Exodus 1, Luke 4, Job 18 and I Corinthians 5

Luke 4:13 - I have read the story of Jesus temptation in the desert many times before...I love how he destroys every attempt from Satan to get him to turn from God with scripture. It is a great reminder that all of us should have God's Word written on our hearts...keep verses we can go to when we are dealing with temptation. Yet this time as I read the passage, something different jumped out at me. In Luke 4:13 it says that after the Devil had tried every form of temptation on Jesus, he left (With the plan to attack Jesus when the circumstances were more in his favor...like when Jesus is on the cross). For 40 days Jesus was in the desert...for 40 days Satan threw everything he had at Jesus...every temptation...every trick...all of it. We know that Jesus was tempted with food, with power and popularity, but what we don't think about very often is all the other stuff he was tempted with. The reading today reminded me of Hebrews 5:15, which tells us that we have a High Priest (Jesus) who was tempted in every way that we are. He knows what you are going through...he knows what you are facing. Did Satan flash images of nude women before Jesus and tell him that he could have sex with any woman he wanted if he bowed? Did he promise endless amounts of money? Did offer mood altering drugs and drink? Did he offer an incredible marriage with tons of cute kids that might distract Jesus from his mission? The text says that he tempted Jesus in every way...and that is exactly what I needed to know. I think we all can sit back and say, "Oh, I would refuse bread and power too...those seem to be mild temptations...but Jesus just doesn't understand this struggle of mine...it is so hard...it is so tempting...it's different." No it isn't. He was tempted in every way that you and I are...and he faced down every one of those temptations. He was able to deny those temptations because of his great love for us. Yes, he was God in the flesh...yes, God is perfect...but Jesus was still in the flesh...he was still born of a woman...born in the sinful tradition of humankind...born with the possibility of turning against his nature. Yet, he stood strong...he denied those temptations because there was so much at stake...the salvation of the world...probably the very foundations of the world, if God turned against His own nature. Can we be inspired to do the same? We are able to connect with the Holy Spirit of God...we can ask the Spirit of God (The same Spirit that allowed Jesus to reject temptation) to give us the strength to turn away from sin...we can choose to love as Jesus loved - to show that we love God and our families and our friends so much that we do not want to bring the chaos that sin brings into their lives! Follow in the footsteps of Jesus and fight the good fight!