Early Christian preachers claimed that Jesus was the Messiah expected by the Jews, crucified by the Romans, and raised from the dead; they demand repentance, and they promise forgiveness. The demand for repentance and reform is a traditional theme of the Hebrew prophets, often connected with a threat of punishment. The Jews looked forward to a Messiah, a king who would free them from foreign domination; but the prophets warned them that the coming of the Messiah would bring punishment rather than victory.

The Hebrew prophets hold distinctive views about the sorts of offence that require repentance. Greek gods are characteristically offended by a breach of some ritual requirement, or by some slight to their status; and the Hebrew god Yahweh sometimes punishes for similar ritual errors. The prophets, however, often denounce violations of humanity and justice rather than of ritual law. They point out the social effects of injustice, showing that there are reasons to avoid it apart from its being prohibited by God.

Similarly, Jesus denounces those who do not distinguish the ritual law from the moral law, or do not see that the moral law is prior and overriding. When he is asked a standard question, asking him to identify the 'great commandment', he picks out love of God and love of one's neighbour, in that order, as the two greatest commandments. If Jesus had simply insisted on the priority of the moral law, his views would have been controversial, but fairly familiar.

His actual attitude is more complex. For he criticizes people who keep the moral laws, as commonly understood. A justified belief in one's own success in keeping the moral law actually makes it harder to accept Jesus' teaching. For this reason Paul claims to have been 'touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless', but still counts himself a sinner. Indeed, he claims that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'. This charge is reasonable only if the accepted standards are wrong.

Jesus argues that the moral law requires us to be 'perfect' (or 'completely good'). He presents a series of contrasts between 'You have heard that it was said to you by the men of old . . .' and 'But I say to you . . .'. The 'men of old' offer convenient and workable principles telling us not to commit murder, to love our neighbour and hate our enemy, and so on. For these convenient interpretations Jesus substitutes perfectionist demands--to love other people without distinction, and to avoid anger and resentment, not just its violent or murderous expression.

He appeals to the point and underlying principle of each requirement of the law, and then explains and criticizes the convenient interpretation. The demand for love of one's neighbour expresses the fact that my neighbour is another human being with the same needs and rights as I have; and it is easy to recognize that the Good Samaritan behaved as a neighbour should to the injured person. The only reason we actually demand less than this is the fact that people are not likely to fulfil the complete demands of the law. But this is our fault, the result of 'the hardness of our hearts', not a restriction inherent in the law itself.

The underlying principles are far more difficult to follow. Jesus tells the person who accepts and keeps the convenient rules that he must do more 'if you want to be perfect'. But he does not mean that perfection is a further goal beyond the requirements of the moral law; it is just what the law itself requires. . .