Matthew 5:17-20

¹⁷ “Do not think that I have come to eliminate the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to eliminate them but to carry them out.

¹⁸ Because, I honestly tell you, until the sky and land pass away, not an bit, not a dot, will be eliminated from the Law until all of it is carried out.

¹⁹ Therefore whoever ignores one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom from the sky, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom from the sky.

²⁰ Because I tell you, unless your uprightness is greater than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom from the sky. _________________________________________

Greater uprightness

The scribes and Pharisees were regarded as the spiritual elite of Israel. They were the ones people pointed to when trying to measure their own religious standing. If anyone seemed upright before God, it was them. Their discipline, their public devotion, and their mastery of Scripture created an image of unmatched righteousness. So when Jesus told His disciples that these “super‑religious” figures were actually falling short, the statement landed with enormous force. It overturned every assumption about what true righteousness looks like. Jesus insisted that anyone hoping to enter the kingdom—God’s kingdom descending from heaven—would need a righteousness that surpassed that of the scribes and Pharisees. In other words, the very people who set the standard were not the standard at all.

Jesus’ words implied that the scribes and Pharisees had missed the heart of Scripture. They handled the text, but they ignored its deeper implications. They taught others to follow their interpretations, yet those interpretations often bypassed the weightier matters of God’s revelation. The Torah was meant to shape a relationship with God by teaching His instructions, His character, and His desires for His people. The prophets were meant to call God’s people back to that relationship whenever they drifted. But the scribes and Pharisees often reduced Scripture to external performance—rules to keep, appearances to maintain, and traditions to preserve.

Jesus redirected attention to the true purpose of God’s word. Scripture is not merely a religious manual; it is the revelation of God’s will. It teaches what God values, what He commands, and what He desires for His people. When Scripture is taken seriously—when its instructions are listened to, believed, and obeyed—it brings a person into alignment with God’s heart. That alignment produces a life of genuine righteousness, not the superficial righteousness of religious performance. And such a life becomes a light in the world, reflecting God’s character to those around it. The Bible is not simply a standard of righteousness; it is the means by which God shapes His people into instruments of His light.

The prayer that follows is a fitting response. It recognizes that faithfulness to Scripture is not achieved by human strength alone. It is God who enables His people to remain true to His word. It is God who teaches them how to use Scripture rightly—not as a tool for self‑promotion, but as a means of deepening their relationship with Him. And it is God who empowers them to live out the righteousness that reflects His light in the world.

LORD, enable us to stay true to the Bible, and allow us to use it as you intended, as a means of strengthening our relationship with you.