Photo by Mohamed Nohassi on Unsplash

Read: Luke 4:1-13

Have you seen the commercials for Snickers bars?  The ones with the slogan, “You’re not you when you’re hungry.”  There’s one in which a roommate turns into a gremlin because he hasn’t had lunch; he just needs a Snickers.  In another, a lumberjack becomes whiny because he missed his breakfast; he just needs a Snickers.  They’re hangry—so hungry that anger comes easily.  I think many of us can relate, yes?  I wish stopping my sin was as simple as eating a Snickers.

You know what?  Jesus never got hangry.

Hungry, yes.  Angry, yes.  But He never gave in to sinful anger—or any other bad behavior—because of hunger.

The temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is one of my favorite stories about our Lord.  Not just because He takes down Satan but because He takes down Satan at a vulnerable moment.  Jesus has not eaten for forty days.  He’s been out in the wilderness.  No pillow.  No outhouse.  No friends.  Just Jesus and the devil (who’s been doing his best for forty days to knock Jesus out of the story).

Have you ever had a rough night camping?  Maybe your neighbors were up laughing and singing at 1am.  Your air mattress went flat so you slept on rocks.  You had to trek to the bathroom at 3am.  The sunlight and birds woke you up at 5:30am. How likely are you at that moment to win a face-to-face fight with Satan? This is not even close to the hardship that Jesus had allowed Himself to feel in that forty days.

Thankfully, our Lord is able to see what is right even through exhaustion.  He is able to think clearly even in an emotionally charged moment. Not even physical pain can make Him react unkindly.  Always, always, His heart and His actions are righteous.  He can raise His tired head to look Satan right in the eye and with His tired mind bring up the exact scripture to strike down the devil’s plans.

Come further with me.  Our Jesus grew up poor.  His country was occupied by a cruel foreign government.  He had to walk wherever He went.  He was familiar with spiteful rivals who plotted, neighbors who gossiped, friends who betrayed.  None of this ever, not once led Him to sin.

Zoom out some more.  Imagine the Spirit weaving in and out, all around the earth, living in the hearts of God’s people.  He feels the aching of His people when they are hurt.  He grieves when they turn and do not listen to His prompting.  Imagine Jesus at the right hand of the Father, His hands and feet bearing scars.  He speaks to the Father about each one, tirelessly interceding.  Imagine the Father sovereignly watching over the world.  It is His creation that we have corrupted. It is His creatures that we abuse.  It is His rule that we refuse.

And yet not once does our Trinity God sin.  Not one single time.  Every moment He is good.  He is never fed up.  He is never “just over it.”  Neither grief nor anger can tempt Him to lash out.  Neither our disrespect nor our disobedience can cause Him to sway.  Cause me some sorrow or pain and watch me lash out.  Not so for our good, good God.

Oh Church, do you grasp how amazing the righteousness of Jesus is?  Nothing, NOTHING made Him stumble.  “He knew no sin” (2 Cor. 5:21). He was not swayed by the beauty of diamonds or lust for women.  He was not lured away by leisure.  Nothing Satan could offer made Him stumble!  Not for the WORLD would He turn from the path!  How many of us have failed simply because we had a chance to get a few extra bucks?  How many of us have given in to the pressure of another—even an enemy–because saying no is so hard?  Not so our Jesus!  Our High Priest was “tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin!” (Hebrews 4:16)

The beautiful purity of our Lord leads to so many other wonderful truths.  Because He is incorruptible, I know I can trust Him with my life.  I know He will lead me only in the right way.  He will bring only good to my day.  He will not be tempted to leave me or forsake me.  The purity of our Lord means that His death on the cross was more than sufficient to pay for my sins. It means that where He is must be free of corruption, and when I meet Him there one day, I too will be free of the tentacles of temptation that still reach for me on earth.

How we long for that day, Jesus.  How we want to be free, as you are, of the brokenness in our souls that gives in.  We want to be able to join you in freedom from sin and freedom from Satan.  Come soon, Lord, and save us.