Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help.
Hebrews 4:14-16 (emphasis added)

Jesus was fully man (John 1:14). Born of a human mother (Luke 2:7). He experienced hunger (Mark 11:12). He experienced thirst (John 4:7). He experienced exhaustion (John 4:6; Matthew 8:24). He experienced suffering (Mark 15:24). He experienced empathy with grief (John 11:33). He experienced compassion (Matthew 20:34). And Jesus was tempted. Three specific times by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:11-23; Luke 4:1-14), once by the devil working through Peter (Matthew 16:21-23) and again specifically in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-45). Today’s verse states that Jesus was tempted in EVERY WAY we are. This isn’t surprising because every trial of temptation is faced by others as well (1 Corinthians 10:13).

There are some who say Jesus was only tempted in these few things. Maybe that is true. But the three temptations of Jesus by the devil form the three categories that ALL temptations fall into. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (the arrogance of possessions). “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16). Jesus didn’t need a thousand different temptations in order to be tempted by all of them. These three temptations were STRONG. Probably stronger than anything we have come across. The devil threw everything he had at Jesus, failed, and ran away until the next time (through Peter), and then ran until the next time (Gethsemane). The devil does not have unlimited temptations. His ammunition is very limited. The Word enables us to stand and who we are in Jesus enables us to stay standing in authority. When we do that, the devil flees (James 4:7). That is how Jesus stood.

Jesus also could have been continually tempted as we are. In all the little ways we find opportunity to take up sin. Temptation itself isn’t sin. Whatever thoughts and desires that come at us, they are not sin in and of themselves. If we do not pick up the thought for our own and if we do not take the thought and translate it into action, we will not have sinned. A thought can come at us a hundred times a day. It is not a sin to have it come at you. It is not a sin to examine it to determine what it is and who it came from. It is not a sin to test it against scripture and determine whether or not it is truth (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). Once we know it is a temptation to sin, we toss it aside – a hundred times if necessary. Some things are easy to identify as sin. Others aren’t. But it is our mental and physical actions that make something a sin we have committed, not the temptation.

Funny thing about temptation. It isn’t tempting if you haven’t thought about it. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! Certainly, I would not have known sin except through the law. For indeed I would not have known what it means to desire something belonging to someone else if the law had not said, “Do not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of wrong desires. For apart from the law, sin is dead” (Romans 7:7-8). Sin isn’t sin if you don’t know it is sin. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But they no longer have any excuse for their sin” (John 15:22). In order for something to be tempting, it needs to have appeal. We need to have recognised the appeal it has and seen it as a possibility. THEN we are tempted to do it. It is a specific accountable sin when we KNOW it is sin. Before we were saved we sinned A LOT. All the time. We just didn’t know it. Although Adonai wasn’t imputing individual sins against us (Romans 5:13), we were still separated from Him by our sinful nature (Isaiah 59:2). A true temptation then, is something we know we should not do, but we have recognised the appeal to ourselves in doing it.

Personally – this is opinion and unprovable right or wrong by scripture – is that Jesus was tempted all the time like we are. He saw those attractive women and knew sex was a possibility. He saw the human benefit to stealing. He saw the lessening of responsibility lies brought. He could see the advantage to cutting corners and not working as long or as hard as He should. He understood the appeal of disrespecting or disobeying His parents. But Jesus’ trust didn’t lessen. It didn’t waver. He didn’t reduce it. He clung to the knowledge of the Word. It was the truth He got into His heart and clung onto to. He fasted and prayed in order to remove His doubt in the Father’s promises (Matthew 17:20-21). He fasted and prayed to make sure that the information He received from His flesh was NOT given prominence in His thinking. He received the information, He considered the information, and He did NOT ignore the information. But His Father’s Will came first (Luke 22:42-44). The Word was what He clung to, not what He was feeling (Matthew 27:46). Jesus deadened Himself to the CONTROL of His senses, but not the senses themselves. It was HOW He achieved victory over temptation. He subdued His senses and choose to do what the Father told Him and showed Him (John 5:19; 12:49-50).

Jesus was SINLESS. Sin was ALWAYS on the outside seeking to come into Him (Genesis 4:7). Jesus NEVER gave in. He had no blemish on or in Him. It was one way He qualified to be the sacrifice for us (1 Peter 1:18-9). The root of ALL sin is selfishness and unbelief toward Elohim – failure to trust in Him. That’s why everything not done in Trust is sin (Romans 14:23). That’s why Ruach HaKodesh convicts us of our trust in Jesus (John 16:8-11). It is our trust that is the foundation of our relationship and our walk with Him (Hebrews 11:6). If we do not trust what Jesus said and what the Word says, how can we rest in Him? How can we be constantly seeking Him on all points in our lives (abiding in Him)? How can we choose to rely on what He has said? Of course, we can’t. Not without TRUST.

That trust is also important when it comes to our trials of temptation. Yes, it is true that Adonai ALWAYS makes a way out (1 Corinthians 10:13). The way out is Jesus. It is ALWAYS Jesus. He IS the Waymaker. He is seated at the right hand of the Father in Heaven (Hebrews 10:12-13). He is our ONLY mediator with the Father (1 Timothy 2:5-6). He is the High Priest who made atonement on the Mercy Seat (Romans 3:25). He is our High Priest blessing us with all blessing (Ephesians 1:3-6). He is our King and Royal Benefactor (John 18:36; Revelation 19:13-16). AND HE HAS EXPERIENCED WHAT WE EXPERIENCE. It’s HUGE. He UNDERSTANDS. He is compassionate. He is empathetic. Remember that list at the beginning? Of all the human things Jesus was? That hasn’t gone away. He STILL knows those things, feels those things, and can choose to emote those things. We are His BRETHREN, male and female, every one of us (Romans 8:17). Do we TRUST this?

If we do, we can have confidence in approaching the Throne of our Father (Hebrews 4:16). That is where we receive our Grace. That is where we receive our help. Help tailored to EXACTLY what we are going through because Jesus knows EXACTLY what we are going through and how it feels. He felt it too. Whether jealousy or rejection. Whether a lack or an abundance. Whether a blessing or a curse. Jesus FELT IT ALL. He was tempted by every easy out. He was tempted by every compromise. He was tempted by every ‘no one’s gonna know’. He did NOT compromise. He did NOT entertain easy ways out. He did NOT care if no one was watching or a thousand. In every way we are tempted, He was tempted. But He did not fall.

That enables us IN HIM to ALSO not fail. To USE His mercy, grace, and the fruit of the spirit to accomplish everything He needed to on this earth. We can do the same. ““I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me—and I in him—bears much fruit because apart from me you can accomplish nothing” (John 15:5). We can get the right help because He experienced it too. Don’t be afraid to go to Him. He gets it. He gets it like no one else does. That is how He heals us inside and out. He knows us so well. Cling to Him and everything He gives you to do what He calls you to. Don’t entertain doubt. Jesus knows how to get through. He did it. Copy Him. Copy Him and true victory will be ours. He will hand it to us because He already accomplished it for us. Trust in Him and receive it.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 32:2

“Each of them will be like a shelter from the wind and a refuge from a rainstorm; like streams of water in a dry region and like the shade of a large cliff in a parched land.” The Messiah would be a refuge. He – a man – would be a hiding place. Somewhere safe in times of trouble. Somewhere to go when there are problems. ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it!” (Matthew 23:37). Jesus came to BE that place. To BE our comfort. To BE our shelter. Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b