Perfect Righteousness from a Risen King

As we continue through the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus has been exposing a crucial truth: external righteousness is insufficient for entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 5:17–20 → Righteousness must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees Matthew 5:21–32 → Anger = murder of the heart, Lust = adultery of the heart Now → Jesus presses deeper: truthfulness, retaliation, and love itself

What we are discovering is this: The law is not merely about behavior—it is about the nature of the heart.

And now, in this final section of chapter 5, Jesus brings us to a staggering conclusion:

What kind of righteousness does God actually require?

Let me ask you something:

How good is “good enough” for God?

Where is the line where God finally says, “That righteousness will do… you’ve done enough… you can come in”?

Because if we’re honest, we all assume that line exists somewhere.

And not only that—we assume we’re somewhere near it.

So we start to measure ourselves:

“I tell the truth… most of the time.” “I don’t seek revenge… unless they really deserve it.” “I love people… at least the people who treat me right.”

And we begin to build a righteousness that feels…

reasonable. Manageable. Attainable.

Let me ask you—does that sound familiar?

We instinctively lower the bar. Not because we’ve studied God carefully… …but because we’ve studied ourselves honestly enough to know we can’t clear a high one.

So we adjust.

We redefine righteousness into something we can live with.

But what if Jesus refuses to play that game?

What if, in this passage, He is not lowering the bar to meet us…

maybe he is showing just how high it is

it so high that every excuse collapses, every comparison fails, and every one of us is exposed

Because here at the end of Matthew 5, Jesus begins to press into areas we thought we understood:

Truth-telling. Justice. Love.

Things we assume we’re doing… at least decently.

So here’s the tension we need to carry into this text:

Why would Jesus raise the standard of righteousness so high that no one in this room can possibly attain it?

And how does that connect to the cross we celebrate at Easter?

I. Truth Flows from a Transformed Heart (vv. 33–37)

A. Exposition

Again, “Heard”...explain

by the time of Jesus, the religious culture had developed an entire system of oath-making:

“I swear by heaven…”

“I swear by earth…”

“I swear by Jerusalem…”

These weren’t just dramatic phrases—they were carefully constructed loopholes.

Some oaths were considered binding

Others were considered less binding

And people learned how to navigate truthfulness based on what they swore by

So instead of truth being constant…

truth became conditional.

You could speak in a way that sounded serious—

without actually being accountable.

Jesus cuts straight through all of it:

We still do this right??

Did you do your chores?

Will you get your schoolwork done?

“Do not take an oath at all…

Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No.’”

In other words:

Your everyday speech should carry the same weight as what you think requires an oath

No strategic honesty.

Just truth.

Not enhanced truth.

Not reinforced truth.

Just truth that flows from who you are.

B. What is Jesus Exposing?

Jesus is not merely correcting speech habits—He is exposing the condition of the heart.

What kind of heart needs layers of oaths to be believed?

A divided heart.

A heart that:

Adjusts truth depending on the audience

Measures honesty based on consequences

Speaks carefully when it must—

but loosely when it can

This is a life where truth is not anchored in God…

but negotiated in the moment.

Let’s press this further:

Why do we say, “I promise”?

Why do we say, “I swear I’m telling the truth”?

Ever hear, or say:

“Can I be honest with you?”

Wait, have you just been lying this whole time???

What are we admitting in those moments?

That our normal words are not always trustworthy.

Jesus is exposing a terrifying reality:

When truth requires reinforcement,

integrity is already fractured.

C. Theological Insight

Scripture is clear:

God does not adjust truth.

God does not need to reinforce His word.

Numbers 23:19 ESV

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?

God’s Word is not sometimes reliable—

it is inherently true because it flows from His nature.

And here is where covenant theology presses in:

God is a covenant-keeping God

His people are a covenant-reflecting people

That means truthfulness is not merely ethical for us,

it is theological.

When we speak truthfully,

we are reflecting the God who cannot lie.

When we manipulate truth,

we are bearing false witness—

not just about facts,

but about God Himself.

Calvin captures this with piercing clarity:

“The tongue is the index of the heart.”

In other words:

Your speech is not the surface problem

It is the diagnostic tool

Just like the illustration with the glass last week...

Your words reveal what you truly trust, fear, and love.

E. Kids Question

Let me ask the children:

??If you tell your parents or your friends you’re going to do something…

Should they be able to trust you

without you saying, “I promise, I promise, I promise”?

Why?

That’s exactly what Jesus is teaching:

God wants our words to be so honest

that people don’t need extra promises to believe us.

F. Doctrinal Significance

We need to be very clear here:

Jesus is not giving us a better communication strategy.

He is not saying:

“Here’s how to speak more clearly”

“Here’s how to sound more trustworthy”

He is saying:

Truthfulness is not about speech technique—

it is about heart integrity.

The Pharisees focused on:

External precision

Verbal technicalities

Managing how righteousness appeared

Jesus goes beneath all of that and says:

If your heart is whole,

your words will be simple

If your heart is divided,

your words will need help

We must never reduce obedience to external.

Because you can:

Say the right words

Use the right phrases

Avoid obvious lies

And still have a heart that is not governed by truth.

II. Kingdom Righteousness Rejects Personal Retaliation (vv. 38–42)

A. Exposition

Again, You have heard...

Now we need to be very clear:

This principle—found in passages like Exodus 21, Leviticus 24, Deuteronomy 19—

was not given to promote revenge…

It was given to limit it.

It was a judicial principle,

meant for courts,

not for personal relationships.

It ensured justice was proportional

It prevented escalation

It restrained sinful vengeance

In other words:

Not more than justice

Not less than justice

But measured, objective justice under God’s law

But by Jesus’ day, that principle had been pulled out of the courtroom

and placed into the human heart.

It became personal.

It became emotional.

It became justification for retaliation:

“You hurt me—I’ll hurt you.”

“You take from me—I’ll take from you.”

“You dishonor me—I’ll return it.”

Jesus says:

“But I say to you, do not resist the one who is evil.”

Now He gives four vivid examples—not random, but escalating:

1. “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek…”

not left handed...right side means backhand

This is not primarily about physical assault—it’s about insult

A backhanded slap was a public humiliation

Jesus says: Do not retaliate to restore your honor.

2. “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic…”

Legal exploitation

Someone pressing their rights against you

Civil lawsuit

sue you for $2K

Maybe only actually owed $1K

But trying to squeeze as much as they can...

→ Jesus says: Give more than required.

What if...+court costs

Because you want peace between

3. “If anyone forces you to go one mile…”

A reference to Roman soldiers compelling civilians to carry burdens

A symbol of oppression and inconvenience

Example of Simon of Cyrene

→ Jesus says: Go two.

4. “Give to the one who begs from you…”

Personal cost

Generosity in the face of need

or even misuse

Do you see what Jesus is doing?

He is not giving a list of rigid rules—

He is exposing a new posture of life.

A life that is no longer driven by:

self-defense

personal rights

calculated fairness

But something entirely different.

B. What is Happening Here?

Jesus is dismantling something deep within us.

Not just behavior—but instinct.

He is confronting:

1. Self-Protection as Ultimate

Our natural reflex is:

Protect reputation

Protect comfort

Protect dignity

Jesus says:

That cannot be ultimate in My kingdom.

2. Personal Rights as Supreme

We live in a culture obsessed with rights.

And not all of that is wrong.

But Jesus presses deeper:

What happens when your rights conflict with righteousness?

Which one wins?

3. The Retaliatory Instinct

Let’s be honest:

`When we are wronged, something rises up in us immediately.

Not patience.

Not mercy.

Not prayer.

But justification:

“They deserve this.”

“I have a right to respond.”

“I’m just evening the score.”

This is where we must be careful:

What Jesus is calling for is often mistaken as:

weakness

passivity

enabling injustice

But that is not what this is.

This is active trust in divine justice.

Listen to Romans 12:19:

Romans 12:19 ESV

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Why?

Because God has not abandoned justice.

He has reserved it for Himself.

So the question becomes:

Do you trust God enough

to not take His role?

R.C. Sproul puts it with clarity:

“To trust God’s justice is to relinquish your own claim to it.”

That means:

When you refuse retaliation

You are not saying

justice doesn’t matter

You are saying:

I am not the judge.

God is.

And here is where this becomes deeply Christ-centered:

Because this is not merely something Jesus teaches—

It is something He embodies.

He was insulted—He did not retaliate

He was wronged—He did not defend Himself

He was crucified—He did not strike back

As Peter says:

1 Peter 2:23 ESV

When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

That is the heart of this passage:

Entrusting yourself

to the God who judges rightly.

D. Congregational Interaction

What rises up in you when you are wronged?

When someone:

disrespects you

misrepresents you

takes advantage of you

What is your first instinct?

Do you feel justified in “getting even”?

Do you rehearse arguments in your mind?

Do you replay conversations, rewriting them where you win?

Do you look for subtle ways to return the offense?

What does that reveal about what you believe regarding justice?

E. Doctrinal Significance

At the heart of retaliation is a theological conviction—whether we realize it or not.

It says:

“I must secure justice for myself.”

That belief assumes:

God may not act

God may not act rightly

God may not act in time

But a citizen of Christ’s kingdom lives differently.

Not because injustice doesn’t matter—

but because God’s justice matters more.

The kingdom citizen says:

“God sees.”

“God knows.”

“God will judge rightly.”

So when we refuse retaliation:

We are not losing.

We are bearing witness:

That God is just

That Christ is sufficient

And that we belong to a kingdom not governed by revenge

III. Kingdom Love Extends Even to Enemies (vv. 43–47)

A. Exposition

“Love your neighbor” had been twisted into:

“Love your neighbor and hate your enemy”

Jesus says: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”

B. Why?

Because: God:

Sends rain on just and unjust

Shows common grace to all

C. Theological Explosion

Jesus is not merely giving a command—

He is revealing: The nature of God Himself

God’s love:

Is not reactive

Is not earned

Is not selective

D. Congregational Question

Who is hardest for you to love right now?

What would it look like to pray for them sincerely?

E. Kids Question

Does God only love people who are nice to Him?

F. Supporting Quote (Spurgeon)

“To return evil for good is devilish, to return good for good is human, but to return good for evil is divine.”

G. Doctrinal Significance This kind of love cannot be produced by the flesh It reveals regeneration

V. The Risen Christ is Our Perfect Righteousness

Jesus ends this passage with “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

If this is the standard…

If truth must be perfect…

If retaliation must be absent…

If love must extend even to enemies…

Who can be saved?

Not who can improve—

Not who can try harder—

Not who can get closer—

But who can actually stand before a holy God

with this kind of standard for righteousness?

Because by now, if we have listened honestly…

We are not near the standard.

We are exposed by it.

A. The Cross

And this is where we must look—not to ourselves—

But to Christ.

Jesus did not merely teach Matthew 5:33–48—

He lived it perfectly.

Every word He spoke—

True

Pure

Without manipulation

Every wrong He endured—

Without sinful retaliation

Without self-defense rooted in pride

And His love?

Not just toward friends—

But toward enemies.

Even as nails were driven into His hands…

Even as He was mocked, rejected, and crucified…

He prayed:

Luke 23:34 ESV

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And they cast lots to divide his garments.

That is not theoretical love.

That is not poetic love.

That is perfect, divine, enemy-embracing love.

So hear this clearly:

Everything Jesus commands in Matthew 5…

He fulfills.

Where we failed in truth—

He was faithful.

Where we retaliated—

He entrusted Himself to the Father.

Where we hated—

He loved to the very end.

The cross, then, does two things:

1. It exposes our sin

This is what your sin required.

This is what my heart produced.

2. It accomplishes our righteousness

This is what Christ achieved for us.

He does not merely die as an example—

He dies as a substitute.

B. The Resurrection

But if Christ remained in the grave…

We would have no assurance

that any of this was accepted.

Easter declares something decisive:

The resurrection is God’s verdict.

It proclaims:

His righteousness was accepted

His sacrifice was sufficient

His work is complete bearing God’s wrath

**Propaganda Lyric

Wrote a check...

And even more:

It declares that His people are justified.

Not becoming more righteous

But DECLARED righteous

because of Christ.

The empty tomb is not just hope—

It is vindication.

The Father raising the Son is His public declaration:

“This righteousness is enough.”

And if you are in Christ—

That righteousness is yours.

D. Gospel Clarity

We must guard this carefully:

We are not saved by becoming perfect.

We are saved by Christ

who is perfect.

His obedience—counted as ours.

His righteousness—credited to us.

His perfection—our only hope.

But the gospel does not stop at justification.

The same risen Christ…

Now sends His Spirit.

And the Spirit begins a real work:

heart transformation

So that over time:

We begin to actually:

Speak truth more consistently

Lay down retaliation more freely

Love more like our Father

E. Supporting Quote (Piper)

“The only people who will be in heaven are perfect people—

but the only way to be perfect is by being clothed in Christ.”

That is the hope of Easter.

Not that we lower the standard—

But that Christ has met it.

And now, united to Him—

We are counted righteous

and being sanctified in him

So now we can finally answer the question we began with:

How good is “good enough” for God?

The answer is:

Perfection.

But here is the gospel:

The perfection God requires

is the perfection Christ provides—

and through His resurrection,

He now begins forming that same perfect love in His people.

Final Applications (Believers)

So church, hear this clearly:

1. Do not lower God’s standard—

worship Christ who fulfilled it

2. Do not trust your heart—

submit to the risen King

Your instincts will lead you toward self-defense, retaliation, selective love—

Christ calls you to something greater.

3. See Easter rightly

Not just as forgiveness of sins—

(Pause)

But as the beginning of new creation living

The risen Christ is not only your righteousness—

He is your life.

And by His Spirit—

He is making you into a people

who reflect the very character of your Father.

So as we come to this table this morning,

the question is no longer:

“Can I reach the standard?”

But:

“Am I resting in Christ…

and walking by His Spirit…

We are reminded of Paul’s words to the church in Corinth

Read...

1 Corinthians 11:23-26

We invite all to come

You don’t need to be a member here

But if you have been redeemed by Christ

we invite you to come

If this is new to you and you have not accepted Christ as your Lord

We ask you not to come.

Experience real thing before symbol

Before we come, allow us to bow our heads to prepare for the table

Again, not to look in yourself and see if you are worthy to come

But to ensure that you are trusting in Christ.

and as we discussed last week,

there isn’t a brother who has something against you

Lets bow in silent reflection and I will pray before we come.