Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 5:48

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

48. Be ye ] Lit. Ye shall be perfect. Either (1) in reference to a future state, “if ye have this true love or charity ye shall be perfect hereafter;” or (2) the future has an imperative force, and perfect is limited by the preceding words = perfect in respect of love, i. e. “love your enemies as well as your neighbours,” because your Father being perfect in respect of love does this.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Be ye therefore perfect … – The Saviour concludes this part of the discourse by commanding his disciples to be perfect. This word commonly means finished, complete, pure, holy. Originally, it is applied to a piece of mechanism, as a machine that is complete in its parts. Applied to people, it refers to completeness of parts, or perfection, where no part is defective or wanting. Thus, Job Job 1:1 is said to be perfect; that is, not holy as God, or sinless – for fault is afterward found with him Job 9:20; Job 42:6; but his piety was proportionate – had a completeness of parts was consistent and regular. He exhibited his religion as a prince, a father, an individual, a benefactor of the poor. He was not merely a pious man in one place, but uniformly. He was consistent everywhere. See the notes at that passage. This is the meaning in Matthew. Be not religious merely in loving your friends and neighbors, but let your piety be shown in loving your enemies; imitate God; let your piety be complete, proportionate, regular. This every Christian may be; this every Christian must be.

Remarks On Matthew 5

1. The gospel pronounces blessings on things far different from what the world has thought to be a source of happiness. People suppose that happiness is to be found in mirth, in wealth, in honor, in esteem, in freedom from persecution. Christ says that it is to be sought in the reverse. Often people are most happy in poverty, in sickness, in persecution, when supported by the presence and promises of a merciful God. And if God appoints our station there, we should submit to it, and learn therewith to be content.

2. We may see the evil of anger. It is a species of murder. If secretly cherished, or exhibited by contempt and injury, it must bring down the displeasure of God. It is a source of misery. True enjoyment is found in meekness, peace, calmness, and benevolence. In such a firmness, and steadiness, and dependence on God as to keep the soul unruffled in the midst of provocation, is happiness. Such was Christ.

3. We see the evil of indelicacy of feeling and sentiment, and the strictness and severity of the law respecting the contact of the sexes Mat 5:28. And yet what law is more frequently violated? By obscene anecdotes and tales; by songs and gibes; by double meanings and innuendoes; by looks and gestures; by conversation, and obscene books and pictures, this law of our Saviour is perpetually violated. If there is any one sentiment of most value for the comfort, the character, the virtuous sociability of the young – one that will shed the greatest charm over society, and make it the most pure, it is that which inculcates perfect delicacy and purity in the contact of the sexes. Virtue of any kind never blooms where this is not cherished. Modesty and purity once gone, every flower that would diffuse its fragrance over life withers and dies with it. There is no one sin that so withers and blights every virtue, none that so enfeebles and prostrates every ennobling feeling of the soul, as the violation of the seventh commandment in spirit or in form, in thought or in act. How should purity dwell in the heart, breathe from the lips, kindle in the eye, live in the imagination, and dwell in the conversation of all the young! An eternal, avenging God is near to every wanton thought, marks every eye that kindles with impure desire, rolls the thunder of justice over every polluted soul, and is preparing woe for every violator of the laws of purity and chastity, Pro 7:22-23; Pro 5:5; Pro 2:18.

4. Revenge is equally forbidden. Persecution, slander, a spirit of litigation, anger, personal abuse, dueling, suicide, murder, are all violations of the law of God, and all must call down His vengeance.

5. We are bound to love our enemies. This is a law of Christianity, original and unique. No system of religion but Christianity has required it, and no act of Christian piety is more difficult. None shows more the power of the grace of God; none is more ornamental to the character; none more like God; and none furnishes better evidence of piety. He that can meet a man kindly who is seeking his hurt; who can speak well of one that is perpetually slandering and cursing him; that can pray for a man that abuses, injures, and wounds him: and that can seek heaven for him that wishes his damnation, is in the way to life. This is religion, beautiful as its native skies; pure like its Source; kind like its Author; fresh like the dews of the morning; clear and diffusive like the beams of the rising sun; and holy like the feelings and words that come from the bosom of the Son of God. He that can do this need not doubt that he is a Christian. He has caught the very spirit of the Saviour, and he must inherit eternal life.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 5:48

Perfect.

I. What is not to be understood by this requirement, or what Christian perfection is not. Not perfection of knowledge, freedom from temptation, conflict, etc.

II. What is the perfection here required? Perfect obedience to the law of God.

III. That this perfection is a duty. For God requires it.

IV. That it is attainable. It is commanded-God wills it; it is promised; it is the object for which the Holy Spirit is promised and given, etc. Answer objections. (Professor Finney.)

The moral perfections of God

I. God is perfectly wise. Wisdom implies right use of knowledge, and lies in the will as well as in the understanding He acts wisely whose will is directed by right reason. Practical improvement we should make of the wisdom of God.

1. We should be hereby excited to seek wisdom (Pro 4:5; Pro 4:7).

2. We should ask wisdom of God to direct us in our ways.

3. It becomes us to resign to His will and acquiesce in His appointments.

II. God is perfectly good. His other attributes are rendered engaging to us by His goodness. How extensive the Divine goodness (Psa 145:9; Psa 145:16). Is God perfectly good?

1. Then all our powers ought to be awakened to bless His name.

2. Then how hateful should sin be to us.

3. Then we ought to be careful to practise goodness.

III. God is perfectly holy. This denotes the transcendent excellence of His nature, while He is infinitely distinguished from all other beings. Then we should follow after holiness.

IV. God is perfectly just. Justice is commonly distinguished into commutative and distributive, the former in an equal exchange of benefits; this can have no place in our dealings with God. Distributive justice, which ought to be exercised by rulers towards their subjects, consists in the equal distribution of rewards and punishments. God cannot be awed by any power to pervert judgment. The judgments of God cannot be fathomed at present. Is God just?

1. This should awaken in us holy awe.

2. It is of great concern to us guilty creatures to be found in Jesus Christ, having on His righteousness.

V. God is truth.

1. Then we must embrace whatever God has revealed to us.

2. The reasonableness of reliance on Gods promises.

Conclude:-

1. It should yield us satisfaction that such a perfect Being as God is governs the world.

2. We should in our contemplations of Him have a strict regard to the harmony of His attributes.

3. Blessed are they who upon good grounds can call this perfect Being their Father and God. (S. Price.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 48. Be ye therefore perfect – as your Father] God himself is the grand law, sole giver, and only pattern of the perfection which he recommends to his children. The words are very emphatic, , Ye shall be therefore perfect – ye shall be filled with the spirit of that God whose name is Mercy, and whose nature is love. God has many imitators of his power, independence, justice, c., but few of his love, condescension, and kindness. He calls himself LOVE, to teach us that in this consists that perfection, the attainment of which he has made both our duty and privilege: for these words of our Lord include both a command and a promise.

“Can we be fully saved from sin in this world?” is an important question, to which this text gives a satisfactory answer: “Ye shall be perfect, as your Father, who is in heaven, is perfect.” – As in his infinite nature there is no sin, nothing but goodness and love, so in your finite nature there shall dwell no sin, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus shall make you free from the law of sin and death, Ro 8:2. God shall live in, fill, and rule your hearts and, in what He fills and influences, neither Satan nor sin can have any part. If men, slighting their own mercies, cry out, This is impossible!-whom does this arguing reprove – God, who, on this ground, has given a command, the fulfilment of which is impossible. “But who can bring a clean out of an unclean thing?” God Almighty – and, however inveterate the disease of sin may be, the grace of the Lord Jesus can fully cure it; and who will say, that he who laid down his life for our souls will not use his power completely to effect that salvation which he has died to procure. “But where is the person thus saved?” Wherever he is found who loves God with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength, and his neighbour as himself; and, for the honour of Christianity and its AUTHOR, may we not hope there are many such in the Church of God, not known indeed by any profession of this kind which they make, but by a surer testimony, that of uniformly holy tempers, piety to God, and beneficence to man?

Dr. Lightfoot is not perfectly satisfied with the usual mode of interpreting the 22nd verse of this chapter. I subjoin the substance of what he says. Having given a general exposition of the word brother, which the Jews understood as signifying none but an Israelite – , which we translate is in danger of, and which he shows the Jews used to signify, is exposed to, merits, or is guilty of-and the word gehenna, hell-fire, which he explains as I have done above, he comes to the three offences, and their sentences.

The FIRST is causeless anger, which he thinks too plain to require explanation; but into the two following he enters in considerable detail: –

“The SECOND. Whosoever shall say to his brother, ‘Racha,’ a nickname, or scornful title usual, which they disdainfully put one upon another, and very commonly; and therefore our Saviour has mentioned this word, the rather because it was of so common use among them. Take these few examples: –

“A certain man sought to betake himself to repentance (and restitution.) His wife said to him, ‘Rekah, if thou make restitution, even thy girdle about thee is not thine own, c.’ Tanchum, fol. 5.

“Rabbi Jochanan was teaching concerning the building of Jerusalem with sapphires and diamonds, c. One of his scholars laughed him to scorn. But afterwards, being convinced of the truth of the thing, he saith to him, ‘Rabbi, do thou expound, for it is fit for thee to expound: as thou saidst, so have I seen it.’ he saith to him, ‘Rekah, hadst thou not seen, thou wouldst not have believed, &c.’ Midras Tillin, fol. 38, col. 4.

“To what is the thing like? To a king of flesh and blood, who took to wife a king’s daughter: he saith to her, ‘Wait and fill me a cup’ but she would not: whereupon he was angry, and put her away she went, and was married to a sordid fellow; and he saith to her, ‘Wait, and fill me a cup;’ she said unto him, ‘Rekah, I am a king’s daughter, c.’ Idem in Psalm 137.

“A Gentile saith to an Israelite, ‘I have a choice dish for thee to eat of.’ He saith, ‘What is it ?’ He answers, ‘Swine’s flesh.’ he saith to him, ‘Rekah, even what you kill of clean beasts is forbidden us, much more this.’ Tanchum, fol. 18, col. 4.

“The THIRD offence is to say to a brother, ‘Thou fool,’ which, how to distinguish from racha, which signifies an empty fellow, were some difficulty, but that Solomon is a good dictionary here for us, who takes the term continually here for a wicked wretch and reprobate, and in opposition to spiritual wisdom: so that in the first clause is condemned causeless anger in the second, scornful taunting and reproaching of a brother; and, in the last, calling him a reprobate and wicked, or uncharitably censuring his spiritual and eternal estate. And this last does more especially hit the scribes and Pharisees, who arrogated to themselves only to be called chocamim, wise men, but of all others they had this scornful and uncharitable opinion, ‘This people, that knoweth not the law, is cursed,’ Joh 7:49.

“And now for the penalties denounced upon these offences, let us look upon them, taking notice of these two traditions of the Jews, which our Saviour seems to face, and to contradict.

“1st. That they accounted the command, Thou shalt not kill, to aim only at actual murder. So that in their collecting the six hundred and thirteen precepts out of the law, they understand that command to mean but this: ‘That one should not kill an Israelite,’ and accordingly they allotted this only violation of it to judgments; against this wild gloss and practice, he speaks in the first clause: Ye have heard it said, Thou shalt not kill, and he that killeth, or committeth actual murder, is liable to judgment, and ye extend the violation of that command no farther; but I say to you, that causeless anger against thy brother is a violation of that command, and even that maketh a man liable to judgment.

2nd. They allotted that murder only to be judged by the council, or Sanhedrin, that was committed by a man in propria persona: let them speak their own sense, c. Talm. in Sanhedrin, per. 9.

“‘Any one that kills his neighbour with his hand, as if he strike him with a sword, or with a stone that kills him, or strangle him till he die, or burn him in the fire, seeing that he kills him any how in his own person, lo! such a one must be put to death by the Sanhedrin but he that hires another to kill his neighbour, or that sends his servants, and they kill him, or that violently thrusts him before a lion, or the like, and the beast kills him-any one of these is a shedder of blood, and the guilt of shedding of blood is upon him, and he is liable to death by the hand of Heaven, but he is not to be put to death by the Sanhedrin. And whence is the proof that it must be thus! Because it is said, He that sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed. This is he that slays a man himself, and not by the hand of another. Your blood of your lives will I require. This is he that slays himself. At the hand of every beast will I require it. This is he that delivers up his neighbour before a beast to be rent in pieces. At the hand of man, even at the hand of every man’s brother, will I require the life of man. This is he that hires others to kill his neighbour: In this interpretation, requiring is spoken of all the three; behold, their judgment is delivered over to Heaven (or God.) And all these man-slayers and the like, who are not liable to death by the Sanhedrin, if the king of Israel will slay them by the judgment of the kingdom, and the law of nations, he may, c.’ Maym. ubi supr. per. 2.

“You may observe in these wretched traditions a twofold killing, and a twofold judgment: a man’s killing another in his own person, and with his own hand, and such a one liable to the judgment of the Sanhedrin, to be put to death by them, as a murderer and a man that killed another by proxy, not with his own hand, not hiring another to kill him, or turning a beast or serpent upon him to kill him. This man is not to be judged and executed by the Sanhedrin, but, referred and reserved only to the judgment of God. So that we see plainly, from hence, in what sense the word judgment is used in the latter end of the preceding verse, and the first clause of this, namely, not for the judgment of any one of the Sanhedrins, as it is commonly understood, but for the judgment of God. In the former verse, Christ speaks their sense, and in the first clause of this, his own, in application to it. Ye have heard it said, that any man that kills is liable to the judgment of God; but I say unto you, that he that is but angry with his brother without a cause is liable to the judgment of God. You have heard it said, that he only that commits murder with his own hand is liable to the council, or Sanhedrin, as a murderer; but I say unto you, that he that but calls his brother racha, as common a word as ye make it, and a thing of nothing, he is liable to be judged by the Sanhedrin.

“Lastly, he that saith to his brother, Thou fool, wicked one, or cast-away, shall be in danger of hell-fire, . There are two observable things in the words. The first is the change of case from what was before; there it was said , but here, . It is but an emphatical raising of the sense, to make it the more feeling and to speak home. He that saith to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council; but he that says, Thou fool, shall be in danger of a penalty even to hell-fire. And thus our Saviour equals the sin and penalty in a very just parable. In just anger, with God’s just anger and judgment; public reproach, with public correction by the council; and censuring for a child of hell, to the fire of hell.

“2nd. It is not said , To the fire of hell, but , To a hell of fire; in which expression he sets the emphasis still higher. And, besides the reference to the valley of Hinnom, he seems to refer to that penalty used by the Sanhedrin of burning – the most bitter death that they used to put men to; the manner of which was thus: They set the malefactor in a dunghill up to the knees; and they put a towel about his neck, and one pulled one way, and another the opposite, till, by thus strangling him, they forced him to open his mouth. Then they poured boiling lead into his mouth, which went down into his belly, and so burnt his bowels. Talm. in Sanhedrin. per. 7.

“Now, having spoken in the clause before, of being judged by the Sanhedrin, whose most terrible penalty was this burning, he doth in this clause raise the penalty higher; namely, of burning in hell; not with a little scalding lead, but even with a hell of fire.” It is possible that our Lord might have reference to such customs as these.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Perfect here is not taken in that sense as it is taken in other texts of Scripture, where it signifieth sincerity and uprightness, as Job 2:3, or where it signifieth a comparative perfection, as Paul saith he spake to those that were perfect; but for an absolute perfection, such as is in our

Father which is in heaven, and so much is signified by the proposing of our heavenly Father as our example. Nor will it therefore follow, either that this is a mere counsel, not a precept, or that an absolute perfection in holiness is a thing in this life attainable. But that it is our duty to labour for it, forgetting what is behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, as the apostle speaks, Phi 3:13,14. Pro perfecto est qui perfecto proximus. God accounts him perfect who is nearest to perfection.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

48. Be ye thereforerather,”Ye shall therefore be,” or “Ye are therefore to be,”as My disciples and in My kingdom.

perfector complete.Manifestly, our Lord here speaks, not of degrees ofexcellence, but of the kind of excellence which was todistinguish His disciples and characterize His kingdom. Whentherefore He adds,

even as your Father which isin heaven is perfectHe refers to that full-orbed gloriouscompleteness which is in the great Divine Model, “their Fatherwhich is in heaven.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Be ye therefore perfect, as your Father,…. This perfection is to be restrained to the subject Christ is upon, love to men, and not to be referred to any, or every other thing; wherefore, in Lu 6:36 it is, “be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful”; and regards not a perfection of degree in that, but objects and quality: that is to say, not that men may, or can, or ought to be as perfect in love, as to the degree of it, as God is; that is impossible: the “as” here, is not a note of equality, but of likeness: such, who profess God to be their Father, ought to imitate him, particularly in their love to men, which ought to be extended to the same objects, as the divine goodness is; that, as he shows regard in a providential way to all men, good and bad, just and unjust, and his tender mercies are over all his works; so ought they to love all men with a natural affection, and hate no man, no, not their enemies: for he that loves only his friends, and not his enemies, loves imperfectly; he does not take in the whole compass of objects his love is to extend unto; and as God loves sincerely, and without dissimulation, so should they. To be “perfect”, is to be sincere and upright: in this sense is the word often used, and answers to the Hebrew word , which signifies the same: see

De 18:13 which is the passage Christ seems to refer to here; and the sense is, be ye sincere and upright in your love to all men, as your heavenly Father is hearty and sincere in his affections to them.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Perfect (). The word comes from , end, goal, limit. Here it is the goal set before us, the absolute standard of our Heavenly Father. The word is used also for relative perfection as of adults compared with children.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “Be ye therefore perfect,” (esesthe oun humeis teleloi) “You all therefore are to be or become perfect, or mature, in both your disposition and conduct, in your attitude and in what you do,” Gen 17:1; Lev 11:44; 1Pe 1:15-16; Jas 1:4; Jas 3:2. For “he that would have friends (enlarge his influence) must show himself friendly,” Pro 18:24. Though perfection in the sense of a sinless state of being may never be reached in this life, it is the standard of holiness to be sought by every child of God.

2) “Even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” (hos ho pater humon ho ouranois teleios) “As your heavenly Father is (or exists) perfect, mature in every attribute of being, expressed in both what he is and what he does;” Even He has loved and does love you, Eph 4:32; Col 4:12; 2Co 13:9; Heb 13:21; Php_3:12-14; 1Pe 5:10.

God, in all His attributes, is what He desires that His children should be as they are changed from “glory to glory,” their glory to His glory, in likeness, 2Co 3:18.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

48. You shall therefore be perfect. This perfection does not mean equality, but relates solely to resemblance. (423) However distant we are from the perfection of God, we are said to be perfect, as he is perfect, when we aim at the same object, which he presents to us in Himself. Should it be thought preferable, we may state it thus. There is no comparison here made between God and us: but the perfection of God means, first, that free and pure kindness, which is not induced by the expectation of gain; — and, secondly, that remarkable goodness, which contends with the malice and ingratitude of men. This appears more clearly from the words of Luke, Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful: for mercy is contrasted with a mercenary regard, which is founded on private advantage.

(423) “ Ceste perfection ne signifie pas qu’il y ait une.equalite et mesme mesure, mais elle se rapporte seulement a quelque ressemblance ou ap-proche.” — “That perfection does not mean that there is an equality or thee same measure, but it relates solely to some resemblance or approach.”

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(48) Be ye therefore perfect.Literally, Ye therefore shall be perfectthe ideal future that implies an imperative.

Your Father which is in heaven.The better reading gives, your heavenly Father. The idea of perfection implied in the word here is that of the attainment of the end or ideal completeness of our being. In us that attainment implies growth, and the word is used (e.g., in 1Co. 2:6; Heb. 5:14) of men of full age as contrasted with infants. In God the perfection is not something attained, but exists eternally, but we draw near to it and become partakers of the divine nature when we love as He loves:

Earthly power doth then show likest Gods
When mercy seasons justice.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

48. Perfect as your Father Be not at the low standard of publicans and other ordinary men; but make God your model; as was commanded in Mat 5:45. Be not low and imperfect, like unregenerate man, but rise to an imitation of our Father. Be perfect, by having a heart purified from all hate, and filled with all love. If thy vessel be filled with love, God can be no more than full. He is the perfect infinite, thou art the perfect finite. The shrine of a temple was the perfect image of the temple. The temple was a perfect temple, the shrine was a perfect shrine. They were different in magnitude, but they were alike perfect.

It is to be remarked that the Greek verb here rendered be ye, is truly to be rendered ye shall be. It is therefore a promise that if we disregard the low average of customary morality around us, and fully obey the law and enjoy the power of love in our hearts, we shall be perfect even as our heavenly Father is perfect. Alford here remarks: “No countenance is given by this verse to perfectibility in this life.” Taking the word perfectibility in its evangelical sense, we should like to know why? Our Saviour here distinctly affirms that it depends upon, or rather consists in the indwelling reign of love in our hearts. Nor must any man lower down to his own moral level the high promises of God’s word in this behalf. It is a practical promise, which is implied in the prayer of the apostle, and is expressly limited to this life, when he prays: “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Th 5:23. And it is a practical precept which St. James gives: “That ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Jas 1:4. Against these promises of the complete reign of love in the heart, completing our Christian life, it is useless to quote those imperfections and failings which belong to men as men, arising from the limitations of the human mind. Neither St. Paul nor St. James expected that the Christians they addressed would be perfect like angels, or even ideally perfect men, nor perfect performers of God’s absolute law. But they did expect that the law of love might possess a perfect power in their hearts, and in that would consist the perfected character of their piety.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

You therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

The first thing to note here is that ‘you’ is both plural (in contrast with much of what has gone before) and emphatic. It means ‘you band of disciples’ (you new congregation of Israel), in contrast with all others. This idea of the completeness and ‘perfection’ of the whole body particularly comes out in Eph 4:12-13. Those separated to God (His ‘saints’ or ‘holy ones’), who are being taught by those appointed by God, are to be ‘perfected’ for His service. And that will go on until ‘we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a ‘perfect’ man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’. This is the aim set before God’s people as a whole. By this the Kingly Rule of Heaven will be manifested and they will be the light of the world. So while it applies to each, it also applies to all, and when one comes short he mars the whole body. In view of this it can therefore only indicate potential perfection rather than present perfection, the hope of what is to be striven for and finally achieved.

Here in the context of Matthew we may see this command statement as either closing off these few verses (Mat 5:43-48) or as closing off this whole section (Mat 5:17-48). If the former it has in mind the universal and all-embracing love of God described in Mat 5:43-48. Their ‘perfection’ or ‘completeness’ will be revealed by their being ‘all embracing’ in their love like God is. Those who fail to love all will not be ‘perfect’ as their heavenly Father is, for He does love all, and they will thereby mar the whole body. Alternately it may be emphasising the need to fulfil all that is contained in the Law and the Prophets concerning God’s Instruction, as in Mat 5:17. In this case it has in mind the need to observe every last detail of God’s Instruction (Mat 5:19), thus being ‘like God Himself’ by seeking to achieve the total fulfilment of His revealed will. That is why those who break one of the least of the commandments and teach men so will be called ‘least’ in the Kingly Rule of Heaven (Mat 5:19). They are a blot on the whole. For, as we will see below, being ‘perfect’ is often linked with conforming to the whole will of God.

We may also see ‘you shall be’ as indicating firstly what their aim must be, they are to be ‘perfect’ in their loving and in their living as God is, and secondly as indicating what will in the end be the result of their being His disciples and totally committed to His will. They will become ‘perfect’ in the fullest possible sense, for they will one day be like Christ, and will see Him as He is, which is why they are now to seek to purify themselves even as He is pure (1Jn 3:2-3).

These two aspects of perfection come out if we consider other verses where the word is found. For the word translated ‘perfect’ here is ‘teleios’, which means ‘attainment of an end or aim, completeness, being all-embracing, being of full measure, being fully grown, mature, and up to standard, being perfect’. Thus in Mat 19:21 the rich young man would be ‘perfect’ if he sold all and followed Jesus. He would be rounding off his present high standard and ‘making it complete’. He would be filling up what was lacking in his attitude by getting rid from his make-up of the love of wealth and becoming someone totally dedicated to Jesus, seeking first the Kingly Rule of God and His righteousness (Mat 6:33). It was the one thing lacking in him. Once he had done that his dedication to God would be complete. In Rom 12:2 Paul speaks of the need for us to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, for that is what will constitute our true spiritual worship and priestly service. And this will be achieved by our not being conformed to this world, but by our being transformed by the renewal of our minds, that we may prove what is the good, acceptable and  perfect  will of God. Both Mat 19:21 and Rom 12:2 are indicating that in order for us to be ‘ perfect ’ and be matched with the perfect will of God there must be total dedication and separation from the world and its aims and follies, and total commitment to following Jesus, with minds and wills that are open to the working of God. And here in Matthew Jesus expected that of the whole band of disciples. They were to be team players in the game of love.

In 1Co 2:6 Paul writes of ‘speaking wisdom among those who are  perfect ’, that is among those who are so dedicated and in tune with God that their minds are spiritually attuned to receive spiritual truth (1Co 2:12-15). In 1Co 14:20 being ‘ perfect ’ is contrasted with being like a child, ‘in malice be children, but in how you think (in mind) be perfect’. They are not to be developed in malice, but they are to be developed and fully grown in how they think. It therefore means fully grown spiritually, spiritually adult and mature. In Eph 4:13 Paul says, ‘until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to a  perfect  man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’. Here what we should aim to be is described and ‘perfection’ indicates becoming like Christ in all His fullness through believing in Him and knowing Him more and more, something to be eventually achieved by the whole church, even though it has not yet been achieved. In Php 3:12; Php 3:15 Paul recognises that he is not already  perfect  (cognate verb), that is fully fitted for resurrection, and that is because he does not as yet sufficiently know Christ and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death. And yet he does class himself among those who are ‘ perfect ’, that is, are morally and spiritually mature, who should therefore be pressing on towards the goal, towards the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (when full perfection will be theirs). In Col 1:28 it is Paul’s aim, by admonishment and teaching in all wisdom, to present every man  perfect  in Christ Jesus. In Col 4:12 Epaphras is depicted as striving in his prayers for the Colossians, praying that they might stand  perfect  and fully assured in all the will of God. He longs for them to be people of full faith. In Heb 5:14 milk is for babes but solid food is for  perfect, that is, full grown men, but full grown men who have, by reason of use, had their senses exercised to discern between good and evil. In Jas 3:2 the man who can control his tongue demonstrates that he is a  perfect man, able to control his whole body. He is fully mature and in total control. Thus ‘perfection’ firstly has in mind full growth and maturity in spiritual and moral experience, and secondly becoming like God Himself in the fullness of spiritual and moral experience.

Coming back to Matthew then Jesus is not speaking of the attainment of individual disciples, but of the attainment of the whole. He sets before the whole band what their goal together must be, although, of course, in the fulfilment of that goal each individual must play his part. Thus perfection is the goal and the end, not achievable (except theoretically) immediately, but to be attained in the end. It is what his band of disciples, and later His newly founded ‘congregation’ (Mat 16:18; Mat 18:17), are to be aiming for. And it must be achieved in terms of what He has been saying, and especially in their revealing of universal love, that is, of love to all, in the same way as God’s beneficence is revealed towards all.

By this they are to reveal the all round perfection of their Father. And they will do so by the complete fulfilling of His perfect Law (Instruction), because in that Law is revealed His very nature. In Lev 11:44-45; Lev 19:2; Lev 20:26 God had required His whole people to be holy as He was holy, separated from sin and set apart so as to reveal His all round goodness, and therefore as having to keep themselves from all that was defiling. And that had included love for their neighbour and for the foreigners among them (Lev 19:18; Lev 19:34). That still remained true. They were to be in the world but not of the world. But now they were above all to reveal this by the heavenly love that they showed for all the world, in the same way as their Father in Heaven did. While separated from the world as citizens of Heaven (Php 3:20) under the Kingly Rule of Heaven, they were to embrace all who were in the world within the embrace of their love. And by this they would as a whole become complete men and women, developing into full Christlikeness, ‘to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ’ (Eph 4:13), with each one being an essential part of the whole.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

A summary of this section:

v. 48. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Since all these arguments must be accepted, and since love is the fulfillment of the Law, the Lord draws His conclusion. Ye who wish to be counted as My disciples shall stand out in contrast with those whose idea of altruism is modeled after conventional standards. Nothing short of the great ideal shall satisfy you. With a single-mindedness of purpose that forgets all else they shall strive after perfection in accordance with their great model, their Father in heaven. God is perfect, the fullness, the consummation, of all good. And the perfection of the Christians consists in striving after those ideals which God has set before them in His holy will. Thus they are daily and continually renewed in knowledge, and in holiness and righteousness, after the image of Him that made and redeemed them, until the day of their final perfection will dawn in heaven.

Summary. Christ opens the Sermon on the Mount with the beatitudes, gives a short outline of the call of the disciples in the world, shows the spiritual understanding of the Law by a number of examples, and teaches love toward one’s enemy and true altruism.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 5:48. Be ye therefore perfect, &c. Father Hardouin observes, that this might be rendered, agreeably to the Greek, You shall therefore be perfect, so as to contain a promise, and not an exhortation. The perfection of the divine goodness is proposed to our imitation, as it is promiscuous, extending to the evil as well as the good, and not as it is absolutely universal and infinite; for in these respects the imitation of it is impossible. The precise meaning of the text, says Dr. Sherlock, is, “Let your love be universal, unconfined by partialities; and, with respect to its objects, as large as God’s is. Not that our love either to enemies or friends can be supposed in other respects, and, as to the effects of it, to bear any proportion to the divine love.” See Discourse 13 vol. 3: The love to friends enjoined by the Scribes and Pharisees was very imperfect: we are to labour after a more complete resemblance to God, by loving enemies. The same precept is therefore expressed in Luke, Luk 6:36 by Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

Inferences.How excellent is the genius and design of Christ’s Gospel, which is calculated to raise our hopes of the truest happiness, to support us under all trials, and assure us to cheerful obedience! They are blessed indeed, whom he blesses, whatever they may suffer for his sake. See how our divine Saviour begins with opening his mouth in blessings of rich variety to his faithful disciples under their numerous sorrows, persecutions and reproaches, fears and dangers, to animate and encourage their holy desires, faith and hope, meekness and patience, humility, love and peace, self-denial, hope and joy: and, oh, how great shall their honour and felicity be at last, to their utmost satisfaction, in the full enjoyment of God, and of his glorious kingdom! What leading hints did our blessed Lord give of Gospel-grace, which, after his death and resurrection, were to be discovered with clearer evidence, and more at large! How perfect was his obedience; and with what wisdom and authority has he drawn out the beauties and obligations of that law, which is the sacred rule of duty, in all its spirituality, exactness and wide extent! What a becoming reverence of God, and of his great and aweful name; what chastity and purity, and mortification of all sin; what a happy dominion over our appetites and passions; what a sacred guard upon our speech and behaviour; what forbearance under injuries; and what a diffusive beneficence to mankind, and imitation of our heavenly Father, does it enjoin, that God in all things may be glorified! But how unworthy are they of the name of servants or disciples of Christ, who relax the obligation, or encourage a disregard to the least of God’s commands! And what will become of them for ever, if death and judgment seize them in their sins! How steadfastly then should we adhere to the pure word of God, in opposition to all corruptions of men! How concerned should ministers and Christians be to spread the favour of the knowledge of Christ in all places, and to act up to their characters and engagements with all integrity, and without reserve! How honourable would this be to him and themselves; and what a blessing would it make them to the church and the world! And yet, alas! in how many things do we all offend, and come short of the glory of God! How should this humble us, and put us upon desiring truth in the inward parts, and on believing in Christ with the heart unto righteousness.

REFLECTIONS.1st, Among the multitudes who followed Jesus, many professed themselves his disciples. For their sakes therefore especially, as well as for the improvement of all who attended him, he took the present opportunity to lay open to them at large the doctrines of truth. For the convenience of being heard, he went up to a mountain, where, surrounded by his disciples, and seated amid the attentive throng, he opened his mouth, and taught them; while they hung upon his lips, and in silence, with their eyes fixed on him, drank-in the sacred truths which he uttered. Note; It is enlivening and encouraging to the ministers of the gospel to behold a numerous and attentive auditory; and that is sacred fire, which not the desire of being popular, but the hope of being extensively useful, kindles in their heart; and it is that which gives energy and warmth to their discourse.

2nd, To be happy is the universal desire; but, whilst all pursue this as their aim, few comparatively attain the accomplishment of their wishes: and the reason is evident; they mistake both wherein man’s true happiness consists, and the means which lead to it: consequently, are ever bewildered in a fruitless search, and tormented with continual disappointment. To divert us from our wrong pursuits, to inform us what is our true good, and to direct us to the attainment of real blessedness, is the gracious design of our adored Lord. Yet to many, the doctrines that he advances will appear paradoxical and strange; though, blessed be his name! every enlightened and converted soul will own, that, however strange they seem to others, they are found by happy experience to be indeed the true sayings of God.
In eight characters Christ shews wherein true blessedness consists, and pronounces on each, blessed are ye: at present they are the truly happy souls on earth; and their eternal reward awaiteth them in heaven. Oh, may this blessedness be mine!

The first beatitude.

Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Wherein then does this poverty of spirit consist? I answer, (1.) In a deep and humbling sense of our own spiritual wants and wretchedness, which brings off the sinner from every dependence upon his own goodness for acceptance with God, and on his own natural abilities to walk and please him, to a constant renunciation of himself, to a repose of his confidence on the infinite merit and intercession of Jesus alone as his title to God’s regard, and on the grace of Jesus for all-sufficiency to think or act aright. (2.) In an intire resignation of ourselves to God, and contentment with our lot; sitting loose to the world and all the things of it; in poverty cheerful, our minds conformed to our condition; in prosperity humble, condescending, kind, and sympathizing with the necessitous. (3.) In low thoughts of ourselves, our abilities, attainments, and possessions of whatever kind; in honour preferring others to ourselves, the last and least in our own opinion; and seeing much, very much, to humble us in the view of our misimprovement of those blessings which God hath bestowed on us, and in which he has made us to differ from others. Now such as these are blessed in the present satisfaction arising from the exercise of such a spirit and temper, and in a happy freedom from the murmurs, repinings, and mortifications, which make the proud and discontented perpetually uneasy. They are blessed with the experience of God’s love and favour, who looks with delight and approbation on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit; and, as the summit of all felicity, theirs is the kingdom of heaven: the riches of the kingdom of grace below, and all the unsearchable riches of Christ and glory above, are the eternal portion of all those who through the power of Almighty grace persevere in this divine temper.

The second beatitude.

Blessed are they that mourn. We are apt to count mourners miserable, and to judge of happiness by the smiles of the countenance; but Christ teaches us a different lesson. Not that all who mourn are blessed: there is the mourning of discontent, the sorrow of the world that worketh death, the inconsolable tears of those who lament like Micah after their idols, and the melancholy of despair; these bring a curse and torment instead of a blessing. The mourning here commended is, A penitential mourning over sin, in the views of our base ingratitude; a mourning after God, if under darkness and desertion; a mourning over the dishonour brought upon him by the impieties of the wicked and the unfaithfulness of believers; a mourning over the distresses of the miserable, and especially a mourning over lost souls, which makes our tears like those of Jesus flow, while we are pouring forth before God our fervent prayers on their behalf. These are blessed: the tears shed for sin have a sweetness unutterable; a sacred pleasure mingles with them, to which all the noisy mirth of fools, exclusive of the heaviness which succeeds, is not to be compared; and they are the seed of true joy; for they shall be comforted, here below, in a sense of God’s love shed abroad in their hearts, in the consolations arising from a sense of pardoning love, in the sacred delight of beholding sinners turned from the evil of their ways; and, continuing thus, to follow their divine master, shall, be comforted hereafter in the eternal fruition of God, and the inconceivable blessedness thence arising, when every tear shall be wiped from our eyes, and we shall drink of pure, unsullied, and eternal pleasures, as out of a river.

The third beatitude.

Blessed are the meekrespecting God, submissive to his word and providences; never replying against the one, or murmuring against the other: respecting man, mild, inoffensive, easy to be intreated, unmoved with provocation, forbearing and forgiving, resenting no injuries, actuated by no private revenge, in patience and peace possessing their souls; yet not mean-spirited, cowardly, and tame, through fear of man; but, whilst in their own cause gentle as the lamb, in the cause of God and truth bold as lions; zealous to maintain the rights of others, while they recede from their own; and steady patrons of the injured and the absent. They are blessed; they are, like their Lord, happy in themselves, beloved of all who know the value of such a spirit, and dear in the sight of God. They shall inherit the earth, shall have as much of this present world as is for their good; but above all, and what seems here chiefly intended, thus perseveringly following the meek and lowly Jesus, they shall have a part in that better new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, and be counted inheritors among the saints in light.

The fourth beatitude.

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousnessthat holiness and love which the spirit of Jesus communicates: and for this the poor and helpless sinner and the genuine believer in their different degrees hunger more than for their daily bread; inasmuch as the life and health of their souls are infinitely preferable to the life and health of their bodies. These are blessed souls; for every such desire is in a measure the proof of our possessing the righteousness after which we pant; and they shall be filled out of the fulness of Jesus, who has enough to supply all their wants, yea, to fill them with joy and peace in believing.

The fifth beatitude.

Blessed are the merciful. This is the most amiable character of God, and herein his people resemble him. (1.) Mercy is their temper, they have a heart which can be touched with human wretchedness; and though they may not always have it in their power to relieve, they are ever tenderly compassionate towards the distresses of the miserable. (2.) Mercy is their practice; so far as their power extends, they are ready to shew mercy: they take delight therein, and count this work its own reward. They are merciful to men’s souls; pitying and instructing the ignorant, warning the unruly, comforting the feeble mind, helping the weak, and labouring to snatch the wicked as brands from the burning. They are merciful to men’s bodies; relieving the necessities of the poor, the friendless, and the destitute; they are eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, physicians to the sick, supports to the aged and infirm; ready to assist with their advice, their money, or influence, according to the various distresses of those who apply to them: they are diligent to discover those objects of modest worth and neglected indigence that are ashamed or backward to apply for relief. They are merciful even to the brute beasts: not only their servants and labourers are never vexed with unreasonable burdens, but their very cattle share their clemency, and own the kind and tender master. This is blessedness. They who are thus like God in spirit, will taste something of divine felicity; and, of all the joys beneath the sun, none will be found comparable with the exalted pleasure of doing good. And they shall obtain mercy: such merciful ones plead no merit: the more they are enabled to do, the less opinion they entertain of their deserts, as every advance in grace brings proportionably greater light, and therewith greater humility. They cast themselves therefore wholly on the mercy of God in Jesus Christ, and they shall find mercy of the Lord in the great day; and more they need not wish for, since his mercy includes eternal life and glory.

The sixth beatitude.

Blessed are the pure in heart; who by faith are cleansed from all hypocrisy, covetousness, pride, and sensuality; jealous to keep themselves unspotted from the world; maintaining undefiled religion; in simplicity and godly sincerity walking with God. They are blessed in the present paths of pleasantness and peace in which they go, and they shall see God as the consummation of all felicity; be with him where he is; be like him as he is, and from the light of his countenance, and the constant effusions of his love, drink in blessedness unutterable and eternal.

The seventh beatitude.

Blessed are the peace-makers; men of peace themselves, and desirous to cultivate the like disposition among others; following it with all men as far as is consistent with truth and purity; averse from all disputes and angry contentions; softening the spirits of the exasperated; and kindly interposing, though sometimes at the expence of much ill-will, to repair the breaches, and heal the divisions, which the fiery and self-willed spirits of others have occasioned: the first to forgive, the last to be offended; and where others prepare themselves for battle, still ready, though injured, to seek reconciliation. Such men shall be blessed in their deed; they shall be accounted faithful subjects of the Prince of Peace, and be called the children of God, who is the God of peace; and if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.

The eighth beatitude.

Blessed are they which are perfected for righteousness’ sake. All who follow Christ must expect his cross; and every godly man, as long as a child of wickedness is in the world, may suffer persecution of one kind or other: where power is with oppressors, there it will reach to fines, imprisonment, and even death itself; where milder governments give protection from grosser injuries, there the lower methods of reviling, calumny, falsehood, insult, ridicule, and vile misrepresentations, will be the lot of Christ’s disciples. Various pretexts indeed are commonly used to give a specious colouring to this conduct in lands professing godliness, as if it was not righteousness that men persecuted, but what they are pleased to call enthusiasm, or to stamp with some other opprobrious name; but, whatever occasional offences may have been given, the ground and root of the malignity shew against the people of God is their open and bold profession of the doctrines of the gospel, and the practice of experimental godliness, which is equally reproving and offensive to the formal and profane: on which accounts, therefore, the saints of God must expect to follow Jesus, bearing his reproach. But, however they are regarded among men, they are pronounced blessed by the author of all blessing, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Nor need any now wonder at these things among us, when, among God’s professing people of old, the prophets were so persecuted before us, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, &c. and therefore we are commanded to rejoice and be exceeding glad to be numbered among such worthies, and expect that great reward in glory which God hath promised to those who, by patient continuance in well doing, seek with them glory, honour, and immortality.

3rdly, Our Lord’s observations in Mat 5:13-16, are directed to the disciples in general, and to the apostles and ministers of Christ in particular; and their character is set forth under two similitudes:

1. As the salt of the earth. Their lives and conversations must be exemplary: they must not only be free from taint themselves, that is, from the allowed practice of sin, but endeavour to preserve others from the putrefaction of it; seasoning the earth with the doctrines of the gospel, diffusing the savour of the knowledge of Christ in every place, and thus becoming blessings to mankind. But, should they depart from the truth, disgrace their character, degenerate into lukewarmness and indifference, or apostatize to erroneous principles and licentious practice, their state, if not utterly desperate, is seldom or never retrieved: though their profession may continue, their savour is lost, they become insipid and tasteless, and are doomed to be cast out and trodden under foot of men, as worthless and contemptible, expelled from the communion of the saints below, and everlastingly excluded from the assembly of the blessed above.

2. As the light of the world, to spread the bright truths of salvation among benighted mortals, and point out to them the path which leads to eternal day; especially to lead sinners to Christ, the light of life: and in so doing they would be distinguished as a city set on a hill, and needed peculiar circumspection while so many eyes would be fixed upon them. Every minister, every Christian, stands on an eminence; more is expected from them than from others, and many watch for their halting: as candles are lighted not to be covered, but to be set on a candlestick, and give light to all in the house, so were they endued with gifts and graces to illuminate the church of Christ, and diffuse the gospel word around, neither through fear nor shame concealing ought of the whole counsel of God; and in their lives, as well as lips, must their light shine in every work of faith and labour of love which may be profitable to men’s bodies or souls; that whilst others are stirred up to holy emulation thereby, abundant praise also may redound to God, who is then eminently glorified when his people bring forth much fruit.

4thly, After the above discourse addressed to the disciples in particular, our Lord more generally directs himself to the multitude.
1. He obviates the prejudices which he knew many would entertain, and confutes the objections that his enemies would make, as if he was about to abrogate the law, and introduce a new system; when in fact he only meant to rescue the oracles of God from the corrupt glosses which the false teachers had put upon them.
[1.] He is not come to destroy the law and the prophets, as some of them might think, but to fulfil them,to fulfil the moral law by his own perfect obedience and most pure example; the ceremonial, by answering in his own person, and oblation of himself, all the types and figures; the prophets, by accomplishing all their predictions: and, so far from loosening the obligations to obedience, he came, in perfect correspondence with God’s ministers before him, to enforce them, and to vindicate the everlasting rule of moral righteousness from the mistakes and adulterations of the Scribes and Pharisees, to explain its spirituality and extent, and from right principles to urge the practice of true holiness.

[2.] He asserts the perpetuity and eternal obligation of the moral law: while heaven and earth endure, not a tittle shall pass from it unaccomplished, nor the least of its commands ever be abolished. It is the transcript of God’s holiness; he can require nothing less; the least failure is eternally mortal; and though the genuine believer is relieved by the infinite merit of his divine Substitute from the condemning power of the law, his duty still remains the same, and he is as much as ever bound to regard this as the one unerring law of obedience. Whoever, therefore, dares avowedly to transgress the least command, and teach others to do so, by his example or his preaching, as if it might be done with impunity, which was the case with many of the rabbis of that day, he shall be rejected of God as least esteemed and worthless, and have no part in the kingdom of heaven; while they who, by the purity of their doctrine and the exemplariness of their conduct, continue to enforce the necessity of obedience to every command, accounting none too trivial to be observed, shall be esteemed and honoured of God as faithful here, and exalted to eternal glory hereafter. Note; (1.) The least sin has eternal death for its wages. (2.) They who extenuate the evil of sin, and promise transgressors impunity, will be reckoned with as the most daring rebels against God’s government.

2. He professes it his purpose to enforce a righteousness beyond that of their most admired characters the Scribes and Pharisees, who were thought even to go to works of supererogation; and yet, what perhaps they would hear with astonishment, he assures his hearers their righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, or they must never hope to enter the kingdom of heaven. The most extensive pharisaical righteousness of doctrinal orthodoxy, scrupulous exactness in the forms of religion, abstinence from grosser vices, accompanied with whatever alms, or fastings, or prayers, comes infinitely short of the spirituality of God’s law. That righteousness alone which is of God by faith, a faith exercising itself on the infinite merit and prevalent intercession of the Lord Jesus Christ, and working by love its genuine fruit,that heavenly principle alone enables the Christian to act from motives which a Pharisee never knew; it purifies the heart, engages the soul to an universal delight in the law of God after the inward man, and begets the desire of unreserved obedience thereunto. And then, through the unmerited grace of God, and through this faith in the blood, the merit, and intercession of our adorable Saviour, are our persons and services acceptable to God in Jesus Christ; whilst all the duties of the formal and self-righteous, when strained to the highest pitch, are only a greater abomination in the sight of God.
5thly, Our Lord gives a spiritual exposition of part of the moral law, and very different from that of their pharisaical teachers.
1. He begins with the sixth commandment. Ye have heard, out of the law read in the synagogue every sabbath-day, that it was said by them of old time, by the ancients, the elders who expounded the law, or to the ancients their forefathers, thou shalt not kill; and, confining the command merely to the act of murder, they taught, that only such as had been thus capitally criminal were liable to the sword of justice either of God or man, excluding all inferior deeds of the like tendency from being accounted breaches of the law. But Christ teaches them far otherwise: I say unto you, and he speaks as having authority, that not only you are forbidden to murder yourselves, or any other person, directly or indirectly; but whosoever entertains rash and causeless anger, or harbours a malicious wish or design against any man, though it never be executed, is liable to God’s judgment, and criminal at his bar, as a murderer in his heart. If the evil within break forth into opprobrious or contemptuous language, such as, Thou empty fellow! it deserves the cognisance of the Sanhedrim; but if it proceeds yet farther, to bitter reviling and rash censures, to say, Thou fool! Thou vile reprobate! such a breach of the law shall be punished with hell-fire. This should (1.) awaken in our minds a deep sense of our guilt and sin, and humble us before God in the review of our past transgressions: well may we cry, on the rehearsal of this law, Lord, have mercy upon us. (2.) It should make us more watchful over our hearts, to suppress the risings of anger on trivial provocations, the inadvertencies or mistakes of others, or our own groundless surmises; yea, though the provocation be great, and the cause of anger just, we must see that it be not excessive, vehement, hurtful, or abiding. Our lips should be under the like restraint, that nothing hasty, perverse, spiteful, contemptible, reproachful, insolent, abusive, or malignant, proceed out of our mouth. The right government of the tongue is the sure proof of grace in the heart.

2. He recommends the exercise of that Christian love and peace which is the fulfilling of the law; and if offences come, we should, be ever ready to confess our faults, ask pardon, make restitution, and seek reconciliation; and this,
[1.] Because till then we can offer to God no acceptable service; for all our worship and duties without love are nothing worth. If therefore we have done an injury to any man, such as the breaches of the commandment above remarked, before we presume to offer our gifts at God’s altar, our praises, prayers, or whatever religious services we propose, we must reflect wherein and how much we have offended, and seek immediate reconciliation; since hatred and uncharitableness would make our best works an abomination, and love is better than all burnt-offering. Should our brother continue inexorable, and refuse all the submissions that we were ready to make, we must not then be restrained from drawing near to God, and may humbly expect that forgiveness from him which we cannot obtain from man.
[2.] Because, till this is done, the wrath of God abideth on us. For as it would be highly prudent for the debtor to seek to accommodate matters with his creditor before a suit commences, lest he should be summoned before the civil magistrate, and, the proof being clear, he should be consigned to the officer and cast into prison, without the possibility of deliverance; much more should the guilty sinner solicitously desire reconciliation with God and man, lest, dying in hatred and uncharitableness, his iniquities should witness against him at God’s bar, and he should perish everlastingly. God is every sinner’s adversary: our eternity depends on being at peace with him; therefore we need be anxious about it: the moment of time which is hurrying by is the space allotted us to agree with him; therefore every delay is highly dangerous: if we die in unpardoned sin, we have nothing to expect but a fearful judgment, where we are sure to be cast; the officers of vengeance are ready to execute the sentence, and the prison of hell is prepared to receive the condemned soul, where in everlasting burnings the guilty must be for ever paying, yet be never able to discharge, the debt they owe to inexorable justice.

6thly, The seventh commandment is expounded by the same infallible interpreter: and well may we say, in the view of the spirituality of the law, Thy commandment is exceeding broad. Thy commandment delivered to the ancients at Mount Sinai said, Thou shalt not commit adultery; and the pharisaical expositors had confined the breach of it literally to this grossest act of lewdness, excluding all the lower degrees of impurity, in thought, word, or deed: but Christ gives a very different extent to the command, to confound their proud claims who dared to boast that they were no adulterers, Luk 18:11.

1. Every unchaste desire in the heart is adultery in the sight of God. The eye, the hand, the feet, the tongue, which by amorous glances, wanton dalliance, or impure discourse, tend to kindle the unhallowed fire of lust, or blow it up into a flame, and every contrivance to gratify this impurity of heart, though it be never brought to effect, involve the conscience in the same horrid guilt.
2. We are commanded therefore to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye, which would lead us to offend; not literally indeed to maim or mutilate our bodies, though that, if commanded, should be readily complied with, rather than commit sin; but figuratively it signifies, however near and dear to us the sin may be, by long habit become incorporated as it were with our very frame, and hard to part with as these most useful members of our bodies; yet must it be torn away and cast from us with abhorrence. The heart must be kept with all diligence; no lewd vain thoughts harboured, especially when alone, solitude being often a great temptation to impurity. The eyes must be restrained from gazing on a tempting object, and kept as under a covenant from looking on a maid: yea, every object which would awaken evil desire must be shunned, lascivious representations on the stage, impure pictures, books of amours, lewd plays, &c. nor must we omit to mention curious, expensive and indecent dress, which exposes the person with a design to catch the wandering eye, and at once declares the spirit of the temptress, whilst it is a net to ensnare unstable souls. The hand, the foot, which can convey the silent innuendo, must be restrained from every motion of evil, since he that toucheth her shall not be innocent. The tongue must be rather plucked out than utter corrupt communication, or be suffered, by discourse grossly impure, or more dangerously and wittily lascivious, in sly insinuations and double meanings, to breathe poison into the ears of the unwary. As the grand means to restrain these evils, every approach to them must be guarded by daily abstinence and self-denial, making no provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof.

3. A powerful argument is used to enforce this. Raging appetite will not be conquered by any thing short of the terrors of the Lord. The damnation of hell is the wages of uncleanness, and they who burn with impure desires must lie down in everlasting burnings, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched; and dearly do men purchase carnal delights at this price of eternal misery. The sentence is repeated, because men are very unwilling to believe what sounds so terrible in their ears; but the decree is fixed and immutable: those who refuse to fear it now, must feel it for ever. Better therefore, far better, is it to suffer the present crucifixion of vile affections, than indulge them at the penalty of never-ending torments.
4. All divorce is unlawful, except in the case of adultery. The Jews indeed, for the hardness of their hearts, were permitted to put away their wives by a public instrument before witnesses; but this was contrary to the original institution of marriage, and therefore our Lord utterly condemns all separation, except in case of a breach of the matrimonial bond: and should the person divorced marry again, she would commit adultery, as well as he who should take her to wife, and the crimes of both would also lie at the door of him who put her away; for they who lead others into sin shall be chargeable with all the guilt they bring upon them.
7thly, The third commandment forbad perjury, and enjoined the performance of the vows which were made unto the Lord, or to men under the sanction of an oath in his name: and hereunto the Scribes restricted the commandment, accounting oaths in common allowable, if true; reckoning it no sin to swear by the creatures, and that such oaths laid them under no obligation to fulfil them: but Christ would give them a better exposition.

I say unto you, swear not at all. Not that every oath is unlawful, since in matters of controversy, before a judge, an oath for confirmation is an end of all strife; and on solemn occasions such appeals to God are high acts of religious worship, see 2Co 1:23 but all rash swearing on trivial occasions, in common discourse, is forbidden, with all unnecessary multiplication of oaths; under which this land groans. God’s sacred name must never be taken in the lips thoughtlessly, irreverently, wantonly; nor may we use any creature to swear by, neither heaven nor earth, nor the temple, nor our heads, our lives, our souls, much less the idols of heathenism, such as Jupiter, or the like, this being equally criminal as to swear by the name of God himself. Therefore our communication must be, yea, yea, nay, nay, simply affirming or denying, without oath or imprecation: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil, or from the evil one the devil, or from the fountain of evil in the corrupted heart. Where more than simple affirmation or denial is thought to be necessary, there is implied a suspicion of veracity, which every rash oath for confirmation will serve but to increase; for they who make no conscience of an oath, cannot be supposed to make conscience of a lie.

8thly, The law of retaliation, Exo 21:24 which permitted the magistrate to execute a punishment of the same kind as the injury, or, as some suppose, to fix a mulct upon the offender equivalent to the harm done, had been grievously abused to extortion, and pleaded in vindication of private revenge. Christ therefore teaches his disciples of what spirit they should be. Magistracy is God’s institution, and the punishment of men’s crimes righteous and just; but all private revenge is forbidden. It is true, indeed, that self-preservation, the care of our families, the honour of God, and the good of society, may often make the redress of injuries not only lawful but necessary; but in innumerable instances our duty is meekly and silently to bear and forbear.

1. If a man strike us on the right cheek, or otherwise injure our person, or treat us with indignity, we may not render evil for evil, and by a return of the blow inflame the quarrel, but put up with it, or, if it be needful, put the case into the hand of the civil magistrate: and though our patience may be counted pusillanimity, and our forbearing may expose us to fresh insults, as if in fact we turned the other cheek, yet it is infinitely better, for conscience-sake towards God, thus to suffer, than to maintain our character or gratify our revenge by a challenge or a fray, which must provoke his wrath, and end in our perdition.
2. In cases of injury to our property, whether by litigious, malicious, and false persecutions, or in private disputes, though our coat were taken from us, it were better for peace-sake to give our inner garment too, than fly to the law for redress: for, if the matter of injury be small, which we may sustain without hurting our families, it is not only most pious, but most prudent also, to sit down with the first loss, since the expences of the suit often exceed the value of what we may recover.
3. If we are compelled by force to accompany a person a mile, rather than struggle or contend, it is better to go two. And thus in all other cases of affronts and injuries the like-rule holds. Hard talks indeed for flesh and blood! but let it he remembered, Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

4. We must not only revenge no injuries, but do every kindness in our power to our neighbour; ready to relieve the wants of every real object of charity which presents itself to us, according to our abilities; and freely lending, without interest, to the industrious but necessitous: a small sum to help such a one in his trade, may be of vast service to him without any real loss to ourselves. And in the manner also of exercising our bounty, we never should appear reluctant, frowning, or giving as if it was extorted from us, but be happy to have it in our power to relieve the wants of our poor petitioners.
9thly, The whole law being fulfilled in one word, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, this is here insisted upon; and who that neighbour is, declared.

The Jewish expositors had vilely corrupted this divine precept by the addition they had made to it, Thou shalt hate thine enemy. And, as they confined the word neighbour to those merely of their own religion and nation, they interpreted this as a command to hate all mankind beside, in direct opposition to the letter of God’s law, Exo 23:4-5. Deu 23:7. But Christ teaches us very differently.

1. He recommends universal love: I say unto you, love your enemies. We cannot place confidence or take complacence in them or their evil ways; but we must bear all good-will towards them, remark with satisfaction whatever is commendable in them, and sincerely desire their present and eternal happiness, returning their curses with blessings, shewing every act of kindness to their bodies and souls who express the bitterest enmity against us, and, if they will suffer us to do no more, at least praying for those who despitefully use and persecute us;such being the treatment which the true disciples of Jesus may expect, and such the gracious returns that they are bound to make. And this is the distinguishing spirit of Christianity, and what nothing but the grace of Jesus can produce.

2. He enforces his command with these strong arguments:
[1.] In so doing we shall resemble our Father who is in heaven, and prove our adoption of him, who, in the distribution of his providential mercies, causes his sun to rise and his rain to fall indiscriminately upon the evil and the good. Note; (1.) Our most common though most unnoticed blessings are those for which we are most deeply indebted to God. (2.) No man’s state is to be known by any outward gifts of Providence; the just and unjust share them in some sense alike. (3.) If God thus sets us the example, we must diligently copy it.

[2.] We must shew the distinguishing spirit of our profession, and adorn it. If we only loved them who love us, or paid civility and respect to our brethren alone, what thanks would be due, where the obligation was reciprocal, and where even publicans would rival us? We must do more than others, if we profess more; not confining our regards to our nearest friends or relations, to those of our own party or nation, but opening our hearts wide as the world, and doing good to all, even to the evil and unthankful.
[3.] Our eye must be fixed, not on the attainments of others, but on that perfection which is in our Father; and to be perfect like him, and to take up with nothing short of it, should be our holy ambition. And as this must be our study, labour, and prayer in general; so particularly in this love towards our enemies should we desire to resemble him, which is a temper truly divine and godlike.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 5:48 . ] imperatively.

) draws a deduction from Mat 5:44-47 , where the emphatic forms the sublime antithesis to the last-mentioned publicans and heathens. The highest summary of the unending obligation of Christian love.

] , Jas 1:4 . Euth. Zigabenus well remarks: : , . Comp. Luther: “after the example of the heavenly Father, who does not piece nor divide His love,” and already Ignatius, ad Philad. , interpol. 3. Thus the closing admonition stands in close relation to what precedes. Others (Beza, Fritzsche, Kuinoel, Ewald, who also regards Mat 7:12 as originally belonging to this passage): integri, sine vitiis in general, without exclusive reference to the commandment of love. They consider the verse as the top-stone of the whole discourse, directed from Mat 5:20 onwards against the Pharisees. But this anti-Pharisaic tendency is still continued also in ch. 6, and the pointing to the example of God would at least not be appropriate to Mat 6:27 ff. and to Mat 6:31 ff.

] equality of the moral modality , Mat 5:45 , by which the relation of the adequate degree is not required, and yet the ideal task, the obligation of which is never exhausted (Rom 13:8 ff.), is for ever made sure. Observe, moreover, how this corresponds, indeed, to the Platonic conception of virtue ( ); the latter, however, is surpassed, on the one side, by the specific requirement of love as similarity to God; and, on the other, by the idea of God as the heavenly Father .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Ver. 48. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father, &c. ] The child (saith one) is the father multiplied, the father of a second edition. Of Constantine’s sons Eusebius reporteth, that they “put on their father’s fashions, and did exactly resemble him.” a And of Irenaeus, the same author telleth us that he expressed to the life the learning and virtues of his master Polycarp. It were happy for us (and we must labour it) if we could pass into the likeness of the heavenly pattern. Our summum bonum consists in communion with God and conformity to him; in keeping inward peace with God, that he “abhor us not because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters,” Deu 32:19 ; and in seeking and keeping (as much as may be) peace with all men and holiness; purifying ourselves as he is pure, 1Jn 3:3 ; (in quality, though we cannot in an equality), from the love of every lust (the ground of all our wranglings, Jam 4:1 ), but especially from the passions and perturbations of the heart, possessing ourselves in patience. For if patience have her perfect work we shall be perfect and entire, wanting nothing, Jas 1:4 . For “perfect” St Luke hath it, “Be merciful,” &c., Luk 6:36 .

a . Eusebius.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

48. ] Not altogether imperative in meaning, but including the imperative sense: such shall be the state, the aim of Christians.

] complete, in your love of others; not one-sided, or exclusive, as these just mentioned, but all-embracing, and God-like , Luk 6:36 . is emphatic. No countenance is given by this verse to the ancient Pelagian or the modern heresy of perfectibility in this life. Such a sense of the words would be utterly at variance with the whole of the discourse. See especially Mat 5:22 ; Mat 5:29 ; Mat 5:32 , in which the imperfections and conflicts of the Christian are fully recognized. Nor, if we consider this verse as a solemn conclusion of the second part of the Sermon, does it any the more admit of this view, asserting as it does that likeness to God in inward purity, love, and holiness, must be the continual aim and end of the Christian in all the departments of his moral life. But how far from having attained this likeness we are, St. Paul shews us ( Php 3:12 ); and every Christian feels, just in the proportion in which he has striven after it . Augustine argues for the true sense of this and similar passages of Scripture against the Pelagians at length, De peccatorum meritis et remissione, lib. 2Ch 12 (17 20), and De perfectione justiti hominis, ch. 8, 9, vol. x. , , . Euthym [52] On the sense see 1Pe 1:15 .

[52] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116

Thol. quotes from Plato, Thet. p. 176, .

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 5:48 . Concluding exhortation . , from an ancient form of the participle of the verb (Klotz, Devar. ) = “things being so;” either a collective inference from all that goes before (Mat 5:21-47 ) or as a reflection on the immediately preceding argument. Both come to the same thing. Godlike love is commended in Mat 5:44-47 , but the gist of all the six illustrations of Christ’s way of thinking is: Love the fulfilling of the law; obviously, except in the case of oaths, where it is truth that is enjoined. But truth has its source in love; Eph 4:15 : , “truthing it in love”. , future, “ye shall be” = BE. , ye , emphatic, in contrast with . and ., who are content with moral commonplace and conventional standards. : in general, men who have reached the end, touched the ideal, that at least their purpose, not satisfied with anything short of it. The are not men with a conceit of perfection, but aspirants men who seek to attain, like Paul: , Phi 3:12 , and like him, single-minded , their motto: . Single-mindedness is a marked characteristic of all genuine citizens of the kingdom (Mat 6:33 ), and what the Bible means by perfection. All men who attain have one great ruling aim. That aim for the disciple, as here set forth, is Godlikeness . God is what His sons aspire to be; He never sinks below the ideal: impartial, benignant, gracious love, even to the unworthy; for that, not all conceivable attributes, is what is in view. , not in degree, that were a discouraging demand, but in kind. The kind very necessary to be emphasised in view of current ideas and practice, in which holiness was dissociated from love. The law “Be holy for I am holy” (Lev 11:44 ) was taken negatively and worked out in separation from the reputedly sinful. Jesus gave it positive contents, and worked it out in gracious love.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

perfect. In thus acting on the principles of grace, in conformity with the laws of the kingdom here promulgated. Greek. teleios. See App-125.

your . . . heaven. All the texts read “your heavenly Father”. See note on Mat 6:14.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

48. ] Not altogether imperative in meaning, but including the imperative sense: such shall be the state, the aim of Christians.

] complete, in your love of others; not one-sided, or exclusive, as these just mentioned, but all-embracing, and God-like , Luk 6:36. is emphatic. No countenance is given by this verse to the ancient Pelagian or the modern heresy of perfectibility in this life. Such a sense of the words would be utterly at variance with the whole of the discourse. See especially Mat 5:22; Mat 5:29; Mat 5:32, in which the imperfections and conflicts of the Christian are fully recognized. Nor, if we consider this verse as a solemn conclusion of the second part of the Sermon, does it any the more admit of this view, asserting as it does that likeness to God in inward purity, love, and holiness, must be the continual aim and end of the Christian in all the departments of his moral life. But how far from having attained this likeness we are, St. Paul shews us (Php 3:12); and every Christian feels, just in the proportion in which he has striven after it. Augustine argues for the true sense of this and similar passages of Scripture against the Pelagians at length, De peccatorum meritis et remissione, lib. ii. ch. 12 (17-20), and De perfectione justiti hominis, ch. 8, 9, vol. x. , , . Euthym[52] On the sense see 1Pe 1:15.

[52] Euthymius Zigabenus, 1116

Thol. quotes from Plato, Thet. p. 176, .

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 5:48. , you) In honourable contradistinction to them.-, perfect) sc. in love towards all.[239][240]

[239] See Col 3:14.-(I. B.)

[240] Bengel, J. A. (1860). Vol. 1: Gnomon of the New Testament (M. E. Bengel & J. C. F. Steudel, Ed.) (J. Bandinel & A. R. Fausset, Trans.) (138-185). Edinburgh: T&T Clark.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

perfect

The word implies full development, growth into maturity of godliness, not sinless perfection. Eph 4:12; Eph 4:13. In this passage the Father’s kindness, not His sinlessness, is the point in question. Luk 6:35; Luk 6:36

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

ye: Gen 17:1, Lev 11:44, Lev 19:2, Lev 20:26, Deu 18:13, Job 1:1, Job 1:2, Job 1:3, Psa 37:37, Luk 6:36, Luk 6:40, 2Co 7:1, 2Co 13:9, 2Co 13:11, Phi 3:12-15, Col 1:28, Col 4:12, Jam 1:4, 1Pe 1:15, 1Pe 1:16

even: Mat 5:16, Mat 5:45, Eph 3:1, Eph 5:1, Eph 5:2, 1Jo 3:3

Reciprocal: Deu 27:10 – General Deu 32:4 – his work 2Sa 22:31 – his way Mat 5:9 – for Mat 6:1 – of your Mat 6:9 – Our Mat 19:21 – If Joh 17:11 – Holy 1Co 2:6 – them Phi 2:15 – sons Heb 5:14 – of full age Heb 6:1 – let

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

MORAL PERFECTION

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Mat 5:48

If we are apt to grow self-complacent, to thank God we are not as other men are, but far better, it arises from the low standards we set before us. Now our Lord lifts up our thoughts far above all the standards of earth. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Many of us simply pass over and ignore the words as impracticable and impossible. Perfect! we say, perfect as God is perfect! Impossible. Imperfection marks everything, and must mark everything here below; it is Quixotic to expect we can attain that which is plainly above our reach. And so we quietly ignore the words altogether, and to the vast majority they are a dead letter. Yet spoken by our Lord they must have a real and important meaning. In worldly things, in arts and sciences, a high standard is of great importance. And in the spiritual life our Lord gives us what alone will make our life high and noble and pure; He gives us a high standard, the highest of all standards, the Almighty Father Himself.

I. The true standard.Christ bids us look above and see the real and the true.

(a) The perfect sanctity, the intense purity of God: dwelling in light unapproachable. For that all-holy Presence we have to prepare ourselves.

(b) His perfect knowledge. More and more then we must be ever seeking after truth.

(c) The perfect harmony and unity of the Divine perfections. We have so many ragged ends; many noble qualities, many false, unreal ones; much of the glitter and the flashiness which is only untrue and unreal.

II. Gods image.We need more and more to gaze on God, to look up into His Divine face. The glory of the sun is reflected in the water; so will the light of God be more and more reflected in the soul which is upturned to Him. His image, as it were, will be photographed there. And remember to this end two most important considerations

(a) God Himself will do the work. We lay open our hearts; He enters; He works.

(b) The great need of care in small matters. Perfection consists in little things. It is just this which our Lord is especially pressing here. The very word is complete, aiming at each virtue in its fulness, not at one to the neglect of the others.

III. The immense power of prayer in this matter.Alas! we have so little faith in its efficacy. We pray, and there the matter ends; for the most part we have not the faith to expect and look for the answer. Pray for the particular graces which you need to perfect you in holiness, and then expect the answer to come. For He gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him, and surely with Him we have all. More and more our life will be perfected here, until at last we come by His Almighty power unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.

The Rev. W. A. Brameld.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

5:48

Perfect is from TELEIOS and the simple meaning of the word is “completeness.” When anything or person is all that is expected of it, it can be said to be complete and hence perfect. It is taken for granted that human beings are not expected to possess all of the traits that God has, but the spirit of impartiality is one characteristic that man can possess in common with God. If he does then he is complete on that score and hence is like the Father in heaven.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Mat 5:48. Ye shall therefore be perfect. The first reference is to completeness in love to others; to an all embracing, instead of a narrow, exclusive affection. But the highest virtue includes all the rest, since God is love. We may then accept the correctness of the ordinary view, which understood the verse as setting up our heavenly Father (lit., your Father, the heavenly one) as the ultimate standard of our morality and holiness. No other standard is allowable indeed. Even the rendering we adopt implies a command to attain to this standard. Our ability cannot affect the case. Likeness to God in inward purity, love, and holiness, must be the continual aim and end of the Christian in all the departments of his moral life. But how far we are from having attained this likeness, St. Paul shows us (Php 3:12), and every Christian feels just in the proportion in which he has striven after it. (Alford.) Instruction in morality cannot rise above this verse. Christ alone can really give us such instruction, since He alone by life and death shows the perfection of God in man. Having thus led us up to our Heavenly Father as the true standard, our Lord by a natural transition speaks next of our religious duties, i.e., duties to our Heavenly Father.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

That is, aim at perfection in all Christian virtues and divine graces, but particularly in this of love, in imitation of your heavenly Father, who is the perfect pattern of all desirable goodness and adorable perfections. To be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect, is indeed impossible, as to equality, but not as to imitation.

The word rendered here perfect by St. Matthew, is elsewere by St. Luke rendered merciful, Luk 6:36, implying, that charity is the perfection of a Christian’s graces: he that is made perfect in love, is perfect in all divine graces, in the account of God.

Learn, 1. That there is no standing still in religion; he that will be saved must press on towards perfection.

Learn, 2. That no less than perfect and complete perfection in grace, and particularly in the grace of love and charity, is and ought to be the aim of every Christian in this life, and shall be his attainment in the next.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Verse 48

Be ye perfect; perfect in respect to the extent of your benevolence and kindness; let it include all, the evil and unthankful as well as the grateful and the good.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

Jesus’ summary of His disciples’ duty 5:48

This verse summarizes all of Jesus’ teaching about the Old Testament’s demands (Mat 5:21-47). It puts in epigrammatic form the essential nature of the "greater righteousness" of Mat 5:20 that Jesus illustrated above. "Therefore" identifies a conclusion.

"Perfect" (Gr. teleios) often occurs in a relative sense in the New Testament, and translators sometimes render it "mature" (e.g., 1Co 14:20; Eph 4:13; Heb 5:14; Heb 6:1). However it also means perfect. In this context it refers to perfect regarding conformity to God’s requirements, which Jesus just clarified. He wanted His disciples to press on to perfect righteousness, a goal that no sinful human can attain but toward which all should move (cf. Mat 5:3; Mat 6:12). They should not view righteousness as simply external, as the scribes and Pharisees did, but they should pursue inner moral purity and love. This is only appropriate since their heavenly Father is indeed perfect.

"Perfection here refers to uprightness and sincerity of character with the thought of maturity in godliness or attaining the goal of conformity to the character of God. While sinless perfection is impossible, godliness, in its biblical concept, is attainable." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 51.]

Good children in the ancient East normally imitated their fathers. Jesus advocated the same of His disciples. In giving this summary command Jesus was alluding to Lev 19:2, which He modified slightly in view of Deu 18:13.

"In Jesus’ perspective, the debates concerning law and tradition are all to be resolved by the proper application of one basic principle, or better, of a single attitude of the heart, namely, utter devotion to God and radical love of the neighbor (Mat 5:48; Mat 22:37-40)." [Note: Kingsbury, Matthew as . . ., p. 63.]

While we are definitely to strive for perfection in our conformity to the will of God (cf. 1Pe 1:15-16), we must beware of the perils associated with perfectionism. Striving for an unattainable goal is difficult for anyone, but it is particularly frustrating for people with obsessive-compulsive personalities, people who tend to be perfectionists. In one sense a perfectionist is someone who strives for perfection, but in another sense it is someone who is obsessed with perfection. Such a person, for example, constantly cleans up his or her environment, straightens things that are not exactly straight, and corrects people for even minor mistakes. This type of striving for perfection is not godly. God does is not constantly "on the backs" of people who are less than perfect, and we should not be, either other people or ourselves. In fact, He gives us a great deal of "space" and is patient with us, allowing us to correct our own mistakes before He steps in to do so (cf. 1Co 11:31). It is possible for disciples of Jesus to become so obsessed with our own holiness that we shift our focus from Christ to ourselves. Rather we should keep our eyes on Jesus (Heb 12:1-3) more than on ourselves and on being perfect.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)