Appendix 2: Was Jesus Uniquely Perfect?
Do not miss the importance of the many Scripture references given below. These are historical records of a reliability seldom seen in the study of ancient history, written by (eg 2 Peter 1:16) or heavily dependent upon (Luke 1:1-4) eyewitnesses. And note that these witnesses were utterly convinced of the wickedness of every human (1 John 1:8,10; Romans 3:9,10,23). This was a basic belief of not just the early Christians, but of the Jewish religion, continually pressed into the minds of most of them almost from birth (1 Kings 8:46; Job 15:14; Psalms 130:3; 143:2; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Isaiah 53:6; Jeremiah 17:9). Yet still they came to the amazing conclusion that Jesus was faultless.
General Peter could speak of the good Jesus had done, knowing that this fact was widely accepted even among non-Christians. (Acts 10:36-38)
Jesus religious
enemies The only charge they could make stick
was that he made claims no normal man could make.
Pilate John 19:4-14; Matthew 27: 23-24
Pilates wife Matthew 27:19
Jesus betrayer Matthew 27:4
Jesus executioner Matthew 27:54; Luke 23:47
The thief crucified with Jesus Luke 23:41
A demon Mark 1:23-24
People who
knew Jesus well:
John the Baptist Matthew 3:13-17
John the apostle John 1:14; 1 John 2:29; 3:5
Peter Luke 5:8; Acts 3:14; 1 Peter 1:19; 2:22; 3:18
Early Christian witnesses Hebrews 4.15; 7:26; 9:14 2
Corinthians 5:21
Jesus own mother and brother believed in him
Acts 1:14; Galatians 1:19
Jesus own words
Do not dismiss this. The more godly people are, the more aware
they are of their sinfulness (see, for example, Ephesians 3:8;
1 Timothy 1:15). Jesus stands out as a sole exception to this rule
(John 5:30,36; 7:18; 8:29; 10:32,38; 14:11, 30-31; 15:24). Who
can accuse me of doing wrong? he dared ask a hostile crowd (John
8:46).
An angel
Luke 1:35
Foretold by
Old Testament prophets Isaiah 53:9,11; Jeremiah 23:5; Zechariah
9:9
Objections
It is sometimes thought that Jesus did wrong for one of the following reasons:
Jesus cursed a
fig tree If Jesus swore because of the tree we would have
reason to question his character. The word cursed is clearly
not used in this sense, however, because all he did was to say
to the tree, You will never bear fruit again (Matthew 21:19).
Jesus got angry
at the temple money changers The disciples immediate reaction
is revealing. The event reminded them of part of the Bible and
they saw Jesus action as proof that Jesus was like God (John
2:15-17; Psalm 69:9). From beginning to end, the Bible speaks often
of Gods anger (for example, Exodus 15:7; Deuteronomy 9:7-8;
Ezekiel 7:19; Romans 2:5; Revelation 16:1). Christians have always
said that righteous anger is totally different to selfish anger.
There was nothing unplanned about Jesus action. He showed complete
self-control. He went to the temple, looked around, and left because
it was late. The next day he forced out the temple workers (Mark
11:11,15). To see if there was any selfish anger within Jesus,
study his reaction when he was cruelly and unfairly put to death.
Forgive them, was his cry.
By calling her
woman, Jesus did not show respect to his mother Modern
Bible translations feel that woman is a poor translation. Most
use words like dear lady, but even these seem artificial. The
Good News Bible does not even try to translate it. There is, in
fact, no exact English equal to the word that is in the original
text. A term of endearment and respect is one Greek scholars
description of the word. We have only to look at one of the situations
in which the word was used to see the accuracy of this description.
Jesus used the term in the most tender of moments. He was on the
cross dying in agony. His heart-broken, probably widowed, mother,
soon to lose her son, was looking on, and Jesus was making final
arrangements for his most loving disciple to look after her for
the rest of her life (John 19:26-27).
Conclusion: Distance in time and culture, a shallow reading of a text and not understanding biblical morality can mislead us. A more careful study, however, confirms that Jesus was uniquely without sin.
