Whatever one’s final verdict on Margaret Thatcher, even her harshest critics have conceded that she was at heart a ‘conviction politician’ who was driven by ideology and not swayed by public opinion.
One of her most famous quotes was that given to Conservatives at the party conference in Brighton in 1980 and underlining her determination to stick to tough economic policies:
‘To those waiting with bated breath for that favourite media catchphrase, the U-turn, I have only one thing to say: You turn if you want to. The lady's not for turning!’
In like manner Sir Malcolm Rifkind recalled this week a time when she was asked ‘Do you believe in consensus?’ and replied:
‘Yes, I do believe in consensus: There should be a consensus behind my convictions.’
However a touching letter she wrote to a schoolboy published this week in the Expressand Daily Mail reveals that she felt she lived in the shadow of at least one person.
On 15 March, 1980, in the same year as Thatcher’s Brighton speech above, David Liddelow, the young son of a vicar, wrote to her, posing her a challenging question. The youngster, from Borehamwood, Herts, asked:
‘Last night when we were saying prayers my Daddy said everyone has done wrong things except Jesus. I said I don’t think you have done bad things because you are the Prime Minister. Am I right or is my Daddy?’
A few weeks later, David and his father, received a handwritten reply in fountain pen:
‘However good we try to be, we can never be as kind, gentle and wise as Jesus… There will be times when we say or do something we wish we hadn’t done and we shall be sorry and try not to do it again! We do our best, but our best is not as good as his daily life. If you and I were to paint a picture it wouldn’t be as good as the picture of great artists. No our lives can’t be as good as the life of Jesus.’
In a touching and candid final paragraph, Mrs Thatcher added:
‘As Prime Minister, I try very hard to do things right and because Jesus gave us a perfect example I try even harder. But your father is right in saying that we can never be as perfect as He was.’
Jesus himself was once called good by someone asking him a similarly tricky question and gave a surprising reply:
‘ As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone.’ (Mark 10:17,18)
The text is often misunderstood as implying that Jesus was denying his divinity, but as described in more detail here, he was actually doing the very opposite.
Jesus’ question to the man was designed not to deny His deity, but rather to draw the man to recognize Christ’s divine identity.
Such an interpretation is substantiated by passages such as John 10:11 wherein Jesus declares Himself to be ‘the good shepherd’. Similarly in John 8:46, Jesus asks, ‘Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?’
Of course the answer is ‘no’. Jesus was ‘without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15), holy and undefiled (Hebrews 7:26), the only One who ‘knew no sin’ (2 Corinthians 5:21).
The logic can thus be summarised as follows:
The logic can thus be summarised as follows:
1: Jesus claims only God is good
2: Jesus claims to be good
3: Therefore, Jesus claims to be God
2: Jesus claims to be good
3: Therefore, Jesus claims to be God
Such a claim makes perfect sense in light of the flow of Mark’s narrative with regards to the unfolding revelation of Jesus’ real identity. It is only before the high priest in Mark 14:62 when the question of Jesus’ identity is explicitly clarified.
I am not sure whether Margaret Thatcher followed the logic through to this conclusion, but she had certainly taken a step onto the first rung by recognising the goodness of Jesus.
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