Raising the Bar

"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."

-- Abraham Lincoln

I read this quote this morning and smiled. It complimented my scripture reading this morning very well. In Matthew 5, Jesus, having shared the famous beatitudes with the crowd on the mountainside, begins speaking about the Law. He states that not a stroke of the Law will pass away until, "all is accomplished." Then, He says that unless their righteousness is beyond that of those teachers of the Law, they could not inherit the Kingdom of God. This was quite a statement considering following the Law was very difficult and most people probably felt, if anyone can follow the Law the Pharisees could!

However, beginning in verse 21 through 48, He starts using a phrase repeatedly, "You have heard it said..." and follows that with, "but I say to you..." With each of these contrasts, he highlights a handful of familiar Laws and raises the bar. It was already extremely difficult, and then He makes it harder! What's that all about?

Well, I see two things in this passage. One, He goes to the heart of the issue, it's a matter of the heart. He was saying that if even if the Pharisees and teachers of the Law might on rare occasion get part of it it right, they aren't dealing with the heart. Secondly, God's standard was not following PART of the Law, SOME of it or even MOST of it, but rather, ALL of it. And, anyone failing to follow ALL of it would not see the Kingdom of Heaven. I have said it before, and I will repeat myself again, always obeying God is not difficult, it is impossible.

So why the high bar? Christ addressed this earlier in the passage, "until all is accomplished." You see, He is the only One who has accomplished all of the Law, and He is the One who can justly deal with the heart. Through Him alone can our righteousness surpass all the "i-dotters" and "t-crossers" Abe Lincoln's above words are appropriate here. The Pharisees expected everyone else to follow their version of the Law, and yet they themselves could never fulfill all of it.

This lie continues today. Oh we may not be concerned about how many steps we are taking on the Sabbath, but we often have our own version of the law that we ourselves cannot live up to, and yet, we expect others to live by it. Christ raised the bar, and unless our heart is changed, we will never be good enough. We must have a heart transplant. Christ has done that for us, and we must rest in His completed work on the cross. For in Christ, we are new creations. In Christ, we are set free from the Law of sin and death. So stop trying to jump over anyone's bar, Christ has done it for you. Abide in Him, and He will transform you.