Solomon is synonymous with wisdom. The clever way he determined which of two claimants was actually the mother of an infant has stood for ages. But Solomon was not always wise when it came to matters of the heart. The Bible also says of Solomon: "It came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God."I Kings 11:4.
So what? we might say. Who's perfect? Yet Christ Jesus taught that men and women could be perfect. In the Sermon on the Mount he said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."Matt. 5:48. That must be one of the hardest sayings of Jesus. We don't find the idea of man's perfection encouraged today. Embedded in human thought is the conviction that man is imperfect by nature.
Jesus himself certainly didn't look perfect to many. Would a perfect person remain unmarried? Would a perfect person travel around the countryside with a handful of disciples, sometimes even taking his meals with presumed sinners? Would a perfect person go to the place in the community considered the holiest and drive away the conventional enterprises—the money-changers—that helped to support the temple? Would a perfect person end up being indicted for treason and sedition? In the case of Jesus, the fact of the matter is, yes.
