Historic and orthodox Christian understanding is that there was nothing of God's divinity missing and nothing of Jesus' humanity missing within that divine/human "encounter." That is also to say that as Jesus dies and is raised and from the dead and 40 days later ascends we understand that he takes all his humanity with him into the gift of perfection that is being fully within God's presence. Thomas touches the scars verifying the effect of incarnation and to heaven they go, too.
This is not usual or an ancient human understanding of how one moves from this existence into the next. Even the Bible shows a variety of attempts to understand life and after life. Faithful Jews of the first century, as portrayed in the gospels, understood themselves has having a means of attaining perfection on earth and by virtue of that perfect righteousness a place with God beginning on the 'last day."
Jesus as the incarnate one did everything he could to change the minds of those "perfectionists" so they understood the limits of their own efforts and the effect of that practice on all those they deemed outside it's provisions. I hear this need for change argument everytime Jesus says "the first shall be last and the last shall be first."
So here's a look at Jesus that hopes to see his "work" as more than perfecting a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. I'm not negating that function but expanding my understanding his work. Jesus also leads the way.
Jesus is the leading presence of God, always "pushing our envelope," urging us forward into a future described better by God's mercy than either our failures or our accomplishments.
Indeed there is sacrifice but there is even more so leadership. So the old hymn can be sung,
Jesus calls us; o'er the tumult
of our life's wild, restless sea;
day by day His sweet voice soundeth,
saying, "Christian, follow me."
Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world's golden store,
from each idol that would keep us,
saying, "Christian, love me more."
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