Saturday 6th
Hebrews 2:10-18
NIV (vv17-18) – ‘For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’
ESV (vv17-18) – ‘Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’
We come to the third part from these verses, ‘For because he himself as suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.’
Jesus has been where we have been, the vital difference being that he was without sin. He became flesh and blood to offer himself as the atonement for the sins of the people, but an important aspect of his incarnation was that he would live as a man amongst men and would face the same trials and temptation that we would face. Back in the garden of Eden, the first man Adam was tempted and failed, Christ came as the second Adam and was tempted but never failed, he was born sinless, lived sinlessly, and died sinlessly. It was important that Jesus never failed for had he done so he could not have become the atoning sacrifice for our sins. But he succeeded where Adam failed.
The question I suppose we could ask is this, could Jesus have sinned? Could he have failed? I remember this question being asked us when I attended Bible College 40 years ago. The lecturer believed that Jesus could have sinned but didn’t, at the time I had never considered the question and so didn’t have my own view, but now 40 years later, I do have my own conclusion (others might have a different view on the matter) and would say that although Jesus was tempted he would never have sinned, I would say he could never have sinned, I come to that decision on the basis of the fact that Jesus coming into the world was God’s only plan for the redemption of mankind and he would never have put his Son into a compromising position which would have caused the whole plan of redemption which had been prepared before the foundation of the world to fail. But we need to understand that the temptations he went through were very real, and of course it is important to understand that to undergo temptation is not a sin, it is the yielding to it which becomes a sin. And Jesus faced severe temptation, but he never yielded to it. We know the Scripture account of when Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness and was tempted by the devil. In each temptation the devil was trying to get Jesus to take a short cut, a ploy hoping that Jesus would fail in his mission, but each time Jesus answered with Scripture.
It is because of the experience that Jesus had in the wilderness that he can help us when we are tempted, he has been there and as a result he understands exactly what we are going through and he is willing to help us, he will come to our aid to enable us also not to yield to the temptation but to bring us through it in victory.
We need to understand that Jesus was like us in every way, yet without sin, he got hungry, he got weary and needed to rest, he knew what it was to have friends turn against him, he knew what it was to have those who hated him, he knew what it was like to face sorrow, he knew what life was like on the coal face as the saying goes and as a result he can sympathise with us. To jump ahead to another verse in Hebrews which we will look at in more detail when we get to it, ‘Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 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. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.’ (Hebrews 4:14–16) Because he has been where we are, Jesus can call out to us, ‘Come unto me all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’ Matthew 11:28-30