1st April 2025
We can have confidence in Jesus to know our temptations
Part of a series for Easter Preparation
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to feel sympathy for our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.
Hebrews 4:15 (NIVUK)
Every human being struggles with temptation, so much so it led Oscar Wilde to quip ‘I can resist anything but temptation’ 1 and ‘The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.’ 2 Even Jesus was tempted, after all he was fully human. In the wilderness, Jesus was tempted to satisfy his needs and desires by the wrong route, tempted to look impressive, and tempted to force God’s hand (Matthew 4:1-11). These temptations explicitly focussed on Jesus’s identity as the tempter repeatedly asked, ‘If you are the Son of God’ (vv.3-6, emphasis mine). But Jesus was able to do something Oscar Wilde couldn’t: he resisted temptation and didn’t yield to it because he understood and used the scriptures correctly, and was secure in his relationship with his Father.
Jesus did not try to meet his needs by using wrong methods (turning stones into bread, vv. 3-4). He did not look to a different authority other than God (worshipping Satan, vv.8-10), and he would not carry out his mission by employing inappropriate, spectacular means (throwing himself from the temple, vv.5-7). In each case, Jesus used scripture in context to respond to the temptation.
These were real and challenging temptations that Jesus faced. As the writer of Hebrews tells us in the header scripture, Jesus knew what it was like to be tempted. This is very comforting to all of us because resisting temptation can feel like a lonely struggle, and it’s encouraging because it reminds us temptation does not have to win.
Temptations may have a loud voice in our lives at the moment, but Jesus has the louder voice; it’s in listening to his voice that we can get things back into perspective. In him we can be secure in our identity as beloved children of God (1 John 3:2; Romans 8:16), and we can be sure all scripture points to him (Luke 24:25-27, 44-47; John 5:46). These are two major weapons in our armoury against temptation. Jesus knows the subtle pressures of temptations in our wilderness times, but he knows we can resist them, not in our own strength, but in and through him.
In Jesus, we can be confident of resisting the temptations that come our way, but when we do succumb, which we all do far too often, don’t despair. In this same Jesus, there is always forgiveness, and in him, there is always a new beginning.
Prayer
Loving Father, as we face temptations, please help us to realise that it is only in Jesus we can resist them. Help us to yield to him, follow the path that honours you, and to trust in the promises of your word. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
1 Lady Windermere’s Fan, 1892, Act I.
2 The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891
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Study by: Barry Robinson About the author: |
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Local congregation:
Grace Communion West Hampstead
Sidings Community Centre
150 Brassey Road
West Hampstead
London
NW6 2BA
Meeting time:
Sunday 12.30 pm
Local congregational contact:
Gordon Brown
gordon.brown@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church