In Plato's
The Republic (Penguin Classics)
, Glaucon, in an attempt to define morality, describes what he believes to be the consummate moral person...
...And at his side let us place the just man in his nobleness and simplicity, wishing, as Aeschylus says, to be and not to seem good. There must be no seeming, for if he seem to be just he will be honoured and rewarded, and then we shall not know whether he is just for the sake of justice or for the sake of honours and rewards; therefore, let him be clothed in justice only, and have no other covering; and he must be imagined in a state of life the opposite of the former. Let him be the best of men, and let him be thought the worst; then he will have been put to the proof; and we shall see whether he will be affected by the fear of infamy and its consequences. And let him continue thus to the hour of death; being just and seeming to be unjust... (Book 2 - Challenge to Socrates)
The most honored of men, his glory is hidden by human eyes. Thus, the highest must seem as the lowest, until the day of his death. Thus, 'so that his morality can be tested'.
In my opinion, by these philosophical standards, Jesus was the person being described. Unlike most, Jesus pursued genuine obedience & love (goodness), rather than the image of it. Stripped of this aura (lest he pursue his reputation and honor instead of something higher), he was instead slandered and believed to be a heretical menace. With a 'colossal reputation for immorality' (by association), he faithfully followed this path that was decided for him, as all lambs must, until his ignoble death.
Interestingly enough, the consummate devil is one who is evil at heart, but has all the appearances of being the most righteous/honorable man... (food for thought)
