The Importance of Jesus’ Temptation

The story of Jesus’ temptation is a familiar one. The Holy Spirit drove Jesus into the desert where he fasted for forty days before being tempted by Satan. But even in his physically weakened state, Jesus remained spiritually and mentally powerful. Despite his hunger, he refused to use his divine power to satisfy his needs. Despite his authority, he refused to prove himself by flaunting his privilege. And despite his goal of conquering the world for the Father, he refused to take the easy but sinful path of serving God’s enemy.

Jesus didn’t give in to temptation, but he was also fully and truly human. So, he had to learn God’s righteous requirements, and to overcome challenges and temptations throughout his life. As we see in the temptations he suffered, Jesus obeyed God both by keeping the requirements of his Law, and by submitting to the Father’s plan for his life. And this obedience prepared him for his work as Christ, because as we read in Hebrews 5:9, it made him an acceptable sacrifice to God, so that he became the source of eternal salvation.

But it’s also true that he wasn’t even capable of sinning. As we’ve seen, Jesus was the Second Person of the Trinity. And God can’t sin, because he can’t act in ways that are contrary to his nature. All three persons of God always have been and always will be impeccable.

The word “impeccability” means “inability to sin.” Theologians often talk about Jesus’ impeccability in conjunction with his temptation because this was the time in his life when he would have been most likely to sin, if that were possible.

He never succumbed to temptation, or had an evil thought or desire, or said a sinful word. But this doesn’t make his temptation any less real. He still felt it acutely. He recognized that the things Satan offered him were desirable, and his weakened condition from fasting must have amplified his longing for them. This experience caused him to grow in compassion and understanding for us as we suffer and struggle with temptation in our own lives. As we read in Hebrews 4:15:

We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet was without sin.

Jesus understood then in his earthly life what it was to be tempted, and today as he is in heavenly places as our great high priest, he has that understanding. So, we can be confident that we’re not alone, that there is nothing that we can take to Jesus himself that he hasn’t already understood and now is able to turn and to be our helper in the midst of that situation. [Dr. James D. Smith III]