Jesus was tempted as we are tempted. He suffered during temptation. There is debate about whether or not Jesus was actually able to sin. I think the answer to this has to be no, but it is fruitful to look a little at the argument. The opposite argument is that if Jesus could not sin He could not be fully human, but this argument is flawed. It is a basic characteristic of God that He cannot sin. It is not a fundamental characteristic of man that we do sin. It is a fact that all of us sin, but that is not fundamental to being human, it is part of our fallen condition. After Christ’s return we will be raised and will never sin again. Then we will be more human than we have ever been before, not less human. Another objection is then that if Jesus could not sin how could He suffer during temptation? This objection is also false. We saw in Gethsemane that Jesus genuinely suffered. Perhap it is helpful to use this analogy (though it will inevitably be flawed). Imagine Rafa Nadal when he was at his best. It was inevitable that he would win the French Open year after year, but the matches were all real. The outcome was inevitable not because the matches were not real, but because Rafa was so good. When Jesus was tempted the temptation was real, but because of the nature of Jesus the outcome was inevitable.
Maybe this also teaches us something about temptation. There is temptation that appeals to pure evil desires. Some sexual sin is just a product of pure lust, some violence is a result of pure hatred. But at other times the temptation is not to do something that is overtly evil, but something that is not God’s way. In Gethsemane it would not have been evil for Jesus to not go to the cross, but it would have been against God’s will. Following Christ is not just a matter of not doing “bad things”, it is also a matter of following Him and carrying out His positive commands.
Because Jesus was tempted as we are, when we face challenges we are able to receive help from Him.
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