Matthew 5:48 and our Lord's command for us to be perfect

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Hello everyone. 👋 I have been thinking about this verse in the holy Gospel of Saint Matthew for a long time now. It has bothered me probably for about as long as I have been Christian and I have been Christian since childhood but I wasn’t Catholic until 2006.

Anyway, I was just wondering if I could get some (name removed by moderator)ut on this verse? Here is the verse:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48 RSV-CE)

If you want to see it in context then please look it up in your Bible or let me know and I will try to provide it in context.

So, my question is, what does a verse like this mean? I tend to be obsessive compulsive and I find it to be impossible to be perfect.

Anyway, thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut you can provide. 🙂
 
If we die in Christ and are not pure, we will be purified in purgatory, so that we can enter heaven in perfection like God in heaven.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hello everyone. 👋 I have been thinking about this verse in the holy Gospel of Saint Matthew for a long time now. It has bothered me probably for about as long as I have been Christian and I have been Christian since childhood but I wasn’t Catholic until 2006.

Anyway, I was just wondering if I could get some (name removed by moderator)ut on this verse? Here is the verse:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48 RSV-CE)

If you want to see it in context then please look it up in your Bible or let me know and I will try to provide it in context.

So, my question is, what does a verse like this mean? I tend to be obsessive compulsive and I find it to be impossible to be perfect.

Anyway, thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut you can provide. 🙂
Click to expand...
Okay, let me offer a suggestion. The first idea is that when we pray the Our Father we ask that God’s will be done. There fore we are asking to be perfect.

The scripture you mentioned is in a section about love of enemies. Now how hard is that to do for most of us? It takes a lot to look at some people with a heart of love, especially if they have done wrong unto us.

Another thought concerns why I like the Catholic Church is that we read at mass sections of the Bible. Never do we read just one line. By always reading a larger section we do not narrow our focus too much.

Now back to this idea of loving one’s enemies; God’s love is perfect and eternal. Yet for us humans to love an enemy with a love as pure as God’s would be just about as near to perfection as our souls could get. Saints Francis, Patrick, Perpetua and Kolbe come to mind. I am sure there are others, but these saints I have read about. Each saint’s legacy making a profounf impression on me. One example from my time on earth would be when Pope John Paul II went to the prison to forgive his would be assassin. That one event of love of enemy opened my mind in a huge way.

So those are my thoughts.

God bless
 
Mathtew 5:48 is situated in the “Sermon on the Mount” and has to be understood in the context of the entire discourse.

In Matthew 5, Jesus uses a rabinnic teaching technique whereby he takes some aspect of the Law of Moses and elevates it - raises the bar - for the ordinary Jew who was in his audience. The formula he uses is “You have heard that it was said…” and then he inserts some rule from the Law of Moses and follows it with “But I say to you…” and then he raises the bar in terms of what will be expected from one who chooses to follow him.

***You have heard that it was said **to your ancestors,n ‘You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment, (Matthew 5:21-22)

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)

It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a bill of divorce.’ But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. (Matthew 5:31-32)

**Again you have heard that it was said **to your ancestors, ‘Do not take a false oath, but make good to the Lord all that you vow.’ But I say to you, do not swear at all (Matthew 5:33-34)

You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, offer no resistance to one who is evil. (Matthew 5:38-39)*

The last such teching, at the end of Matthew 5 is as follows:

***“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, *(Matthew 5:43-44)
This would have been very difficult words for the Jews to hear. They had been attacked by Assyria and deported to Babylon, made to adopt Greek culture and were tortured and had their babies killed when they refused, and were now all but forced to worship a Roman emperor as a god.

The most difficult thing in life to do is to love someone who is opressing you, persecuting you and trying to kill you. The hardest thing to do is to be like Christ on the Cross who could have ended the world at that moment, but he cried out, “Father forgivem them.”

That is the way to perfection, and Jesus is calling his audience to follow that path, to love their enemies who are opressing, persecuting and trying to kill them. He is teaching his audience, and us, to pray for the very people who are trying to kill us. That is perfection.

-Tim-
 
Having drunk the Protestant perfection koolaid for most of my life, let me share what my thoughts are. The word “perfect” here doesn’t mean “perfect” as we define it - a list of do this and don’t do that. The traditions that I grew up in, and even studied to be a minister of had such detailed lists that a careful reading of the life of Jesus in the gospels presented one undisputed fact. Even he didn’t measure up to their defination of “perfect”!😃 He got a free pass because he was also fully divine. What the word “perfect” means in this passage, in my humble opinion, is “complete”. When we see something that is complete, we call it perfect. Very different from perfectionism. Jesus is telling us to be complete as our Father in heaven is complete. Not lacking in any good thing. How do we do this? The Sacraments. Reconciliation and the Eucharist. Daily, if we can. (The Eucharist, not Reconciliation).
Kris
 
As Highway hound points out, that verse comes at the end of a section about Love - specifically loving one’s enemies. So - within that specific context - it appears to be saying “perfect” in Love.
This idea fits well with other mentions of Love such as these:
Mt 22:36-40 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And He said to him, " You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 "The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

John 13:34-35 “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

1 Cor 13 1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; 5 it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends; as for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; 10 but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. 13 So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

1John 4:7-8 7 Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God; for God is love.
So - we have "God is Love…Love is the greatest virtue…All of the Law and Prophets are based on Love…and…It is by our Love that the world will know that we are His disciples.
What conclusion can we then draw? If we are to be perfect as the Father is perfect, and the Father IS Love…Then we are called to be perfect in Love…

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it…😃

Peace
James
 
This might help . . . maybe.

We are called to be perfect. But how can I be “perfect” if I’m only human?!!! It sounds like “pie in the sky” “wishful thinking” at best.

Well, “I” cannot be perfect on my own; however, when I join myself to Christ and His Holy Cross suddenly perfection is attainable. Jesus is calling us to reach out to Him in all our endeavors; to rely on Him and His suffering on His Cross. Jesus will accomplish what we cannot, but we have to commit ourselves to following Him closely and relying on Him intensely.

So how does one reach perfection? Prayer first . . . and a lot of it. And the sacraments, of course. This is how our Lord gives us the free gift of Grace. The Christian should be in a constant state of wanting God’s Grace, the energy source that propels us toward God. It is His Grace that empowers us to make great strides toward the Divine Life, which is God’s life—and therefore God Himself. Jesus is The Way toward this perfection. Remember, if our Lord urged us toward perfection, then perfection MUST be attainable. Our Loving Father would never mislead us.

Peace of Christ
 
Here is St. Thomas Aquinas’ explanation from his commentary on the Gospel of Matthew.

“There is another perfection of love possible for a creature, namely, that the creature love God according to his totality. And there are three degrees of this perfection. And one is not possible in this life, and the other two are possible. Regarding the first of these, all are bound, because this totality can be referred to the act of love, and such is the perfection of heaven; for in this life, because of its many occupations, this perfection is not possible. There is also a totality in the way [to heaven] which pertains to one’s intention, namely, such that you have God in all your actions as your final end, after having thought nothing against Him. And this is a precept; for all are bound to ordain themselves and their actions to God. Another is a middle perfection. And this belongs to the religious. For inasmuch as a man is exempted from the affairs of the world, to that degree he thinks of God in his actions and rises closer to those things which are in heaven. And accordingly, the Apostles wanted to be poor, not for the sake of poverty, but so that they might give themselves to contemplation. And thus virginity or continence belongs to the perfection of a counsel; because the married think upon those things which pertain to the world, and consequently they are not brought as much to the contemplation of God.”
 
Holly3278 said:
Hello everyone. 👋 I have been thinking about this verse in the holy Gospel of Saint Matthew for a long time now. It has bothered me probably for about as long as I have been Christian and I have been Christian since childhood but I wasn’t Catholic until 2006.

Anyway, I was just wondering if I could get some (name removed by moderator)ut on this verse? Here is the verse:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48 RSV-CE)

If you want to see it in context then please look it up in your Bible or let me know and I will try to provide it in context.

So, my question is, what does a verse like this mean? I tend to be obsessive compulsive and I find it to be impossible to be perfect.

Anyway, thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut you can provide. 🙂
Click to expand...
This may have been covered sufficiently and beautifully by others but I just want to be brief. Just my take.

Jesus asks us to be perfect. That’s true; he cannot mean it for anything else. We know that God would ask us to do something that can be done even if we thought we can’t do it. “… With God, all things are possible. …” Mark 10:27

Yet we know that to be perfect is near impossible or even impossible. To me the exhortation of Mt 5:48 still stands, it is not obsolete even though it was said 2000 years ago.

What it really means in our context for us who are weak and sinful mortals is to be perfect. If we are not already there, to work toward it and not to stop in all our lives, until we meet the Father face to face, in heaven in all perfection.🙂

Did I say I want to be brief? Sheesh…
 
This is talking about Theosis. We can only be perfect when we are in perfect communion with God.
 
Holly3278 said:
Hello everyone. 👋 I have been thinking about this verse in the holy Gospel of Saint Matthew for a long time now. It has bothered me probably for about as long as I have been Christian and I have been Christian since childhood but I wasn’t Catholic until 2006.

Anyway, I was just wondering if I could get some (name removed by moderator)ut on this verse? Here is the verse:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48 RSV-CE)

If you want to see it in context then please look it up in your Bible or let me know and I will try to provide it in context.

So, my question is, what does a verse like this mean? I tend to be obsessive compulsive and I find it to be impossible to be perfect.

Anyway, thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut you can provide. 🙂
Click to expand...
D-R Bible, Haydock Commentary:

Ver. 48. Jesus Christ here sums up his instructions by ordering us to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect; i.e. to imitate, as far as our exertions, assisted by divine grace, can reach, the divine perfection. (Witham) — See here the great superiority of the new over the old law. But let no one hence take occasion to despise the old. Let him examine attentively, says St. Chrysostom, the different periods of time, and the persons to whom it was given; and he will admire the wisdom of the divine Legislator, and clearly perceive that it is one and the same Lord, and that each law was to the great advantage of mankind, and wisely adapted to the times of their promulgation. For, if among the first principles of rectitude, these sublime and eminent truths had been found, perhaps neither these, nor the less perfect rules of morality would have been observed; whereas, by disposing of both in their proper time, the divine wisdom has employed both for the correction of the world. (Hom. xviii.) Seeing then that we are thus blessed as to be called, and to be the children of so excellent a Father, we should endeavour, like Him, to excel in goodness, meekness, and charity; but above all in humility, which will secure to us the merit of good works, through the infinite merits of our divine Redeemer, Master, and model, Christ Jesus the Lord. (Haydock)
 
Holly3278 said:
Hello everyone. 👋 I have been thinking about this verse in the holy Gospel of Saint Matthew for a long time now. It has bothered me probably for about as long as I have been Christian and I have been Christian since childhood but I wasn’t Catholic until 2006.

Anyway, I was just wondering if I could get some (name removed by moderator)ut on this verse? Here is the verse:

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
(Matthew 5:48 RSV-CE)

If you want to see it in context then please look it up in your Bible or let me know and I will try to provide it in context.

So, my question is, what does a verse like this mean? I tend to be obsessive compulsive and I find it to be impossible to be perfect.

Anyway, thanks for any (name removed by moderator)ut you can provide. 🙂
Click to expand...
In order to understand the standard which the Lord sets before us, we need to understand the God who is perfect. Once we do that then we will realize that what Jesus calls the world to is an attainment impossible to reach in this life. Only Jesus reached it. That is why we can call Him, “the Lord, our righteousness” and look to Him for salvation.
 
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