| December
9
The Temptation of Christ
The temptation of Jesus is of major importance
in His life and our theology. Temptation
shows that Jesus was fully human and susceptible
to temptation even though He did not fall to it.
While Jesus was also fully God, He was still
able to sin because of His humanity.
Jesus experiences temptations from the three
sources that we also experience them - the
world, the flesh, and the devil.
When Jesus is tempted to turn stones into bread,
it is the temptation of the flesh that would
lure Him to do so. When told to cast
Himself from the highest point of the temple, it
is the call of the world that wants us to test
God and questions what He does for us. And
when Satan asks Him to bow down, it is a direct
temptation of the devil.
Jesus defeats all three temptations the same way
and sets the example for how we ought to handle
temptation as well. When faced with
temptation, Jesus quotes scripture, recalling
God's commands.
Often we fall to temptation because of ignorance
of the Bible. We may know something is
wrong but we don't know why because we're
unclear about what scripture actually says.
Transformation begins in the mind. When we
fill our mind with scripture it moves to our
heart and then affects our actions. This
is how we withstand temptation. |
