Hebrews Week 2 (Jesus the Sympathizer)

Hebrews 2:14–18 CSB

14 Now since the children have flesh and blood in common, Jesus also shared in these, so that through his death he might destroy the one holding the power of death—that is, the devil—15 and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death. 16 For it is clear that he does not reach out to help angels, but to help Abraham’s offspring. 17 Therefore, he had to be like his brothers and sisters in every way, so that he could become a merciful and faithful high priest in matters pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Hebrews 4:15–16 CSB

15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.

Intro

Jesus understands. He experienced pain, worry, sadness, poverty, hunger, anxiety, everything that we go through, He went through. When we go through those things there are 2 paths that lay in front of us. It can either take you down the path that leads you closer to the Lord. Or it is a path that is designed by satan to take you away from him. Even Jesus himself was faced with this crossroad.

Jesus tempted by Satan

Matthew 4:1–11 CSB

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” 4 He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.” 7 Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God.” 8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” 11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.

Satan waits until our weakest moment to attack

            We see that at the END of the forty days of fasting is when satan comes along to test Jesus. He waits until Jesus has been deprived of sustenance to tempt him with bread. Satan is not stupid. In Genesis, we see satan as a snake, you know how a snake hunts? He watches how his prey moves to find the right moment to strike. Satan has been watching you, looking for your weakness, waiting for the right moment to strike. He will wait for you to be completely vulnerable before he makes his move.

Three types of Temptation

The first temptation: Desire of the Flesh

            Jesus was hungry. He was 100% God and 100% man. The human side of him desired food to fuel his flesh. Satan waited like we just said, until his desire was at his highest. Day one, Jesus would have still been physically strong, and it would have been too easy for him to reject the temptation. But day forty is a different story. Satan will wait until your desire of the flesh peaks to send in an opportunity to feed your flesh. He will wait for you to be at your loneliest to send in a person who will lead you to throw away all your convictions to be with them. He will wait for you to be at your most depressed to talk you into throwing in the towel. He will wait until you are at the lowest point of the valley to launch his ambush on you so that you will deny the spirit and feed the flesh. His goal is, for this first type of temptation, to get you to fall into sin.

The second Temptation: to question your Security in God

            The enemy wants you to feel as if God does not care about you. When satan told Jesus to throw himself down he was telling him to test and see if God really will care for him. See we to find ourselves in moments facing this same temptation. Saying “if God really cared, he would deliver me from this.”. But the reality is not every situation is for us to be delivered from, but rather to be delivered through. You might have to walk through it, but if God led you to it, he will bring you through it. But if satan can convince you that God isn’t there, he can lead you down the path away from God.

The third temptation: Temptation to settle

            Jesus knew what he was getting ready to go through. He understood the assignment at hand, that he would be beaten, tortured, abandoned, and killed on a cross. The easy way out would have been to take satan up on his offer to rule over the kingdoms of the world. The funny thing about it, Jesus already ruled over them all. But in Satan’s mind, if he could get Jesus to settle for what was easy now, he could stop God’s plan for Jesus on this earth. Do not give up what is easy now, and forfeit what God has called you to later.

Winning in the wilderness

Know the truth

            Notice how in the first temptation Jesus fought back with scripture, and in the second temptation satan uses scripture to tempt Jesus. Satan is the father of all lies, and the master of manipulating the truth. He knows how to use the truth to convince you of his lie. He attempted to twist the word of God against Jesus to convince him to throw himself down off the pinnacle of the temple by using “it is written”against Jesus (Matthew 4:6). That’s why we can read scriptures that say “we are the head and not the tail” and when we enter into a season of feeling like the tail we are tempted to question if God is real. He will craft a thought to place in your mind and use the word of God to do it. This is why it is so important to understand scripture beyond the words that lift us up. We must know his word intimately to understand when it is being twisted and when it is straight and true. When we know the truth we can wield the truth as a weapon against the lies of the devil.

Know who you are

            In the first two temptations we see that satan makes the statement “If you are the son of God…”. He will make you question your identity in these temptations. More than that he will test your pride. If Jesus would have been prideful, he would have turned those stones to bread to prove himself. He would have thrown himself down to prove himself. But he understood that he didn’t need to prove anything because of the security he had in his identity. He was able to recall “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”. He did not need to prove himself because God the father already proved it.

Be Steadfast

            Don’t be moved by the lies.