The Temptations of Christ - Part 1
The three attempts by Satan to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ are covered in Matthew 4:1-11, Mark 1:12, 13, and Luke 4:13. Some say these temptations were not real temptations for Jesus Christ because God is not able to sin. His deity would not allow Him to sin, and so how could they be real temptations to our Lord. However, Jesus Christ is both God and man in one person forever. He had to be in order to be the mediator between God the Father and man (1 Timothy 2:5). He had to be a real human, just as we are. His humanity had to have volition or free choice to choose to sin or not to sin, just as Adam did, and as we do (Jesus Christ is the last Adam, 1 Corinthians 15:45-48).
His deity did not take over. As true humanity, he had to fulfill the plan of God for salvation. He had to remain the spotless “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus Christ’ deity could not be less than perfect righteousness. His humanity by saying no to the temptation kept him out of sin. He remained perfection in His entire person, and at the same time, He reaffirmed His submission to the authority of the Father and His plan of salvation for mankind.
What was Satan’s goal in this? The temptations of Christ were not so much designed to get Him to sin, but rather to get Him to step outside of the will and plan of God the Father for the First Advent. Just prior to this, Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist showing His full obedience to the Father’s plan. Jesus Christ would use the power of the Holy Spirit to live the spiritual life that He founded and perfected for us (Hebrews 12:2). Satan did not want that. He wanted our Lord to submit to his plan rather than God’s. Satan wanted Jesus Christ to assert His divine attributes independent of the Father’s plan.
Satan knew Jesus Christ was God. Before his fall, he had been face-to-face with God the Son. And he knew that God the Son had agreed to take on true humanity so that He could go to the cross, be our substitute, and pay for our sins (Genesis 3:15). In these three temptations, Satan is trying to prevent the cross from ever occurring. If he can just get Jesus Christ to follow his will and side-step the will of the Father, he wins.
Also, Hebrews 4:15b says, He is “One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin.” So, the temptations, the possibility to fail were real and His choice to resist the temptations was real. We will see that Jesus Christ did not simply say “no” to the temptations. He faced each one with the authority and power of the Word of God that was in His thinking, the same Word of God that is available to us. He is the example for us. He faced each temptation with God’s Word and so we must also face the temptations and tests of life with His Word, the very thinking of Christ. That is why Philippians 2:5 commands us to “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”