Not only was Christ our righteousness, but he had to earn it. The reason Jesus couldn't die as a baby for our sins was that while he hadn't sinned, he didn't yet have meritorious works- the kind of things that we are commanded to do. The reason we get righteousness credited to us is because he actually accumulated righteousness on the earth.
What does this mean but that as he withstands temptation (Mt 4), he withstands it for you and me. He does what Adam, you and I fail to do and he does it so that it will later be credited to us as righteousness.
As he loves and has compassion on the men and women around him, he does what we are commanded (not suggested) to do. He does it perfectly so that at the cross he can give his righteousness to us as a free gift.
You'd think that maybe Jesus' mind isn't just on the blind or lame person in front of him. I wonder if at some point his mind wanders to believers who would come after him, already longing for us to be in relationship with him, to be able to join him in heaven. At the same time, he considers that we're feeble sinners. So he needs to love, heal, and care for the men and women around him so that his love and good deeds can be credited to us. We can have peace with God without a righteousness of our own.
Hm. As he loves the blind man he is loving us. In his mind is not only the man in front of him but the sinner in Minnesota two thousand years later that he loves and wants to be in relationship with.
