There is an expression used by the apostle Paul respecting the Lord
Jesus, which is very beautiful and significant–“who knew no sin.” It
does not merely say did none, but knew none. Sin was no acquaintance
of His; He was acquainted with grief, but no acquaintance of sin. He had
to walk in the midst of its most frequented haunts, but did not know it.
Not that He was ignorant of its nature, or unaware of its penalty, but
He did not know it; He was a stranger to it; He never by word, by nod,
or by smile, gave it the faintest recognition. Of course He knew what
sin was, for He was very God, but with sin He had no communion, no
fellowship, no brotherhood. He was a perfect stranger in the presence of
sin; He was a foreigner; He was not an inhabitant of that land where sin
is acknowledged. He passed through the wilderness of suffering, but into
the wilderness of sin He could never go. “He knew no sin:” mark that
expression and treasure it up; and when you are thinking of your
Substitute, and behold Him bleeding upon the cross, think that you see
written in those lines of blood, “He knew no sin.” Mingled with the
redness of His blood–that Rose of Sharon–behold the purity of His
nature–the Lily of the Valley–“He knew no sin.”
Christ our Example .
Remember the blessed example of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ .
This surely will teach you not to live to yourself! “For ye know the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for our
sakes He became poor, that we through His poverty might be rich.” His
heart is made of tenderness, His bowels melt with love. In all our
afflictions He is afflicted. Since the day when He became flesh of our
flesh, He hath never hidden Himself from our sufferings. Our glorious
Head is moved with all the sorrows which distress the members. Crowned
though He now is, He forgets not the thorns which once He wore; amid the splendors of His regal state in Paradise, He is not unmindful of His
children here below. Still is He persecuted when Saul persecutes the
saints; still are His brethren as the apple of His eye, and very near
His heart. If ye can find in Christ a grain of selfishness, consecrate
yourselves unto your lusts, and let Mammon be your God. If ye can find
in Christ a solitary atom of hardness of heart and callousness of
spirit, then justify yourselves, ye whose hearts are as stone to the
wailing of the desolate. But if ye profess to be followers of the Man of
Nazareth, be ye full of compassion; He feedeth the hungry lest they be
faint by the way; He bindeth up the broken in heart and healeth all
their wounds; He heareth the cry of the needy and ariseth to their help.
If ye are His disciples, go and do likewise.