In my previous blog post, I mentioned that God is not just “good enough”. That belief should cross into all areas when we reflect upon our Lord. Not only did He take our sins upon Himself at the cross (Is. 53:5-6, Jn. 19:30, and Rom.5:8), but the Bible says that He also understands our sins.
God is righteous and holy (Ps. 145:17) and the only One that is good (Lk. 18:19), when He became a man (Jn. 1:1-14) it was at that point that we could truly make the claim that our God loves us enough to understand us.
Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13 tell us that Jesus endured temptation from the ultimate tempter for 40 days. We have all had struggles in our lives. We’ve all been tempted to sin in different ways. Can any of us claim that Satan was in our presence for 40 days and 40 nights trying to strip away every ounce of faith and morality that we have? Jesus can. Luke 4:3-12 gives us a few glimpses of the temptations that the Devil placed before our Saviour. Personally, I can only relate to those temptations on a superficial level. I’ve never lacked food or water to the point of begging God for help nor have I been in a position where earthly power and authority were within my grasp. So why am I claiming that He can understand all of our struggles then? The answer is in these two verses:
”Being forty days tempted of the devil…” - Luke 4:2
”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.” - Hebrews 4:15
The Bible tells us that Satan was able to show Jesus the glory of every kingdom of the world (Matt. 4:8). I do not know for certain how he accomplished this - perhaps it was through a vision. What I do know is that it must have been very realistic and something that Jesus felt since the Bible says that He was tempted. It is hard for me to imagine Jesus being tempted by merely standing on a cliff looking at a few cities. If Satan was able to inflict harm upon Job’s physical body (Job 2:7), can control the weather (Job 1:19), give false dreams and visions (Zech. 10:2), and perform miracles (2 Thess. 2:9) then it shouldn’t be difficult to imagine both the awful and pleasurable temptations he put Jesus through.
The Bible does not tell us how each temptation looked and felt, but since the Bible says that He was tempted in “all points”, that means ALL THINGS!
We can cast our cares upon the One that knows exactly what we are feeling. We can pray to the One that knows the pain and agony we feel mentally and physically. There is not one single thing that Jesus cannot relate to us on!
No matter what you are going through, please hide in your heart this verse:
”For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” - 2 Timothy 1:7
If you are saved through the Gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-4), then you have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). No depression, fear, anxiety, anguish, or agony be it physical or mental can overcome the one true God of all creation (Col. 1:16)!