I woke up on Dec 14, 2019, at 4:41am with the verse fragment ringing loud and clear – “Your Righteousness Must Exceed That of the Pharisees.” I knew it was from Matthew 5:20 and that there was more to this invitation of conversation, so I grabbed my phone to take notes, a blanket, and went to the prayer closet.
Matthew 5:17-20 – 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
If the Pharisees were as perfect as you could get with obedience to the Law of Moses, how on earth does one exceed that? Obviously, if Jesus is telling us we need to do it, there IS a solution to this mystery.
Then the next verse came to mind.
Matthew 23:23 – Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
Matt 23:13 – 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
We see from these verses that outward obedience in the flesh and in the natural realm is NOT enough! It is possible to obey the Law without heart transformation as the Apostle Paul proved when he was still Saul and yet terrorizing the believers of Jesus Christ. It wasn’t until he had a spiritual encounter with Jesus Himself and then the power of the Holy Spirit through the hands of Ananias that the scales from his eyes fell off – a prophetic picture of the veil falling away from the eyes of his heart.
2 Corinthians 3:14-16 – 14 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. 15 But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. 16 Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
So, the Pharisees omitted the weightier things of the Law – Judgment, Mercy, and Faith – which are heart attitudes. They omitted that which didn’t bring them attention and praise from men because those things are in the spirit-realm and not something they can physically DO to be seen, although the fruit would definitely be observable by the prudent. They also omitted that which was impossible in their own human efforts.
The words “Vail (veil) upon the heart” also leapt out. We know that Jesus in His death tore the veil that separated the holy place/inner court from the Holy of Holies, where the ark of His Presence was kept. The Law of Moses is a prophetic / symbolic picture of the relationship the LORD wants with us.
The tabernacle has 3 parts, both the physical tabernacle that was carried through the wilderness by the Israelites and our bodies which are the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit. For the physical portable tabernacle, there was the outer court which contained the brazen altar for sacrifice of sin, the holy place was where the lamp stand (menorah), the table of showbread, and the golden altar for incense resided, then behind the veil that separated the Most Holy Place (also called the Holy of Holies) from the Holy place was where the Ark of the covenant/ His presence dwelt lit only by the glorious Law itself. (Prov 6:23) Inside that ark was the Law of Moses, the jar of hidden manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded which represented authority.
We are created in 3 parts – body, soul, and spirit. So, if you superimpose the pattern of the physical tabernacle upon our body, now we can see WHY the pharisees’ righteousness wasn’t enough – because they never enthroned the Ark of His presence within their hearts, and in turn God’s presence never dwelt over the mercy seat within their hearts. It is God’s presence that separates His people from the rest of the people on earth.
Exodus 33: 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people. 14 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. 15 And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. 16 For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
Let’s bunny hop over to Hebrews 4 to see another angle of where the Pharisees were lacking. How did they shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men?
Hebrews 4: Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, AS WELL AS UNTO THEM: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. 3 For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the works were finished from the foundation of the world.4 For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works.5 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest.6 Seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first preached ENTERED NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF:
We know from this passage that it was NOT the gospel of the cross that was preached that will get us into His rest, but rather the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven that requires obedience to God’s commandments to be great in the Kingdom, which we know by Matt 10:7-8 it preached as follows:
Matt 10:7-8 – 7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
Matt 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
This requires Judgment, Mercy, and Faith to accomplish. It also requires the presence of God that is birthed through relationship with Him. The Apostle Paul said it well.
1 Cor 4: 20 For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
The fleshly Pharisees exposed their heart attitude in many different ways throughout the gospels, “(S)He DESERVES to be in that predicament and receiving the punishment that is due.” Our spirits when communing with the Holy Spirit will say, “(S)He DESERVES to be freed from his demons & curses because Jesus already paid the ultimate price with His blood for his freedom.” They proved they were carnal and not spiritual.
Romans 7:14 – For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.
I’ll end this for now and call it part 1. I’ll post Part 2 shortly that will dig deeper into the biblical definitions of the words Judgment, Mercy, and Faith so we correct possible syntax errors, much like assuming the word gay in today’s culture still means happy can cause quite a social tangle!
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