Christianity is NOT a Costume Party
Matthew 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
One of the favorite holidays of many children is Halloween. Halloween is special to children (and childish adults) for two reasons: 1) because of the free candy. I certainly can get on board for that reason. 2) because they get to play make-believe and dress up in a costume like their favorite characters. When a child puts on a costume, in their minds, they are transformed into that persona. For instance, when they pretend to be a super hero, they imagine that they can leap tall buildings and run faster than a speeding bullet.
The fact is, putting on a costume that makes one LOOK like a character does not literally make them that person. In our text today, Jesus states this same truth as it pertains to our duties as his followers. There are some, that would attempt to put a on a Christian ‘costume’ to appear to be a follower of Jesus… but it is just pretend.
Jesus uses the scribes and Pharisees as his contemporary example of this. Jesus has a unique and Deistic ability to know the hearts and minds of people. He demonstrated this ability several times through out the Gospels. So Jesus is not making a biased judgment here. He is not making assumptions. He is not jumping to conclusions. Jesus KNOWS these men are pretending to act righteous just as clearly as he can see the clothing that they are wearing. We can see a clear and detailed assessment of this in Matthew 23. Here is just a few snippets.
Matthew 23:4-5 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. (5) But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
Matthew 23:25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.
Now notice how Jesus concludes this exchange…
Matthew 23:33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Jesus asks a rhetorical question in conclusion: How can you escape the damnation of Hell? Being rhetorical, the answer is obvious…. They can’t in that state.
With that understood, Jesus informs us, that if Our righteousness does not exceed that of these Pharisees, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. To understand this passage more fully, we must understand what righteousness means.
Deuteronomy 6:25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.
So righteousness is following the commands, wishes, precepts, and laws of God. It is…Doing right. In its purest sense, true righteousness is obeying the the Law perfectly. But here are some additional truths about righteousness.
Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:
2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
Based upon these three passages we must understand these three truths.
1. No one is able to be righteous on their own
2. We can be Made Righteous by the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross
3. Once we are made righteous, we must dedicate ourselves to living righteously
It is a well documented fact that they Pharisees and other Religious leaders of Jesus’ time were hungry for power and were much more concerned with holding on to their power than pleasing God. But if we put anything in front of God as a priority, Jesus makes it clear that he will consider us the same as these bad examples.
While Jesus understands that we are NOT capable of being righteous on our own, he died so that he could make us to be righteous. And once we obtain that beautiful privilege, we need to strive to be and demonstrate the righteousness of God. Anything short of that is just putting on a silly costume.
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
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