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Kingdom Righteousness in Action
Matt. 5:21-48
“Technically” is a terrible word. It doesn’t sound terrible, but it is. We add the word “technically” to something we did or said which we probably know was wrong but are trying to justify. As children we say things like: “well, that is technically not against the rules.” As adults, we learn to say, “I technically told you the truth” or “Technically, I wasn’t wrong.” We know “technically” is a terrible word because we all hate it when someone uses it on us. How would you like it if a business partner told you he had been “technically” fair with the company profits, or if a spouse told you they’d “technically” been faithful to you, or a child that they had “technically” been honest with you. We would all think, “so you were not “truly” honest, or faithful or fair.” Technically is the opposite of truly. Sadly “technically” is the kind of righteousness we are best at. We learn the rules, then look for ways to “technically” obey or at least appear to obey without having it change the way we want to live. Jesus came to show us the right way to be righteous. Jesus came to show us what real righteousness looks like. Real righteousness is not external rule keeping. That is the kind of righteousness that the Pharissees pursued. Jesus condemned this way of seeking in Matthew 23:27-8, when He said, “27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
External acts can be a starting point for learning to live in righteousness but the goal is getting it in the core of our being. Real righteousness comes from abiding in Christ and letting His righteousness filter down into the core of who you are.
Last week we looked at the call of Jesus for us to pursue this kind of righteousness. This week we are going to look closely at some practical teaching as Jesus applies this approach to specific areas of our life. Each section will begin with, “You have heard that it was said” which contains a law that had been interpreted by the Pharisees in a very external way. Jesus then presents an alternative by saying, “But I say to you...” Each times Jesus encourages us to go beyond technical, superficial obedience to the law. The goal isn’t to appear right to others, but to be righteous in our souls. The goal of righteousness is not to achieve the bear minimum necessary to avoid punishment, but rather to become the fullest expression of whom you were created to be. If you haven’t committed murder, but your soul is still angry, you haven’t done your soul any good. That is what Jesus wants us to learn. The Righteousness of Jesus’s Kingdom will change your life, fulfill your life, but it has to filter into the core of who you are.
Righteouness and Anger (v21-26)
The first subject that Jesus tackles is murder. He says that being angry with your brother is on the same spectrum as murder. This might sound outlandish, but the truth is that murder comes from somewhere. People don’t just wake up one day and decide to do something contrary to their nature. In order to commit the act, we have to prepare our soul. In James 1:14-15, James talks about the way sin grows from temptation, to desire, to act, to death: “14 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. 15 Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.”
Everyone thinks that their own anger is justified. We point to examples of God becoming angry and we
use terms like “righteous anger or indignation” to make it sound like we are being the defenders of right.
We should be deeply skeptical of our own ability to use something as dangerous and volitale as anger to accomplish good. In James 1:19-20, James writes, “Everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.” Our anger doesn’t achieve the righteousness that we think it does.
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