[214]Being a perfect man, he had the power to produce a perfect race of people and with these populate the earth; therefore in every respect exactly corresponding to the perfect man Adam in the condition he was in while in Eden.  He was perfect in every respect, full of grace and truth.  (John 1:14) When he stood before Pilate, silent as a sheep is dumb before its shearers, when the mob incited by the Jewish clergy of that time were demanding his life blood, Pilate, in order that he might shame the Jews for such action, cried out unto them:  “Behold the man”.  The emphasis here is on the word the.  We might paraphrase Pilate’s words thus:  ’The man whom you are asking me to put to death is not only the greatest man among you, but he is the man above all other men on earth’.  The people there had seen a perfect man.  None of us have seen a perfect man.  He was the only One who has ever lived on earth qualified to become the redeemer of mankind.  He was sent to earth by Jehovah for that v qualify as a priest.

[215]We note that Jesus grew from boyhood’s estate to manhood’s estate and when he was thirty years of age he presented himself to John at Jordan to be baptized.  At the age of thirty, then, he was perfect in body, perfect in mind, perfect under the law, in every respect an absolutely perfect human being; hence qualified to be the ransomer or redeemer of Adam, the perfect man, and of all Adam’s offspring.

[216]Why did God send his beloved Son, this great Man, to earth?  When a great man of the world comes into prominence he expects others to minister unto him, and they do minister unto him.  But Jesus, the greatest man who has ever lived on earth, and the only perfect One aside from Adam, came to earth and became the servant of others, that he might render the greatest good to mankind.  True greatness consists in doing good unto others.  True greatness is magnified in Jesus.  He was the truest friend of the human race.  He said:  “The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many”. (Matthew 20:28) And again he said:  “Whosoever will be great among you shall be your minister [servant]; and whosoever will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all".—­Mark 10:43,44.

[217]The perfect man Jesus became the servant of all.  The importance of Jesus and his work is magnified when we consider that he in heaven and in earth was the dearest treasure to Jehovah’s heart.  He was God’s dearly beloved Son.  He was the most precious thing possessed by the great Creator, Jehovah.  It was the supreme sacrifice on behalf of Jehovah to use him to redeem the human race.  It was God’s great love for fallen humanity that prompted him to do this; hence we read:  “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”—­John 3:16,17.