Be Ye Perfect

I like the King James Version of Matthew 5:48 when Jesus says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”  I preach this to myself and I quote this verse in conversations.  I do this intentionally, not to stir up trouble, but to help us (including myself) to hear what Jesus is saying.

What Jesus says should be disturbing and shocking. What Jesus says should sound unrealistic, irrational, illogical, and unreasonable.  Why do I say this?  Read Matthew chapters 5 through 7 with Matthew 5:48 in full view.   I am convinced that if we heard, “Be like God” the way Jesus intended, we wouldn’t need the adjective, “perfect.”

If you had heard Jesus saying this to you, you probably would have responded to Him with, “Yeah, but…”   I know I have—more than once (but who’s counting?).  Yet, this is the cost of discipleship—the price of following Him.  We are to lose or give up our lives for His sake in order to find His Life.

I know this sounds counterintuitive, but remember how Jesus ended His sermon on the mount?  Jesus ended with two prophetic parables.  In the last one, Jesus said if you trust Him in this life, you will be able to withstand the storms in life.  In the one before the last parable, Jesus said that if you trust Him in this life, He will recognize you in the life to come.  These are the words that I hear coming from the One who later rose from the dead with these final words in the book of Matthew, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me.  Therefore…” (Matthew 28:18-20).

When I hear these words, the words following, “Therefore” (Matthew 28:19 or Matthew 5:48) may not matter.  Why doesn’t it matter?  Unless the issue of Sovereignty is settled, the response doesn’t matter.  However, once Jesus’ Lordship has been resolved, it opens the door to the kingdom of heaven, to a new life, and to a relationship—a relationship with the promise, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”