Hebrews 4:15 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… I. WE HAVE TO STUDY THE APOSTLE'S ASSERTION. 1. "He was tempted." "God is not tempted of evil"; but the Saviour was. It is obvious that temptation can be a possibility only to a created spirit. On this account the Hebrews felt the idea of a tempted Saviour to be one most discordant to their tastes, repulsive to their pride. But Paul in this letter, which was written for the very purpose of confirming their faith, makes no attempt to soften or qualify that truth which so much tried it; he advances considerations which prove that what seemed to be the shame of the gospel was its glory, and that what seemed to be its weakness was one of the secrets of its power. He reiterates the statement that Christ was in reality tempted. 2. Yes, not only was He tempted, but the apostle adds, He was tempted in all points like as we are. He was tempted by all the powers, all the arts, all the devices, and all the instruments which are brought to bear upon us. In all points in which He could innocently, He did actually resemble us: He was ever tempted as we are, though ever victorious as we are not. 3. When the sacred writer has said of Jesus, "He was in all points tempted as we are," he adds the remarkable qualification "yet without sin." That is, the tempter found Him without sin, and left Him without sin. Imagine a father, in some dreary days of poverty, having the chance of taking, undetected, gold belonging to another man. He is without the sin of dishonesty, but the thought of his starving child, and the possibility by this one secret act of saving it from death will surely be a real trial; and, though he shakes off the thought like fire, does he not feel the temptation? Imagine some saint sentenced to perish at the stake for Christ. The authorities say, "Recant and live, or confess and die!" He is without the sin of spiritual disloyalty, but as he looks through the prison-bars on the green of the spring, and the blue glory of the sky, as in contrast to all this comes the thought, that if he should be constant to his Saviour he must shiver in the shaded cell through months of weariness and only be brought forth at last into the glare of day to die; although he may say, "O Jesus, though all men should deny Thee, yet will not!!" — do not all these things combine to make that offer of dear life a temptation hard to overcome? It is therefore conceivable that although Christ was without sin, He was not without the susceptibility of being tempted. He appropriated our nature with all its weakness. II. Let us now with profound reverence endeavour to ascertain THE ENDS OF THE SAVIOUR'S TEMPTATIONS. 1. He was tempted that He might be perfected. The Divine nature could not be perfected; that, indeed, was perfect already, for that which is not always perfect is not always God. But human nature is born week and undeveloped; it has to grow in mind and in body; one of its essential laws is its capability of improvement. Thus it was that even Jesus had to he educated. He did not start into full stature in the flash of a moment. True, the Saviour was always perfect even as to His human nature, but perfection is a relative thing; the perfection of a child is something lower than the perfection of a man — as negative excellence differs from positive excellence, and as the perfect bud is inferior to " the bright consummate flower." 2. He was tempted that He might destroy the dominion of the tempter. 3. He was tempted that His peculiar and characteristic experience of temptation might lead His followers also to expect the same. 4. He was tempted that He might teach us by His example how to meet and sustain temptation. He was "led" not by the action of His own choice, but "by the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil"; and in all subsequent instances you may trace the rule of the same principle. If you dwell in the jungle you are likely to take the jungle fever. If you "daily with the crested worm," you are likely to be smitten with his deadly fang; and so, if you pitch your tent in Vanity Fair, you are likely to catch the vain spirit of the scene. "To grapple with temptation is a venture; to fly from it is a victory." 5. He was tempted, to afford His tempted people the assurance of His sympathy. Even under ordinary circumstances we yearn for sympathy. Without it the heart will contract and droop, and shut like a flower in an unkindly atmosphere, but will open again amidst the sound of frankness and the scenes of love. When we are in trouble, this want is in proportion still more pressing; and for the sorrowful heart to feel alone is a grief greater than nature can sustain. A glance of sympathy seems to help it more than the gift of untold riches. Let it be remembered that it is suffering, and not necessarily similarity in other respects, that gives the power of sympathy. And did not Jesus "suffer, being tempted"? His infinitely holy nature, brought in contact with sin by temptation, must have passed through depths of shame and sorrow that we, the sinful, can never sound. 6. He was tempted that we might be encouraged to boldness in prayer for help. The dispensation of help is lounged in the hands of Jesus. We may infer, therefore, with what wisdom, delicacy, and promptitude it will be brought to us when we seek it. (U. Stanford, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
    |