Righteous Enough?

          I always feel sorry for the people to whom Jesus was speaking when he preached what we commonly call "the sermon on the mount."  I know, I know, they were blessed to hear such undiluted truth and I'm sure it led many of them to salvation and I really do like fantasizing about what it might have been like to have been there.  I wonder what his voice sounded like.  I wonder what inflections he used to punch home a point.  I wonder if everyone in the crowd felt he was locking eyes with only them through his entire oratory.
          Still, it must have felt like a shaming punch in the gut to sit and listen to a compellingly convincing speaker tell you that your righteousness is so far from God's expectations that you don't stand a chance of living up to them and, thereby making it to heaven.
          I've sat through many sermons feeling amazed that God had designed a lesson just for me and made several hundred other people listen, too, just because they showed up ar church that day.  Surely every tender heart in Jesus' hearing on the mount felt that he knew their life and thoughts specifically--and they were right!
           Imagine hearing that every standard of righteousness on which you had based your eternal security was inadequate.  Before, you had felt pretty good about yourself because you'd never murdered anybody, but then you find out you've earned a place in hell just for cursing someone.  (Matthew 5:21-22)  Jesus tells you that if there is unresolved conflict in your relationships, God doesn't even want to hear your prayers until you've done your part to set things right.  (Matthew 5:23-26)  You have always thought you'd get points with God for staying out of bed with someone else's spouse, and then Jesus lets you know that if you even lust in your heart, God counts it as adultery.  (Matthew 5:27-30) 
          He goes on to share that you shouldn't get divorced, you shouldn't make oaths, and you should never take vengence into your own hands.  And then, just to put the final nail in the coffin and bury all hope of personal righteousness, Jesus says you must love your enemies.  How many in his hearing do you think had ever accomplished that?  The climactic command issued by Jesus in chapter 5 is a blow no one can recover from:  "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."  (Matthew 5:48)  This is the standard: perfection.  Nothing less will do.  The rest of his sermon that day in Matthew 6 and 7 only added to the discouraging list of human failings.
          So, here is why I feel sorry for Jesus' audience that day:  he'd just removed all hope that they could make it to heaven and he didn't go on to tell them that since their righteousness could never qualify them for salvation, he was going to pay the penalty for their sins with his death and guarantee their resurrection by his own.  They had to leave that day, convicted or in angry denial; intrigued to know more and continue following him or determined to discredit him if they could.

Colossians 1:12
...giving joyful thanks to the Father, who qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

Colossians 2:13, 14
When you were dead in your sins...God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, by nailing it to the cross.

          We are so lucky to live this side of the cross--to know the happy ending of the story of salvation!  We are blessed not to be left hanging, wondering if the conclusion of the matter is that we will all get what we deserve--the eternal fires of hell.  We are beyond blessed to have access to the righteousness of Jesus instead of trying to be righteous enough to qualify for heaven on our own.

Matthew 13:17
For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Lucky us!