The temptation of Jesus.
Jesus Christ is the Second or Last Adam. He is the representative of the new humankind. We can logically conclude that God informed the first Adam of the Enemy’s presence and that he would try to enlist him in rebellion against God. In like manner, God prepared Jesus for the temptation by Satan in the desert. “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.” Luke 2:40, NET. Jesus had to know enough to choose the right and reject the wrong. “For before the child knows good or bad, he defies evil to choose what is good, and the land that you fear from before the two kings will be abandoned.” Isaiah 7:16, The Septuagint. Jesus came into the world to prepare a new and perfect life for humankind. How did He accomplish it?
When Jesus was about thirty, he went to the river Jordan to be baptized by John. After Jesus’ baptism, the Spirit led him into the wilderness to be tempted. “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Mathew 4:1, NET. The encounter with Satan, the devil, was not by chance; Lucifer planned it. However, God planned that Jesus, the Second Adam, be tempted in the same manner as the first Adam. Just as the old humankind’s representative had to make a deliberate, intelligent decision, the new humankind’s representative, Jesus, had to make a deliberate, intelligent decision and choice.
Bot decisions apply to the whole of humankind. The first decision made the whole of humankind a sinner by nature; the second decision by Jesus justified the whole of a new humankind. Jesus, by his decision in the wilderness, secured eternity for the New Humankind. He secured the perfect life for all who accepted him. “Although he was a son, he learned obedience through the things he suffered. And by being perfected he in this way, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.” Hebrews 5:8 – 9, NET. The temptation of Jesus was Satan’s first interaction with Jesus face-to-face. Jesus was tempted in all of the three general categories of sin.
Three categories of temptation. Read the next blog.
