In my opinion Christ went through a number of initiations during his very human life. The question also arises what would one have done had one had the opportunity for meeting the man in the flesh and seen HIS human choices. While I think we may not know many things that transpired in real life, it seems to me that he spent a lot of time correcting his disciples who were clueless in some form or another, asking, why should we do this, or why can't I do that?
Would one be able to comprehend and accept all of his human expressions? At the time, he was not somebody worshiped and "recognized" by millions. He was just a renegade dude with long hair that caused a lot of reaction. Transposed into current time, he would be called the leader of a sect, a rather small one at that.
The "agreeable" thing about having a master that is no more in the body is that he cannot correct us when we are jerks. That is the great thing: He is dead. A living teacher will tell us off when we are off (as Christ did) and we may not like the way his sweat smells and the way he drinks his tea or the way he kisses Mary Magdalene. In that respect, to align with a dead master, be it Christ or Buddha, is really playing it safe, because, we will project on them whatever we want, they won't stop us. I wonder if a candle in the room may not be better than the forest fire on the mountain....
To me what matters is having a map. If you want to get from point A to point B, will it be helpful to hear that "you are already there" when in fact you are not? The journey in spirit is so complex and full of pitfalls; I rather would prefer a man in rags with a good map to be my guide than any other expression. But, in the end we all make our choices, even if they are non-choices.
When Christ was on the cross, it was there that he received final initiation and become more brilliant and brighter than a thousand suns. At that point also serious transmissions went on from his body to the ones that were present that loved him. Some of those people almost became like him, but in any case they received a tremendous transmission that altered them completely. Loyalty. No wonder it rhymes with royalty.