Jesus Christ is unique because he shows us not only God’s true nature but also the true ideal of man. [358-359, 381]
Jesus was more than an ideal man. Even seemingly ideal men are sinners. That is why no man can be the measure of humanity. Jesus, however, was without sin. We cannot know what it means to be a man, and what makes man infinitely lovable in the truest sense of the word, except in Jesus Christ, who “in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sinning” (Heb 4:15). Jesus, the Son of God, is the authentic, true man. In him we recognize how God willed man to be.
