Most people believe their good outweighs their bad. They think if they show up before God with a decent list of good works, God will let them in.
Then Jesus said something that ruins that plan.
Matthew 5:20 “For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.”
The Pharisees were the most outwardly righteous men alive. They fasted, tithed and prayed on street corners. They knew the law by heart. And Jesus told the crowd their righteousness was not enough to get into heaven.
If the most religious men on earth fell short, the rest of us do not stand a chance on our own.
That is because righteousness (right standing before God) was never something we could produce. Your righteousness is not something you earn or something you build. Not even something God hands over.
Your righteousness is a Person. And His name is Jesus.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
His name will be called THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
There are four things in this short passage that are easy to pass by.
1. The Name Was A Slap At The King On The Throne
When Jeremiah wrote this, the king of Judah was named Zedekiah. His name meant “The Lord is my righteousness.”
But Zedekiah was a wicked king and he carried a righteous name with a sinful life.
Then God spoke through Jeremiah and said something powerful. He said a new King was coming and His name would be THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
This King would not just carry the name, He would be the name. He would not point to God’s righteousness, He would be God’s righteousness for His people.
Zedekiah was a fake. Jesus is the real thing.
2. This Verse Says Jesus Is God
Look at the name in verse 6. THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The word “LORD” here is the Hebrew word Yahweh. Yahweh is the personal name of God. It is the name God used when He spoke to Moses at the burning bush. It is the name so holy the Jews would not even say it out loud.
Jeremiah said this would be the name of the coming Messiah. That means the Messiah is Yahweh. He is not just a servant of God or just a prophet sent by God. He is God Himself, coming to be the righteousness of His people.
The Old Testament said this seven hundred years before Jesus was born!
3. “The Branch” Is A Special Name Used Four Times For The Messiah
The word “Branch” in this verse is a special title. It is used four times in the Old Testament, and each time it shows us something different about Jesus.
Jeremiah 23:5 calls Him “a righteous Branch.” This shows Jesus as the KING.
Zechariah 3:8 calls Him “my servant the BRANCH.” This shows Jesus as the SERVANT.
Zechariah 6:12 calls Him “the man whose name is The BRANCH.” This shows Jesus as the MAN.
Isaiah 4:2 calls Him “the branch of the LORD.” This shows Jesus as GOD.
The four gospels in the New Testament match these four Branch prophecies exactly.
* Matthew shows Jesus as the KING (matches Jeremiah 23:5)
* Mark shows Jesus as the SERVANT (matches Zechariah 3:8)
* Luke shows Jesus as the MAN (matches Zechariah 6:12)
* John shows Jesus as GOD (matches Isaiah 4:2)
Four Branch prophecies in the Old Testament and gospels in the New Testament lines up perfectly.
4. God Was Going To Raise This King From What Looked Dead
The word “raise” in verse 5 is important. It means to lift up from a low place or even to raise from the dead.
Why would God use that word?
Because when Jeremiah wrote this, the family line of King David was almost gone. Zedekiah was the last king of Judah. Right after him, Babylon would destroy Jerusalem. The kingdom would end and the throne would be empty. It would look like David’s family tree was cut down forever.
But God said He was going to raise up a righteous Branch.
Isaiah said the same thing. Isaiah 11:1 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”
A stem or a stump look dead. That is where the Messiah would come from.
And that is exactly what happened. Four hundred silent years passed. No king of Israel, Rome ruled the land and it looked like God had forgotten His promise. Then a baby was born in Bethlehem and He came from the line of David that everyone thought was dead.
Charles Spurgeon preached on this. He said: “The Messiah did not come from a flourishing tree but from a stump. From what looked like the end of everything, God raised the beginning of everything.”
That is our God!! He specializes in raising things up from what looked dead. Family lines, ministries, marriages, reputations, and souls. If God can raise the King of kings out of a dead stump, He can raise up whatever He wants to raise up.
Your righteousness has a name.
You cannot earn Him and cannot build Him. You cannot produce Him by trying harder. He is a Person, and He was given to you the moment you trusted Him.
Paul understood in 1 Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 1:30 “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”
Christ was made unto us righteousness. Paul was pulling directly from Jeremiah 23:6.
And Paul said it again in his second letter.
2 Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
We become the righteousness of God in Him, because He is Yahweh Our Righteousness.
The next time you feel like you are not good enough, remember this. You aren’t good enough in yourself. Your righteousness is a Person sitting at the right hand of the Father, and His name is Jesus.
Zedekiah wore a righteous name and lived a sinful life. Jesus wore a righteous name and lived a perfect life. And when we come to Him by faith, He gives us His name and His righteousness as our own.
