(3) It has a bearing on the doctrine of the death of Christ. The Apostles of Jesus did not expect Him to die ; and the reason of this was that tliey knew Him to be without sin. Death is for sinners ; but why should one die who is sinless? Tliis was tlie puzzle with wliich tiie followers of Jesus were perplexed when He was lying in tlie grave, and it seemed as if His cause had perished in this un- answerable enigma. It is well known what came, through the illumination of the Resurrection and
the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, to be the Apos- tolic solution of this mystery. The Ajrostles be- lieved and taught that He had, indeed, died on account of sin, yet not on account of sin of His own, but for the sins of others. Jesus Himself had declared in the days of His flesh that He would give His life a ransom for many (Mt 20"*). Had He been one of the sinful sons of Adam, He could have done nothing of the kind ; for ' none of them can redeem his brother or offer to God a ransom for him' (Ps 49''). Had Jesus been a sinner like the rest. He would have had to die like the rest for His own sin.
There are probably other elements of the Chris- tian faith on which this subject could be shown to have a bearing ; but these Avill suffice. Since Ull- mann's celebrated exposition this argument has proved one of the handiest and most effective of apologetic weapons. Persons who have grown up in a Christian atmosphere readily yield to its truth ; and then they can be shown how much more it involves. In those times of inward storm, due to many causes, to which young minds are subject, it is sometimes of the greatest advantage to find a spot of shelter in which to cast anchor, till the onset of doubt has subsided a little ; and for this purpose the sinlessness of Jesus is without a rival. It is not a place to rest in, but a stage on the way.
Literature. — Ullmann, Die Siindlosigkeit Jesu [first sketch appeared in 1828 in SK, seven editions in author's lifetime, Eng. tr., T. &. T. Clark] ; Dorner, Jesu siindlose Vollkommenheit [appeared in 1862 in JDTh], see also chs. 105 to 107 in the same author's Glaubenslehre [Eng. tr., T. & T. Clark]; Schaff, The Person of Christ i'-, 1882 [with bibliography] ; Liddon, BL, Leot. iv. ; Forrest, Christ of Hist, and of Experience, Lect. i., and Authority of Christ, 10. The latest publication is Meyer's ' Jesu Siindlosigkeit ' in Zeit- und Streitfragen.
James Stalker. SINNERS. — In order that we may understand what the word means in the Gospels, it is neces- sary to consider for a moment the peculiar view- point of the Law, by which the teaching of Christ and that of the Rabbis are utterly differentiated. To the latter the Law came with the inexorable de- mand for absolute and complete obedience, as some- thing to be dreaded, therefore. Thus the mass of the people, who were ignorant of the endless Rabbinical precepts, were held to be ' accursed ' ( Jn 1*^). Christ, on the contrary, saw in the Law a moral ideal, something to be befriended and loved. He bade men strive after attaining this ideal, which was the embodiment of love, and He sought to set them free from the Rabbinical interpretation of the Law. A mere outward violation of the letter of the Law did not necessarily constitute an offence. Tims He exculpated His disciples, who had plucked ears of corn on the Sabbath day, by citing the example of David (Mt 12i-'*). He excused the healing of the impotent man ( Jn 5^"^) by citing the custom of circumcising on the eighth day, though it fell on the Sabbath (7^^). With Christ a higher principle always set aside the letter of the Law. This view- jioint fully explains His attitude to sin and to the sinner. And yet these peculiar views of the Law are associated with the profoundest reverence for it (Mt 5'^'- V^ 22^», Lk W etc.).
1. Christ's relation to sinners. — Here His mis- sion shone resplendent in all its fulness. For them He came to this world, to them He had a special message, (a) ffe freely mingled with thrm, and that without fear of contamination, Mt O"- " 1119, Mk 216- 1", Lk 5»» 152 lO''. The Samaritan woman is a clear case in point, Jn 4. (h) He had compassion on them, Lk 7''''. (c) He irresistihly drew them, Lk 15^ etc. (d) He specially called them, Mt 9" |1 Mk 2" and Lk 5^2. (e) He rejoiced in. their salrntioti, Lk 15^- '» 18"- ^\
2. Use of the word ' sinners ' in the Gospels.— The word awaprajX^s from a/iaprla, ' sin ' or ' error,'
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is used in several senses, {a) The national sense. Thus it indicates the distinction between Jew and Gentile from the ethnico-relisious standjjoint. St. Paul thus later used the word, Gal 2^^ ' We who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles.' Thus it is used Mt 26^^ Mk 14*^, Lk 24''. See also Lk 6^^^', where d/j.apTw\oi replaces reXQvai. and idvLKol in the parallel passage Mt 5'*^- *^, which would seem to indicate that St. Luke also uses it here in the national rather than in the ethical sense, (b) The social sense. Thus it seems to indicate the distinc- tion between the righteousness of the Law-burdened Jew and his more ignorant brethren, who, not knowing the Law and therefore continually tres- passing its commandments, were deemed 'accursed.' Here the word seems to have a negative rather than a positive meaning, pointing to the absence of legal righteousness rather than to actual trans- gression. Thus ' publicans ' and ' sinners ' are always associated in the Gospels. In this con- nexion the latter term does not qualify the moral status of the publican, but rather points to the forced association of the ignorant and ostracized elements of Jewish society with the hated minions of Kome. (c) The purely ethical sense. In this sense conscious or unconscious moral guilt is asso- ciated with the word. Thus Peter in Lk 5^ ; ' sinners ' and ' righteous ' people are placed in antithesis in Mt 9^3, Mk 2", Lk &'' ; in Mk 8^8 the word is associated with fjLoixaXis ; so also in the story of the sinful A\'oman, Lk 7^'' ; so in the great parables of Lk 15, and esp. in the story of the heal- ing of the man boi'n blind, in Jn 9, where it re- peatedly occurs in a manifest ethical sense. See, further, art. SiN. Henry E. Dosker.