The Gospels

References to the words “righteousness” and “just” in the Gospels are fewest in Mark and John but more prevalent in Matthew and Luke.

Mark records that Jesus came to call sinners rather than the righteous (Mark 2:17) and that Herod Antipas knew John the Baptist to be a righteous man (Mark 6:20). The Johannine Jesus refers to His judgment as “just” (John 5:30), and He tells the Jews to judge His actions justly (John 7:24). The ministry of the Paraclete (i.e., Holy Spirit) in the Fourth Gospel is to judge the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8, 10). In His high priestly prayer, Jesus addresses God as “Righteous Father” (John 17:25).

Luke uses “righteousness” primarily to denote an upright piety before God. On several occasions Luke refers to righteous people like Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1:5–6), Simeon (Luke 2:25), Joseph of Arimathea (Luke 23:50), Cornelius (Acts 10:22), and even Jesus (Luke 23:41, 47), who is called “the Righteous One” (Acts 3:14; 7:52; 22:14). John the Baptist would have an Elijah-like ministry that would turn “the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous” (Luke 1:17). In Mary’s Magnificat, she prays that Israel would be able to serve God in “holiness and righteousness” (Luke 1:75). According to Luke, Jesus condemns those who would justify themselves or consider themselves to be righteous (Luke 16:15; 18:9). Luke’s Gospel also emphasizes that Jesus’ ministry offers repentance to sinners rather than the righteous (Luke 5:32; 15:7). Luke also uses the term to describe the future resurrection as “the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).

Matthew’s use of righteousness language is the most complex among the Gospels. In some instances “righteousness” is tantamount to salvation. For example, John the Baptist’s message of repentance and baptism can be abbreviated as the “way of righteousness” (Matt 21:32). However, Matthew also uses “righteousness” in other ways. According to Matthew, John baptized Jesus in order to “fulfill all righteousness” (Matt 3:15). Jesus pronounced a blessing for those who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt 5:6) and those who are “persecuted because of righteousness” (Matt 5:10), and He told the crowds to “seek first [God’s] kingdom and righteousness” (Matt 6:33). Furthermore, Matthew depicts Jesus as particularly focused on a ministry to sinners rather than to the righteous (Matt 9:13). While Jesus affirmed the righteousness of various persons (Matt 10:41; 13:17; 23:29, 35), He also censured the scribes and Pharisees for asserting their own righteousness (Matt 23:27–28). Disciples need a righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt 5:20), which is why they must not be hypocritical or pretentious (Matt 6:1). The righteous should “shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt 13:43). God’s common mercy extends to the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt 5:44–45), yet at the final judgment, there will be a separation of the wicked from the righteous (Matt 12:35–37; 13:49); the righteous will be rewarded (Matt 10:41; 25:46); and salvation is a matter of responding to God’s call rather than meriting it by effort (Matt 20:11–15).