Did Jesus Really Say That? Part 3: "Be Perfect"

Scripture Reading

Please open in your Bibles to Matthew 5:43-48. This is the Word of the Lord:

“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, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
(Matthew 5:43–48, ESV)

This is the Word of the Lord.

Opening Prayer

Father, your Word is perfect, reviving and renewing hearts. We pray that through your Spirit’s powerful ministry among us, you would open our eyes and ears, and soften our hearts to receive what you have said, that we may be shaped more and more into the likeness of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

The Weight of Perfection

Do you ever struggle with what some call “all-or-nothing” thinking? It’s that way of living where, if you don’t nail something exactly right, it feels like complete failure.

I know that struggle, especially in the areas I’m most passionate about. I love teaching Scripture; it’s one of my greatest joys. But if I miss a detail in a sermon or forget an illustration in Sunday school, I can replay it on the car ride home, even hours later. If I’m not careful, I beat myself up, because what I long for—and sometimes fear is required—is a pristine performance.

I suspect I’m not alone. Parents may lie awake at night, replaying the day’s transcript, remembering a sharp word spoken in frustration, while overlooking countless quiet acts of devotion. Students know the feeling of pouring hours into study, only to leave an exam convinced they’ve fallen short.

And then we bring this mindset into our view of God. We imagine him with folded arms, tilted head, and a look of disgust: “When will you ever get it right?”

So when we hear Jesus say, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), it feels unbearable. If we’re barely keeping our heads above water, how can we possibly be perfect?

A Hard Saying with Hope

This is one of the hard sayings of Jesus. But if we understand what he means—without twisting his words—we’ll find that this is not a crushing command, but an invitation to surprising hope.

First, we must be clear: Jesus is indeed making a demand. He is God, and he has every right to. He says:

“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)

To grasp the fully meaning of this, we need context. The Pharisees were masters at appearing outwardly religious, boasting of their obedience while substituting human traditions for God’s law. They narrowed the command to “love your neighbor” into something self-serving: “Who is my neighbor? People like us.” Everyone else could be dismissed. Some even twisted the law further with the phrase “hate your enemy.”

But Jesus doesn’t allow this. He expands love outward and presses it inward.

• Outward: Love isn’t just for people in your circle. It extends to the driver who cuts you off, the politician you can’t stand, and even the person who has wounded you.
• Inward: Love isn’t mere politeness. Jesus commands us to pray for those who persecute us. That means sincerely asking God to bless those who have wronged us. This is heart-level work.

Jesus himself modeled this love most clearly on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

And this love transforms hearts. It softened the thief who went from cursing Jesus to trusting him (Luke 23:39–43). It moved the centurion who declared, “Truly this was the Son of God” (Matthew 27:54). It eventually reached Saul of Tarsus, who persecuted Christians before being transformed into the Apostle Paul (Acts 9:1–22).

Reflecting the Father’s Heart

Jesus ties this radical love to the character of God:

“For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)

This is what theologians call common grace—God’s daily kindness to all, regardless of their response to him (cf. Romans 2:4). The air we breathe, the sunshine, the rain—they are shared gifts of a generous God.

In other words, God’s love is not transactional. It is undeserved, flowing from mercy. And when we love in this way, we reflect his character as true image-bearers: “Be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us.”(Ephesians 5:1–2)

This stands in stark contrast to our culture. We often withdraw love when we disagree, offering kindness only in return for kindness. But God calls us to love that spills over boundaries, love that looks like his generous heart.

Love That Tells the Truth

Of course, when we talk about this kind of love, we need to be careful. Jesus isn’t calling us to a shallow imitation of love that avoids hard words. The cheap version of “love” never risks saying difficult things and never confronts destructive patterns.

But Jesus loved differently. He loved everyone around him, yet he spoke hard truths. That’s what this whole sermon series has been about—the sayings of Jesus that sound uncomfortable at first. And if we’re faithful to him, our words will sometimes sound uncomfortable too.

The difference is motivation. We don’t speak sharp truths out of bitterness, fear, or revenge. We speak them in love, because we know God’s truth brings life. Our goal is healing, not harm; repentance, not humiliation.

As Paul reminds us, “Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”(Ephesians 4:15). When our love takes this shape—honest, courageous, but never cruel—we reflect our Father’s heart.

Loving Beyond the Ordinary

Jesus presses the point further: 

“For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?”

He’s saying that if our love only extends to people who already love us back, that’s not really love in the likeness of our Father; that’s just ordinary social exchange. Even the most despised tax collectors, even the pagans who don’t know God, do that.

The love of the Father is extraordinary. It reaches beyond reciprocity. It doesn’t stop at the edge of family, tribe, or friendship. And when we love that way, we show that something greater is at work in us—the grace of God, not the logic of the world.

The Call to Wholeness

Finally, Jesus says: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

The Greek word here is teleios, which doesn’t primarily mean “flawless” but “whole,” “complete,” or “mature.” We see this throughout its New Testament usage Some examples:

• “Let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect [teleios] and complete, lacking in nothing.” (James 1:4)
• “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature [teleios] in Christ.” (Colossians 1:28)
• “Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature [teleios].” (1 Corinthians 14:20)

Matthew doesn't present Jesus as lowering the bar in using this word. Teleios still points to the perfection of God’s wholeness. But for us, the emphasis here is not simply on flawlessness in every moment. It’s also about undivided devotion, integrity of life, and love that mirrors God’s completeness - inwardly and outwardly, everywhere. It echoes God’s call:“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2; cf. 1 Peter 1:16)

Our Deep Need, Christ’s Provision

This demand exposes our deficiency. We can’t achieve this wholeness on our own. And that’s the point. Jesus preaches this way not so we would think, “I can do it if I just try harder,” but so we would finally admit, “I can’t do this on my own.” It drives us to Christ, who fulfilled what we could not.

Paul puts it this way: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). That’s the great exchange. He takes what is ours—our sin, our failure, our imperfection—and he gives us what is his—his righteousness, his obedience, his perfection.

Now what does that mean for us? It means two things.

First, it means we already have a perfect position before God. By grace through faith, we are counted righteous. Hebrews 10:14 says, “By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Did you hear that? Perfected. For all time. That’s done. In the courtroom of heaven, when God looks at you, he does not see your record of failure; he sees Christ’s record of righteousness credited to you. Positionally, you are perfect in Christ, even as you still stumble in practice.

But second, it also means there is an progressive process—what the Bible calls sanctification. We’re not flawless in our daily living, but we are being made whole. Philippians 1:6 says, “He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” God doesn’t leave his children half-finished. If he has begun the work in you, he will carry it on until the very end, when Christ returns.

The very struggle you feel right now is evidence of that work. If you grieve over your sin, if you long for holiness, if you feel the weight of your imperfection and it drives you to prayer—that is not the sign that you are lost. That is the sign that you are alive in Christ. Before you knew him, you didn’t care about those things. The struggle itself is evidence of life.

So don’t despair over the struggle. Be encouraged by it. God has already declared you perfect in Christ, but He's now shaping you - through the struggle - to reflect His perfection in all things.

Closing Encouragement

So don’t fall into all-or-nothing despair. Expect the struggle, but let it encourage you. The presence of the struggle means you belong to Christ, and God is shaping you into wholeness. Positionally, you are already perfect in Christ. Practically, God is making you what you already are.

And one day, when Christ returns, the work will be complete.

Reflection & Discussion

Use these questions for personal reflection, journaling, or group conversation.

Who is hard for you to love?

Jesus calls us to love even our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Who are the people that instinctively stir resentment, avoidance, or bitterness in you? How does praying for them reshape your heart over time? (Luke 6:27–28; Romans 12:14–21)

What does “common grace” teach you about God?

Jesus points to the sun and the rain as evidence of the Father’s generosity to all (Matthew 5:45). How does this widen your view of God’s kindness? How might it call you to reflect His character in your relationships? (Psalm 145:8–9; Acts 14:16–17)

How do you respond to ordinary reciprocity?

Jesus warns that merely loving those who love us is no different than the tax collectors or Gentiles (Matthew 5:46–47). Where do you settle for love that looks ordinary? What steps could help you move beyond reciprocity to extraordinary grace? (Luke 14:12–14; James 2:1–9)

How do you understand “be perfect”?

Jesus says, “You must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). How do you usually hear that command—crushing or hopeful? How does the biblical sense of teleios (wholeness, maturity, completeness) change the way you receive it? (James 1:2–4; Colossians 1:28; 1 Corinthians 14:20)

How does Christ’s perfection cover your imperfection?

On the cross, Jesus accomplished what we could not (2 Corinthians 5:21). How does resting in His righteousness free you from “all-or-nothing” thinking and move you toward steady growth in holiness? (Hebrews 10:14; Philippians 1:6)

What does it mean to “speak the truth in love”?

Jesus’ love was never shallow—it included hard truths (Matthew 5:43–48; Ephesians 4:15). Where are you tempted to avoid truth-telling for the sake of comfort? Where do you need to guard against speaking truth without love? (Proverbs 27:5–6; Galatians 6:1)

Related Scriptures for Further Study

• Luke 6:27–28 – Love your enemies, bless those who curse you.
• Romans 12:14–21 – Overcome evil with good.
• Psalm 145:8–9 – The Lord is gracious to all he has made.
• Acts 14:16–17 – God’s kindness seen in rain and fruitful seasons.
• Luke 14:12–14 – Help those who cannot repay you.
• James 2:1–9 – Warning against partiality.
• James 1:2–4 – Steadfastness produces maturity (teleios).
• Colossians 1:28 – Paul’s aim: to present everyone mature (teleios) in Christ.
• 1 Corinthians 14:20 – Be mature in your thinking.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21 – Christ became sin so we might become God’s righteousness.
• Hebrews 10:14 – By one sacrifice he has perfected forever those being sanctified.
• Philippians 1:6 – He who began a good work will bring it to completion.
• Ephesians 4:15 – Speaking the truth in love, growing into Christ.
• Proverbs 27:5–6 – Better open rebuke than hidden love; faithful are the wounds of a friend.
• Galatians 6:1 – Restore those caught in sin with gentleness.

These sermon summaries are solely intended for the personal devotional use of church members and friends. They are not transcripts or academic works and should not be reproduced or distributed without permission.

Originally prepared by Kevin Labby during his vocational service at First Evangelical Free Church of McKeesport. Used with permission. Copyright remains with the church. Please do not reproduce or distribute without written consent from both the church and the author.