Sixth Sunday after Trinity AD 2026

Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel that the righteousness of His disciples must “exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees.” And here we encounter a tragic paradox. These words ought to humble us, for they reveal how far we fall short of the perfect righteousness of God. Yet instead, they may become an occasion of pride, tempting us to congratulate ourselves that, at least, we are better than the scribes and Pharisees.

Yes, our Lord calls us to holiness. He calls us to perfection. He desires that our thoughts, our words, and our deeds should be brought into harmony with the good and gracious will of God. We must strive toward that goal with all our heart. Yet Jesus knows far better than we do that we cannot attain it by our own strength.

Our striving may be compared to the famous paradox of Achilles and the tortoise. Achilles, the swiftest of runners, gives the tortoise a head start. Yet each time he reaches the place where the tortoise was, the tortoise has already moved a little farther ahead. And so, according to the paradox, Achilles can never overtake the tortoise.

In ordinary life, of course, Achilles—and even the slowest runner among us—would soon pass the tortoise. But in the spiritual life, we face a far greater difficulty: we cannot leap over our own shadow. We cannot, by our own efforts, rise above our fallen nature. The perfect righteousness demanded by Christ would therefore remain forever beyond our reach—were it not for Him who alone is truly and perfectly righteous.

He has come to our aid. He has taken our sin upon Himself, and He gives us His righteousness in its place. This is our hope. This is our salvation. As Saint Paul teaches us in today’s Epistle, we have died with Christ, we have been buried with Him unto sin, and we have been raised with Him to walk in newness of life, to the glory of God.