Boomeister

There are incidences in the bible that make me question Jesus' perfection, as professed by Christians.
Assuming the biblical accounts of Jesus are true, Jesus' character seemed flawed, even though he might've been more advanced than the average person living at that time.
He didn't always honor the Sabbath; he did not always honor his mother; he destroyed property (the pigs; the tables in the Temple); he lied about going to the feast; he seemed cocky when he said "let the dead bury their dead" and uncompassionate towards the man whose family member died; he seemed cocky when the poor woman was putting oil on his feet and he said "the poor will always be around." He did not seem to know his mission- did he just come for the sick; just for the Jew? He told the believers before ascending that they would perform wonders greater than his, although that doesn't seem to be the case. Etc. etc.
Any other examples?

Boomeister

Vorkosigan

The best one, IMHO, is in Mark 7:10, where Jesus approves of the Mosaic command that those who badmouth the 'rents should be executed:

• 7:10: For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother'; and, `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die';

.

The Temple is a fiction, and the comment about the poor is a misreading, argue Donahue and Harrington:

• v7: Donahue and Harrington (2002) state "In its more familiar translation, 'the poor you will always have with you,' this is one of the most misinterpreted verses in the NT" (p.387). According to their interpretation, the verse refers back to the instructions on how to treat the poor in Deut:15:1-11:
  
  Deut15:11
  There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. (NIV)
  
  
  Jesus' comments make more sense seen as a reference to this command to be good to the poor.

Vorkosigan

Amaleq13

The fact that he is, unapologetically, going to John to be baptized for the remission of sins certainly suggests that Jesus considered himself to have sins that required forgiveness.

Or, at least, that the author of the story thought this a reasonable possibility.

Atheos

Not many Xian denominations believe baptism is for the remission of sins. Didn't the "John" record say that he was being baptised "to fulfill all righteousness?" This would not imply remission from sins of commission but rather the avoidance of a sin of ommission.

On the other hand, in another place I seem to remember that Paul described John's baptism as "the baptism of repentance". If Jesus had been baptised with this baptism it would imply that he had skeletons in his closet.

-Atheos

graymouser

Well, Mark 1:4-5 (YLT) reads:

John came baptizing in the wilderness, and proclaiming a baptism of reformation -- to remission of sins, and there were going forth to him all the region of Judea, and they of Jerusalem, and they were all baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.

And in Mark, there is no discontinuity where John objects to baptizing Jesus, or even mention that it is unusual before the dove appears; it doesn't seem to me that it's out of the question in Mark for Jesus to have confessed his sins before the baptism as everyone else was doing.

-Wayne

Clivedurdle

Doesn't this mean that the alleged heresy of Jesus becoming perfect when the Holy Spirit descended on him is correct?

Amaleq13

I don't know about "correct" but it certainly seems to be consistent with Mark's story.

Johnny Scholar

What about the time in Matthew 12 when Jesus and his disciples stole grain from someone's grain fields on the Sabbath. (That's stealing AND not remembering to keep the Sabbath holy.)

Clivedurdle

I remember vaguely the answer to - is that stealing grain - goes back to Deutoronomy and the concept of gleaning - similar to picking berries off a hedge. The idea of Jubilee where everything is redistributed also shows the boundaries between mine and yours were defined differently to how they are now. This anarchist tradition is also reflected in the alleged sayings of Chief Seattle.

Sensei Meela

But remember, Jesus owns all things (so he couldn't steal from himself, now, could he?), and even God works on Sabbath (no rest for the wicked, eh?)...