May 3, 2021 — Luke 3:21 – 4:13

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, 2where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. 3The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” 4Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone.’ ” (Luke 4:1-4)

“I can resist everything except temptation.” Oscar Wilde

For forty days, Jesus was tempted by the devil. Temptation is a universal human experience. For Jesus to be tempted gives evidence to his humanity, gives evidence that Jesus was tested just as we are tested every day. His temptations had worldly and cosmic implications while ours remain within the realm of the ordinary. But that does not make resisting temptation that much easier. What truly gives us hope and should strengthen our will to sustain temptation is the amazing fact that Jesus was able to avoid sinning in the face of such temptation.

Time generally wears a person down, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The longer Jesus remained in the wilderness with the temptation, the more that his own will would have been tested.  What gives us hope is that we worship one who, being human as us, gives us a model for withstanding temptation, even in the most difficult of trials and tribulations. The model? Jesus went to the scriptures, to G-d’s word to boost his resistance and to strengthen his will. We should do the same, daily.

No, we cannot be sinless like Jesus, but we can receive strength and hope knowing that Jesus was fully human and knew what it meant to be tempted.

Pastor Dave