Luke 4:1-2 :

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. He ate nothing in those days. Afterward, when they were completed, he was hungry.

The Bible says that Jesus was tempted like we are. I’d like to take a look at what temptation looks like for the Son of God, so that we can a better idea of what it might have been like.

One thing that I notice about these verses is that this kind of temptation is not anything that I have had to face. I used to wonder why God would lead a man into starvation for the purpose of temptation. Recently, though, I remembered that Jesus was the Son of God and that to make an adequate temptation, an unusual amount of pressure would have to be applied. Jesus did this willingly which adds a entirely different dimension as well.

It isn’t fair to compare ourselves directly to Jesus because He was the Son of God and He started out perfectly. We were subject to the curse, even though it is not uncommon for mankind to act as though there is no curse. The way I now see it, in order to get Jesus into the “temptation zone” so that He could be tempted as we are, He first had to starve for 40 days.

I have sinned for far less than starvation. I am told that after only 30 days the urge to eat becomes overwhelming to the point of eating things that you would never have considered otherwise. The physical urges are so strong that some would argue that a person shouldn’t be judged by those urges. Obviously, that’s not how God sees it.

The Bible also tells us that God will not allow any of us to be tempted beyond what we can bear. This is the reason I know that Jesus was able to bear more than me and the next part tells us how well Jesus did even after 40 days of starvation. We will also get a look a how temptation is defeated by looking at Jesus’ example.

I want to put some emphasis on the fact that Jesus did this willingly. Jesus experienced pressure for us so that He could relate to the pressure you feel. Jesus isn’t a distant God but a very close one who can understand your feelings because He also felt them. This Jesus is the one who fights on your behalf in Heaven today when Satan tries to accuse you before the Father. He really knows what we go through.