Christians can be thankful, comforted and encouraged that they have a High Priest who is willing and able to give help in their times of weakness.
“For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
Sympathy is the English word that is transliterated directly from the Greek word sympathizo (sym = “with”, and path = “experience”, “undergo”, or “suffer”), so it means “to suffer with” or “to feel with”. Whilst the word “sympathize” in Hebrews 4:15 therefore means “to feel sympathy” or “to have compassion” it also conveys an intention to help.
Even with His exalted status as a High Priest, Christ is not distant from us and thus disconnected from our suffering or incapable of understanding. In fact, His ministry during His life on earth uniquely equips Him to sympathize with His people’s weaknesses.
Because He felt the full force of external temptation, yet never succumbed, believers can know that Christ’s perfect record gives them a certain hope that He can help in any time of need. Our Saviour could never respond, in desires, thought or deed, to sin for there was no inclination to sin in Him, but, since He experienced the full force of temptation, He is able and willing to help us resist temptation.
“For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).
In Matthew 4:11 the Lord Jesus shows that, even in the extremity of temptation, He consistently lived in perfect harmony with the divine plan. The One of whom the Father had just said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (3:17), here shows why He was well-pleasing to His Father. He was different from all men and women who had gone before.
If we were to go back to Genesis chapter 2 we would see that the “first man Adam” (1 Corinthians 15:45) lived in idyllic conditions. He worked, without pain, in a splendid garden that produced an array of beauty. In this wonderful environment, there was no lack of food and no danger from wild animals. Everything that the man needed was provided for him, yet he sinned, and that had awful ramifications for all who were born in his line.
In Matthew 4:11 we see the “last Adam” in a wilderness, with no human company, with no food for forty days, and in the presence of wild animals (Mark 1:13). The devil himself comes, tempting Him in different ways, and He stands firm and does not yield.
Notice that it was with the express purpose of facing temptation from the devil that Jesus was led, by the Spirit, into the wilderness.
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
In this experience, the Holy Spirit was testing, or rather, proving Christ’s sinlessness. The devil sought to lure Him to sin but the last Adam, the perfect Man, met the arch-enemy and comprehensively defeated him.
Each of the three temptations was designed to appeal to a certain aspect of what the world offers:
“For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world” (1 John 2:16).
Temptation 1 - The lust (desires) of the flesh
In the first temptation Satan appealed to the desires of the flesh. The Lord had endured forty days and nights without food. He would have a hunger beyond anything you or I have ever known.
"If (Since) you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread" (Matthew 4:3 ESV).
The devil is actually drawing on the statement delivered by God forty days or so earlier, “This is My beloved Son” (Matthew 3:17), and saying, “Since that is true, use your powers to ease or remove your physical discomfort”.
This is a method that the devil has used from the beginning and continues to use. The devil is seeking to entice our Lord to act independently of God; to step outside of God’s will and to act in accordance with the devil’s will.
We all have appetites for sex, food, and drink, but these must be controlled and subject to God’s will.
How does our Lord react? He wields the “sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).
"It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God'" (Matthew 4:4 ESV, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3).
Literal food is not as important to our Lord as His spiritual food, doing the will of the Father.
“Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work’” (John 4:34 ESV).
If it was God’s will for Him to endure more hunger, then He would do that rather than step outside of God’s will.
Temptation 2 - The pride of life
Having noticed that Jesus is committed to living by God’s word, the devil then uses the Word of God in the next temptation, saying, in effect, “If you are committed to living by God’s word then let me propose a test to see if that’s true.”
"If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: 'HE SHALL GIVE HIS ANGELS CHARGE OVER YOU,' and, IN THEIR HANDS THEY SHALL BEAR YOU UP, LEST YOU DASH YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE'" (Matthew 4:6).
The devil, the father of lies, can recite Scripture, which is always true, to entice you and me to sin. In the first recorded temptation of Christ, the devil did not appeal to Scripture, but when our Lord refuted this temptation by quoting Scripture, Satan then resorted to using Scripture himself.
The devil’s use of Psalm 91 was a clear case of misapplication of Scripture, so the Lord uses another Scripture to show that the application was inappropriate. This highlights some important points for us: firstly, we must get to know the Bible well enough to not be taken in by false applications of Scripture, and secondly, we must understand that one Scripture will never contradict another.
Our Lord’s reply is masterful and exemplary as, once again, He quotes from the book of Deuteronomy:
"Again it is written, 'You shall not put the Lord your God to the test'" (Matthew 4:7 ESV).
Whilst God can and does put our faith to the test, we have no right to put God to the test. As someone has stated, “Testing God is not trusting God.”
Temptation 3 – The lust of the eyes
We have seen that Jesus is going to act in accord with God’s word. He will submit to it and not act independently of God. How about getting the Kingdom now?
“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’” (Matthew 4:8-9).
Now He is offered a shortcut to success and recognition. There is a time coming when every knee will bow to Jesus Christ and every tongue will confess that He is Lord. He will rule the nations. God has promised that:
“ Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel” (Psalm 2:8-9 ESV).
But the devil offers the kingdoms of this world, suggesting that there can be:
- Glory with no suffering.
- Recognition with no rejection.
- Instant implementation with no delay.
However, there was a price to pay for what the devil offered, “fall down and worship me.” “Just compromise and see what you can have.” But for the Saviour there would be no ungodly shortcuts or compromise. His commitment, as the perfect Man, was to do God’s work, God’s way and in God’s time.
Another quotation from Scripture causes the devil to flee.
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! For it is written, “YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND HIM ONLY YOU SHALL SERVE”’” (Matthew 4:10).
To summarise again, the Saviour could never be tempted to sin for He had no sinful nature so there was no inclination to sin and nothing to respond to sin in Him. However, as He fully experienced the intensity of the external temptation, He is able and willing to help us resist the power of temptation and avoid sinning. In your time of weakness you can know that there is a Man in heaven who has had similar experiences to you, knows the pressure of temptation, does sympathise, and will provide all the help you need to resist.
