God and the Process for Completing Humanity

Mat 5:48 You will then be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

The term used for "perfect" here is teleios, which means perfect more in the sense of having been perfected, that is, being complete and finished. In animals, it means full-grown. Applied to professionals, it means accomplished or trained. Interestingly, when applied to gods, it means all-powerful, specifically having the ability to fulfull prayers. When applied to prayers, it means being fulfulled or answered.

So another translation of this line could be, "Then you will be complete as your Father in heaven is all-powerful."

This is perfectly consistent with what we have said earlier in the sermon about Christ promising the completion of all things. We and our world is a work in progress. Before going through the commandments, Christ says that his purpose on earth is ginomai, that is, "to fill-up" or "to complete" not only the law but all things. He then goes through the process of filling out the traditional laws. This in turn is tied to the last beatitude, when he says that we will be hounded or persecuted for being dikaiosune, that is, in a state of perfection. The he ends this section of his sermon by promising that when we love our enemies, we will be finished and complete.

Though it is not apparent in it English translation, this section ends where it begins, with the promise of our perfection as human being.

What is interesting here is that perfection is relatively easy for human beings. It doesn't require superhuman intellect or strength. It doesn't even involved obeying every law. In the end, it only requires that we hug our enemies.