Jesus said, “My Kingdom is not of this world, if it were, My followers would fight for me” (John 18:36) – He was attempting to explain the supernatural nature of His Kingdom and the order of operations within that territory. It was not a matter of doing what was right in man’s eyes, – “right-ness” – it was a matter of doing what was righteous in God’s eyes – “righteous-ness”.
See, there’s a significant difference between being right and being righteous. One focuses on man’s gain and man’s justification and the other looks into Heaven’s desire and seeks Heaven’s approval.
It is not a matter of doing what’s right – according to men…it is a matter of doing what’s righteous – according to God.
When Jesus walked the earth, He astounded many through His many actions that did not line up with what was expected. He almost always did the opposite of what men expected. He was always seeking righteous-ness over right-ness!
A few biblical examples will help illustrate the point:
When He healed the sick man on the Sabbath (Mark 3) – to please the Father and offend the religious. He was choosing righteous-ness over right-ness – with men.
When He rebuked Peter (Mat. 16) and cautioned him against rejecting His death – He was being righteous and not seeking favor and protection from men.
When He rebuked the pharisees (Mat. 12, 23) and called them a brood of vipers – He was doing something few people had the courage to do yet He was being righteous and not seeking to do what was popular with men.
When He ministered to the woman at the well, (John 4) He was seeking eternal redemption that went against the status quo – righteousness over being right in the eyes of the culture.
When He agonized over the ultimate sacrifice (Mat. 26) in the garden of Gethsemane, He was thinking about all of us – righteous-ness – and our path to reunion with the Father and not about doing what’s right-ness in man’s eyes.
Jesus almost always did the opposite of what men expected. He was always seeking righteousness over right-ness
We could speak of Noah building the Ark, Abraham leaving His home, Joseph suffering rejection, Elijah fighting to obey God, Daniel resisting popular opinion, Ezekiel sleeping on his side for a whole year, and many more saints who went before us. We see a consistent trail of righteous-ness obtained against popular opinion that advocated doing what’s right-ness.
The same Peter who cautioned Jesus against speaking of the manner in which He would die, turns around along with john, and give us one of the most profoundly righteous quotes in scripture: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” – Acts 4:19-20
The right thing to do, that which was right before men, could have been to stop preaching as commanded yet the righteous thing to do, that which was right before God, was to keep speaking of that which they had both “seen and heard”.
Let us seek first the Kingdom of God AND His Righteous-ness (Mat. 6:33). For our own right-ness is as filthy rugs in His sight (Isaiah 64:6). Choose righteous-ness over right-ness everyday!
Nelson Masinde 