By David Webb

One of the most controversial subjects regarding the deity of Christ concerns the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). Was Jesus really tempted? The Hebrew writer says He was: "For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). But if He was tempted, then how do we understand James' statement that "God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone" (James 1:13)? How do we logically explain all these passages?

Some Basic Facts to Remember
Before we answer these questions, we need to remember some basic facts. First, Jesus was God in human flesh. He was Divinity wrapped in humanity in ways we cannot fully understand. But without question, Jesus was not simply a man. When He took upon Himself the form of a servant and came in the likeness of man, He did not divest Himself of His deity. He remained God the Son. Second, there is nothing to suggest that Jesus had two spirits which indwelled His body — one a Divine Spirit, and the other a human spirit. That is pure foolishness. The only spirit that indwelled the body of Jesus was the Divine.

Understanding these basic facts, let's proceed to ask how we can reconcile what appear on the surface to be basic contradictions about the nature and ability of Jesus to be tempted. Perhaps the first thing we should notice more carefully is what James really said. He said, "for God cannot be tempted by evil" (James 1:13). The words "tempted" and "evil" are critical to our understanding. "Tempted" is from the Greek "peirazo" which simply means to "try" or to "test." The word "evil" is from the Greek "kakos," and denotes that which is "bad, base, wrong and wicked." James says God cannot be "tried or tested by the allurement of that which is bad, base, wrong or wicked." Neither does God "try or test" man in that manner. God can be tested and tried (1 Corinthians 10:8; Hebrews 3:9), and God tests and tries men, as in the case of Abraham (Hebrews 11:17), and Israel (Exodus 16:4; Judges 2:11). But in both cases, the testing or trial was not toward that which was bad, base, wrong and wicked. James 1:14 is speaking about a temptation toward evil things. God cannot be tempted in this manner, neither does He tempt any man.

How was Jesus Tempted?
According to Matthew 4:1, Jesus was "led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus was "in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin." The Savior was tried and tested in the wilderness by Satan in the same ways we are tempted — with the lust of the flesh by being asked to turn stones to bread, with the lust of the eyes seeing and receiving the kingdoms of the world if He would simply worship Satan, and with the boastful pride of life by simply casting Himself down from the pinnacle of the Temple (Matthew 4:1-11; cf. 1 John 2:15-17). To deny that Jesus was tempted or tested is to deny the Scriptures.

Was Jesus tempted (tried or tested) by the enticement to do that which is bad, base, wrong and wicked? The answer to that question is clearly "no." Jesus said, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man." (Mark 7:21-23). Jesus also said, "I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me" (John 14:30). Satan could find nothing within Jesus to which sin could appeal. Satan threw all the forced of hell at Jesus in an effort to allure Him to succumb, but there was nothing within Jesus that could be defiled by Satan's efforts. Jesus experienced first-hand the full force of what Satan does to us, and He knows how easy it is for us to give in to his allurements. But the reason Jesus was able to be "tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin," is because "all these evil things come from within and defile a man," and because, as Jesus said, Satan "has nothing in Me." James says, "each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed" (James 1:14). There were simply no lustful desires in Jesus to entice?