Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 4:1 Then Jesus was led by the [Holy] Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [Luke 4:1-13] |
Bible Question: Joe, I believe prayon is speaking of the kenosis of Jesus in her answer in regard to His temptation. Would you care to add your views to this interesting and important topic? |
Bible Answer: Uh-oh. Asking me MY views will inevitably lead to LONG posts! :) Obviously, God set aside the exercise of some of his attributes when he humbled himself to an infinite degree by becoming like His creation. He did not exercise his omniscience, for example. I would imagine that Jesus did not come out of Mary's womb with the power of speech; he had to learn to talk. As a human being, he had to develop cognitively, I would imagine. I wonder what that was like without sin, don't you? No "terrible two's," no having to overcome the unbridled expression of a sinfulness that everyone else in Nazareth possessed, including his parents. One thing that we can see that Jesus did have at a very early age, however, is an innate sense of who he was. At twelve he is saying that he must be about his Father's business. Of course, Mary and Joseph would not have been taken aback by such a statement, having been there from the miraculous beginning. In short, Jesus laid aside His privileges as God the Son, but that is far different than saying he laid down His character. Christ did not stop BEING God; he only elected, for our sakes, not to utilize his divine abilities. I think the best way to put it is that He put Himself perfectly in man's position, but without sin. I would think that this included limiting himself physically (i.e. doing his signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit, like the apostles would later) and intellectually (e.g. not knowing the day nor hour of His return). In this way, he became the perfect sacrifice, His infinite holiness lived out in human form. He relied on the Spirit perfectly to follow the Father perfectly in order to be the perfect propitiation for our sins. And we did not deserve it in the slightest way! Now that is the humility Paul is talking about in Philippians 4:3-5, the same attitude that Christ Jesus had in doing all this for those who believe in Him. Quite an attitude for Paul to encourage us to imitate, huh? --Joe! |