The Call to Perfection: Understanding Jesus's Command in Matthew 5:48

Exegetical Analysis of Matthew 5:48

The Greek Text and Its Meaning

The Greek text reads: "Ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστιν" (Esesthe oun hymeis teleioi hōs ho patēr hymōn ho ouranios teleios estin).

The word τέλειος (teleios) carries significantly more depth than our English "perfect" suggests. While "perfect" in contemporary usage often denotes flawlessness or freedom from all defects, τέλειος encompasses meanings of completeness, maturity, and fulfillment of purpose. The verb form τελέω (teleō) means "to complete" or "to fulfill." Christ himself used this root in his final utterance on the cross: "It is finished" (τετέλεσται/tetelestai) (Jn 19:30). This linguistic connection suggests that Jesus is speaking not of impeccability but of fulfillment—becoming what we were created to be.

The future tense of the verb (Ἔσεσθε/Esesthe) is also significant. Jesus does not merely command "be perfect" in the immediate sense but points to an ongoing process: "you will be perfect." This grammatical nuance supports the understanding of perfection as a journey rather than an instantaneous achievement.

 

The Context in the Sermon on the Mount

This verse concludes Jesus's radical teaching on love of enemies (Mt 5:43-47). Jesus has just upended conventional wisdom by commanding his followers to love those who hate them and pray for those who persecute them. He points out the limited scope of human love: "If you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?" (Mt 5:46).

The call to perfection, therefore, specifically relates to this expansive, boundary-breaking love that mirrors God's indiscriminate care: "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mt 5:45). Luke's parallel passage confirms this interpretation, rendering the command as: "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Lk 6:36).

The "perfection" spoken of here is to be "merciful," it's to be complete, aligned to the heart of God toward neighbor. 

The Hebrew Background

The Hebrew concept that parallels τέλειος is תָּמִים (tamim), which appears in commands such as "You shall be blameless (תָּמִים) before the LORD your God" (Deut 18:13). This term connotes integrity, wholeness, and completeness rather than flawlessness.

In Deuteronomy 6:5, Israel is commanded to "love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might"—a wholehearted devotion that leaves nothing divided or held back. This concept of integrity and undivided commitment illuminates Jesus's use of τέλειος.

 

Patristic Understanding of Perfection

The early church theologians developed nuanced understandings of Christian perfection. Gregory of Nyssa described perfection as an endless journey into God: "This is truly the vision of God: never to be satisfied in the desire to see him. But one must always, by looking at what he can see, rekindle his desire to see more."

This paradoxical understanding—that perfection consists in endless progress—offers a profound insight. To be τέλειος is not to arrive at a static state of moral achievement but to be fully engaged in the dynamic process of growth toward God.

I find the image of a lighthouse providing orientation on a stormy sea helpful here. If you're on a ship, and in the midst of a storm, you may or may not make it to shore. But if you simply despair that you can't make it to the lighthouse, you're drowning for sure. No one would ever say, "reaching that goal is unattainable, so let's just jump overboard and die."  No, they'd continue in the right direction.  Jesus here sets up the Father's perfection as a kind of beacon to orient our lives by. We can't be "sinless," in this life (though some Christians think you can) but we can be complete, we can live the lives God's given us. We can keep our eyes fixed on the light ashore, and let God's guiding beacon lead us safely ashore.  

Augustine acknowledges both the command to be perfect and the reality of human weakness. He writes: "The righteousness of God is not fulfilled when the law commands and man acts as if by his own strength, but when the Spirit helps and man's liberated will, not enslaved but freed by grace, does what the law commands."

For Augustine, the command to be perfect is fulfilled through the grace of God working within us, not through our own moral striving. This aligns with his famous prayer: "Command what you will, and grant what you command."

 

Theological Reflections on Teleios

 

Perfection as Telos (Purpose)

The concept of telos (end or purpose) illuminates our understanding of perfection. Just as the telos of an acorn is to become an oak tree, and the "perfect" acorn is one that fulfills this purpose, so the telos of a human being is to love God and neighbor. A "perfect" human, then, is one who fulfills this divine intention.

Martin Luther expressed this understanding when he wrote: "This life, therefore, is not godliness but the process of becoming godly, not health but getting well, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not now what we shall be, but we are on the way." (Defense and Explanation of All the Articles, LW 32:24)

 

Perfection as Wholeness

When Jesus tells the rich young man, "If you would be perfect (τέλειος), go, sell what you possess and give to the poor" (Mt 19:21), he is not setting an impossible standard but calling the man to complete the journey he has begun—to move from keeping commandments to wholehearted devotion.

This understanding of perfection as wholeness resonates with Jesus's summary of the law: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Mt 22:37-39). Perfect love is whole, undivided love.

 

Perfection as Process

The New Testament repeatedly uses τέλειος to describe a process of growth rather than a final state. Paul writes to the Philippians: "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect (τετελείωμαι/teteleiōmai), but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own" (Phil 3:12).

Similarly, the author of Hebrews speaks of Jesus himself being "made perfect" (τελειωθεὶς/teleiōtheis) through suffering (Heb 2:10), not implying that Jesus was previously imperfect but that he fulfilled his mission through his sacrificial death.

This process understanding of perfection liberates us from the paralysis that comes from equating perfection with flawlessness. We are called not to instant moral impeccability but to a lifelong journey of becoming more like Christ.

 

Practical Applications

Perfection as Love

Jesus's command to be perfect comes in the context of his teaching on love of enemies. This suggests that the perfection he calls us to is primarily about love. As John writes, "There is no fear in love, but perfect (τελεία) love casts out fear" (1 Jn 4:18).

This means that growth in perfection is measured not by freedom from mistakes but by expansion of love. Do we love more widely, deeply, and selflessly than before? Are we becoming more like the Father who gives good things to both the evil and the good?

The command to be perfect, then, is not a burden. It’s a gift. It’s the kind of command that if received in faith can totally transform us—it can make us new, who we were always meant to be, who God designed us to be… bearers of his image, an image that shines his love into all of creation.

Remember the lighthouse.  Even if the command feels daunting, it's not there so that you will despair. It's there to give you an orientation for your life. Pursue God's holiness, His mercifulness, His love. Be whole.  

In Jesus' name,

Judah