Matthew 5:20

Context

This verse belongs to the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5–7, the teaching Jesus gave his disciples and the crowds after going up on a mountain. In the immediately preceding verses, 5:17-19, Jesus declares that he came not to destroy the law and the prophets but to fulfill them. This verse concludes that section. In the verses that follow, 5:21-48, Jesus reinterprets the laws concerning murder, adultery, divorce, oaths, retaliation, and enemies, using the formula "Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time… But I say unto you." For this reason, the verse is also read as the introduction to that entire exposition.

The scribes were experts who copied and interpreted the law. The Pharisees were a group within Judaism known for their strict observance of the law. The word "righteousness" here (Greek dikaiosynē) is used in Matthew chiefly to denote a right life lived in accordance with the will of God. The "righteousness" of Matthew 6:1 and 6:33 translates the same word.

Interpretation

• Inward, qualitative righteousness: Many commentators do not take "exceed" as a quantitative matter of keeping more commandments. Instead, they read it as a qualitatively deeper obedience that addresses not only outward actions but also the motives of the heart. They point out that the exposition in 5:21-48 deals with matters of the heart such as anger and lust.
• Reformation traditions: The Lutheran and Reformed traditions hold that this standard is so high that no one can attain it by human effort. They therefore often read the verse as exposing human inability before the law and as pointing to the need for the righteousness of Christ to be imputed (credited) to the believer. At the same time, these traditions emphasize that those who have received justification will bear the fruit of genuine obedience.
• Holiness and sanctification traditions: The Methodist and Holiness traditions, heirs of Wesleyan theology, tend to emphasize this verse as a call to sanctification, in which those transformed by grace actually live holy lives.
• Dispensationalism: Some proponents of classic dispensationalism are known to have regarded the Sermon on the Mount as the ethic of the future kingdom and to have read this verse as distinct from the conditions of salvation in the church age. Views among dispensationalists today vary.

Debates and Issues

The central issue is the relationship between law and gospel. If the verse is read to mean that one enters the kingdom of heaven by works, it appears to conflict with the Pauline teaching that one is justified by faith. Denominations therefore differ in emphasis according to how they relate justification and sanctification.

Among Korean translations, the Korean Revised Version and the New Korean Revised Version render the key terms as "scribes" (seogigwan) and "kingdom of heaven" (cheonguk), while the New Korean Standard Version uses "teachers of the law" (yulbeophakja) and the native Korean term haneullara ("heavenly kingdom"). Matthew's "kingdom of heaven" is generally understood to be equivalent to the kingdom of God in the other Gospels.

Some have also objected to using the Pharisees merely as a byword for hypocrisy, arguing that this portrays first-century Judaism in an oversimplified way.

In the Korean Church

In preaching, the verse is often used as a text warning against formal, merely outward faith. It is frequently cited together with the expression "Pharisee-like faith."

Related Passages

• Matthew 5:17-19
• Matthew 6:1
• Matthew 23:23
• Romans 3:21-26
• Philippians 3:7-10