The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5:20

The Scribes and the Pharisees were slaves to rules and regulations. They were like blind leaders leading the blind. The Lord says that these stern teachers of the law loved to lay heavy burdens on the people preventing, not only the poor people whom they burdened with laws from entering the Kingdom of Heaven, but even preventing themselves from entering the Kingdom through their rigidity and lack of compassion ( Matthew 23:4 ).

The Lord’s Kingdom is not about rules and regulations; it is not about the mere observance of laws. The law, according to St. Paul, brings death ( 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 ). The spirit, on the other hand, brings life (John 6:63). And Jesus has given us a new spirit –the Holy Spirit whose fruit is love.

Love is what Jesus’s message is all about. Before He left this earth, He gave us a new commandment that sums up all the commandments of the law:

” Love one another as I have loved you.”

This new commandment is no mere aspiration; it is not a pie-in-the-sky abstract concept. It is very concrete, very real. Jesus spells it out in Matthew 25 when He tells us what He wants us to do. He wants us to treat one another, especially the least among us, as we would treat Himself. We will be judged by our love for one another whenever we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick and those in prison for “whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren,” He says, “You do unto me.” This is the righteousness that surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees. This is the righteousness that is born of love for our brothers and sisters in need. This is the righteousness that is modeled on the example of Christ.

The gospel is about following the example of Christ who has freed us from the control of selfish passions to love one another as he has loved us.

That is why the Lord says: “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Fr. Hugh Duffy