I was doing some study in Mark about the temptation of Jesus. Immediately after Jesus was Baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him (the greek says in Him) the Holy Spirit drives Jesus to the desert for a 40 day fast.
I thought about the significance of this time. Did He get alone with God? I don't think so. The story says that He is driven there by the Spirit to be tempted. Was it possible for Jesus (who is God incarnate) to sin? We often think that if Jesus was to be tempted then the possibility would be there. I think that there could have been a possibility however quite unlikely for Jesus to follow the suggestions given to Him by Satan.
Jesus did not have a fallen human nature like we do that is usually tempted by temptation. He also had a divine nature that was quite powerful. He goes to the desert to show what sort of man He was. This was the first of several cases where Jesus overwhelms the opposition. Satan was fighting a losing battle, but the opportunity was there so he had to try. Satan's tempting Jesus is like a row boat attacking a battle ship. It was virtually impossible. So then why? To show us that He is the ultimate power in the universe!
In contrast, Jesus teaches us in the Lord's prayer to pray "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." I think that we who have a fallen human nature with its bent toward sin needs to stand guard over temptation and hope that we stay away from its lure. But it wasn't any issue with Jesus so He was well equipped to overcome it for me.
Welcome to my blog. I am committed to the goal of helping others becoming better people through their walk with Jesus. And that is what this blog is about.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
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