“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Matthew 4:1

What was it like for Jesus, in the wilderness, while he was tempted by Satan? Was it easy for him? Was it difficult for him? Could Jesus have sinned if he wanted to? Before you roll your eyes and think, “who cares?” Let’s think. Exploring this question can help us have a better idea of who Jesus is. And knowing Jesus is the most important thing! So here we go:

For starters, the unified witness of Jesus’ self-characterization and the rest of Scripture claims that he is fully God; not just some gifted human or god-like super-man. Jesus is, as Paul put it in Colossians 1:15, “the image of the invisible God,” and as the Nicene Creed summarizes, “God of God, light of light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.” John 1 tells us that He existed as the Word of God who is God, and without him nothing was made.

At the same time, The Bible witnesses that Jesus is fully human, and Hebrews 4:15 tells us that he was tempted and tried as we are, yet without sin. But what is sin? Genesis 3 tells us that humanity sinned by breaking fellowship with God through disobedience. As a result of humanity’s sin, all of us are born in a state of spiritual death. That means we have a nature that is inclined toward sin. So, to be human is to have a human nature, which is to be inclined away from fellowship with God. When we think of sin, it is important to think of it as more than just actions or thoughts. Sin shows itself in actions and thoughts, but it is primarily a compromise of a relationship between God and the sinner. 

If sin is a compromise of a relationship, this means that everything between Christmas and Easter really matters! Because when Jesus was born, he took on humanity and redeemed it through perfect obedience and submission to the Father, all the way up to the point of paying our debt in his death on the cross. This means he took on our tempted, sin-inclined nature and never sinned. Because he is God, he could not have sinned; because he is human, he made the choice not to sin – he actively obeyed his Father, which means that the decision to resist temptation must have been a real choice between sin and righteousness. He experienced the agony of temptation in deeper ways than you and I ever will. As the tempted-yet-sinless one, Jesus will by no means excuse our sin, but in every way he understands our struggle against temptation. After all, he knows the struggle better than we do. We experience the temporary and addictive relief that comes from giving in to temptation. Jesus never did. So, we hold up to be true three facts: 1, that God cannot break fellowship with himself and 2, the reality of Jesus’ temptation, and 3, the reality of Jesus’ choice not to sin.

This takes us back to Matthew 4 and Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus prevailed because his mission was to save sinners by being the perfect one sacrificed in our place, and he could never have compromised his mission by sinning. Because he accomplished his mission, when someone repents and believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, they are now “in Christ.” This means that they are united with Christ and share in his redeemed humanity; they are members of “the body of Christ.” Consider the beauty of union with Christ: Jesus knows us down to our deepest, darkest parts, and he loves us and gives us himself anyway.

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Grace & Peace,

Cade