Perfect

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt: 5:48)

I suppose that most of us read this verse and immediately concede that being perfect is impossible. And according to our earthly understanding of the word ‘perfection,’ that is true. But Jesus’ portrait of perfection offered in the Sermon on the Mount is quite different than our worldly definition of it.

We have a hard time looking beyond the dictionary definition of perfection: 1. Lacking nothing essential to the whole; complete of its nature or kind. 2.Being without defect or blemish. But the Greek word used by Jesus here has a broader and softer definition: complete (in various applications of labor, growth, mental and moral character, etc.).  And there is no point in spending much time splitting hairs over various definitions of perfection when it is so marvelously defined throughout Scripture.

Jesus explains in the Sermon on the Mount that the law is rigid. It must not be flexed even to the degree that the Jews tried to through their commentary intended to further explain and apply The Ten Commandments to everyday life. Jesus teaches that even the mere imagination of breaking a law is no less sinful than committing the act itself. He thereby eliminates any temptation to think it is possible to attain perfection through conduct. Yet regarding justice for law breaking, Jesus commands that we be merciful – resisting retaliation and retribution. These two opposing postures frame Jesus’ portrait of Our ‘perfect’ Father, whose love, mercy and patience toward mankind are clearly demonstrated throughout scripture, and unfortunately easily overlooked.

According to the world’s notion of perfection, there is no wiggle room within the promise, “Ye shall surely die.” Adam and Eve should have completely perished, but God spared them. The premeditated murderer, King David, in today’s world would quickly be heckled, dethroned, incarcerated, tried, found guilty, and placed upon death row to be executed, or at the very least serve a very long prison sentence. God, however, ‘took away’ David’s sin and spared his life. When Aaron offered Moses the bold-faced lie, “Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf,” it is altogether inconceivable that God did not instantly end his existence. Apparently, God doesn’t think like us at all. His ways are clearly well above ours.

We are commanded in the verse above to redirect our focus on Godly perfection (righteousness). The only human example of this level of perfection is offered in the life, teachings and sacrificial death of God’s son and our Savior, Jesus. If we fix our eyes on Jesus, and do as He command, “Love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34), we can rest assured that through His work, we are perfect (righteous) in God’s eyes – not of our own accord but rather based upon faith in the sufficiency of His sacrifice. As Paul so eloquently explained, “For our sake he made him (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21) Faith in Jesus is our undeserved cloak of righteousness. God, through Jesus’ obedience, has given us a way to

“Be perfect…”