The Meaning of Matthew 5:48 Explained

Matthew 5:48

KJV: Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

YLT: ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father who is in the heavens is perfect.

Darby: Be ye therefore perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.

ASV: Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  even  as your  Father  which  is in  heaven  is  perfect. 

What does Matthew 5:48 Mean?

Study Notes

perfect
The word implies full development, growth into maturity of godliness, not sinless perfection. Ephesians 4:12 ; Ephesians 4:13 . In this passage the Father's kindness, not His sinlessness, is the point in question. Luke 6:35 ; Luke 6:36

Verse Meaning

This verse summarizes all of Jesus" teaching about the Old Testament"s demands ( Matthew 5:21-47). It puts in epigrammatic form the essential nature of the "greater righteousness" of Matthew 5:20 that Jesus illustrated above. "Therefore" identifies a conclusion.
"Perfect" (Gr. teleios) often occurs in a relative sense in the New Testament, and translators sometimes render it "mature" (e.g, 1 Corinthians 14:20; Ephesians 4:13; Hebrews 5:14; Hebrews 6:1). However it also means perfect. In this context it refers to perfect regarding conformity to God"s requirements, which Jesus just clarified. He wanted His disciples to press on to perfect righteousness, a goal that no sinful human can attain but toward which all should move (cf. Matthew 5:3; Matthew 6:12). They should not view righteousness as simply external, as the scribes and Pharisees did, but they should pursue inner moral purity and love. This is only appropriate since their heavenly Father is indeed perfect.
"Perfection here refers to uprightness and sincerity of character with the thought of maturity in godliness or attaining the goal of conformity to the character of God. While sinless perfection is impossible, godliness, in its biblical concept, is attainable." [1]
Good children in the ancient East normally imitated their fathers. Jesus advocated the same of His disciples. In giving this summary command Jesus was alluding to Leviticus 19:2, which He modified slightly in view of Deuteronomy 18:13.
"In Jesus" perspective, the debates concerning law and tradition are all to be resolved by the proper application of one basic principle, or better, of a single attitude of the heart, namely, utter devotion to God and radical love of the neighbor ( Matthew 5:48; Matthew 22:37-40)." [2]
While we are definitely to strive for perfection in our conformity to the will of God (cf. 1 Peter 1:15-16), we must beware of the perils associated with perfectionism. Striving for an unattainable goal is difficult for anyone, but it is particularly frustrating for people with obsessive-compulsive personalities, people who tend to be perfectionists. In one sense a perfectionist is someone who strives for perfection, but in another sense it is someone who is obsessed with perfection. Such a person, for example, constantly cleans up his or her environment, straightens things that are not exactly straight, and corrects people for even minor mistakes. This type of striving for perfection is not godly. God does is not constantly "on the backs" of people who are less than perfect, and we should not be, either other people or ourselves. In fact, He gives us a great deal of "space" and is patient with us, allowing us to correct our own mistakes before He steps in to do so (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:31). It is possible for disciples of Jesus to become so obsessed with our own holiness that we shift our focus from Christ to ourselves. Rather we should keep our eyes on Jesus ( Hebrews 12:1-3) more than on ourselves and on being perfect.

Context Summary

Matthew 5:38-48 - Brotherly Relationship
In mentioning the second mile, our Lord refers to a well-known Eastern custom of forwarding messages by relays of forced labor. We leave our homes on a given morning, anticipating no evil. Suddenly and unexpectedly there are sounds of horses' hoofs and a great demand is thrust upon us. We are sent off in a direction we never contemplated and are compelled to go one mile. It is the second that tests character; and your actions with respect to it will determine whether you have entered into the spirit of Christ and are willing to serve others for love's sake and at cost of peril and inconvenience to yourself.
Love to one's neighbor appears in many passages in the Old Testament. See Exodus 23:4-5. But we have to love enemies and resemble God's sun and rain, Matthew 5:45. You say that it is impossible! Remember those sweet old words: "I taught Ephraim to go," Hosea 11:1-4. Ask your Heavenly Father to teach you to love. Remember Galatians 5:22. Dare to believe that He will perfect what concerneth you. [source]

Chapter Summary: Matthew 5

1  Jesus' sermon on the mount:
3  The Beattitudes;
13  the salt of the earth;
14  the light of the world
17  He came to fulfill the law
21  What it is to kill;
27  to commit adultery;
33  to swear
38  He exhorts to forgive wrong,
43  to love our enemies;
48  and to labor after perfection

Greek Commentary for Matthew 5:48

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Perfect ( τελειοι — teleioi ). The word comes from τελος — telos end, goal, limit. Here it is the goal set before us, the absolute standard of our Heavenly Father. The word is used also for relative perfection as of adults compared with children. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Matthew 5:48

Matthew 19:21 If thou wouldest be perfect [ει τελεις τελειος ειναι]
Condition of the first class, determined as fulfilled. Jesus assumes that the young man really desires to be perfect (a big adjective that, perfect as God is the goal, Matthew 5:48). [source]
Luke 6:35 Hoping for nothing again [μηδὲν ἀπελπίζοντες]
A later Greek word, only here in New Testament, and meaning originally to give up in despair, a sense which is adopted by some high authorities, and by Rev., never despairing. Luke was familiar with this sense in the Septuagint. Thus Isaiah 29:19, “The poor among men ( οἱ ἀπηλπισμένοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων ) shall rejoice.” So in Apocrypha, Matthew 5:45, Matthew 5:48. [source]
Luke 6:35 Sons of the Most High [υοι υπσιστου]
In Luke 1:32 Jesus is called “Son of the Highest” and here all real children or sons of God (Luke 20:36) are so termed. See also Luke 1:35, Luke 1:76 for the use of “the Highest” of God. He means the same thing that we see in Matthew 5:45, Matthew 5:48 by “your Father.”Toward the unthankful and evil (επι τους αχαριστους και πονηρους — epi tous acharistous kai ponērous). God the Father is kind towards the unkind and wicked. Note the one article with both adjectives. [source]
Luke 6:36 Even as your Father [κατως ο πατηρ υμων]
In Matthew 5:48 we have ως ο πατηρ υμων — hōs ho patēr humōn In both the perfection of the Father is placed as the goal before his children. In neither case is it said that they have reached it. [source]
Ephesians 3:19 Which passeth knowledge [την υπερβαλλουσαν της γνωσεως]
Ablative case γνωσεως — gnōseōs after υπερβαλλουσαν — huperballousan (from υπερβαλλω — huperballō). All the same Paul dares to scale this peak. That ye may be filled with all the fulness of God (ινα πληρωτητε εις παν το πληρωμα του τεου — hina plērōthēte eis pān to plērōma tou theou). Final clause again (third use of ινα — hina in the sentence) with first aorist passive subjunctive of πληροω — plēroō and the use of εις — eis after it. One hesitates to comment on this sublime climax in Paul‘s prayer, the ultimate goal for followers of Christ in harmony with the injunction in Matthew 5:48 to be perfect (τελειοι — teleioi) as our heavenly Father is perfect. There is nothing that any one can add to these words. One can turn to Romans 8:29 again for our final likeness to God in Christ. [source]
Ephesians 3:19 That ye may be filled with all the fulness of God [ινα πληρωτητε εις παν το πληρωμα του τεου]
Final clause again (third use of ινα — hina in the sentence) with first aorist passive subjunctive of πληροω — plēroō and the use of εις — eis after it. One hesitates to comment on this sublime climax in Paul‘s prayer, the ultimate goal for followers of Christ in harmony with the injunction in Matthew 5:48 to be perfect (τελειοι — teleioi) as our heavenly Father is perfect. There is nothing that any one can add to these words. One can turn to Romans 8:29 again for our final likeness to God in Christ. [source]
1 Peter 1:16 Because it is written [διοτι γεγραπται]
“Because The quotation is from Leviticus 11:44; Leviticus 19:2; Leviticus 20:7. Reenforced by Jesus in Matthew 5:48. The future εσεστε — esesthe here is volitive like an imperative. [source]

What do the individual words in Matthew 5:48 mean?

Shall be therefore you perfect as the Father of you who [is] Heavenly perfect is
Ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι ὡς Πατὴρ ὑμῶν οὐράνιος τέλειός ἐστιν

Ἔσεσθε  Shall  be 
Parse: Verb, Future Indicative Middle, 2nd Person Plural
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.
τέλειοι  perfect 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: τέλειος  
Sense: brought to its end, finished.
Πατὴρ  Father 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: προπάτωρ 
Sense: generator or male ancestor.
ὑμῶν  of  you 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Root: σύ  
Sense: you.
  who  [is] 
Parse: Article, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
οὐράνιος  Heavenly 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: οὐράνιος  
Sense: heavenly.
τέλειός  perfect 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: τέλειος  
Sense: brought to its end, finished.