Estimated reading time: 5 minute(s)
Buckle up, pardners… this may get a little heretical. (Just warnin’ ya!)
In many places within the pages of the Bible we read that Jesus was without sin. He who had no sin became sin for us… He is the spotless lamb… He faced all the same temptations we do, but he did not sin.
And on the one hand, that makes sense: Jesus is God. So… duh! Of course he can’t sin!
But, on the other hand—the hand that is WAY beyond our limited understanding—Jesus also emptied himself of all his divine nature (Philippians 2), and lived fully as a man. This makes the strength of the words in the book of Hebrews even more meaningful (Jesus was tempted in every way, yet was without sin) because James reminds us that “God can not be tempted to do wrong” (1:13), and so Jesus faced temptations fully as a man, but he somehow succeeded in remaining sinless.
I’ve been wondering what that means.
Did Jesus just keep all the rules? How? If he was fully human, doesn’t that mean he would fall under the “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” proclamation by Paul in Romans, which leads to death as a result? Well, Jesus did in fact pay that penalty—and he did for all of us, defeating death in the process! But he did not die for his own sin, according to scripture, but for the sins of all of us.
Many times in the accounts of Jesus life we read accusations of wrongdoing. The religious leaders, the teachers of religious law, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and any who thought that keeping the rules was paramount to a godly life, these people would accuse Jesus and his followers of all sorts of rule-breaking. Jesus generally turned it back on them by saying things like, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath,” and:
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things.” 1
The more important things. Hmm…
What I’ve been wondering is, what did Jesus’ sinlessness look like? Does it mean that as a boy he never disobeyed his parents? Does it mean that he always did the right thing every time, always? Maybe. But does it have to? In a religious sense, it probably does. But what did Jesus tell us were “the more important things”?
Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” 2
My two oldest sons and I just finished reading through 1 John together, and the resounding themes John clearly wanted to share with the church to whom he wrote were: trust God (and his love), and love each other. There was a third theme of confessing (admitting) your sin, and by abiding in Jesus, whose spirit lives within us, moving past sin that leads to death. (For another day, John also mentioned “sins that do not lead to death”, which I found fascinating. Again… for another day.)
Love. Be loved, and love.
We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. We love each other because he loved us first. 3
Could it be that Jesus’ sinless life looks a lot different than just doing all the right things, and especially NOT doing the wrong things?
John said in his letter, “[we must] believe in the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded.” Love is never wrong. But it might break the rules, no? At least, in this broken, sinful, glass-darkly kind of world.
I’m not saying Jesus was a ‘filthy sinner’. Of course not. But I am considering again what “sin” looks like, and so, what his sinlessness looked like.
What do you think? Is Jesus a halo-wearing, robed, sandaled guy who is distant, and sort of meaningless? Or is he the most caring, wise, discerning, honest, truthful, loving person who ever lived? (And, Easter Sunday reminds us—he still does!)
Many times we Christians focus so much on the rule-keeping, and rule-not-breaking, that we miss the “more important things”. Let’s remember this weekend, as we commemorate the cross on Good Friday, and Jesus’ victory over death on Resurrection Sunday, that all we are called to do is to know we are loved, and trust that love (confirmed by Jesus’ spirit living in us), which empowers us to love the ones God has placed us near.
Be loved, trust, and—in God’s power—love.
Perhaps that is what sinless looks like?
Please note… I do not in any way intend to diminish Jesus, nor elevate me nor any other fellow follower, nor anyone really, by any of my thoughts presented in this post. Perhaps the words caused you to ponder, as they have done for me, or, even better, stirred you to remember and live “the more important things” in this day, and every day. Grace and peace to you.
And you said this would be heretical… talk about false advertising! Sheesh!
A couple of points: Hebrews 5:8 says, “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” I’ve always been interested in what is meant by “He learned obedience,” or why, in the case of Christ, suffering would be required to learn it. I know in my case it has been!
I’m reminded of a conclusion my best friend G. Stokes and I came to many years ago. Holiness is not the absence of sin, per se, but rather the presence of God (after all, if holiness is the absence of sin, then what was God before sin?). I suspect Jesus’ holiness and perfection came not because of rule-keeping, but because of Presence-keeping.
Paul kept the rules, and according to the righteousness found in the law, he was blameless (Philippians 3:6). But all of that wasn’t worth sh!t (Greek: σκύβαλον – Thayer’s Definition: any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, rubbish, dregs
of things worthless and detestable) compared to knowing Christ and the righteousness of God. Somehow, Christ’s righteousness must surpass that of rule keeping and avoiding naughty words like σκύβαλον.
Whew! Good to know I’m not a heretic! 🙂 (Or, maybe you and Greg and I all are?)
I thought you might like (and agree) with the premise in this post: our understanding of sin (and the “opposite” of sin) might not be the same as God’s (/Jesus’)