Do you remember the chief priests and scribes who knew the prophecy, yet missed the very important and magnificent night of Jesus’ birth? Well, we see the scribes and the Pharisees mentioned again in verse 20. “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Now the Pharisees and teachers, or scribes, were well-versed in The Law of the Old Testament. On the outside, they had all their ducks in a row. They were considered, at least in their own minds, to be the top tier among the righteous. So why was Jesus not only calling them out but also calling us to be more righteous than them?

Good question. In verse 8 in the Beatitudes he says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

If you haven’t seen “Rings of Power,” this might be a spoiler for you (but also if you have social media it is most definitely already spoiled). In the show, we are introduced to Halbrand. He’s a handsome dude, and he reminds many of us of Aragorn from the original trilogy. Unfortunately, and this is where the spoiler happens, Halbrand ends up being The Evil of Middle Earth. He is Sauron himself. He had the looks. He checked the boxes. But in the end, at his core, he was evil.

The Pharisees, Sadducees, chief priests, and scribes all walked the religious, Old Testament walk and talked the religious, Old Testament talk. They put on a convincing show for those around them. However, that show did not save them. Jesus put the bar very low for us when he called us to be more righteous than them.

In Psalm 24 David is asking who is worthy of ascending into God’s holy place, and later answers that question by saying only those of clean hands and pure hearts. In verse 6 it says, “Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.”

Going to church once a week is not the same as seeking the Lord. When someone seeks or searches for something, they are going hardcore looking for what is lost. 

When my dogs get out, I don’t poke my head through the door and call their names and close it again. No, in my panic state, I run outside, sometimes not even bothering to put on shoes, and call for them frantically. I don’t give up until I find them, and when I do find them, I make sure that however they got out before is taken care of. I love my dogs, so I am going to do whatever I need to do in order to keep them safe.

If we are seeking the Lord and striving for that relationship with Him, we won’t stop at just stepping foot inside a church building once a week. We will carve out time for Him and make Him a priority in our daily life. We shouldn’t be going to a building for looks and appearances. We should be going for the Christian community and worship. In our daily life, we should be seeking Him by spending time in The Word and prayer. Jesus stated plainly that our eternity depends on it.

Reflection:

• What is the evidence in your life that you are seeking God?
• How many days of the week are you reading your Bible? Praying?
• Is your heart crusty and dusty like the Pharisees, or is it being refined by the fire?

Family Application: Matthew 5

Author: Cooper Herrington

Today our Bible reading is from the sermon on the mount. This is Jesus teaching a large group of people. Jesus taught them about a lot of different things. One of the things that Jesus taught about was loving people who aren’t nice to us. Jesus teaches us to love our enemies. Love the people who aren’t nice to us.

Have you ever had someone be really mean to you? How did that make you feel? How did you treat that person in return?

When people are mean to us it can be really easy to want to be mean back to them. Jesus says that is the easy way. It comes easily to us to be mean back to the people who are mean to us. But Jesus calls us to love those people. We can love those people because Jesus loves us. When we are loved by Jesus, His love changes us. He changes us and helps us love other people.

If someone is not nice to you, step away, ask God to help you love them, and then love them. This can be hard, and we aren’t going to be perfect every time, but with God’s power and help we can do it.

• Prayer: God, help me love the people who are mean to me. God, change me and make me more like You. God, let me be loved by You so that I can love other people. Lord, help me love people like You love them. Amen.