Matthew 5:17-37: What is the Law of Moses (Gospel for February 16, 2013, 6th Sunday in Ordinary Time)

What did Jesus mean when he said: "I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven"?

The key to understanding this passage lies three verses earlier where Jesus also says: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.  I have come not to abolish but to fulfill."

When a Jew refers to "the law", he/she refers to the numerous positive (must do) and negative (must not do) commandments for a Jew to be considered righteous before God. I have come across references that the total number of these laws is 613, which is the sum of 365 negative laws (corresponding to the days in a year) and 248 positive ones (corresponding to the number or bones and organs in the human body (according to Jewish tradition).1

The laws are rather comprehensive and includes what we know as "the ten commandments" but also laws which: require the circumcision of males, helping a neighbor unload his beast, lending a gentile with interest but to a Jew without interest, not to eat a worm found in a fruit, not to cultivate the soil in a jubilee year, never settle in the land of Egypt, that a man should not wear a woman's clothing, that a woman shall bring an offering after childbirth, and so many other things.2  

You can appreciate how a typical Jew would have a problem remembering all these laws except for those who specialize in it, i.e. the scribes and Pharisees.  The latter knew their laws and equated following the letter of the law as being sufficient to be considered righteous before God.

Not so, said Jesus.  Jesus regards the literal interpretation as inadequate, though not false.  He shifts the ground from the act - whether you did something or not -- to the spirit of the law.  

Thus, not just murder is forbidden but the emotional anger that precedes a potential murder.  Not just actual adultery, but the desire that precedes it.  Not just performing acts of worship, but being reconciled with one's neighbor.  Not just not taking a false oath, but avoiding swearing at all (which means invoking God's name) and to simply tell the truth in everyday life.

Jesus was also against the complexity of the laws (which provided the scribes and Pharisees undue advantage) and so he simplified it.  Two chapters later in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus would say: "Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.  This is the law and the prophets."  (Matthew 7:12)  

While simpler, the demands of Jesus is a much tougher standard than just simply following the letter of the law.

Notes:

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_commandments

2 - A full list can be found here: http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm

Photo obtained from: http://www.freebibleimages.org/illustrations/pharisee-tax-collector/