When Tempted, We're Not Alone

“I remember the big news when man walked on the moon. President Richard Nixon said at the time, 'This was the biggest event in human history.' Then Billy Graham corrected him, saying the biggest event in human history was not when man walked on the moon. It was whenever God walked this earth.”  – Tony Walliser

Read Philippians 2:5-11

Years ago, we had neighbors from a Middle Eastern nation who had lived and worked in the United States for many years. In their native country they had grown up as Muslims by culture but weren’t actively practicing that religion. The wife occasionally attended a Bible study hosted by another of our neighbors, but lost interest after a while. She explained, “All they talk about is Jesus.”

Duh!
Those of us who have trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord would be surprised, maybe even troubled, if He weren’t the ultimate focus of any good Bible study. But for nonbelievers, talking about Christ all the time might seem strange. As it would for us if we attended a discussion of the Qur’an, where Mohammad was always
the main subject.

But this begs the question: Why should we talk about Jesus all the time?

The verses from Philippians above, as well as related passages, provide the answer. In Christ, God became like us. And this is something we’d do well to meditate on from time to time, not only to “be ready to give an answer for the hope that you have,” as 1 Peter 3:15 admonishes, but also to periodically reaffirm for ourselves what we believe.

Each verse in this passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi could be explored in detail, but one of the thoughts that stands out for me in particular concerns an issue we all deal with in one way or another: Temptation. Have you ever considered that the Lord also faced times of temptation?

Philippians 2:6-8 tells us about Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped [held onto], but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.”

There’s much we could unpack in those three verses but think for a moment about what it means that He took on “the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.” Among other things, this means Jesus experienced what it was like to be hungry, thirsty, hot and sweaty, itchy, tired. Jesus laughed – and He cried. And He was tempted.

Another verse from the Bible, Hebrews 4:15, confirms this: “for we do not have a high priest who is unable to
sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.”

What does this mean for us? To begin with, it’s normal to be confronted with temptations. If Jesus was tempted, why shouldn’t we? We don’t need to repent about being tempted, whether it’s envying someone else’s new car; feeling slighted when someone else gets the job promotion we were hoping to get; thinking about watching something on the computer we know we shouldn’t; lingering at the open refrigerator door when we
know we need to lose some pounds; noticing an attractive woman walking by; giving someone a piece of our mind we can’t afford to lose; or feeling a surge of anger when someone cuts us off in traffic.

But there’s a huge difference between being tempted and sinning. That’s why the verse says the Lord was “tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin.” Temptation is being presented with the opportunity to sin, to break one or more of God’s commands. Sin, on the other hand, is acting upon the temptation, deciding it sounds like a good idea.

Think about it: Matthew 4:1-11 tells us about Jesus being tempted directly by Satan before starting His earthly
ministry. He’d been praying and fasting for 40 days, so certainly the Lord felt starved, tired, and weak. Three times the devil presented Him with temptations – to turn stones into bread to appease His hunger; to throw Himself off the highest point of the temple to prove He was the Son of God; and to receive everything in the kingdoms of the world, if only He would bow down and worship the deceiver.

Each time Jesus, fully human as well as fully God, refused and answered Satan by quoting Scripture. There surely were other times when He experienced temptation. Maybe even on the cross, looking down at the jeering religious leaders who had demanded His crucifixion. Who could have blamed Jesus if He had decided, ‘That’s it! I’m getting down from the cross. They can all pay the penalty for their sins themselves!’ But He didn’t.

Again, what does this mean in dealing with our own temptations? Whenever we’re tempted – whatever that situation might be – we can’t complain, “Lord, You just don’t understand.” Because He does. He was tempted just as we are – as a human, yet without sin. So, instead of succumbing to temptation and falling into sin, we can trust the promise found in 1 Corinthians 10:13, which says:

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

The next time you face a temptation, rather than giving it serious consideration or yielding to it impulsively, pray
and trust the Lord understands and will provide what another translation calls, “the way of escape.”