There are several questions raised about the Lord Jesus Christ and His ministry. One of them says, If Jesus was God, why was he tempted? Of course, the Bible says that Jesus was tempted. For instance, in Luke 4:2 says, “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.” (See also Mathew 4:1).
The God of the Bible was tempted in the Old Testament.
Exodus 17:7 “And he called the name of the place Massah, and Meribah, because of the chiding of the children of Israel, and because they tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us, or not?”
Numbers 14:22 “Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;”
Deuteronomy 6:16 Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.”
Psalm 95:8,9 “Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and said my work.”
Psalm 106:13,14 “They soon forget his works: they waited not for his counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert.”
In the New Testament: –
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:8-9 “Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed. and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.”
The Apostle Peter Said in Acts 5:9, “Then Peter said unto her, how is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.”
So there is nothing special about Jesus' temptation. He was the God of the Old Testament too. Do not forget one thing, this is not internal temptation but external. “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;” (Hebrews 7:26). Be sure that Jesus is the God of the Bible and separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
What does without sin mean?
The Meaning is given in the same book (Hebrews) chapter 7:26 saying, “For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;”
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” (James 1:14) In this scripture the Clause which says, “when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed” shows us that the temptation of sinful flesh is that which originates from within (See also 1 Timothy 6:9).
The 13th verse in the book of James chapter 1 says, “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:” But as we have seen before, Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan or the devil, demons as well as human beings; but not of sin. That is why in John 8:46 Jesus asked the Jews, saying, “Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth. why do ye not believe me?”