Matthew 5:48 — Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

Yesterday, I wrote of Jesus as the best of the best. Yet He never claimed to be perfect. In fact in the gospel of Luke we find Him saying ” And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.” (Luke 13:32) It is only His Father, and ours, to whom Jesus attributes perfection.
How scary is that? The best of the best says “Look, My Father is better than Me, in fact He’s perfect — and it’s your job to be perfect too!”
Paul says something else that (pardon the pun) reflects on the ideas here. He writes to the Corinthians “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
So which is it? Are we aiming at the Father’s perfection, or the Son’s image? Well, who said it was an “either/or” deal? It is our job to be made perfect as we grow, step by step, into the image of the Son. How do we pull that trick off?
One clue is in the verses leading up to Matthew 5:48:
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy … that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven …For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? (Matthew 5:43-47)
These verses, containing the willingness to love universally, without reserve, perhaps express the ultimate perfection of God. Time and again Jesus demonstrated that perfect willingness — from laying aside His godhead, to serving His disciples, to laying down His life, He led the way.
Matthew shows the goal. Paul shows the way. “Remove the veils”, he says, “and step by step, reflect the perfection of the Son more closely.” I guess the only questions that remain are “what veils, and how do I remove them?”
The veils are all the things that behave like veils! They are those things that prevent us from seeing Jesus clearly. Sin, disobedience, pride, lack of faith … For us “Be Ye perfect” must surely mean “Remove those things … They’re getting in the way.” If we remove every veil, I don’t think loving our enemies is going to be a problem, and we’ll get closer to perfection …