Which of Jesus's disciples was perfect?

A meditation

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This question keeps on recurring as I go on about my day. So I share it with you. Which of Jesus’ disciples do you think was perfect?

You probably already know the answer.

Spoiler: None of the disciples was perfect.

When I hear people talk about the disciples, it sounds as if they think the followers of Jesus needed nothing more than their own attributes to become the legends they are. So, by comparison, these same folks write off any possibility of becoming a disciple of Jesus because they assume the perfection necessary is just not within their grasp.

This is a mistaken idea.

When we hold up the disciples as sinless examples, we engage in a form of idolatry that is absolutely harmful to our faith! Every disciple was a sinner in need of a savior.

The example we need from the lives of the apostles is their faith in God which helped them to persevere and to bring the truth of the Gospel to everyone around them. They were human, with faults and sins, but their belief that God sent Jesus to bridge the gap that sin created was so huge that they were willing to go through many kinds of sorrow and torment and rejection—just as their Master Jesus did—in order to lay hold of the prize: the promised Redemption, the Resurrection!

We can extrapolate this thought into another common error in the Church: thinking that God needs anything from us to perfect us in our salvation, aside from our love and obedience and the finished work of Christ on the cross.

God has always looked for willing vessels who would allow Him to work through them. Any man, woman, or child can yield to Him to become a willing vessel!

Even imperfect people who have sinned many times can repent and turn their lives over to God. Any one of us can be His disciple!