Weâve started reading through the New Testament this year. This takes about six chapters a week. That means that if you havenât started yet, you could catch up quickly. Weâre only on Matthew 8 today. If you had an hour, you could catch all the way up right now. Donât worry about falling behind, itâs a lot easier to catch up this year. You can do this.
About twice a month, I will be answering questions on what weâre reading and giving overviews of new books weâre starting. This week, one member has asked what Jesus means when He says, âYou must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfectâ (Matthew 5:48).Â
This is one verse where the parallel passage in another Gospel is very helpful. Luke 6:36 reads, âBe merciful, even as your Father is merciful.â You can see that both passages start with Jesus telling us to âlove our enemies,â and culminate with a command to act as the Father acts. For Matthew, itâs âbe perfect;â for Luke, itâs âbe merciful.â I believe they mean the same thing.
The word that Matthew uses for âperfectâ has a connotation of âcompletion.â A variation on this phrase is used when Jesus says, âIt is finished,â on the cross (John 19:30). Jesus has paid the bill in full. He has paid it perfectly.
So when the Father approaches the world, He has forgiven all our debts. The world owes nothing to God. If the world owes nothing to God, how can I think the world owes anything to me? âForgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtorsâ (Matthew 6:12).
Jesus teaches this lesson in reverse as a parable. In Matthew 18, Peter asks Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother. Jesus answers by telling of a servant who owed what amounted to 10 billion dollars. The master forgives his debt. This same servant finds a guy who owes him $15,000 and has him thrown in jail. The master, when he finds out, punishes the unforgiving servant. Jesus concludes, âSo also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heartâ (Matthew 18:35).
To âbe perfectâ as the Father is perfect is to see the world as forgiven by Jesus. Itâs to approach people with free grace. It is to love enemies.
If you have a question, you can either message me or post one here. Either way, send me lots of questions this year!