“‘Therefore you shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect’” (Matthew 5:48). With these words in His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gives a daunting decree. Insofar as the English translates, Jesus’ expectation is clear: we are to be no less than perfect. Yet, we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and even on our best days we never live up to the perfection expected of us. So, what good is Jesus’ instruction? It’s easy to feel like Jesus, by setting an impossible standard, is dooming us to fail at His commands. But before we reach that gloomy conclusion, His words deserve a second glance. The Greek word rendered as “perfect” in this verse is exceptionally difficult to translate. When its original meaning becomes clear, Jesus’ words turn from an unnervingly impossible commandment into guidance for even our most mundane activities. Perfection becomes an act that we carry out in our lives.
Before turning to Greek, a glance at English will reveal why this verse feels so strange and why its meaning seems so elusive. “Perfect” in its modern English definition is somewhat estranged from its roots. The word derives from the Latin perfectus, which means “accomplished” or “completed.” Any action, idea, or item which the Romans described as perfectus had reached a state of fulfillment. Perfectus did not necessarily indicate the lack of a moral or other blemish, but rather marked that something’s end goal had been brought to fruition. As the ancient Greek verbiage in Matthew 5:48 reveals, this latter definition of “perfect,” the one originally derived from perfectus, is the key to unlocking the mystery of Jesus’ command.
When Jesus commanded His disciples to be perfect, He did so with the Greek adjective teleios: “‘therefore you shall be perfect [teleios], as your heavenly Father is perfect [teleios].’” Teleios has a sense similar to perfectus in that it describes something which has reached its fulfillment and whose purpose has been accomplished. Specifically, teleios refers to something whose telos, a Greek philosophical word for “end goal,” has been brought about. To understand what makes a person teleios and to attain an example of a completed telos, we do not need to look farther than Jesus Himself.
Throughout the course of His ministry, Jesus is actively striving to become teleios—to be fulfilled in His purpose. Jesus uses teleios in its verbal form, teleioō, when He says in John 5:36 that “‘the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish [teleioō]—the very works that I do—testify about Me.’” Jesus’ most striking use of teleioō comes at the end of His ministry, at the completion of His greatest work, His oblation of Himself on the cross. His last words before dying echo throughout the ages: “‘It is finished [teleioō]’” (John 19:30). Amazingly, the “perfection” that Jesus exhorts us to obtain in Matthew 5:48 is the same perfection which Jesus accomplishes in His ministry only after He fulfills all the work on Earth which God has given Him to do.
Jesus, as an innocent man, had to confront the most vicious suffering that the world could inflict. His fate troubled Him. In Mark 14, Jesus prayed to God about the looming crucifixion: “‘Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.’” But had Jesus backed away from the cross which God gave Him, He would not have become teleios. Only by following God’s purpose, submitting to His will, and carrying out His works, even unto death, could Jesus finally say, “‘it is finished.’”
In Matthew 5:48, Jesus is not dangling an impossible goal above our heads. Rather, He is exhorting us to carry out fully and completely the work that God has given us, just as He did. We must be complete in our faith; we must follow God’s plan and purpose for our lives to its most bountiful fruition. We cannot act like Christians when Christianity is easy, but back away when God tries us. We cannot choose our own crosses, nor put them down when we please. But by aligning ourselves with the will of God and by obeying Him, we can walk toward the perfection He has commanded of us. Whatever trials we face, if we only focus on living out God’s will for us, we can become perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect.