The Dangers of Righteousness

A deep dive

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:20

What do you understand when you read this? Here’s an excellent quote that shows a common perception of what righteousness is:

“Righteousness is moral rightness and acceptability, especially before God. It points to a person's holiness and purity in heart and action. Self-righteousness, then, is a righteousness that comes from someone's own goodness and work. As Christians, we completely rely on Jesus' righteousness, not our own.”

Mike McGarry ( www.youthpastortheologian.com)

I’ve heard of this position before. Have you? How do we know that this is the truth? What will we find if we look at the true meanings behind the words used in English and Hebrew?

Righteousness

The core of righteousness in English is the word right which in turn has Germanic roots via recht. Recht in turn has ancient roots in the proto-Indo-European language meaning in a straight line. By comparison, the Hebrew word for straight is yeshar, not the word for righteous, tzedek. The concepts are not foreign to each other but are distinct. So this is the first step in introducing error into understanding this word. The second step is in the subsequent broader meanings of right that the word accumulated over history. Here are some historic meanings of right:

"just, good, fair, in conformity with moral law; proper, fitting, according to standard; rightful, legitimate, lawful; correct in belief, orthodox;" of persons or their characters, "disposed to do what is good or just;" also literal, "straight, not bent; direct, being the shortest course; erect, in conformity with truth, fact, or reason; correct, not erroneous;" of persons, "thinking or acting in accordance with truth or the facts of the case," 1590s. Of solid figures, "having the base at right angle with the axis," 1670s. The sense of "leading in the proper or desired direction" is by 1814. As an emphatic, meaning "you are right," it is recorded from the 1580s; use as a question meaning "am I not right?" (www.etymonline.com)

The natural transition to create an adjective from right first appeared as rightwise in English. Wise is the suffix that means the way of. The word courteous coming from French influenced its use and the word righteous was born along with its derivative righteousness.

What’s the point?

Well, none of that loaded history was around when Yeshua spoke to his Talmidim. His audience did not carry that cultural legacy. In Judaism, the word is tzedek. The core meaning is justice. What is justice? “In Jewish thought, justice isn't merely about how things work, but how they ought to be.” Rabbi Toba Spitzer

Now go back to read the words of Yeshua:

“For I tell you that unless your justice surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The typical argument saying that we can’t be “righteous” falls flat. What are we here for if we cannot engage in acts of justice? How many commands and verses are there that require that we act with justice protecting the widow, orphans, the stranger, and the unfairly condemned?

We have been blessed above and beyond measure by the author of life. His lowering himself has elevated us. What is our right response to this in the way of Tzedek? We must elevate others above ourselves just as Adonai elevated us above his own dignity. The more we have been blessed, the more we are obligated to give in order to live out justice. To whom much is given much is required. Our acts of humility are acts of divine justice of HaShem moving through us.

This is the way of tzedek, for the tzaddikim. This is the flow.

Baruch Hashem