The Nugget:
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
My Comment:
Someone kindly “joined” me to another group on Facebook, “JESUS or MOHAMMAD, who’s the Right Way to HEAVEN.”
I have not participated in this group very much until yesterday and today.
I learned that at least some Muslims believe that Jesus was a sinner, a human just like us, and therefore Jesus cannot be God as Christians claim.
This time they brought forward as proof Luke 4:2. They think that because Jesus was tempted, that proves He is a sinner.
I offered proof and explanation to the contrary, which of course they vociferously rejected. So, I wrote another comment on the thread today, having figured out one more “trick” about how to use the e-Sword Bible software program. The “trick” involved using the F4 key on the keyboard to “copy” information from a “pop-up window” so it can be used in a document. I used that to “copy and paste” the definition for the Greek word underlying “tempt” as used in Luke 4:2.
My Response:
Anyone who wishes to gain an accurate knowledge of the meaning of the Bible must use careful methods of study to arrive at that meaning.
For most of us who read English only, we can get a “good enough” understanding of the meaning of the Bible just by reading the Bible in its English translation.
But when we need to “dig deeper” into the text to learn the precise intended meaning of the original author, it is necessary to consult sources which tell more about the underlying original text.
The Bible was not written in the form of a Systematic Theology. But it is possible to put together an accurate systematic theology of and from the Bible.
This is accomplished by comparing Scripture with Scripture. To compare Scripture with Scripture, we can use a concordance to the Bible. The best concordance for English readers is Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible. This resource is helpful because it assigns a “number” for each Hebrew and each Greek word used in the Bible and gives that number for each instance of an English translation of a particular original language word. Furthermore, Strong’s Concordance contains a very helpful though abbreviated lexicon or dictionary of the original language words.
Luke 4:2 uses the English word “tempted” to represent the underlying word in the Greek text, and that word is given the number G3985.
Here is the entry from Strong’s Greek lexicon for G3985:
From G3984; to test (objectively), that is, endeavor, scrutinize, entice, discipline: – assay, examine, go about, prove, tempt (-er), try.
Total KJV occurrences: 39
Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries
The word “tempt” is used in two very basic but differing senses, as I explained above in my prior comment and repeat below in this comment. Which sense is intended at any given verse must be determined by the context, in harmony with the rest of what the Bible says on the subject.
The word “tempt” can mean “tempted to evil.” The word “tempt” can also mean “to test, to prove.” Jesus was “tempted” in this second sense. The Temptation in the Wilderness proved He was qualified to be the Messiah because he passed the tests and did not give in to the efforts of Satan to turn Him to a wrong path.
It is not a sin to be faced with temptation. It is a sin to give in to the temptation to evil.
Jesus challenged His enemies to find any fault or sin in Him. They were not able to do so.
Joh 8:46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? (KJV)
Joh 8:46 Who among you can prove me guilty of any sin? If I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me? (NET Bible)
Peter declared that Jesus was entirely without sin.
1Pe 2:22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
To fully understand the doctrinal teaching of the Bible, it is helpful and even necessary to first understand the underlying grammar of the text. This is especially important when reading the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek. When Peter wrote “who did no sin,” he used the aorist tense in Greek, which means that Jesus “Never in a single instance did” any sin.
This EVIDENCE ought to settle the meaning of Luke 4:2,
Luk 4:2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
The fact that Jesus was “tempted” does not suggest in any way that Jesus Himself was a sinner, or that He ever committed sin. Satan was trying to “tempt” Jesus in the evil sense of the word; God saw that His Son passed the test when Jesus did not fall for any of the tricks or efforts of Satan waged against Him.
