The Temptations of Christ

It says in the Bible that God cannot be tempted, so why was Jesus tempted by Satan?


The Bible says that God cannot be tempted by sin because He is perfect. He is not vulnerable to sin as we are because He is a holy God. It has to do with his inner character that repels sin. Matt 4 and Luke 4 record the temptation of Christ. This makes us wonder whether Christ being divine was capable of sinning. The Bible says in Hebrews 2:18, "Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." Jesus Christ was indeed tempted in every way and therefore he is able to identify with us when we face temptations. The sufferings of Christ included his temptations. Even though he was lured by Satan to sin Jesus did not succumb to the temptations but overcame them victoriously.


While we may agree that Jesus overcame the temptations we may still ask whether his temptation was real. Was there a sinful pull inside of Jesus? The temptation of Jesus is a mystery and we may not fathom it fully. One cannot deny the reality of the temptations. Theologians use the term "Impeccabiity of Christ" which means Christ could not sin even though he could be tempted. Firstly, we have to be clear that Jesus Christ was tempted and the temptations were real. The temptations were directed at his human nature and not his divine. Jesus Christ in his humanity was tempted and in that sense He had the potential to sin. There were no external pressures to stop him from sinning.


Secondly, he was internally kept from sinning because of his character and being which will not disobey the Father. Jesus overcame the temptations and came out victorious. The purpose of the temptations was to demonstrate the fact that He was the Son of God.