{"id":4068,"date":"2021-02-28T19:57:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T02:57:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?p=4068"},"modified":"2021-02-28T20:01:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-01T03:01:22","slug":"did-jesus-repent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2021\/02\/28\/did-jesus-repent\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Jesus repent?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When we hear repentance discussed within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it\u2019s often connected to the idea of sin, specifically the acts of renouncing past sins and paying retribution for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel Principles<\/em> manual, as an example, states<\/a> that \u201crepentance is the way provided for us to become free from our sins and receive forgiveness for them.\u201d It goes on to outline 5 steps of the repentance process: admission, affliction, renunciation, confession, and restitution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And when seen from this perspective, it can be easy to conclude that Jesus, who \u201cdid no sin\u201d (1 Pet. 2:22), had no need for repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what if we\u2019re looking at repentance wrong?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I mean, surely repentance does<\/em> entail\u2014at least to some degree\u2014retribution and renouncement. But it is also much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Dale Renlund said<\/a> that \u201crepentance also includes a turning of our heart and will to God\u201d. The Standards for Youth<\/em> manual offers<\/a> a parallel exposition: \u201cIt is a change of mind and heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the New Testament, the word repentance<\/em> is often translated from the Greek ???????? (metanoia<\/em>), a combination of meta<\/em>, meaning something like \u201cafter\u201d or \u201cwith\u201d, and noeo<\/em>, meaning something like \u201cto perceive\u201d or \u201cto think\u201d. In its compound form, then, metanoia<\/em> means something like \u201cto think differently after\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the meaning I want to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We often view repentance as a series of steps\u2014which I summarized above\u2014that gets us away from sin and toward righteousness, perfection (or sinlessness) even. But I think that perspective is flawed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See, those 5 steps aren\u2019t the foundation of repentance\u2014they are byproducts of repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we focus on admitting our sins, suffering for them, renouncing and confessing them, and paying restitution for them, our intentions are misguided. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we should focus on instead is seeking that true change of mind, or what Alma the Younger referred to<\/a> as becoming \u201cnew creatures\u201d. When we do, the admission, affliction, renunciation, confession, and restitution come naturally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, admission, affliction, renunciation, confession, and restitution aren\u2019t repentance per se<\/em> but rather a result of repentance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if repentance is less about renunciation and restitution and more about changing and becoming, then did Jesus repent? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I propose that he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, Luke 2:52<\/a> tells us that \u201cJesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

D&C 93 says<\/a> that the fullness of grace and truth Jesus was known for was not inherent to him, rather it was something he acquired over time, receiving \u201cgrace to grace, until he received a fullness\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point between when he gave the Sermon on the Mount<\/a> and when he gave the Sermon at Bountiful<\/a>, he became perfected. In the former, he counselled us to become perfect, as the father is. In the latter, he likewise counselled us to become perfect, but as he<\/em> himself is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus changed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know little of what he was like when he was younger, but we know he was different from the type of person he was during his ministry. He became<\/em> a new person. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even though we know that he did receive a fullness of glory and truth, we don\u2019t know when<\/em> he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point, he forsook whatever life he had been living\u2014however humble or temporal or contemporary\u2014and embarked on a new one, sparked by baptism and internal cleansing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we truly want to maximize the benefits of repentance, perhaps we should follow the example of the master repenter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If repentance is about erasing sin, then Jesus probably had no reason to repent. But what if it is about something more? 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