On Jesus

For me, what’s still utterly compelling about the figure of Jesus is, I suppose, what the Gospels call authority. That is, it’s as if someone is fixing me in the eye and saying, “I know what it’s like to be human, so I know what it’s like to be you. I know what you’re afraid of. I know what you long for. Trust me, I know. And believe me when I say you are loved, you are forgiven.” That keeps coming through with immense force every time I open the Gospel and it’s quite frightening.