2.23 Jesus Never Sinned

Giving To The Poor

The extent to which this man from Nazareth, who sneezed and slept and thirsted as we do, was really God manifest in the flesh, that the human Jesus never sinned...this needs sustained personal meditation. That from the larynx of a Palestinian Jew really came forth the words of Almighty God, in the timbre and rural accent of a Jewish countryman; to the extent that it had to be said that never man spake like this man; and He Himself could assure us that heaven and earth would pass, but not His words (note the links with Ps. 102:25-27; Heb. 1:10-12)...that the righteousness of God Himself was supremely manifested in the blood and tissue and skin of Jesus...that this man died for us...rose again, ascended...and now works His saving work for us, hour by hour. Mark records how a man once in an offhand way addressed the Lord Jesus as " good master" . The Lord's response was to say that if the man really accepted Him as 'good' he ought to share His cross, and sell what he had and give to the poor. The real extent of Jesus' goodness and the simple fact that Jesus never sinned will move us to deep personal response, if we truly perceive it.

Inspiration To Not Sin

The fact that the Lord Jesus was human and yet was perfect is a huge challenge to our spiritual endeavours. No longer can we merely blame our natures for our imperfection. Ted Spongberg developed the logic of this point in his various writings (1). Rudolf Rijkeboer sums it up: "Adam sinned and died. But... it was not inevitable that his son or his later descendants would fail likewise" (2).

(1) See, e.g., E.M. Spongberg, From Faith To Faith (Peakhurst, NSW, Australia: 2001).
(2) Rudolf Rijkeboer, Jesus' Last Message (Voorburg, Holland: De Broeders In Christus, 1998) p. 38.