Like us in every way:
“For in bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God … should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings…. he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way… For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.” – Hebrews 2:10,17,18, CSB
Jesus was tempted differently than me, right?
Jesus suffered. Jesus was tempted. He felt the same pressure toward sin that we all have felt. He truly understands how we feel, and this is part of our strength! We don’t serve a God who can’t relate. We serve a God who became like us in every way, meaning He felt the emotions of pain, joy, desire, betrayal, loss, hope, weariness, etc. Through His sufferings He was being perfected – what a mystery! –, the Perfect being perfected, being tested, overcoming temptation when it was difficult to do so.
Jesus felt the pressure
Jesus felt the real suffering of temptation; He wasn’t emotionally distant or ‘aloof’, mildly recognizing the temptation was present while not really being touched by it. No, Jesus felt the pressure to cut corners, to feed His desires, to advance His own ‘brand’ in inappropriate ways. He felt the pressure but didn’t cave in to it. Not even once. He remained perfect and true to His Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.
All the way to glory
It’s precisely because Jesus successfully overcame the many temptations we also feel that we can look to Him when we’re tempted, whether that’s the temptation to cut corners, to quit, to selfishly advance, etc. He knows how we feel, and He will mercifully help us to stand. And what if we have stumbled, have caved in to temptation? Jesus will also help us get back up and go again. He is committed to bringing us to glory, and no temptation is going to throw Him off track or dissuade Him from His purpose!
Think:
Have you considered that Jesus actually felt pressure to give in to temptation? He didn’t just walk on the clouds. He was tempted deeply enough for it to cause suffering. Have you felt temptation to a degree that resisting it caused genuine suffering for you? Jesus felt that too, and was successful in resisting the temptation every time. You can look to Him for help to get through absolutely any temptation!
When facing the nuances of our particular temptations, it can also be tempting to think, “No one understands.” What we discover in Hebrews 2 is that Jesus really does understand! From the mental anguish, emotional pain, and even physical suffering involved, Jesus understands your suffering and temptation. Who better to run to than this source of salvation!
Jesus even understands the heavy guilt and distance from God you’ve felt after giving in to temptation! At the cross, the Sinless One “became sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21) for you, literally taking your sin upon Himself. Whatever crushing guilt and shame you’ve experienced, because of Him you can get up again and follow Jesus.
Before the creation of the first man and first woman, God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – had already made the plan to bring ‘many sons and daughters to glory.’ This plan included Jesus becoming ‘like his brothers and sisters in every way.’ The same God who planned your salvation also planned to walk with footsteps like yours so that you could forever walk with Him. Do you believe this? Take this strengthening truth with you into whatever pressures and decisions you face today.
Prayer:
“Jesus, thank You for willingly entering into a lifetime of suffering that You could have chosen to avoid completely. Thank You for taking on the full breadth of human emotion, choosing to really feel the same sufferings and temptations of humankind. Thank You for being a relatable Savior while also being our perfect, sinless Savior. And thank you most of all for Your sovereign plan to bring me, along with many other brothers and sisters, into Your glorious purpose! I look to You, not only to help me overcome temptations to quit or to pursue selfishness, but also believing that Your work in my life will make me relatable to others who are being tempted.”