Questioning Christian Forums that Discuss whether Son of Man Sinned

The human race has been told that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  This is not a sweeping pronouncement uttered without due consideration of every single individual since the creation of Adam and Eve: “the Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there are any who understand, who seek God” (Psalm 14:2) but the lamentable findings of His scrutiny are that “they have all turned aside [and] have together become corrupt” (Psalm 14:2) as well as “they have done abominable works [and] there is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).  Even Christians who have already been baptised after accepting the Saviour are in no position to “say that we have no sin [for otherwise] we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (I John 1:8).

 

Arising from this irrefutable conclusion about the sinful state of mankind is the speciously relevant question idly discussed in Christian forums on whether the Son of Man, “coming in the likeness of men and being found in appearance as a man” (Philippians 2:7-8), was likewise susceptible.  After all, Jesus had to retort His accusers with the following challenge: “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46)  To assure His disciples, He reminded them “not to think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets ... but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17) — completely without any hint of disobedience whatsoever.  Ultimately, this particular question of whether Jesus had sinned during His sojourn on earth is for God rather than mortals to review and Peter, who affirmed that indeed “He [viz Jesus] … committed Himself to Him Who judges righteously” (I Peter 2:23), turned to the messianic verse of Isaiah 53:9 to proclaim the divine verdict that the Suffering Servant “committed no sin nor was deceit found in His mouth” (I Peter 2:22).

 

Regrettably, these frivolous deliberations on public forums (and even in learned commentaries) about whether Jesus ever succumbed to sin appear to imply that He had to be tested against the statutes established by God before fulfilling His mission as the sacrificial Lamb and thence becoming “the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him” (Hebrews 5:9).  However, the perceived need for such a qualifying prerequisite implicitly emerging from the unproductive chatter is not the actual purpose of God’s Law as declared in the Bible.

 

Firstly, the entire Bible points to Jesus Himself and He had therefore to correct the religious leaders for having misunderstood the purpose of God’s Law: “you search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life and these are they which testify of Me” (John 5:39).  Whilst on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus with Cleopas and his companion-disciple, “Jesus expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27).  The verse in John 5 highlights that God’s Law had hitherto been — and is among orthodox Jews still being — mistakenly regarded as a legal instrument by which eternal life might be attained via full compliance with every single statute contained therein.  The verse in Luke 24 notes that all of the Scriptures (and not just the messianic verses) draw attention to what Jesus did during the three-year earthly ministry which climaxed in His sacrificial death on the cruel cross followed by resurrection three days later — as foretold by Him multiple times prior to the infamous act of betrayal committed by Judas in leading the arresting party to the garden of Gethsemane.

 

Secondly, it ought to be mentioned that God did not impart His Law in the very first book of Genesis but only in the accompanying book of Exodus.  Hence, there was effectively no divinely-ordained law during the period stretching from Adam to Moses.  In view of this, Paul raised certain interesting posers: “sin is not imputed when there is no law” (Romans 5:13) and “I would not have known sin except through the law” (Romans 7:7).  Under such peculiar circumstances, sinners would seemingly be able to avail themselves of the defence that they were not told they had been sinning and should by this reckoning not be penalised by the Almighty — despite the obvious-to-all observation that “until the law sin was [already] in the world” (Romans 5:13).  At the appropriate stage in the emergence of the Hebrews as “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), God had then to issue His statutes — not to Abraham (who was called to become, in due time, the father of many nations) but to Moses (who was called to lead His chosen people out of Egypt to the Promised Land) — for “by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20) and “I was alive once without the law but when the commandment came … I died” (Romans 7:9).  The merciful gift of salvation would otherwise have been meaningless if His created beings were oblivious of their sinful state and ensuant need to be delivered from the penalty of sin.  Simply put, “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ …” (Galatians 3:24).

 

What has been thematically prophesised in the books of Isaiah, Zechariah and Psalm is the suffering (rather than law-adhering) Messiah “for in that He Himself has suffered, having been tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18) and “we do not have a High Priest Who cannot sympathise with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).  All Christians are fully aware of Jesus’s intense suffering during the six-hour crucifixion where “He [viz the Father] made Him [viz the Son] Who knew no sin to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21).

 

As a matter of fact, Jesus’s earthly ministry really shook up mankind to the core.  On multiple occasions, He openly criticised the religious leaders for their misapplication of the Law; for example, He refuted the Pharisees (who accused Him of unlawfully healing the sick on the sabbath) by asking “have you not read in the law that … the priests in the temple profane the sabbath and are blameless?” (Matthew 12:5)  Upon entering the temple after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He was so incensed against the merchants who “made it [viz My Father’s house] a den of thieves” (Matthew 21:13) that He “drove out all those who bought and sold in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold doves” (Matthew 21:12).  In essence, there was no divine intention post-ascension to let the world continue with what nowadays is colloquially called business as usual:

“Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth?  I tell you, not at all, but rather division.  For from now on, five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three.  Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.” (Luke 12:51-53)

 

Hence, any discussion of this nature must not have its focus diverted to wondering whether the Son of Man religiously obeyed the scriptures.  Such a discourse has instead to consider Matthew 5:17 which emphasises that Jesus came to specifically fulfill the Law and as a consequence Paul taught that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believe” (Romans 10:4).  The actual objective of what Jesus categorised as the Law and the Prophets — which are collectively not possible for mortal beings who are “carnal [and] sold under sin” (Romans 7:14) to obey to the letter since “whoever shall keep the whole law and yet stumble in one point is guilty of all” (James 2:10) — is to pave the way for God’s plan of salvation to be effectuated and thereafter announced in the form of the gospel to the world at large.  The following words of Paul provide a fitting conclusion:

“What purpose then does the law serve?  It was added because of transgressions till the Seed should come …” (Galatians 3:19)

For this reason, the centre of attention cannot be fixated on the Law but on Whom all the scriptures consistently refer to.  In fact, “the Law, having a shadow of the good times to come and not the very image of the things” (Hebrews 10:2), will only remain in force — with nary any variation even of jots and tittles — “till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:18).