“The reason is not hard to find. God is a good Father, whose delight is in revealing himself, not an evil father intent only on punishing us. He is a Father anxious to give that goodness to his creatures, anxious to smile with them, anxious to speak tenderly to them, anxious to hold them and protect them in his arms. That’s the kind of Father we have. Sabina,” he said, glancing over at his daughter, “who would you most rather sit with in the rose garden?”

“With you, Papa. Or Mama. Best of all, both of you.”

“Why me?”

“Because you are my father and I love you.”

“And do I love you?”

“Of course, Papa. How could you do otherwise, you are always so full of love.”

“Thank you, my child. Alas, not as full of love as I pray someday to be. But I do love you. And you see, Matthew,” he said, addressing Matthew again, “such is exactly the kind of Father-friendship we have with God.”

They walked a while in silence. By now they had slowly wound their way to the bottommost part of the garden on the flat, and gradually now they began walking around and up again on the other side.

“Tell him about Jesus, Papa,” said Sabina after some moments.

“Ah, yes.”

They continued on.

“What do you know about Jesus, Matthew?” the baron asked.

“I don’t know… I guess the same things everybody knows.”

“Why did he come to earth?”

Matthew thought a moment.

“To die, I guess.”

“Why to die?”

“To save the world from its sins?”

“You sound like you are asking me,” said the baron. “Your tone is uncertain.”

“I guess I don’t know what answer you mean.”

“But you think he came to save us from our sins?”

“That’s what they taught us in Sunday school—when I used to go, that is.”

“Well, that is why most people think Jesus came.”

“And you don’t?”

“No, I don’t. Jesus did die, and he did save us from our sins. Such was an intrinsic part of God’s purpose. But that is not primarily why he came.”

“Why then?”

The baron was thoughtful a minute, thinking of the best way to convey his meaning.

“Picture this, Matthew,” he said. “Imagine that you had to come here, to this estate, and you knew you had to spend a week here. But you had heard that the owner of the estate was a giant ogre intent on killing any trespassers. Now if you had to come, you might think of bringing with you a good giant, someone powerful enough to keep the ogre from killing you, to stay with you at all times, and to protect you. Wouldn’t you say that was prudent of you to do?”

Matthew nodded.