Temptation

The temptation of our Lord Himself throws the clearest possible light upon the methods ascribed to Satan and The temptation was addressed to Christ's consciousness of divine sonship; it was a deceitful attack emphasizing the good, minimizing or covering up the evil; indeed, twisting evil into good. It was a deliberate, malignant attempt to obscure the truth and induce to evil through the acceptance of falsehood. The attack broke against a loyalty to truth which made self-deceit, and consequently deceit from without, impossible. The lie was punctured by the truth and the temptation lost its power.[1]

There is a purpose for temptation…In the parallel accounts of 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1, David’s temptation is attributed both to Yahweh and Satan. The reason for this is that 'the temptation of men is also a part of his providence.' Romans 8:28

"The three temptations are addressed to the three forms in which the disease of sin makes its appearance in the soul-to the solace of sense, and the love of praise and the desire of gain (1 John 2:16)[2].

Temptation # 1 He would have become his own providence."[3] Deuteronomy 8:3

Temptation #2 .Inconceivable as this may seem at first, nevertheless this was the bold form in which was embodied the idea of winning power for good and holy ends by a compromise with evil at the outset. It was an appeal to holy ambition, but upon the ground of doing evil that good might come. The kingdom was to be won, but in the way suggested it would have been at the expense of ruining the King. At this point also the great temptation of Christ has its most practical lessons.[7]

Temptation #3. All attempts to build up Christ's kingdom by means of display, rather than by the patient, divinely appointed processes, find their rebuke; likewise all forms of fanatical presumption.[4]

The first temptation proved Jesus a man of faith, and the second is addressed to Him as such, asking Him to prove His faith by putting God's promise to the test. It is the temptation to fanaticism, which has been the destruction of many a useful servant of God Jesus refuses to yield, for yielding would have been sin.[5] Hebrews 2:4

(S)uch fanaticism would have destroyed His ministry. So the principle was evolved: Jesus will not, of self-will, run into dangers, but will avoid them except in the clear path of duty. He will be no fanatic, running before the Spirit, but will be led by Him in paths of holy sanity and heavenly wisdom. Jesus waited on God.[6]

Van Osterzee appropriately says, "The sinlessness of the Lord is to be regarded as an attribute of his true humanity, and thus to be clearly distinguished from the absolute holiness of him who cannot even be tempted of evil. The moral purity of the Lord did not in itself exclude even the least possibility of sinning. Had such possibility been absolutely wanting, the former would, even in the Son of man, have lost all moral worth."[9]

It was not that He was metaphysically not able to sin, but that He was so pure that He was able not to sin. He did not prove in the wilderness that He could not be tempted, but that He could overcome the tempter. If it is then said that Jesus, never having sinned, can have no real sympathy with sinners, the answer is twofold: (1) Not he who falls at the first assault feels the full force of temptation, but he who, like Jesus, resists it through long years to the end. (2) Only the victor can help the vanquished; only he, who has felt the most dreadful assaults and yet has stood firm, can give the help needed by the fallen.[10]

"He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.'"
Matthew 27:42-44

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