Jesus Tempted
It was necessary that Jesus was tempted! Jesus is the judge of
all men, and the only way that he could
mete out judgment upon the children of men was if he had proven that there is
no temptation that cannot be withstood, under every circumstance. He had to
make sure that there would never come a time when a man or woman, who had given
in to a temptation, would say: "You just don't understand what I went
through!" It was necessary that Jesus met his adversary at a time when he was more physically fatigued than
anyone of us will ever be able to experience, and withstand all Satan's
attempts to make him fall from grace: 1 THEN was Jesus led
up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had
fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3 And when the
tempter came to him, he said, If
thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered
and said, It is written, Man
shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city,
and setteth him on a
pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son
of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge
concerning thee: and in [their] hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time
thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto
him, It is written again,
Thou shalt not tempt the
Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding
high mountain, and sheweth
him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee,
if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is
written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt
thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels
came and ministered unto him. (Matthew 4:1-11) Forty days alone in
the scorching sun and forty nights in the bitter cold, with neither food nor
drink. You and I would have died, but Jesus had power over life and death, so,
he met the pain of it all, and stayed alive, so that Jesus, at his weakest,
would prove himself superior to Satan at his strongest. This is how he withstood his temptations. Jesus, though starving, would not eat bread if it was
offered by Satan, nor would he perform a miracle on Satan’s suggest. Jesus
would not prove his liaison with the Father by casting himself from the
pinnacles on the bidding of Lucifer. Neither would he accept power over the world
as it was offered him by Satan; rather he would await
the day of his power, promised him by his Father. Satan never gave up; 13 And when the
devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. (Luke 4:13) Having suffered temptation, Jesus was/is perfectly capable
of empathy, which makes it more inviting for us to turn to him for mercy and
comfort: 15 For we have not
an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore
come boldly unto the throne of grace, that
we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
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