Article 15

“Christ, who truly took our human nature, was made like us in every respect except that of sin. From this he was clearly free in both body and spirit. He came to be the Lamb without blemish who, by the sacrifice of himself once made, should take away the sins of the world. Sin, as St. John says, was not in him. But all the rest of us, even though baptized and born again in Christ, still offend in many ways. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

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An author was asked, “Do you make your heroes good and your villains bad?” He laughed and said, “I try to make all my characters real!” Real people are never all good or completely bad; we all display both good and bad qualities. A century ago, writers of children’s literature often tried to create fictional characters who were really good as examples to their young readers. Hundreds of years before that, hagiographers wrote accounts of the lives of saints, who hardly ever seemed to put a foot wrong. In both cases, these characters never seem believable – and the more you read about them, the more irritating they become! We all know that people are not perfect.

Having said that, most of us probably think that we are pretty good people since we don’t usually do anyone any harm. However, it only takes a little self-examination to acknowledge that, while we may not commit murder or steal, it is difficult to get through a day without saying something we regret, thinking badly of someone, or simply being selfish.

The Bible makes an amazing claim about Jesus: that he alone was completely good; that he was perfect and without sin. When we read about Jesus in the gospels, we find a man who is thoroughly good and at the same time utterly believable. Did the gospel writers succeed where Victorian authors and hagiographers failed? Or is it possible that the person they watched, listened to, and shared their lives with, really was the perfect man – indeed, God himself?

Rather than his goodness making him dull and boring, or unrealistic and annoying, Jesus is an exciting, attractive and challenging figure. The evangelist John Chapman wrote: “What a strange mixture he is. He humbly claims to be God! He is egocentrically concerned about others! He is good without being ’saccharine sweet’! He claims to conquer the world by his execution!” Who is this man? His followers were convinced that he was God and worshiped him. Who do you think he is?