"For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
Hebrews 4:15-16
Part 2
Yesterday: Jesus, Our Compassionate High Priest
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.”
Jesus knows us well, and He is sympathetic to our needs.
Today: Jesus, Tempted, Tried, and Never Failing
“But was in all points tempted like as we are.”
Yes, Jesus is God, the God-Man, and He is perfect, and He has never sinned, but He has been sorely tempted to sin. We must understand that going through temptation is not sinning. It is giving in to the temptation that is sin. A very wise old preacher used to say, “You cannot keep a bird from landing on your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair”[1] (Bob Jones, Sr.).
“Wherefore in all things it behooved Him to be made like unto His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succor them that are tempted” (Hebrews 2:17).
If Jesus had never been tempted to sin, how could He help me when I am trying to resist a temptation that wants to take me down? Because He faced temptation without sinning, He can help me with my temptations.
“Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered” (Luke 4:2).
And Jesus’ temptations did not end there in the wilderness. We sometimes may have the idea that once Jesus passed the “temptation test,” He never faced temptation again, but see what the Scriptures say.
“And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season” (Luke 4:13).
In other words, after that set of temptations, the devil left Jesus alone for a while (a season), and he stepped back into the shadows and waited for the next time he would tempt Him. Note what Jesus told His disciples,
“Ye (apostles) are they which have continued with me in my temptations” (Luke 22:28).
You and I cannot imagine a human being that has never given in to temptation. For us, daily temptations are a struggle. And then we think of our perfect, spotless Savior who was and is —
“Yet without sin.” (a)
No sin in Jesus!! Never, ever! There has never been, and there never will be any taint of wrong in “our Savor and God!”
“For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:26).
“And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth” (Isaiah 53:9).
And then there was that fateful day when once again “the Jews”[2] came after Jesus trying to discredit Him and find reasons to kill Him. Jesus asked them,
“Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?” (John 8:46).
And, of course, they had no answer because no one could point the finger at Jesus with a truthful accusation of sin (Matthew 9:10-11; 11:19; Luke 5:30; 7:35).
“[Jesus] Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth: Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, He threatened not; but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously” (1 Peter 2:22-23).
He handled every one of His temptations in a godly way. He did not sin. It is the sinless Savior who invites all sinners, saved by the blood of the Lamb, to His throne to ask requests from Him! Come back tomorrow as we look at this kind invitation.
Quote:
Jesus! what a Friend for sinners!
Jesus! lover of my soul;
friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.
Hallelujah! what a Savior!
Hallelujah, what a Friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.[3]
[1] This quote is one of the many “chapel sayings” of Dr. Bob Jones, Sr, founder of Bob Jones University, in Greenville, SC.
[2] Generally, in the Gospels when “the Jews” are mentioned, it speaks of the Jewish religious leaders and not “the people.” These leaders are members of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body led by the high priest. This body was made up of 71 elders. The “lesser Sanhedrin” had 23 members, and the “greater Sanhedrin” included all 71 members. There were three “religious-political” parties within the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees, Sadducees, and the Herodians. Another influential group in leadership was the Scribes.
[3] This is the first stanza and the refrain of “Jesus What a Friend for Sinners,” (1910) text by J. Wilbur Chapman (1859 – 1918). The melody is the Welsh tune, HYFRYDOL, by Rowland Hugh Prichard, written in 1830 when he was only nineteen. Copyright Status: Public Domain.