"Be, ye . . . perfect." This command of Jesus is imperative and unconditional. He might have said, "Try to become perfect," or, "Be as near perfect as you can," or yet again, "Do as well as you can with your poor, weak, human self; it is not to be expected that you will do much, but try, in your feeble way, to imitate the perfection of your Father, and when at last you reach Heaven your blighted human bud will blossom into the perfect flower." He might have said all this. What he did say was, "Be ye perfect."
"Be" unquestionably applies to the present. It is neither "have been" nor "shall be." We cannot possibly mistake its meaning. Nor can one think of "ye" as referring to one's neighbor; it means beyond peradventure one's self. And had Jesus intended his words for any particular age or sect he in his clear, direct way would have said so: "Be ye perfect."
"Perfect," also, is unmistakable. It is what might be called an absolute word; i.e., a word beyond comparison. Less than perfect is not perfection; and more than perfect is inconceivable.
