Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
There’s a country music song, sung by Marty
Stuart, where he sings about being tempted by a woman, presumably who is not
his wife, who is trying to steal his heart. “Tempted and tried, deep down
inside, I can’t deny I’m tempted,” he sings. The upbeat tempo makes it sound
like it’s a good thing to be tempted - or, at least, a whole lotta fun.
It’s interesting how we use that word, tempted. It’s
often thrown around, like temptation is no big dea. You go out to eat and you
are trying to eat responsibly – you have the grilled chicken, not the marbled
steak, the asparagus, not the cheesy, ooey-gooey casserole, and tea, not the
wonderful beer your dining companion is enjoying. And, then the dessert tray
comes by and the server, half joking but half serious, says, “I thought I might
tempt you with dessert,” and the crème brulee, the 7-layer fudge cake, and the
cheesecake all look, well, tempting. But temptation is no small matter, a much
more serious issue than a forbidden dessert and a few extra calories.
You’re walking down the street, minding your
own business, when an attractive woman steps out of the building in front of
you and you notice that her skirt is cut up to here and the blouse is down to
there. The temptation isn’t just to sneak a peek but to allow lust to enter the
heart and mind. You’re going clothes shopping and the family budget allows for
this much and not much more, but you see the outfit on the mannequin and the
shoes to match and you are tempted: what’s a little more on the credit card,
you rationalize, pushing aside the thoughts about the bill you already can only
make the minimum payment on. It’s been a day, a really, really tough day. You
head home, just wanting – needing! – a little quiet time, but the kids are
wound up and won’t settle down. Homework is a battle. You have one nerve left
and someone just stomped on it, and suddenly, you feel it rising up from deep
inside, like mercury in an old thermometer, and you are tempted to snap and
bark and act in a way that you know, later, you will regret, but for now, it
will let a little steam off. A friend asks you about Jesus, something that they
heard or read, and knowing you are a Christian, they want your answer, but you’re
tempted to keep quiet because you’re not sure what to say, and, to be honest,
you’re a little bit afraid. You go to the doctor and the doctor says, “I’m
sorry. There’s nothing left to do.” The temptation to be overwhelmed with
despair is right there. Or, you stand beside the casket of a loved one, not
sure how you’ll go on, now sure how the hole in your life will be filled, and
the temptation is one of allowing grief to overwhelm you with doubt God’s
promises.
Being tempted. Yes, we know it. We know it
well. It’s much deeper than the simplistic idea of being tempted to take
something that’s not yours. Satan knows your weaknesses better than you, and he
will work, he will tempt you, utilizing those against you.
Listen again to these words from Hebrews. “For
because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who
are being tempted.” These words aren’t so much about our temptations, but about
Jesus who helps us in our temptations. How does He help? What does He do? It’s
in these three words: flesh and blood.
Flesh and blood. He became one of us. He took
on flesh and blood just like us, taking on our humanity, experiencing every
temptation that you and I know all too well. Jesus is God. Jesus is also man,
full and completely. He bled when He was cut. His legs hurt when he grew into a
teenager. He had headaches when it was allergy season in Israel. He had a
stomach that growled when it was hungry. He had eyes to see, hears to hear, a
mouth to speak, a nose to smell. He had glands and hormones. All of the parts
of us that can be tempted, He had those, too. He knows what it is to be tested,
rejected, hated, and despised to the point of betrayal and death. He was
tempted to give up, to turn His back on His Father and His plan of salvation.
He was tempted in every way as you and me, but there was one major – and
perfect – exception: He does not surrender to those temptations. He does not
give in to pride, arrogance, anger, hunger, greed, lust, doubt, despair, or
anything else that would strip Him of His holy ability to be the perfect
sacrifice for the times we fail in our temptations. He knows exactly what is
needed to stand against these temptations because He is stronger than any and
all temptations.
So, the help He gives is holy and stronger as
well. You know how you feel when someone comes to you, lamenting, hurting,
grieving, struggling. Your friend, your spouse, your child needs your help but
there is, literally, nothing you can do except to offer a modicum of
consolation, a hug, and a whisp of encouragement to “hang in there; it’s gotta
get better, right?” In that moment, you don’t know what to do; you don’t know
how to help. Jesus knows the help we need, and He gives it.
Here’s a good analogy: Alcoholics Anonymous.
I have some issues with the theology in their program, the reference to a
“higher power,” for example, but what they do well is that the people who give
the help are fellow alcoholics themselves. If you are an alcoholic who needs help,
seek out an alcoholic who also needed help themselves; if you want recovery
from alcoholism, find an alcoholic who is also recovering. They are the best
ones to give the help, because they’ve been there, themselves.
Jesus knows the help we need because He is
fully human, flesh-and-blood human, with experience of all and any temptations,
and He offers to help those who are being tempted. Now, exactly how He will do
that as you face your temptation, and you face yours, and you face yours,
exactly what that will look like, I don’t know. Sometimes He will remind you of
a Word you learned in Sunday school, or from Sunday’s sermon that stuck with
you. He might provide a friend who comes alongside you. He might even be giving
you the strength to literally close your eyes, to tell a friend to “stop,” or
even to get up, shut up, and walk away. But I know this: He has flesh and
blood. He has been tempted like you. And, when you are in the middle of that
struggle against satan, and your own sinful flesh, and the world around you,
any or all tempting you to just give in and surrender, Jesus stands with you.
Because He is just like you.
Of course, we aren’t just like him. We don’t
say no to every temptation. We are contaminated with sin. We have failed. We
have given in to the fear and the greed and the lust and the doubts and the
despair and pride and the anger and the jealousy. We’ve given in. What I want
you to know is Jesus doesn’t only help us in facing temptations. He has already
helped us – not just in the facing of temptations, but in the failure of them.
How? Flesh and blood. Look at the cross.
Flesh and blood. He bleeds. He takes your punishment for your failures of
temptations. He dies, flesh and blood.
The help you need is described in this word,
propitiation. That is Jesus disposing of our sins by the shedding of His blood;
it’s His taking care of God’s anger for us; it’s Jesus bringing forgiveness for
us. He helps us in our failures on temptation.
It doesn’t stop there. He even helps in the
future of temptation. When He rises on Easter morning, how does He rise? Flesh
and blood. Of course, you remember Thomas. He doubts – he’s tempted to ignore
the promises of Jesus. But, Jesus allows him the privilege of touching flesh
and blood. Later, the disciples think Jesus is a ghost. How does Jesus calm
them? He eats a piece of fish. Only flesh and blood need to eat – not ghosts.
And, when He rises, He does so with a glorified body. That is the greatest help
of all: when we die, we too, shall rise. We do not need to be tempted that our
sins are still held against us: Christ is risen. We are risen. Risen, indeed.
Alleluia. Flesh and blood, glorified bodies, temptation left behind: no more
lust, greed, anger, fear, despair. We will simply be like Jesus. Sinless,
deathless, eternal.
When tempted, Jesus is able to help us. In
the face of temptation, in the failures, He helps us. And into the future, Jesus
helps us.
A moment ago, I said that Jesus will help you
in your temptations, but I don’t know necessarily how He will do it. That’s
true. But, let me show you one way He will very likely help you. He will help
you turn to him. That’s his invitation: look at me! Turn to the cross. That’s
where Jesus has helped you, past, present and into eternity.
