In search of the perfect replica

By Fergus Ong

My new hobby is going to pasar malams and checking out the World Cup replica jerseys.

The idea is to see who sells the best fake replicas. But boy, they do quite an amazing copycat job these days. So awesome, in fact, that I can't tell the difference just by looking at it on the rack. The crests and badges are immaculately woven in, the fabric is virtually the same as the original. It's got all the hi-tech bits, the little insignas woven under the collar, all the bells and whistles.

But it's still not it.

It's still a lie. An approximation. An extremely good approximation, but still, just that.

Counterfeit.

In Hebrews 1:3, the writer says that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father's being. There is no margin for difference. No room for differentiation. He is not kinda like the Father, or pretty much the same thing. That's not good enough.

We know that's not good enough because the world is full of kinda likes and pretty muches. Awesome deals that look every bit like the real thing. The serious ones involve swanky job offers, lifestyle choices and investment priorities. The less serious ones involve ... well ... fake football shirts in a pasar malam. The thing with these options - much like the fake shirts - is that when you turn them inside out, all the ugly stitching starts to show.

But as I dig deeper into the Bible, I realise more and more that you can turn this Jesus inside out, and outside in, and back around again, and there are no ugly stitches. None of it looks fake because none of it is.

He's not a replica. He's the exact representation of the original original.