Theological Term of the Week: Temptation of Jesus

temptation of Jesus
Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness the beginning of his ministry.

• In scripture:

  Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

  “‘Man shall not live by bread alone,
  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” 

  Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

  “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’

  and

  “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
  lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

  Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

  “‘You shall worship the Lord your God
  and him only shall you serve.’”

  Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him (Matthew 4:1-11 ESV)

• From Systematic Theology by Louis Berkhof:

  The temptations of Christ formed an integral part of His sufferings. They are temptations that are encountered in the pathway of suffering, Matt. 4:1-11 (and parallels); Luke 22:28; John 12:27; Heb. 4:15; 5:7,8. His public ministry began with a period of temptation, and even after that time temptations were repeated at intervals right on into dark Gethsemane. It was only by entering into the very trials of men, into their temptations, that Jesus could become a truly sympathetic High Priest and attain to the heights of a proved and triumphant perfection, Heb. 4:15; 5:7-9. We may not detract from the reality of the temptations of Jesus as the last Adam, however difficult it may be to conceive of one who could not sin as being tempted. Various suggestions have been made to relieve the difficulty, as for instance, that in the human nature of Christ, as in that of the first Adam, there was the nuda possibilitas peccandi, the bare abstract possibility of sinning (Kuyper); that Jesus’ holiness was an ethical holiness, which had to come to high development through, and maintain itself in, temptation (Bavinck); and that the things with which Christ was tempted were in themselves perfectly lawful, and appealed to perfectly natural instincts and appetites (Vos). But in spite of all this the problem remains, How was it possible that one who in concreto, that is, as He was actually constituted, could not sin nor even have an inclination to sin, nevertheless be subject to real temptation?

Learn more:

1. In the Bible: Matthew 4:1-11, see also Luke 4:1-13, Mark 1:12-13.
2. Got Questions.org: What is the meaning and purpose of Jesus’ temptations? 
3. Ligonier Ministries: The Temptaion of Jesus
4. Bob Deffinbaugh: The Temptation of Jesus, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
5. John MacClean: The Temptations of Jesus
6. Jared Wilson: The Time-Traveling Temptation of Jesus
7. D. A. Carson: The Temptation of Jesus (audio)

Related terms: 

• active obedience of Christ
• federal head
• humanity of Christ
• impeccability
• incarnation

Filed under Person, Work, and Teaching of Christ

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Sunday's Hymn: Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, thy great Name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light,
Thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
All praise we would render; O help us to see
‘Tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!

— Wal­ter C. Smith

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

• Christ Is Thy Light at The Happy Wonderer

Theological Term of the Week: Semper Reformanda

semper reformanda
A Latin phrase meaning “always being reformed,” which is a slogan used in the Reformed tradition of the Christian church. It is part of the larger phrase ecclesia reformata, semper reformanda secundum verbi Dei, which means “the church is reformed, and always being reformed according to the Word of God.” The phrase has been attributed to Jodocus van Lodenstein in 1674.

• From What Does Semper Reformanda Mean? by W. Robert Godfrey:

  [W]hat did van Lodenstein mean by his famous phrase reformed and always reforming? Probably something like this: since we now have a church reformed in the externals of doctrine, worship, and government, let us always be working to ensure that our hearts and lives are being reformed by the Word and Spirit of God. 

Learn more:

1. Kevin DeYoung: Semper Reformanda
2. A Craig Troxel: Always Reforming?
3. Burk Parsons: The True Reformers
4. Carl Trueman: What Semper Reformanda Is and Isn’t

Related terms: 

• norma normans non normata
• testimonium spiritus sancti internum

Filed under Reformed Theology

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Clicking on the Theological Terms button will take you to an alphabetical list of all the theological terms.