Hebrews 4:15

Hebrews 4:15

Yet He did not sin

It is not unusual for us to carry a mental picture of Jesus Christ that elevates Him way above us all. He is often presented as the sinless, perfect One who lived a spotless life and who occupied a sphere outside of normal human experience, in this image He is dressed in white and has a halo around His head!  

Nothing could be further from the truth, Jesus was “tempted in every way, just as we are.” Whatever lures and fantasies and enticements the devil puts in front of you and me, Jesus knew them all. He faced every attempt that the enemy could dream up to put Him off His mission, in fact, it should not surprise us to learn that Jesus endured more than we ever can or will. For instance, we are told that one of the greatest urges that we humans possess is self-preservation, we will go to incredible lengths to fight for our lives and reputations. If there is any means by which we can avoid death, we will take it. Jesus surrendered all of this, He willingly took the path to the cross and despite being the greatest human who ever walked our planet, He cast aside His reputation and His desire to cheat death and humbly allowed men to crucify Him. As the old song says, “He could have called 10,000 angels, to destroy the world and set Him free. He could have called 10,000 angels, but He died alone for you and me.” 

It’s hard to imagine Jesus Christ being peppered with immoral and shameful thoughts or Him being enticed by the Satan’s voice, “Did God really say?” Yet He was tempted just as we are, He has experienced every weakness and every facet of our fragile humanity and yet we are told, “He did not sin.” Sin is not when the thoughts and enticements are thrown at us, sin is when we grasp them, turn them over in our minds and then consider acting on them, be it by way of a fantasy or in reality. Those long night hours that the Lord spent in prayer to His Father were, I’m sure, part of His defence, for He knew that one tiny slip would be the end of it all. He would be rendered incapable of bearing the sin of You and me, a task that required a perfect, spotless Lamb. And that is what He was prepared to become, out of love for us, and a willingness to fulfil His Father’s greatest longing, to provide for the redemption of sinful men and women. It was not impossible for Him to sin, He absolutely chose not to, and I can only imagine that the battle that raged within Him, must have been all-consuming at times. He triumphed because He wanted to obey His Father and He knew He was the only hope for the world.  That is love! Hallelujah!

 

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