Why Was Jesus Tempted

The temptation of Jesus. What was that all about?  This man was God wrapped in flesh.  What was He going to learn from this ordeal?  Was Jesus really tempted if He was God? 

Luke 4:1-2 ... "Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, (after He was baptized) and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil."

The word "led" as used here means ... to lead or drive almost forcibly.

The word "tempted" means ... to test, scrutinize, examine and prove, to try, tempt.

The Anglo-Irish biblical scholar John Darby (1800-1882), comments on this scripture with this ... "The unknown Son of God on earth, Jesus, is led into the wilderness by the Holy Ghost to undergo the temptation of the enemy, beneath which Adam fell."

At this point in time, very few people knew that this man Jesus, was the Son of God.  This is why Darby said Jesus was the unknown son.  I really don't know how many realized who He was.  His mother knew obviously. Her husband Joseph was dead by now; at least he is never mentioned again.  Mary's cousin Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother knew also, but I wonder if few others knew who Jesus was.

Jesus, as a man, does something that is difficult for natural fallen man ... to always be obedient to the call of the Spirit ... doing nothing except what God wills.  This 40 day walk into the wilderness supposes the world and all that is applicable to the circumstances of man as he is in this world.  Man is self willed.  Jesus summits to the will of God and enters into this testing ... as a man ... not as God.  This willingness to do so, is what distinguishes and sets Him apart from man.

Okay, wait a minute.  I must emphasize once again ... this was God.  This wasn't Peter or you and I.  How could God, even though He was wrapped in human flesh be tempted?   His human spirit within His body was God's Holy Spirit.  That's what sets Him apart from us.  To fully understand this testing, we must separate Jesus as a man, apart from God ... if that is possible.

As God ... Jesus could not be tempted.  But as man ... He was just as much flesh as His mother Mary was.  Her womb formed the flesh of Jesus making Him a man.  It was this man of flesh that was tempted during the 40 days in the wilderness.

How do I explain what is going on with this testing?  Jesus has been called the second Adam.  He was just as much flesh as the first Adam was.  The first Adam was not created as a fallen man.  He became a fallen man.  Jesus, as the second Adam was also not created (or born) as a fallen man ... nor did He ever become a fallen man ... because He was without sin.

Jesus endured this temptation in the same circumstances in which we stand ... in the weakness of flesh.  He felt this weakness of the flesh with all the same difficulties and problems that we have living out the life of faith; Jesus being tempted only in body and soul, the human part ... but not tempted in His spirit.  His spirit man was still the same as before He was born of Mary ... He was still the Word of God.

When we are tempted, we fall because we are in bondage to sin as fallen creatures.  When Jesus was tempted in all points like we are ... He was only tempted in a fleshly conflict with the devil ... not because of the bondage of sin as fallen man. 

But even so, it was a real battle within His flesh or it wouldn't be temptation.  How do we know it was real temptation?  I believe Hebrews 4:15 speaks to this question ...  "For we have not a 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."

Jesus was an obedient man, subject only to the will of His Father through the anointing of the Holy Spirit.  This was the perfection of man standing in the place of fallen man ... not in a garden as did the first Adam ... but in a wilderness of temptation as the second Adam. 

Honestly ... I feel as if Jesus, the second Adam, the Word of God made flesh, the sinless Son of God ... must have been sheltered in some way other than just His trust and faith in the power of the Word He carried in His heart and soul.

But then again ... what attack could Satan make upon one who never went beyond the will of God, and to whom that will was the only motive for His actions?

Even though only the last three of the many temptations Satan placed before Jesus is mentioned, Luke says He was tempted for 40 days and yet did not yield.  To yield would have meant sin ... but Satan is overcome and powerless before Jesus ... who stands in the place of man's temptation.  Jesus conquered the strong man who is called, "the god of this world" and gained the victory over him.

Could the reason for the temptation of Jesus be as simple as showing us that Satan is a conquered foe.  When he tempts us, and he will ... will he find Jesus in us as "the Word of God," the one who defeated him in the wilderness?  

Do not resist the temptation of the flesh ... in the flesh.  Resistance in the flesh does not lead to victory.  Jesus in you as the Word of God is the only weapon needed.  Jesus the man, resisted the devil ... not with the flesh ... but by calling up the Word of God that He carried within His soul.

We need to defeat Satan the same way.  How much of "the Word of God" do you carry within your soul?  Never forget ... the battle is real.