Matthew 5:20

For. say unto you.

The "for" shows that this verse connects itself closely with the preceding, and that the Lord was alluding to the scribes and Pharisees.

Shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.

These claimed to exceed in righteousness any others in Israel. They were very punctilious with regard, to certain outward observances, but very negligent of the real spirit of the divine commandments. Yet they were revered by the people as the holiest of the nation. Yet he tells his disciples that unless they are more righteous than these they never can enter the kingdom. That righteousness was to be attained, not by self-righteous attempts at superior holiness, but by. complete surrender to the divine will,. dependence on the divine mercy, and. devout obedience to the commandments. It is the righteousness of those, all of whose sins are forgiven. In what follows the Lord developes the ethics of the new dispensation as compared with the old.