Wednesday of Easter 5

Concerning Righteousness

Romans 3:19–26 (ESV) Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

In the Easter 5 Gospel reading (John 16:5-15), the second thing (after sin) that Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will prove the world wrong and guilty about is “concerning righteousness, because I [Jesus] go to the Father, and you will see me no longer.”

Jesus means that the world thinks that righteousness is a completely external matter. That is, a person is righteous if he does righteous deeds, if he does what is right and good. The world even thinks that this external righteousness can lead to eternal life. Many years ago I did a funeral and the woman’s son (who supposedly was a Lutheran) said, “If anyone deserved to go to heaven, mom did. She was so good and kind to everyone, especially to animals.” Now I acknowledge she was a very sweet lady, but as a faithful Lutheran she herself had contradicted her son by admitting that her own righteousness was worthless and that only Christ’s righteousness could save her.

The world thinks that people’s righteousness is based on how good they are, how many people they have helped. And it is true that such righteousness is very useful for society and is very beneficial to our neighbor; and such external righteousness will flow out of true faith in Jesus; but Jesus says that the Holy Spirit’s work is to reject this kind of righteousness as a way of getting right with God.

Instead of external righteousness making us right with God, what makes us right with God is Jesus going to the Father. What does this mean? It means that God’s righteousness which He gives to cover our sins is accomplished by Jesus suffering for our sins, rising to declare us righteous, and then ascending to God the Father to be our advocate, to plead for the Father to declare us righteous. The Holy Spirit inspired St. John to write in his first Epistle, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous [One]. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1-2).

See how great the love of God for the world is! He sent Jesus to be the propitiation, the mercy seat, the turner-away-of-God’s-wrath by His righteous life, death, and resurrection. So the Holy Spirit calls out to the world, “Your external righteousness and good works can’t make you right with God! Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Receive the righteousness that Jesus bestows on you in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and make that your highest good in this life.” The righteousness that avails before God is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, not a righteousness of the law!

Prayer: O God, for our redemption You gave Your only-begotten Son to the death of the cross and by His glorious resurrection delivered us from the power of the enemy. Grant that all our sin may be drowned through daily repentance and that day by day we may arise to live before You in righteousness and purity forever; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.