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20 Another “I tell you,” though this time without the amēn, marks this out
as a further significant pronouncement, and one which takes the discussion
in a new direction.³² Whereas vv. 18–19 have reinforced the value of every
single aspect of the law, and have declared that a true disciple is one who
honors it both in teaching and in practice, this saying sets out a radically
new understanding of what it means to live under the rule of God.
We have met “scribes” in association with the chief priests as the recognized
theological experts in 2:4, and “Pharisees” in association with Sadducees as
members of a Jerusalem delegation in 3:7. This is the first time the two titles
have occurred together, as they will most notably throughout ch. 23. The two
groups together form the opposition to Jesus in 12:38; 15:1, but more often it
will be Pharisees alone (or in conjunction with the Sadducees in 16:1–12) who
fill this role, while scribes will eventually be noted as part of the Jerusalem
coalition which plans and effects Jesus’ death (16:21; 20:18; 21:15; 26:57;
27:41). While there is considerable scholarly debate over the precise meaning of
the terms,³³ it is generally agreed that scribes were professional students and
teachers of halakhah, the elucidation and practical application of law
(“bureaucrats and experts on Jewish life,” Saldarini), while “Pharisee” was the
title of a reformist movement or school within Judaism to which individuals
voluntarily adhered, and which was devoted to the meticulous practice of the
law, with special emphasis on such matters as ritual purity, tithing and sabbath
observance. The two terms thus represent distinct categories, but in practice the
aims and lifestyle of the two would coincide closely, with many professional
scribes also being members of the Pharisaic movement.
The scribes and Pharisees would have approved of what Jesus has just said in vv.
18–19, except perhaps the note of eschatological fulfillment which underlies
“until everything has taken place.” For them every detail of the law was
precious, and the aim of their rapidly developing legal traditions in addition to
the OT law was not to supplant it as a rule of life but to guide God’s people in
observing its demands in more and more meticulous detail. 15:3–6 will show
how in practice it could work the other way and ch. 23 will spell out many ways
in which their zeal for legal correctness could prove misguided, but in their own
intention and, as far as we can tell, in the eyes of the people at large, they were
staunch defenders and eager exponents of the role of the law as a practical guide
to holy living, and people respected them for it.
To speak of a “righteousness which goes far beyond that of the scribes and
Pharisees” might therefore seem to be an impossible, even ridiculous, ideal. As
long as “righteousness”³⁴ is understood in terms of literal obedience to rules and
regulations it would be hard to find anyone who attempted it more rigorously
and more consistently than the scribes and Pharisees. The paradox of Jesus’
demand here makes sense only if their basic premise as to what “righteousness”
consists of is put in question. Jesus is not talking about beating the scribes and
Pharisees at their own game, but about a different level or concept of
righteousness altogether. Ch. 23 will contain a series of illustrations of the
inadequate principles of the scribes and Pharisees.
For all their scrupulous observance of OT (and other) regulations, the scribes and
Pharisees are seen as standing still outside the kingdom of heaven. Within that
new régime different standards apply. Those who are to belong to God’s new
realm must move beyond literal observance of rules, however good and
scriptural, to a new consciousness of what it means to please God, one which
penetrates beneath the surface level of rules to be obeyed to a more radical
openness to knowing and doing the underlying will of “your Father in heaven.”
J. P. Meier describes Jesus’ demand as “a radical interiorization, a total
obedience to God, a complete self-giving to neighbor, that carries the ethical
thrust of the Law to its God-willed conclusion, even when this means in some
cases abrogating the letter of the Law.”³⁵ Only those who thus “go far beyond the
righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees” will be true subjects of God’s
kingdom. Those who can do no more than simply keep the rules, however
conscientiously, haven’t even started as far as the kingdom of heaven is
concerned.³
Among the rich variety of language associated with the kingdom of heaven, the
phrase “enter the kingdom of heaven,” which occurs again in 7:21; 18:3; 19:23–
24; 23:13 (cf. 21:31), is the most strongly spatial metaphor. The understanding
of “kingdom” as a dynamic term for God’s kingship (see on 3:2) requires that it
be treated as what it is, a metaphor, rather than importing inappropriately
concrete ideas of “place.” To enter the kingdom of heaven does not mean to go
to a place called heaven (though the eternal life of heaven will be its expected
outcome, see on 18:8–9),³⁷ but to come under God’s rule, to become one of those
who recognize his kingship and live by its standards, to be God’s true people.³⁸
This lengthy attempt to unpack the significance of vv. 17–20 and to find a
coherent ideology running through them may best be summed up in an expanded
paraphrase:³
“Do not suppose that I came to undermine the authority of the OT scriptures, and
in particular the law of Moses. I did not come to set them aside but to bring into
reality that to which they pointed forward. I tell you truly: the law, down to its
smallest details, is as permanent as heaven and earth and will never lose its
significance; on the contrary, all that it points forward to will in fact become a
reality (and is now doing so in my ministry). So anyone who treats even the most
insignificant of the commandments of the law as of no value and teaches other
people to belittle them is an unworthy representative of the new régime, while
anyone who takes them seriously in word and deed will be a true member of
God’s kingdom.
But do not imagine that simply keeping all those rules will bring salvation. For I
tell you truly: it is only those whose righteousness of life goes far beyond the old
policy of literal rule-keeping which the scribes and Pharisees represent who will
prove to be God’s true people in this era of fulfillment.”
The division of this paraphrase into two paragraphs indicates what I take to be a
significant shift of emphasis, taking the battle onto a different front. While vv.
17–19 have confronted those who are tempted to set the law aside, v. 20
confronts those who are so preoccupied with its literal observance that they miss
the whole point of the fulfillment to which it is pointing. It is this latter emphasis
which will determine the direction of vv. 21–48.
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