Prefect? Really? Should we really listen to what Jesus says?

Once again, Jesus ups the ante.  In many passages, the Bible tells followers of God to be holy, just like God is holy.  “Impossible,” you might say.  However, Jesus gives us an even crazier sounding command.  In Matthew 5, in what has been called, “The Sermon On The Mount,” Jesus tells those who would follow Him to “Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”

No sweat, right?  We’ll get right on that.

People have been trying to explain this away for 2000 years.  Many have tried to say that we can’t or don’t understand what Jesus was saying, in this simple sentence.  Others say that He said it, but He really didn’t mean it.  And, my favorite – We don’t think Jesus would tell us to do something we couldn’t do, so He must not have really said it. 

But He did say it, and He did mean it.  And He said it in the context of talking about our attitudes and behavior.  Jesus has just said that if we are angry with our sibling, it is the same to God as committing murder, and lusting after a woman is the same as committing adultery, and we are to give to, and help out anyone who asks, and we are to love our enemies…  It is in light of these that we are to be perfect.  Yikes. 

If you’ve been with us on Saturday nights in recent weeks, you are probably beginning to put the pieces together.  Does Jesus mean this?  Does He command us to do something we can’t do?  Maybe we are just supposed to try really hard, even though we will fail badly?  How do we follow what Jesus tells us here?

Comments and dialogue are welcome.