This was one of my recent contributions as a “Liturgical Gangsta” over at Michael Spencer’s “Internet Monk.” The question on the table was “What does this mean - Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” I toss it out here on Blogosphere for your reflection.
First a few notes about Matthew 5:28 itself. The verb “to be” is a future indicative, not an imperative, though the future indicative can have imperative force. It can be heard descriptively (“You will be perfect…”) or prescriptively (“You shall be perfect….”). The same is true of the Ten Commandments, by the way, in both Hebrew and Greek (LXX)! The adjective translated “perfect” “teleios” means whole, complete, undivided, unblemished (TDNT) (eg, see the LXX 1 Kings 8:61;11:4 of the undivided heart). Jesus says to the rich young ruler, “If you would be teleios….” (Mt 19:21). Finally, this passage has its parallel in the Torah at Lev 19:2 “You shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.”
Mt 5:48 is part of a greater literary unit called the “Sermon on the Mount” (ch 5-7) in which Jesus appears as the giver of the new Torah, hearkening back to Moses on his mountain. Yet Jesus is a completely different covenant mediator than was Moses. Where Moses began with commandments, Jesus begins with beatitudes, blessings (5:1-12). Moses went up to God, but Jesus, as the Son of God incarnate, comes down to the people. No one could come up to Moses’ mountain, lest he die, but with Jesus, even the crowds are invited to listen in.
Mt. 5:48 is the last verse of a section that begins at 5:17. Jesus has not come to abolish the Torah and the Prophets (ie the Tanach, the written Scriptures), but to fulfill them. In this section (5:17-48), Jesus challenges the rabbinic tradition (Talmud) of the scribes and Pharisees who had codified the Torah into 613 positive and negative commandments in an attempt to establish a righteousness by works. The apostle Paul would later expand on this in his letter to the Romans wherein he argues that the Torah is properly interpreted as a Torah of faith in the promise and not a Torah of works, that a man is justified before God by faith apart from the works of the Torah. The foundation of Paul’s teaching of forensic justification lies here in the Sermon on the Mount.
The rabbinic tradition, in its attempt to establish a righteousness of works, failed to deliver the goods. “Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20). The Pharisees played with the Law of God as though it were a toy poodle; Jesus unleashes a Doberman with fangs. He expounds the Law on his own authority over and against the tradition (“You have heard it said...but I say to you”), much to the delight of the crowds who were accustomed to their teachers credentialing themselves by their rabbinic succession to Moses. Jesus speaks out of His own authority.
Jesus delivers the proper understanding of the Law contained in the Torah. Not only does the Law judge the action, as the rabbinic tradition held, it also judges the attitude and orientation of the heart. Therefore, hatred of one’s brother in the heart is the same as murder (5:21-22); a lustful look the same as adultery (5:28). No one is left unscathed; no one can be justified by the Law. Anyone who would justify himself by his works under the Law, will be found wanting, as was the rich young ruler (Mt. 19:21). You might say that Jesus uses the Law to beat the religion out of the religious, or more gently, as a pedagogue to lead His hearers to Himself (Gal 3:23-25). If you think you can ascend the ladder of holiness to God by your commandment-keeping, think again. If anyone nearly did it, it was the scribes and the Pharisees, and they fell far short.
The righteousness God seeks is whole, complete, unblemished, teleios. This is not possible in ourselves, born as we are in sin. It is only possible in Jesus Christ, who came to fulfill the Torah by His active obedience, keeping every iota and dot (5:18) and His passive obedience, becoming sin for us and suffering the consequences of our sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). In the sweet swap of our sin for Jesus’ righteousness, received through faith (that is, trust in the promise of Jesus’ blood), we have a righteousness that does indeed exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, a righteousness that comes through faith and not through the works of the Torah.
So back to our verse. “Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.” As commandment, this is fulfilled in Jesus Christ who loved God and loved His neighbor wholly and completely as the unblemished Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He is teleios for us all. As gift and promise, Christ’s perfection is granted us as we are found in Him through baptismal faith. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ” (Gal 3:27). We are indeed perfect (in Christ), even as our Father in heaven is perfect.
There will be a day when I will truly love the Lord with all of my heart, mind, soul, and strength. I long for that day when this is true and I no longer sin against my Saviour.