How do we fulfill Matthew 5:20?
by Brian Knowles
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or centuries, Matthew
To grasp what Jesus is talking about here, we must enter into the world of the scribes and the Pharisees, and view Jesus’ statement from that perspective. We must also understand how the words “righteousness” and “kingdom of heaven” were used in those times.
Most modern Christians believe that the term “enter into the kingdom of heaven,” means going to heaven at death. This is incorrect. The term “kingdom of heaven,” as used by Jesus, means the manifested rule of God in the lives of his people. The terms “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God” mean the same thing. Many Jews did not wish to take the risk of using the name of God lightly, so they substituted the word “heaven” for “God.” In the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke), when we see the term “kingdom of heaven,” we can assume the writer is Jewish, or that he is writing for a Jewish audience.
Jesus’ movement represented the in-breaking kingdom of God on earth in those days. For Jesus, the Kingdom had two meanings: God’s rule in his people in this time, and in the world to come. In most instances, Jesus used it in the present sense, not futuristically. As Dr. Robert Lindsey writes:
“To Jesus, God has given
ruling authority with dominion and glory. Jesus now heads this kingdom: he
functions as its king…Luke recorded that Jesus said, ‘But if I drive out
demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.’ In
other words, when these redemptive works occur, Jesus’ dominion has become a
reality…to enter this kingdom or domain is to participate in God’s redemptive
activity (cf. Matthew 5:20 and 6:33). Over this kingdom God has appointed a
king, and he is the Lord Jesus” (The Expansion of His Kingdom, by Robert
L. Lindsey, pp. 9-10).
So Jesus is not talking about the future kingdom here, or about going to heaven; he is addressing the issue of who may, or may not, participate in his redemptive kingdom movement in the present.
When Jesus spoke the original words translated “righteousness,” he was undoubtedly using the Hebrew word tzedakah. This word, like most, experienced an evolution of meaning down through the ages. The basic meaning is “rightness” or “righteousness.” It is used to indicate “what is right, just, normal; rightness, justness.” It can refer to righteousness in government, or to justice. It can refer to what is ethically right. It can also mean “deliverance, victory, prosperity.” (It is used this way in the following passages: Isaiah 41:10; 45:8; 51:5; 42:21; Psalms 40:10,119:123.)
At one point it was used of people enjoying their salvation: Isaiah 62:1; 58:8; 62:2.
Dr. Roy Blizzard and David Bivin point out that, “By the time of Jesus, the rich Old Testament word tzedakah (‘righteousness’ in the sense of ‘deliverance’ or ‘salvation’) had come to have a second, more restricted, meaning – ‘almsgiving’ (monetary help to the poor). In the eyes of the Pharisees, almsgiving, prayer, and fasting were the three most important components of righteous living. Almsgiving was the most important of the three, and so synonymous with righteousness at the time that it came itself to be called ‘righteousness.’ In Matthew 5:20 Jesus is playing on these two meanings of the word tzedakah – the older, broader meaning (‘salvation’), and the newer, narrower meaning (‘almsgiving’).”
In Jesus’ time, almsgiving was viewed as a meritorious act. This explains why some blew a trumpet to announce their “righteousness” in giving alms (Matthew 6:2). Some Jews, like works-oriented Christians of today, believed that they could work out their own salvation on the basis of such works, rather than accepting the fact that there is no salvation for any of us apart from the applied grace of God. Note Romans 10:3 in this regard.
Bivin and Blizzard put Jesus’ words into language we can
understand: “If your tzedakah is not bigger
than the tzedakah of the scribes and Pharisees
– in other words, if it is the undersized tzedakah
of the scribes and Pharisees, and not that mighty tzedakah
of which the prophets spoke – then you will not get into the kingdom of
heaven.”
Put another way, Jesus is saying, “If your righteousness is reduced to mere almsgiving, then you’re not qualified to become one of my followers. You don’t fit in my kingdom movement. If you’re focused on your righteousness in the form of almsgiving, and not on God’s righteousness (his salvation), then you’re missing the mark.”
Jesus’ kingdom movement was bigger than almsgiving, thought that of course was important. Jesus and his followers operated in the supernatural power of God to bring about deliverance and healing. They met people at all levels, and at their true points of need. It wasn’t a matter of giving some down-and-outer a buck for a cup of coffee; they actually solved his whole problem (if he was willing). The story of the Good Samaritan is an example of truly ministering to a person’s real needs.
God is delivering people from all of their bondages, including the ultimate bondage of eternal death, and he’s doing it through Jesus Christ. This is the work of the Kingdom. To participate in that work, one must be willing to go beyond mere almsgiving and religious posturing. If someone needs a fish, you don’t give him a stone. If someone needs clothes, you find them clothes. If someone needs deliverance, or healing, kingdom people get him or her delivered and healed.
Some of the scribes and the Pharisees were content to continue with their fasting (“twice in the week”), their almsgiving (with great public fanfare), and their prayers. Jesus demanded more of his followers. He took them out into the real world to preach the Gospel, heal the sick, deliver the demonized, and make many disciples of Jesus’ teaching. Theirs was a life of self-sacrifice -- of giving their all for the sake of the Kingdom and its message. They faced hostile Jews, hateful gentiles, wild animals, storms, beatings, imprisonments, and myriad other hardships for the sake of the Gospel (cf. II Corinthians 11). Theirs was not a life of mere religious forms without substance. They went into the synagogues, the market places, and even the halls of government, to get a hearing for the Gospel. They told people what God’s salvation (tzedakah) included. They went out to “set the captives free.” This was the work of the kingdom. Only those who were willing to role up their sleeves and get their hands dirty were worthy of performing that work.
Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus by David Bivin & Roy Blizzard, Jr., pp. 109-111.
The Expansion of His Kingdom by Robert L. Lindsey, pp. 10-11
Strong’s Concordance – “righteousness.”
A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament by Francis Brown, S.R. Driver and Charles A. Briggs (BAG), pp. 841-842.