The temptation of Jesus

Jesus is our sympathetic High Priest and brother. He knows what its like from the inside to be tired, and hungry, and thirsty and to suffer terribly, to be rejected and betrayed, and to be tempted and tempted and tempted.

We sometimes think Jesus’ temptation can’t have been real since he is the Son of God. But he was truly and fully human. He was tempted in every way as we are yet without sin.

But never was temptation like his. No doubt the devil assaulted Jesus more fiercely than he has ever attacked anyone.  

C. S. Lewis makes the point that many of our temptations are light and momentary because we quickly give in to them!

Do you see? Yield to the temptation and it is over. It becomes a sin not a temptation.

But Jesus never sinned. He never gave in to temptation or to the devil. All his life he resisted them faithfully, standing strong against them for us again and again and again, day after day, right to the very end. So wasn’t Jesus’ temptation in fact longer and harder than ours?

 Yet Jesus proved true. He is tried and tested. There could be no better approved guaranteed authentic pure High Priest who has passed through the flames for us.