I don't think that it is Jesus himself that inspires life changing faith and devotion - I think it is the IDEA of self-sacrificing love that reaches deep into the heart of us. Even after years of study we hardly know who Jesus was. The man is lost beneath the contradictory theological theories and myths.

The idea that someone would love us so deeply, so completely despite our faults and secret sins - the romantic dream that one would willingly, bravely suffer unspeakable pain in our place, for us....a selfless, sacrificial love....it is that that penetrates our defenses and strikes a cord in our deepest need and desire - to be loved and accepted.