Now, as I read that, you probably noticed Jesus was using kind of a pattern here. All those statements of Jesus started out with something like “You have heard that such-and-such” and then went on with Jesus saying, “But I tell you so-and-so.” The first part of the statement, the “you have heard such-and-such” part, was Jesus stating what Jewish law required. The second part, the “But I tell you so-and-so” part, was Jesus telling the people of his time, and telling us, how we should live.
One of the things that got Jesus in trouble while he was on earth is that he sometimes did not follow the strict Jewish laws. What people did not realize, though, is why he sometimes did not follow those laws. It was not that he did not believe in law. It was not that he thought he was above the law because he was the Savior. Jesus was not trying to get away with anything by not following Jewish laws.
The reason Jesus sometimes would not follow Jewish laws is that he realized people were using those laws the wrong way. People were only concerned with following the letter of the law. No more and no less. That meant that, while people would do what the law required, people would do no more than the law required. They were acting out of duty and legality instead of acting out of love.
Listen to what Jesus tells them here. He says it’s not enough to just not commit murder. It’s not enough to just avoid killing somebody. He says that, as Christians we’re not even supposed to be angry with anyone. He says it’s not enough to just not commit adultery. He says that, as Christians, we’re not even supposed to look at someone of the opposite sex with any kind of sexual thoughts. He says we should not take an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, even if the law allows it. Instead, Jesus says that, as Christians, we are not supposed to get into a fight with anyone at all. Jesus says it’s not enough for us to love our neighbor and hate our enemies. Jesus says we need to love even our enemies. He says we need to pray for those who persecute us.
Jesus was not saying we should ignore the law. Instead, Jesus was saying that, as Christians, we’re held to a higher standard than just doing what we have to do under the law. As Christians, we should do more. As Christians we’re not supposed to just not hurt people. We’re supposed to love them. We’re supposed to help them.
The things Jesus is telling us to do here are not easy things. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had times in my life when I’ve been angry with people. Sometimes I still do. I’ve had times where I got into fights with people. They’re not physical fights, because, well, look at me. I’d get beaten up. But I’ve gotten into arguments with people, and sometimes I still do. I don’t know that I have any real personal enemies that I can think of at the moment, but there are certainly people who are enemies of the United States. I cannot honestly say I love those people. These things Jesus is telling us to do are really hard. And then, making it even harder is the last line in this section. Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Let’s see the hands of everyone in here who’s perfect. Yeah, my hand does not belong up, either. I’m not perfect. I don’t suppose any of us is. And yet, that’s what Jesus tells us to do: be perfect. We’re supposed to be perfect in the same way that God is perfect.
So what do we do with these sayings of Jesus? I don’t think we can just ignore them, because we’re told that Jesus said them, and we claim to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is our Savior. And yet, it seems impossible to actually follow them. Is Jesus telling us to do something that’s impossible?
Well, here’s how I look at it. See if this helps you.
A major league baseball team plays one hundred sixty-two games in a season. To have a perfect season, a team would have to win all one hundred sixty-two games. As a practical matter, there’s no way any team can win all one hundred sixty-two games. They cannot even come close. The most any team has ever won is one hundred sixteen, which is a lot, but that still means they had forty-six losses. They were nowhere close to winning every game and having a perfect season. And each team knows that at the start of the season.
And yet, every time a team takes the field, their goal is to win. They know they won’t win every game--again, no one has ever come close to doing it. Still, every day, that’s their goal. Their goal is to win every game, even though they know they won’t do it.
I think that’s how it needs to be for us. We know we won’t live perfect lives. And yet, every day, that should be our goal. We know we won’t do it, but still, that should be our goal. Our goal should be to live a perfect life every day, even though we know we won’t do it.
That’s the standard we’re called to as Christians. Now, God will forgive us when we fail. If we go to God and ask for forgiveness, God will give it to us. But we should not use that forgiveness as an excuse to not try to be perfect. Every day, we need to try to be perfect. Every night, we need to ask God for forgiveness for failing. And the next day, we need to try to be perfect again. And the next night, we need to ask God for forgiveness for failing. And on and on and on.
As Christians, we’re called to the highest standard possible: the standard of Jesus Christ. We won’t reach it. But if we do our best to reach it every day, God will see it. And God will bless our lives in ways we cannot imagine.
As Christians, we’re called to the highest standard possible: the standard of Jesus Christ. We won’t reach it. But if we do our best to reach it every day, God will see it. And God will bless our lives in ways we cannot imagine.
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