The Temptation of Jesus and James 1:13

by Pastor Kevin on May 12th, 2010

Pierasmos or Pierazo

In James 1:2-12 we noted that the word for trial is pierasmos.  Pierasmos indiactes and outward event to respond to.  It is a test of faith.  In James 1:13-14 the word temptation comes from the same root as trial, but it is an inward battle between God's will and sin. 

So when we read that God does not tempt nor can God be tempted we must ask what about Matthew 4?  What about Jesus in the dessert with Satan?  The answer lies in our understanding of the word pierasmos.  Jesus is fully God so therefore He cannot be tempted to sin.  There is no enticement or draw to sin like there is inside our hearts.  When Jesus was in the dessert He faced a testing and a trial.  He saw first hand Satan's tactics and reacted with faithfulness to God's will.  This is why He can sympathize with us because He experienced Satan trying to tempt Him.  Perhaps this quote from John MacArthur can further help us understand this question.

"In the testing of Jesus in the wilderness after forty days and nights of fasting, the difference between peirasmos as testing and as temptation can be seen clearly, the same distinction seen in this first chapter of James (between vv. 2–3, 12 and vv. 13–14). Matthew reports that “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1). But the remainder of the account (vv. 2–11) makes clear that, whereas from Satan’s perspective, the experience was intended as temptation (inducement to sin), for Jesus the experience was a test, which He passed without the least wavering. Despite Satan’s clever use of God’s Word, he did not succeed even slightly in penetrating Jesus’ impregnability to sin."  John MacArthur in His New Testament Study Bible