{"id":2988,"date":"2015-03-18T09:26:59","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T16:26:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?p=2988"},"modified":"2015-03-15T21:50:07","modified_gmt":"2015-03-16T04:50:07","slug":"why-i-dont-think-jesus-was-perfect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2015\/03\/18\/why-i-dont-think-jesus-was-perfect\/","title":{"rendered":"Why I don\u2019t think Jesus was perfect"},"content":{"rendered":"

In elders quorum this week, someone mentioned the idea that Jesus led a perfect life. It\u2019s a common idea I have heard expressed often in the church.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t agree with it.<\/p>\n

At the end of Matthew 5, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said the following:<\/p>\n

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When we hear the word \u201cperfect\u201d, we normally interpret it to mean \u201cwithout fault\u201d. In the context Jesus used it, however, it likely means something else. In the original Greek version of Matthew 5:48, the word we translate as \u201cperfect\u201d was teleios<\/em>.<\/p>\n

This word means something less like having no defects or faults and more like complete in all its parts, full-grown, or mature. It is derived from the Greek telos<\/em>, which means the end, completion, or product.<\/p>\n

It seems, then, that Jesus isn\u2019t instructing us to be spotless, without blemish, or defect free. It seems that he was telling us to be something else.<\/p>\n

If he were telling us to be without fault, then why use only God as the one to whom we should look as the ideal? Why exclude himself? After all, Peter taught us in 1 Peter 2:22 that Jesus \u201cdid no sin\u201d.<\/p>\n

On that note, notice the Sermon at Bountiful (3 Ne. 12:48), where Jesus addressed the Nephite multitudes, and where he modified his counsel by including himself:<\/p>\n

Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This seems to imply that even Jesus didn\u2019t consider himself perfect when he started his ministry.<\/p>\n

Something must have happened between the start of Jesus\u2019s ministry and when he visited the Nephites to prompt him to include himself.<\/p>\n

In D&C 93, we learn from John the Beloved that even though Jesus was full (or complete) of grace and truth, he did not start out that way. In fact, verse 13 says that he \u201ccontinued from grace to grace until he received a fulness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, we\u00a0learn in Luke 2:52 that between the ages of 12 and 30 (when he began his ministry), Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and man. This is inline with D&C 93, strengthening the idea that he improved himself in stages.<\/p>\n

While certainly Jesus was sinless\u2014as I stated above\u2014that doesn\u2019t mean he was perfect. Perfection is something else entirely, and I believe that the scriptures are clear in saying that while Jesus was free of blemish, he was not perfect.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In elders quorum this week, someone mentioned the idea that Jesus led a perfect life. 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