KCC May 2016 Tempted Like Us (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:15-16; 5:2, 7-8) Turn to Hebrews 2 please. Jesus was tempted the way we are. That s the message today. When the NT writers speak of Jesus being tempted, they assume it is like our temptations. All of God s people are tempted to sin, we all understand that. Hebrews does not just assume it, Hebrews says it clearly, Jesus was tempted as we are tempted. Elsewhere it is assumed. In the Gospels, the two main temptation stories are Jesus being tempted in the wilderness at the start of his ministry, and his struggle in Gethsemane at the end, when he prayed: Father, you can do anything, please take this dying away from me, yet not my will but yours be done. The Bible is clear about two things: one, he never sinned; and two, he was tempted as we are. We are going to talk about theology for a few minutes here, and then get back to Hebrews and Jesus temptation. By the council of Chalcedon, 451 CE, the church had agreed on three things about Christ. One, he was fully human, and two, he was fully Divine, fully God. He was not half God and half human. No, he was fully God and fully human. Those are the first two points of Chalcedon (which you can look up on the internet): fully God, and fully human. Three: he did not have two natures, but was one undivided person, his deity and humanity blended into one inseparable unified person. The two natures are complete, Christ was truly God and truly human, but unified in one person, one existence, one inner substance. The two natures can never be separated or divided. In Christ, true deity and true humanity are blended into one inseparable, unified, person, one inner substance. So when we see Jesus in his weakness we must not say this is Jesus in his humanity, as if his deity was resting; or when we see him command the sea we must not say, this is Jesus in his deity, as if his humanity was resting. The Bible never explains these things that way. In Christ, true deity and true humanity are blended into one inseparable, unified, person, one mind and spirit, one inner substance. There are some big logical problems with what I ve already said. How is it possible that Jesus was tempted as we are, yet never sinned? It seems to me that if he never sinned, he was not tempted as we are. If he was tempted as we are, then it seems to me he would have sinned.
Tempted Like Us Hebrews 2, 3, 5 2 Also, how can someone fully Divine be tempted to sin? Can God the Father be tempted? No. Well then, how can his Divine Son be tempted? And one more: the NT assumes that Jesus could actually have sinned. It never says that in those words, but that s the way it sounds. It does not say he is sinless until he died and rose. Before that, it was too soon to say. But: How could someone Divine actually sin? We want to say, his humanity could have sinned, but not his deity. But the Bible does not like that kind of explanation. I agree with these logical problems. They trouble me as well; I cannot explain them. I have read how others solve these problems, and it is normally by watering down one of these things, by weakening one of these five: One, Jesus was fully divine; two, he was fully human; three, he was one undivided person, one unified soul and spirit; four, he was tempted as we are; and five, he never sinned. I am not going to try to solve the challenges of holding these five together. I prefer to hold onto truths that are difficult to bring together, that I cannot bring together in a useful way, but are nevertheless clearly taught in Scripture. I am determined not to weaken any of them. It is good to try to solve these things. But not today. Here again are the five truths about Jesus: one, Jesus was fully divine; two, he was fully human; three, he was one undivided person, one inseparable nature; four, he was tempted as we are; and five, he never sinned. This sermon is devoted to he was tempted as we are. Made Like Us Hebrews 2:16-18 For surely it is not angels that God helps, but Abraham s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. Back in Hebrews 2:11 it calls us Jesus brothers and sisters, so I will paraphrase this using that. In the matter of temptation, Jesus had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could help those being tempted. Do people have a sinful human nature, so that we cannot avoid sinning? I am not sure. Many scholars think that the NT teaches we have a sinful nature, and others do not think that s what Paul means. He never uses the word sin nature, he uses flesh, which Jesus also had. I was taught that Jesus was born of a virgin so he would have the sin nature the rest of us had. There is no whiff of such an explanation anywhere in the NT, neither in the birth of Jesus stories, nor in the temptation stories. [See appendix on sin nature.]
Tempted Like Us Hebrews 2, 3, 5 3 I am not sure what the NT actually teaches about human nature. But I am sure about this: in the matter of temptation, Jesus had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could help those being tempted. About this Hebrews 2 is clear, and we will not move on that. In order to help the descendants of Abraham when they are tempted, he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way. Heb 2:17 He was made like his brothers and sisters in every way, in order to be a merciful and faithful high priest, to make atonement for the sins of the people. We are talking here about motivation. Jesus was motivated to be merciful, motivated to be faithful, motivated to make atonement for our sins. What motivated him? He was made like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could experience temptation as we do. 2:18 He suffered when he was tempted. He was made like us in every way, so he could help us. His experience of temptation was so difficult that he says to himself something like, This is awful. No wonder they sin! I ll be merciful. I ll faithfully make atonement for their sins. He was made like us in every way, particularly in the matter of temptation, he suffered when he was tempted, and the result was that he was motivated to be merciful and to faithfully made atonement for our sin. Tempted Like Us Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just like we are, yet he did not sin. Heb 2:17 says Jesus was made like his brothers and sisters in every way. Heb 4:15 says he was tempted in every way, just like we are. And it left him feeling weak. He can sympathize with our weaknesses, because his temptations made him feel weak. Something in Jesus said, this temptation business is brutal, it s fierce, no wonder my brothers and sisters sin. Because he was tempted in many ways, just like we are tempted, he knows all about weakness in the face of temptation. That much is clear from the Scripture. But I wonder: how can he possibly know about weakness, if he never sinned? Mark 1 says that Jesus was tempted for 40 days, and then angels came to minister to him. The heavenly first responders got a 911 call, and showed up to help Jesus. Imagine Jesus telling the angels: That was close. Forty days. I would not have lasted two more days without sinning.
Tempted Like Us Hebrews 2, 3, 5 4 Could Jesus really know weakness if he never sinned? I am one of the people James talks about (3:2) when he says, we all sin in many ways. But Jesus never sinned, so I have thought about the times I did not sin but afterward I felt weak. I assume you all have stories like these. I have had strong temptations where I was close to sinning, I never said to myself no I won t do that, I was closer to yes I will do this, but never quite got to yes. Before I could say yes the situation changed, and the temptation was gone. Afterward, does this experience make me proud of myself? No. I feel weak, shaky, frightened. How did I get so close? What if the temptation had not gone away? Could things like this have happened to Jesus? I think so. Jesus was made like his brothers and sisters in every way, and tempted in every way just like we are. I have decided to do something that would almost certainly have produced sin. But circumstances stopped me from doing it, something like my car would not start so I could not carry out my plan. Later I wonder to myself, what was I thinking? How could I be so foolish? Could things like that have happened to Jesus? He was made like us in every way, regarding temptations, and tempted in every way as we are, and it left him knowing his weakness. I have had the same temptation day after day, weeks and months, determined not to do this and did not. But it is tiring and discouraging, because it won t go away. One time, about 30 years ago, a painful part of my life, for a few days I wanted to get a few thousand dollars together, and move to a cheap hotel where alcohol and prostitutes were close by, and spend that money on alcohol and prostitutes. It lasted about three days. I have never done anything like that, before or since I have not been tempted like that. For a few days it was horrible, I knew it would be disastrous to do this but I almost said yes, never got close to saying no, I teetered on the brink of yes, then it went away. I sin in lots of ways, I m just telling stories where I did not sin, because Jesus did not sin, but it says he was made like us and tempted like us and that he knows about weakness. I assume you have stories like this, and more to the point, I assume Jesus has stories like this. Knows about weakness Hebrews 5:2 [Every high priest] is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wandering, since he himself has weaknesses. A few verses later, in 5:7, the writer to the Hebrews gives evidence that Jesus also qualified to be a priest, since he himself has been weak. That s all I ll say about Heb 5:7. What we need to understand is that 5:2 deliberately includes Jesus.
Tempted Like Us Hebrews 2, 3, 5 5 Every high priest is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wandering, since he himself has weaknesses. This includes Jesus. Jesus is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wandering, since he himself had weaknesses and knows about weaknesses. When it says the ignorant and the wandering, we are talking about sin. The context is clear about that. Jesus did not sin, but he is able to deal gently with ignorant sinners and the wandering sinners, since he himself had weaknesses and knows about weakness. Let s summarize this: Jesus was made like his brothers and sisters in every way. Particularly in the matter of temptation, God made him like us in every way (2:17). And he was tempted like us in every way (4:15). And in two different places we read that he knows about weakness (4:15; 5:2), his experiences of temptation left him knowing all about weakness. He never sinned. But as a result of all this Jesus is motivated to be merciful, and motivated to faithfully made atonement for our sins. As a result of all this he sympathizes with us in our struggles with sin (4:15). And as a result of all this he can be gentle with us when we are ignorant and wandering, because he had weaknesses and knows about weakness. Hebrews 4:15 says, we do not have a priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. That s a curious way to say it. Why say, we don t have a priest unable to sympathize? Why not just say, we do have a priest who is able sympathize with our weakness? Why say, we don t have a priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses? I know why. Because I say to myself, I have a priest who is unable to sympathize. That s what I say to myself, and the Scripture knows this and says, No, Ed, you do not have a priest who is unable to sympathize. What does Hebrews want us to do with Jesus weaknesses and sympathy? Hebrews has a specific application, the central call of the whole book of Hebrews: Approach God. Draw near to God. Come boldly to the throne of grace. Never stay away from God because of a sin problem. Sinners are guaranteed a sympathetic welcome from Jesus the great priest. Sinners, come to God with assurance, with confidence. It is both a luxury and a necessity. Do not stay away from God ever, for any reason. Approach God, draw near to God. Come boldly to the throne of grace, again and again. God took his Son through many kinds of difficult temptation experiences, so God could provide a gentle sympathetic priest to ignorant wandering sinners who also loved him. Don t stay away. It s more dangerous than we thought. Come boldly to God s throne. We re more welcome than we thought. Amen.
Tempted Like Us Hebrews 2, 3, 5 6 Benediction: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. (Romans 16:20) Appendix 1: An English translation of the Chalcedon Creed We, then, following the holy Fathers, all with one consent, teach men to confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the same perfect in Godhead and also perfect in manhood; truly God and truly man, of a reasonable soul and body; consubstantial with us according to the manhood; in all things like unto us, without sin; begotten before all ages of the Father according to the Godhead, and in these latter days, for us and for our salvation, born of the virgin Mary, the mother of God, according to the manhood; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, to be acknowledged in two natures, inconfusedly, unchangeably, indivisibly, inseparably; the distinction of natures being by no means taken away by the union, but rather the property of each nature being preserved, and concurring in one Person and one Subsistence, not parted or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son, and only begotten, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets from the beginning have declared concerning him, and the Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the Creed of the holy Fathers has handed down to us. Appendix 2: Sin nature The Greek word behind this is sarx, flesh in the KJV and the literal translations. Sarx is used in different ways in the NT, generally something like human weakness or weak humanity. Sarx, flesh, is the word the NIV and NLT render sinful nature a few times, like Romans 7:18, 25. Some versions use human nature rather than sinful nature, which I think better. Many conservative scholars do not think sinful nature is ever a fair translation of sarx. NT writers use sarx of Jesus several times. John 1:14, the word became flesh, and Hebrews 5:7, in the days of his flesh, are two examples. The word sarx itself does not mean sinful nature. Some other consideration must produce that definition. Romans 5:12-21 indicates that something we all inherited from Adam results in all being sinners. What we inherit, and how we become sinners, is not clear. Sarx does not occur in Romans 5:12-21. Sinful nature is one possible explanation for what we all inherit, but there are several other possibilities as well. I will leave open the question of whether or not all humans have a sinful nature. The NT is not clear. But Hebrews is clear that regarding temptation, Jesus was made like his brothers and sisters in every way, and that he was tempted in every way just as we are. These lines leave no room for Jesus to have a different nature than we have. If we have a sinful nature and he did not, Hebrews is deceitful, and painfully so. What is unclear must yield to what is clear. Jesus was made like us in every way, and tempted just like us. My method: 1, what does it say? 2, what does it not say? 3, could it mean what it says? 1, It says that regarding temptation he was made like us in every way, and that he was tempted in every way as we are. It says he experienced weakness in these trials. It says he did not sin. 2, It does not say Jesus had a different nature than we have, or that he experienced temptation any differently that we do. It does not say the virgin birth has anything to do with these things. Nothing indicates that Jesus had an advantage in these matters. 3, Could it mean what it says? We fear that Jesus weakness threatens his deity, or his holiness. But Hebrews proclaims his deity and his holiness without hesitation, and sees no compromise in Jesus being made like us and tempted like us and knowing weakness in these experiences. These all fit together in Hebrews. It means what it says.