A Place of Vulnerability

All too often we’re tempted because we’ve put ourselves in a place of vulnerability. We’ve put ourselves in a place where we shouldn’t be.

Maybe you’ve found yourself hanging out with the wrong people at the wrong time, about to do the wrong thing. Then you wondered how it happened.

How did it happen? You set yourself up for a fall.

Jesus was always in the will of God. He said, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29 NKJV). Except for the moment on the cross when all the sin of the world was placed upon Jesus as our substitute, He never was out of harmony with the Father.

It’s worth noting that Jesus never did a miracle for His own benefit. If Jesus had to get from point A to point B, He walked there like anyone else. Thus, Jesus got tired like we do. Jesus got sleepy like we do. And Jesus got hungry like we do.

Jesus could have done whatever He wanted, yet He put himself under the restraints of human frailty. The Bible tells us that God “sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins” (Romans 8:3 NLT).

Apart from that most painful moment on the cross, Jesus was always in sync, always in harmony with, and always doing the things that pleased the Father. Yet the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to face three temptations from the Devil. So what was the point of His being tempted?

It was to show us how to face temptation. Jesus gave us a model. He showed us what we should do when temptation comes our way.