The Sinless One Made Sin

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:21).
I WANT you to consider with me one of the great texts of the Bible, a verse that brings before us the most remarkable transaction that has ever taken place in the universe, when the holy, spotless Son of God took the sinner’s place, and offered up Himself in expiation of our sins. Let me ask you to think first for a few minutes of the meaning of the words, “He knew no sin.” After that we will meditate upon the expression, “He was made sin,” and then we will consider the rest of the verse, “That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
“He knew no sin.” These words suggest three things regarding the perfection of the humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the first place, He never made the acquaintance of sin by actual disobedience to the law of God. He never swerved from the path of rectitude in the slightest particular. In all His life down here, He was ever the unsinning one. “He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” He could turn to His bitterest enemies, and ask without the slightest hesitation, or fear that they would dare attempt to answer, “Which of you convinceth me of sin?” Neither they nor any of the thousands since who have investigated the records have ever been able to point to one flaw in His behavior.
“He knew no sin” means that He never committed sin, and in this He stands apart from other men; for of every other it is written, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Therefore the need of repentance. “God commandeth all men everywhere to repent,” for all men have dishonored Him and are guilty in His sight. But our blessed Lord never repented of anything. He never retracted a word He said. He never confessed the slightest failure. He never apologized for anything. He was never sorry for any act or word. He never lifted His heart to God in confession of failure.
Let me ask you, if you profess to be a Christian, how did your life of piety begin? Did it not start with repentance? When you first came to God, did you not bow before Him a penitent, confessing your sins, and seeking forgiveness because of your iniquities? In the case of every godly man or woman, contrition and confession have a large place. But how different was the piety of our Lord Jesus Christ. As Bushnell so strikingly expresses it, “In Him you see piety without one dash of repentance.” He never shed a tear because of His blunders or mistakes. He never on any occasion recalled one thing He ever said. His most devoted followers failed: Peter denied Him; James and John would have called down fire from heaven upon those who refused the ministry of their Master; Thomas doubted Him; Philip questioned; Paul brought railing accusations against the high priest in Israel, and immediately afterward apologized for it; Barnabas lost his temper; Mark proved untrustworthy on more than one occasion. But our blessed Lord moved on in perfect serenity through every experience of life. He was the sinless One. And yet He was truly man, but He was more than man. He was God incarnate, and therefore absolutely without sin.