“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its saltiness, how will it become salty again? It’s good for nothing except to be thrown away and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city on top of a hill can’t be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a basket. Instead, they put it on top of a lampstand, and it shines on all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven. “Don’t even begin to think that I have come to do away with the Law and the Prophets. I haven’t come to do away with them but to fulfill them. I say to you very seriously that as long as heaven and earth exist, neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality. Therefore, whoever ignores one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called the lowest in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever keeps these commands and teaches people to keep them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:13-20, CEB)
“I say to you that unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the legal experts and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Excuss me, Jesus, what does this mean?
So according to this unless we are more righteous than the Pharisees and the legal experts we will not see the kingdom of Heaven. So how can we be more righteous than them?
The law is not done away with until the end of times and heaven and earth are done away with and the new heaven and the new earth comes, that is what is meant by “neither the smallest letter nor even the smallest stroke of a pen will be erased from the Law until everything there becomes a reality.” So it isn’t that we aren’t doing away with the law.
But what does the law tell us? And is this all of the Law, all 613 laws? or is it the 10 commandments?
Well, either way, the law helps us know when we are looking at our own lives and not the lives of others. The commandments point us in the direction of living in loving relationships with God and with others.
So to be more righteous than others, look to others and see their needs and love them. Lift them up and build relationships that show forth love and understanding, grace and mercy. That is how we see the kingdom of heaven, and it won’t be something we wait for, we will see it now.
Love. Unconditionally, like Jesus.
Loving People. Loving God.
aSacredRebel 