Sunday, 2/14/16
We all
know the story of Jesus going into the desert for forty days, but we do not
take sufficient note of the reason for which the Spirit led him there. Luke, in
today’s Gospel says he was led there “to be tempted.”
So,
apparently, it was integral to his mission on earth, that he be tempted. There
are two short passages in “The Letter to the Hebrews” that speak of Jesus being
tempted. The first is verse fifteen of Chapter Four of that letter. The second
is from verse seven through nine in the next chapter. Let me quote them.
We do
not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who was similarly tempted in every way, yet without sin. (Hebrews, 4:15)
In
the days when he was in the flesh, he offered prayers and
supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save
him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Son though he was,
he learned obedience from what he suffered, and when he was made perfect,
he became the source of eternal salvation
for all who obey him.(Hebrews 5, 7-9)
The
Bible says he was tempted in every way that we are. That means he was tempted
to be proud, to be greedy, to be lustful and all the rest. He didn’t give in,
but his trials were more than anything to which we are submitted. Think of him
in the Garden of Olives, sweating blood in his effort to submit himself to
God’s will.
The
first major heresy threatening the early Church was Docetism. That heresy got
its name from dokein, the Greek word for a mirage. The Docetists, out of
reverence for Jesus, were saying that he was so spiritual that his body was
only a holy mirage that never had to sweat or experience anything nasty.
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