambiguous assertion that he came to fulfil the Law and the Prophets makes clear that human happiness, blessedness, and flourishing (vv. 2–12) require a radical commitment to all of God’s word. In the words of the psalmist, the blessed man is he who “delights in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers” (Psalm 1:1–3). The flourishing person is among “those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD!” The blessed are those who “keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart.” These words of Psalm 119:1–2 are an apt commentary or summary of what the Lord Jesus Christ is teaching in Matthew 5. It is a radical way of living.
The word “radical” means “at the root.” The flourishing life, as revealed in Scripture, and as expounded by the Lord Jesus Christ, is rooted in “the Law and the Prophets.” That is, it is grounded in a commitment to love, live, and therefore learn the word of God.
When Jesus was teaching these multitudes, they only had what we call the Old Testament. So when Jesus told them that they were not to even entertain the thought that he had come to “destroy the Law and the Prophets,” they would have heard him saying, “My teaching is no different than what God has already revealed.” Nevertheless, his teaching would be radically different from what their religious leaders had taught them. Their teaching led to human frustration and futility along with a sense of false security. Jesus’ teaching, however, leads to human flourishing.
This is why it was necessary that Jesus aimed at restoring the word of God to its authoritative integrity, for it had been distorted by the religious leaders. Jesus was saying, “I have come to reform your understanding of the flourishing life. The flourishing, happy, blessed life is one that lives under the authority of Gods revealed word.”
In a real sense, Christ did not come teaching a radically new way of living. He came to rescue it. We can put it this way: Jesus came to introduce the radically old way of living! This rescue, this redemption, this reforming of their understanding was essential because the multitudes were labouring under, they were heavily burdened with false views of true religion because of false views about true righteousness. We will study this briefly in vv. 19–20 under two headings:
- Radical Religion (v. 19)
- Radical Righteousness (v. 20)
Radical Religion
First, we consider the matter of radical religion: “Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (v. 19).
We must remember why Jesus made this statement, beginning in v. 17. Some may have thought, with all his healing and exorcisms, that he was bringing in a kingdom fundamentally different than what was previously revealed. But Jesus was no Marcion.
A well-known and quite good book on the life and ministry of Christ has a somewhat unfortunate title: The Day the Revolution Began. Jesus did not come to revolt against anything. He came to redeem, to restore a world—including the religious world of the Jews—to God’s intended purpose. This included—indeed, demanded—that he rescue God’s word from those who were mishandling it by misinterpreting and misapplying it. This is at the heart of these two verses, which is then fleshed out with examples from verses 21–48.
The first thing Jesus addresses was the Jews’ wrong idea of their religious relationship with God.
The word “religion” often carries a negative meaning. Is historic use referred to devotion to God. We see this in the well-known words of James: “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:26–27).
Under the leadership of the Pharisees and scribes (and, to some degree, the Sadducees), the Jews of Jesus’ day had been taught that religion was merely about externals. It was merely about ticking the box of keeping God’s commandments.
Now, that was a pretty big assignment, since the Old Testament records 248 regulations and 365 prohibitions. Jesus here says that, in his kingdom, which is God’s kingdom, life lived under his kingship requires full obedience. There is no allowance for shortcoming, no margin of error. No one who claims to be in his kingdom is permitted to treat the law loosely (“relaxes”). Those who do so are among the lowest in the kingdom, while those who honour God’s commandments will be honoured as among the highest in the kingdom. (This, of course, begs the question why, on several occasions, the disciples asked, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom?” Were they not paying attention?)
By this statement, Jesus made clear that real (that is, righteous and acceptable) religion is lawful. It is faithful to God’s word—all of it. Christianity is not lawless. It is lawful.
Christianity is not merely about the physical/material, emotional, or even spiritual benefits it provides (see Matthew 4:23–25). No, when one repents of their sin and trusts the Saviour, it ushers one into responsibility before God and man. We might call these religious responsibilities.
Christians are called to fulfil the responsibility of both obeying God’s word and discipling other subjects of the kingdom to obey God’s word.
Though, under the new covenant, the form of some of the commands have changed, the purpose and function have not. Take, for example, the food laws. Their purpose was to make a distinction between those belonging to God and those not belonging to him. And though Christians are permitted to eat bacon (and lots of it!), the principle of being different, of having a distinct, appetite remains.
As we will see, this statement was a link to the following, rather devastating, statement.
Radical Righteousness
The radical righteousness that Christ commands is seen in v. 20: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
While the crowd was digesting the sobering statements of vv. 17–19, Jesus upped the ante. That is, while his listeners perhaps were beginning to evaluate themselves (and one another!) concerning the greatest and the least in the kingdom, Jesus dropped a major hammer asserting that many, in fact, were in danger of not even entering the kingdom.
I would suggest that this was both a devastating and a dangerous statement.
Consider that the multitudes, for the most part, held the scribes and Pharisees in high esteem as religious leaders. They assumed that they were religiously sound, if not even religiously pure. I would imagine that they assumed these leaders were among the greatest in the kingdom, for certainly they did not relax even the least of the commandments. (In fact, they tithed even of their spices [Matthew 23:23]!). They were well known for teaching the people to keep the commandments.
But Jesus says that even the purported righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was insufficient for them to enter God’s kingdom. Imagine how the multitudes might have heard this: “If they aren’t in, how can we ever get in?” Further, consider how the scribes and Pharisees would have heart this!
In essence, Jesus was saying, “These religious leaders, who purport to be guiding you in your religion, are not only not even the least in the kingdom; they are not in it at all!”
Connecting v. 19 to v. 20, we can deduce what Jesus was saying: The scribes and Pharisees had relaxed, loosened, broken, dissolved, or done away with the commandments. No wonder they killed Jesus.
Jesus was saying that these so-called righteous religious leaders were unrighteous and ultimately irreligious. So what did Jesus mean that his hearers needed an “exceeding” righteousness.
He was not talking about justification by faith. This is a common interpretation. Though there is a legitimate application, and even legitimate connection, to that truth (as we will see), this is not at the heart of what Jesus was saying.
He is saying (and will flesh this out from v. 21ff) that the way the Pharisees and scribes taught and treated the commands was unrighteous because they did not go deep enough with them. They taught an external only approach to the commandments while ignoring the heart. Their righteousness was box ticking rather than heart changing.
As Jesus will conclude (48) the only kind of righteousness accepted by God and therefore the requirement for human flourishing is whole-personed righteousness.
To summarise, the righteousness one needs to enter the kingdom of God, and therefore to truly flourish (for it is impossible to flourish outside of a right relationship with God, is radical. It must go to the root, below the mere surface. The multitudes need this lesson, as did the scribes and Pharisees, as do we.
The word of God must be received in the heart and then evidenced in conduct. This is a failure with most religion. The flourishing life, as taught by Jesus, and as brought by Jesus, is one of radical wholeness. May God help us to be externally what we are internally and may what we appear to be externally truly reflect what we are internally.
The flourishing life is a humanly impossible life. We need the grace of God in Christ. This righteousness commences with grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone.
As we realise that we fall short, we fall on our knees asking for God’s mercy (5:2). Desiring a righteousness that is at the root of our being, we come to God with nothing in our hand but cling simply to the cross. Those, and those alone, will be granted entrance to the kingdom for, in Christ, they truly have a righteousness that exceeds that of the merely religious.
AMEN