I am about to go to work and I came across this article. It is from a recent sermon by Mark Driscoll. It is said that this segment of the sermon has been deleted...hmmm...I wonder why?
Driscoll claimed (I know he attempted to use "maybe" from time to time, but his intention was very clear) that Jesus made mistakes, while not sinning. Christianity Today magazine concurred. Patheos is not sure. This question is not unfamiliar to me. I remember Peggy Won asked that before back in Stony Brook and the pastor had no answer.
My conclusion is No, Jesus did not make mistakes. In regards to Driscoll's examples, I would say Jesus may even refuse to play baseball in the first place. As for having to go through trials and errors to learn something, I wouldn't call that kind of errors as mistakes. Spelling Jane Austen incorrectly would depend on how you do your study and research (It is normal when names are spelled differently in different languages). Careless mistakes is as abhorred as sin itself, in fact, it is sinful. Answers are plenty by doing a simple google search on: Carelessness sinful Bible verse. Jesus amazed many scholars with his 12 year old questions, I would not think that comes from a boy who learns by making mistakes. There are also verses relating to unintentional sins which needed to be atoned for and innocent accidents which are processed via a refuge city (ie. Numbers 35). In all cases, it has to deal with identifying different kinds of sin correctly and to be judged accordingly. The least could be misuse of wisdom (foolishness - a sin), though not hatred, but sin nonetheless. I cannot imagine Jesus would so carelessly slip an axe at someone accidentally without first noting the danger of the situation, the possibilities of risks and handle it. I believe any wicked setup for Jesus was prevented by God's grace.
I remember president Bush labeling his action as a "mistake". Driscoll calling his plagiarism conduct as a "mistake". But these people did not bother with what they were doing in the first place. (Lev. 5:4, Mat 12:36) If it had been Jesus, not that he would even go there, he would have considered the errors and decide what to do after that. This is why it is said that Jesus grew in the grace of God (Luke 2:40) that is, under God's favor, proper guidance, etc. We must learn from how Jesus did not make mistakes to be better, not from how Mark Driscoll tries to separate one sin with another and become even worse.
Lastly, I shall repeat, that those who love to think Jesus making mistakes have a very low view on humanity. Because they are not perfect, they want to see (not just believe) others imperfect as well. Nay, we must put the glory of God first, that is, the hope for perfection in all His children. Christ is a man, just as we are men, we make mistakes, we learn from them, but we should not make our humanity equal to Christ's humanity in such a way.
From this I have a new project (not a mistake) to look up and learn from: the meaning of "perfected perfection".