"Can I play with you, guys?”

“Ah—,” somebody would search for an excuse.

“—we have enough players already, sorry,” another would interrupt.

Not liked by many kids, he would go home and help his mom in the house or his dad at the shop. Kids didn’t hang around him too much. He was too nice, too “holy,” as many called him.

Even adults avoided him. “Well,” they would say or think, “he’s from the ghetto.” In addition to all this, his home was covered by a shadow of suspicion, since he was conceived out of wedlock. Everyone knew about it.

As he got older, he became well known for his sharp mind. Despite his lack of formal education, he knew how to read and write. Poor, but always clean and organized, he was constantly attentive to other people’s needs.

There was a group who always talked behind his back. At church or when a crowd surrounded him, they would come and ask him tricky questions to embarrass him. They wanted to prove him wrong in order to get the attention they felt they deserved.

Through it all, he would answer every question in such a nice way that the questioners would end up being the ones who were embarrassed. He was kind to them, even though they hurt him. He loved. They hated.

Jealousy, envy, pride, anger—all combined to generate prejudice against this humble man. His enemies got together several times to plot his death.

One evening, as this young man prayed for himself, his closest friends, and for the rest of the world, who would end up learning about him, he was arrested and charged for breaking the law. He was also accused for having associated with the worst people on earth—addicts, gangs, killers, robbers, liars, the poor, and people with incurable diseases. How could he be around those people, unless he was one of them?

After being severely beaten, called unholy names, and spat on, he was hung on a cross to die. “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing,” were some of his last words. He hated sin, but loved sinners. Why?

We are all sinners, living in darkness. We cannot stand the light and often don’t even try to get used to it. We envy and hate and indulge our prejudices.

But there’s more to His story. A great earthquake shook the earth and an angel descended to open the tomb and awaken Him. His true friends were filled with joy as He instructed them and promised to return and take them and us to the place He is preparing in heaven.

But in order to go with Him, we have to love Him like He loved us. It’s our turn to live as He lived—hating sin, but loving sinners—not because we have to, but because we want to … because we love Him.

Andrea Cornejo will be a senior next year at Wisconsin Academy. She will receive a $100 scholarship for having her article selected for this column.