1 Tempted As We Are Heb 4:15-5:8 I. Intro A. It Has Been Said That The
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Tempted As We Are Heb 4:15-5:8 I. Intro A. It has been said that the difference between a person who commits certain sins and a person who does not is not that one person is better than the other, but that they never had the opportunity presented to them like the one who sinned did. 1. Billy Graham knew the truth of that statement. He had a rule, in fact it is called the Billy Graham rule. He put it in play at the outset of his ministry. It is this – he would never allow himself to be alone with a member of the opposite sex other than his spouse. 2. More recently, Mike Pence adopted that same rule for his life and has been mocked for it. 3. The Billy Graham rule has been called sexist, unfair, discriminatory and outrageous.1 4. But Billy Graham knew a truth about human nature. As devout and committed to the Lord as he was, he knew that the opportunity to sin played a big part in his ability to resist sin. Even though he was a Christian minister that did not exempt him from temptation and sin. So he followed the biblical admonition to stay away from sin and not be led into a situation where he might fail. 5. The Billy Graham rule is a defensive rule. He played defense against sexual immorality. He did not want to give the temptation even a chance. B. Our text this morning talks about how Jesus was tempted. It says he was tempted in every way that we are tempted. Jesus was not immune to temptation or its power over our life. He was tempted just like we are. 1. The book of Hebrews makes a point of saying that Jesus was made like us in every respect (Heb 2:17). It says he was tempted (2:18). The temptations to him were real and had an appeal and a power to them. They had to be resisted by him otherwise they would not have been temptations. Our text twice mentions how Christ bore our weaknesses in his body. And in the context of what the author is discussing, part of that weakness is the allure and power of temptation. Jesus was able to be tempted just as we are. (Heb 4:15, 5:2). He knows what it is like when we are tempted. 2. Now while Billy Graham played defense against temptation, Jesus plays offense.2 Billy Graham sought to avoid temptation. Jesus did not. I. The tempting of Jesus A. While we are told to resist the traps of the devil and his temptations (2 Tim 2:22- 26; James 4:7) Jesus did not take that approach. A part of what Jesus taught us to pray was “lead us not into temptation”. That means we are asking the Lord to put a hedge around us so that the temptations that come to us are buffered. Jesus did not ask for such a protection against the devil or temptation. 1. He did not ask for that kind of protection because he came into this world to deal with sin and defeat it. He came here to live the righteous life which man 1 https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/14/kamala-harris-pence-women-1221741 2 Barth CD IV v1 p.261 1 fails to live. The way that he dealt with it was to confront sin and temptation head on. He did not come to be on defense, rather he came to be on offense. B. Jesus faced temptations throughout his entire ministry. Sometimes it was Satan that tempted him. Other times it was the Pharisees and religious leaders. And he was even tempted by one of his own, Peter, who disputed Jesus’ disclosure that he would go to Jerusalem and be put to death (Mt 16:23). C. We first read about Jesus being tempted in the Gospels right after his baptism (Mt 4; Luke 4 and Mk 1). The fact that this temptation occurs after his baptism is no mere coincidence. John’s baptism of Jesus was a “baptism of repentance” (Mt 4:11; Lk 3:3). 1. John knew Jesus and was hesitant to baptize him with this baptism. (Mt 4:14). It was a “baptism of repentance” and he was the Messiah! But Jesus told him it was necessary to “fulfill all righteousness” (Mt 4:15). 2. What Jesus meant by that statement is that he came into this world to deal with sin and to deal with it on our behalf. And he would do that in part by suffering death to make atonement for our sin. But there was more. He would also deal with sin by living the life of a penitent baptized person. a. One of the questions that is asked of a person who seeks to make a public profession of their faith and be baptized is: Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ? (BCO 57-5). b. That is the promise of baptism – the promise of a person repenting of their sin - a penitent believer. That promise or commitment is that we will seek to live as a follower of Jesus – as a person who turns away from sin. 3. Jesus’ baptism was a commitment to “turn away from sin” and live a life of obedience unto the Father. Now turning away from sin does not mean that Jesus had to stop sinning, as if he had been sinning. He never sinned. Hebrews makes that clear. John’s hesitancy to baptize Jesus makes that clear. a. Jesus’ baptism was a sign and seal on his life that he set forth to do the Father’s will when confronted with temptation and sin. He came up from the Jordan committed to live the life of a penitent believer who when temptation comes to him resists it – turns from it - and remains faithful and obedient to God’s calling. D. That is the commitment he placed upon himself at his baptism just before he entered the wilderness to be tempted. E. Mt 4:1 and Luke 4:1 both tell us that the same Holy Spirit who came down upon Jesus at his baptism is the one who also led him into the wilderness. 1. Jesus did not go into the wilderness to have a quiet time with the Lord after his baptism. He did not go to separate himself from the world and live the life of an aesthetic – a monk’s life. 2. He went into the wilderness in order to be tempted (Mt 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil). He went there to face temptation. The wilderness, as we saw in our study in Genesis 1:1-2 was a place that was formless, void and dark. It was chaotic. It was a 2 dangerous place. It is where demons are found.3 It was where Israel failed when they were tempted. 3. And into this place the Spirit led Jesus, and he was tempted by Satan 3 times. III. The three temptations that Jesus faced A. Satan knew the one he was tempting. So the temptations that he put before him were not easy temptations. None of the temptations called on him to deny God or do anything immoral. That would have been too easy. B. The 3 temptations were all justifiable had he yielded. If they were presented to us we could easily justify yielding to them. I have never met a temptation that I accepted that I could not justify to myself before yielding to it. 1. In the first temptation, Jesus had not eaten for 40 days. Satan tempted him to eat. There is nothing immoral about that. The temptation is easily justifiable if he had yielded. Eating is necessary to maintain life. In fact, in another instance at the well when Jesus had not eaten his disciples said, “Rabbit, eat.” (John 4:31). They saw nothing wrong with it. Jesus could have easily justified eating. 2. In the second temptation Satan asked him to demonstrate his complete dependence on God. Jump. Have faith in God and his care for you. Is there anything immoral about complete trust in God or longing for assurance from God? We all long for assurance. Jesus did also. It would not have been hard to justify and get that assurance from God. 3. And the third temptation Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he says that they could all be his if he would simply fall down and worship him. Think about what he offered Jesus at that moment – all of the wealth, all of the power and the things that go with that – the pleasures, the status, the wine, women and songs, armies, wealth, access to places, the ability to do good and make a difference…. Think of all the good he could do, without the suffering. How many times have we dreamed of winning the lottery and all of the things that come with that? That – and more – is what he offered Jesus. Would you turn away the lottery winnings if you won? That is how tempting this temptation was. 4. There is no temptation that we have ever faced that Jesus did not face. And he faced them all the way through.