Be Ye Perfect? – Mt 5:48

One of the most difficult and most misunderstood Scriptures some try to adhere to are Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount:

48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

So what does Jesus mean? The key here is the word “therefore.” A good axiom is that wherever Scripture uses the word “therefore,” we need to ask ourselves, “What is it there for?” Because “therefore” implies a context. So let’s look at this context:

43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? 47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? 48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Let’s list what Jesus says in context:

• Love your enemies
• Pray for those who persecute you
• Don’t just love those who are good but love those who do you wrong (v. 44), are evil (v. 45) and your enemies (v. 44).

What is being “perfect”? It’s to love not just that we like and enjoy but those people we can’t stand and are our enemies. Jesus’ words about being perfect are all about love.

And this fits the greater context. The Sermon on the Mount is not a treatise on how to be saved, but rather pains a picture of what love looks like. It’s all about relationships.

To confirm that this is the valid interpretation, we look at the Sermon on the Plain in Luke which is the same sermon Jesus preached with a different audience and some slight variation. But the core teaching is the same (Lk 6:35-37).

35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Same exact teaching. Loving and doing to your enemies. Being kind to the unrighteous, the ungrateful and the evil (v. 35). And how does Jesus end this teaching?
36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
This is the same teaching that we read about in Matthew.
48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Being “merciful” and being “perfect” are the same. They are synonymous in what he was trying to teach.
There is nothing in here about exaltation, about being like god, or achieving godhood status. The whole Sermon on the Mount is about relationships, not salvation.

The context is clear. What Jesus is advocating is a mature love, one that goes beyond just loving those who are easy and those we like. Even the ungodly do that. But the life of the Godly is marked by loving our enemies, our persecutors, and even those who are just plain evil. It is an act of mercy, and an act of mature love.