The call of Jesus, as reflected in God’s command revealed in the Law, to love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matt 5:44), is easier said than done. We know it is difficult because there are limits to what we can extend to others, especially to those who have offended us. If it were easy, there would be no need for Christ to reinstate it, but He did. The truth is, to love is to surrender your rights and prioritize others, which can even extend to your enemies.
Matthew 5:48 seems to be the most difficult thing for us to accomplish: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” We know it is impossible because nobody is perfect. It is impossible because we always sin. We can’t be perfect, so the question is, why would Jesus tell us to be perfect?
There are a couple of implications from this verse. First, God, our Heavenly Father, is perfect. If we want to be with Him forever, we must be like Him–holy and perfect. If not, we can’t stand before Him. Second, these words of Christ help us realize that it is beyond our power to be perfect. We need to be saved from our condition, and that is what Jesus Christ came to do. Hebrews 5:9 says, “9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him,” (Note: Perfect here is not because Jesus was not perfect, but because He completed the conditions of being our priest and king).
Jesus was able to save us because He perfectly lived and sympathized with our weakness. Because of His work, we can confidently approach Him, and live for God, an honor that was beyond us when we were dead in our sins. Jesus provides everything we need to live a life that pleases God. We are not perfect by our own ability, but only through Christ. The call to be perfect, therefore, implies that we rely on the One who is perfect, Jesus Christ Himself.
The final implication from the verse is that while God’s love to us is unconditional, God’s salvation has conditions. It required the death of a perfect, unblemished sacrifice–the pure and innocent blood for the remission of sins. Not our blood, because we are not perfect and unblemished, but Christ’s. Colossians 1:22 says, “he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,”
As followers of Jesus, we are redeemed from our sinful condition to a life that glorifies God and presents His love. Therefore, let us live in a manner that is different from this world–a manner originally designed by God Himself for His glory alone. So, love the difficult people; love as sons of the Father.
