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“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:48 NIV
The Lord is pointing me towards the Gospel of Matthew today following three devotionals in a row exploring a variety of Psalms. Matthew chapter 5 is, to me, the heart and soul of this Gospel. It comprises the first part of the Sermon on the Mount, contains the Beatitudes, and in one chapter, we hear from Jesus exactly what He wants us to learn and to do in our lives. The same teaching from Jesus is also captured in Luke 6:36, although the wording is different:
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
This short verse can be described succinctly as the Word of Jesus summarizing what He has just finished teaching the crowd of disciples, and commanding all who follow Him (past, present, and future) to live up to the standard that He has set. Earlier during this same sermon, Jesus had told His followers:
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
This probably seemed like an impossible task to the average Jewish follower of Jesus at the time, as the “Pharisees and teachers of the law” were considered to be brilliant examples of righteousness. Jesus saw the reality — the Pharisees and teachers of the law were pride-filled scholars who didn’t live a righteous life, but a law-abiding one filled with ceremonies, sacrifices, and rote memorization of the Torah. Later in Matthew, He referred to them as worse than hypocrites:
““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
To enter the kingdom of Heaven, the followers of Jesus can’t be like the world or filled with empty righteousness like the Pharisees. We are to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. The commentary on this verse from The Bible Says explains this well:
Jesus is saying that we are to live and have the same level or degree of harmony (righteousness) as our heavenly Father. We are to be complete in our walk. To be whole. Part of being whole is to seek harmony with all around us, in truth and grace. Resisting the world and its evil while loving people. As we will see, people often don’t understand Jesus. Jesus will be crucified for being perfect, or complete. He courageously exposed the hypocrisy and corruption of the political and religious elites. He also mingled with tax collectors and sinners, while exhorting them to repentance.
He calls His disciples to similarly live the character of and quality of moral wholeness. We are to be what our Creator intended us to be and live out and fulfill His design and purposes for us. If we desire to gain the reward of becoming God’s sons, we are to be like our heavenly Father. We are to reflect His image, and are called to be self-governing, community-building seekers of harmony.
Does this mean if we don’t meet the standard set by Jesus we’ll never enter the Kingdom of Heaven? NO - it just means that we will recognize our failure to meet the standard and repent! American pastor and theologian John MacArthur (1939-2025), cited on Precept Austin, elaborates:
Because God is perfect, those who are truly his children will move on in the direction of his perfect standard. If you are stalled, or if you are slipping in the opposite direction, it is right that you examine yourself. Pursuing the standard of perfection does not mean we can never fail. It means that when we fail we deal with it. Those with true faith will fail—and in some cases, fail pathetically and frequently—but a genuine believer will, as a pattern of life, be confessing sin and coming to the Father for forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Perfection is the standard. Direction is the test. If your life does not reveal growth in grace and righteousness and holiness, you need to examine the reality of your faith—even if you believe you have done great things in the name of Christ. (MacArthur, J., F. The Gospel According to Jesus)
The Father’s perfection comprises His holiness, justice, faithfulness, and love, all of these attributes without defects or limitations. Jesus was the perfect revelation of the Father’s character, and as believers we are conformed to His image through the Holy Spirit’s work until God completes His work in us.
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Father in Heaven, help me to strive for perfection in my thoughts and actions, and to reflect Your character in all I do. Shower Your grace on me to pursue a life that mirrors Your holiness. Most importantly, teach me to love others as You love me, displaying kindness and compassion in every word and action. AMEN.