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Discussion Forum : Scriptures and Doctrine : When Jesus was tempted

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proudpapa
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Joined: 2012/5/13
Posts: 2936


 When Jesus was tempted

I have often pondered to myself, When Jesus was tempted, Was he tempted inward as we are or did the devil manifest himself in a form and tempt him?? I have no answer just curious of what your thoughts are??




Matthew ch 4
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.

 2012/7/3 21:55Profile









 Re: When Jesus was tempted

Interesting question. Lets start with the word used for tempted first.

In Greek:

peirazō

1) to try whether a thing can be done
a) to attempt, endeavour
2) to try, make trial of, test: for the purpose of ascertaining his quality, or what he thinks, or how he will behave himself
a) in a good sense
b) in a bad sense, to test one maliciously, craftily to put to the proof his feelings or judgments
c) to try or test one's faith, virtue, character, by enticement to sin
1) to solicit to sin, to tempt
a) of the temptations of the devil
d) after the OT usage
1) of God: to inflict evils upon one in order to prove his character and the steadfastness of his faith
2) men are said to tempt God by exhibitions of distrust, as though they wished to try whether he is not justly distrusted
3) by impious or wicked conduct to test God's justice and patience, and to challenge him, as it were to give proof of his perfections.

We can see that the meaning isn't strictly defined to the way we view the word temptation in English. It is also a testing, an attempting, a trying of one's faith, or even simply a solicitation of sin by the devil.

I think when we think of temptation, we view it in the light of our fallen nature where we have a propensity to sin. Where the sin to us actually seems appealing, because it speaks from the fallen nature of the devil to our own fallen nature. The sin is solicited to us by the devil (or I should say one of his servants) and it strikes a chord with our own sinful nature, to the point where we entertain the appeal of it.

But we notice how crafty the devil is. He doesn't usually solicit something beyond what a person is prone to give in to.

For example, if I were to come up to you on the street, and say, "Hey, proudpapa! What would you say to a fun-filled evening of robbery, cocaine use, murder, and rape? I'll provide all the means! Are you in?"

I would venture to say that you would find the idea utterly repulsive. Even though the "temptation" is there, it would not appeal to anything in your nature (especially being redeemed) and would in fact be unthinkable. I would be tempting you, but it would probably hold no sway.

Now the devil knows this, thus, it's not the angle he uses. For us, he'll say things like, "Take another look at her." "Exaggerate your position of importance JUST A LITTLE." "Take personal offense at that remark." "Look how much deeper your knowledge and walk is than THAT brother over there." etc. etc. Because this takes advantage of the sin still in our lives that we struggle with.

Now we get to Christ. Not born with a sinful nature like the rest of mankind (I know you've debated this point before, so we'll just leave it at that)so the sin itself, when presented, does not entice Him to go beyond the command received by His Father. It's not a sinful appeal appealing to a sinful nature. It's a sinful appeal to One who knows no sin.

Now He still could have said yes, the way Adam and Eve said yes, but just the fact that the sin was presented to Him, should not be mistaken for the way we take in temptation some of the time. Where we mull over it, and fantasize about what would happen if we were to sin, etc. etc. Remember that Adam and Eve still had no sin until they actually ate of the fruit.

And Eve was deceived. Who could deceive Christ?

James 1:13-15 is pretty good in light of this as well I'd say.

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

And coupled with Hebrews 4:15;

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

And 2 Peter 1:4;

For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

In the new divine nature we've received, we now have the ability like Christ, to be tempted, yet be unswayed. As the devil's sins will not appeal to the divine nature. Only the flesh.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 2012/7/3 23:38









 Re:

Scripture says that God cannot be tempted with evil so what are to make of the temptation of Christ?

I believe that He was not tempted to sin as we know it but was tempted to work from His humaness or flesh. This is the lust of the flesh, the desires that are part of being human which God gave us such as the desire for food, love, knowledge, and sex. If we fulfill these desires from our human flesh and not from the instigation and control of the Holy Spirit, they are not sin but they will lead us to sin. The desire Adam and Eve had for knowledge was not sinful.

The scripture is expecting us to be living a holy life when it tells us the Jesus is tempted as we are. This temptation is very strong in those who walk by the Spirit, as they have no interest in sin. The question must alays be asked by them `thy will or mine`but only when our own will is not to sin.

 2012/7/4 10:21
Trekker
Member



Joined: 2011/7/29
Posts: 683
northern USA

 Re: When Jesus was tempted

I wonder too, but i'm guessing that satan came in person, manifesting. I mean, if you were gonna try to get someone to bow down to you, and expected him to, wouldn't you show up IN PERSON to be worshipped? I could be wrong but it's just always been my gut feeling.

One question i have always had is how was it that satan was able to lead Christ ANYWHERE? How was it the devil was able to take him to Jerusalem and also up to the high mountain? That is what i don't get.

Hmm. Notice how the word "evil" is in the word "devil"? (Just an afterthought...)

 2012/7/6 20:26Profile
Lkid
Member



Joined: 2007/7/6
Posts: 109


 Re:

Temptation is temptation to sin, whether its towards the eyes, the flesh, the soul, the pride of life. God can't be tempted means He can't give in to temptation. For the bible plainly says that the children of Israel tempted Him, or tried Him 40 years in the in the wilderness.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Heb 4:15
He was tempted to sin.

 2012/7/7 3:34Profile





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