The question was asked, was Jesus perfect?
Yes and No
Let us see what the Scriptures have to say on this matter. In
Matthew Chapter 19 verses 16 and 17 we read:
“
Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?” So He said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Is it possible that our perfect Lord was not good when we have the record that He went about doing good?
What about Adam was he not created perfect prior to his fall?
In the Genesis account (
Gen 1:31) we read that at the completion of the sixth day shortly after the creation of Adam the LORD looked over all that he had made and declared it “
very good”. Adam was born of God, created by the hand of God, and thus was created a perfect being. Our Lord likewise "
proceeded forth and came from God" (
John 8:42) thus he too was created a perfect being.
Deuteronomy tells us that all His works are perfect, so we would understand that all perfect things may be called good.
So our Lord Jesus as a human being was perfect and thus could be called good, however at the time in which he was addressed by the rich young man as Good Master he had only just recently consecrated himself (his human life to death),
and therefore was no longer to be recognized as in the flesh, a human being, but was in the process of developing the new creature in him, and from this stand-point He was not good, for we read in Heb 2:10:
"
For it became him (the Father)
for whom are all things, and by Whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation (our Lord Jesus Christ)
perfect through sufferings."
So in essence our Lord was in developing stages of the new creature,
it,
the new creature in him had not yet reached perfection. This would not take place until he had thoroughly completed his sacrifice in death.
So to be good (perfect) from the standpoint of
spiritual things is impossible on this side of the vail and with us it is impossible from any standpoint except a reckoned one.
Another way of looking at this is illustrated in the Tabernacle picture.
A
square, because all its four angles and four sides are equal, is the symbol for “
perfection.” Thus in the Tabernacle the
Most Holy— represents “
perfection.”
By the same token, a rectangle cannot represent “
perfection”
because although all its angles are equal, its sides are not.
It must therefore represent an “
imperfect”
or “
in part”
condition, the “
perfect”
not yet having been attained (
See 1 Cor 13:10). For example, the Court condition, which represents justification for the “
saint” traveling east to west, is not the ultimate to be attained. The Court itself is a rectangle, not a square. The “
saint” next enters the “
Holy” which, for him, is the spirit-begotten condition of sanctification. Nor is this yet the ultimate, for the “
Holy” is not a square either, but like the Court is also a rectangle.
Both the Court and the Holy are “
in part”
conditions. It is only after the “
saint” has passed the “
second vail” and entered into the “
Most Holy” that he really attains the ultimate condition of glory, honor and immortality—the divine nature.
Then that which is “
perfect”
will have come and that which has been “
in part”
will be done away.
Our Lord Jesus
when in the flesh was indeed perfect, but when he had fully consecrated himself, the flesh was no longer considered, it was the new creature in him that the Father thenceforth recognized, however this new creature was not yet fully developed, it was still in the “
imperfect” or “
in part” condition not yet perfected, that would require sufferings, trials, testings.