We’ve discussed how part of our test in the Premortal Existence, a large part, involved faith in Jehovah. We’ve also stated that part of this faith was founded in our trust that He could come to earth as Jesus Christ and live a perfect life free from all sin and error. As mentioned previously, this was necessary for Him to be able to cleanse us of our sins and grant us mercy so we may become like God.
If we searched our world, we’d find nobody is perfect. Some are closer than others, but all of us fall significantly short of perfection. How, then, could Jesus Christ live a perfect life?
Fortunately Jesus Christ had two assets held only by Him and no one else. First, His will was already either perfect or nearly perfect. Second, He had a divine father, giving Him the divine power of a god. The combination of these two characteristics gave Jesus Christ the strength and will power to live perfectly when none of the rest of us could.
We have a record of the life of Jesus in the New Testament. So the important question is did He live perfectly while on earth? Was our faith appropriately placed? Looking at the record of His life, we can find the answer.
One excellent example is found in the story of the temptations Jesus suffered while in the wilderness. This story can be found in the accounts in Matthew 4, Mark 1, or Luke 4.
From these records we learn that Jesus retired to the wilderness to fast and pray before beginning His mortal ministry. After 40 days the devil came and tempted Him. These temptations included power, prestige, and satisfaction of the natural desires of the mortal flesh. In all three cases, Jesus refused temptation, turning to the scriptures for strength.
Now it’s possible to mistakenly conclude these are the only temptations Jesus suffered. Yet part of the reason for Jesus suffering temptation was so He could better understand how to help us through our temptations. Only three temptations for such a short period of time would hardly accomplish this.
But, as Luke 4:13 demonstrates, these were not the only temptations Jesus suffered. He actually suffered temptations throughout His life, just as we do. I will list a few that I know of. I will not go into detail, but you can study them yourselves to learn how the Perfect One was tempted and how He overcome the temptations.
Following is the list of some of the temptations Jesus suffered:
1. Matthew 22: 16-22 (Luke 20:21-26) Jesus is tempted to defy lawful government,
2. Matthew 26: 37-44 (Mark 14: 33-42; Luke 22: 41-43) Jesus is tempted to decide not to perform the Atonement,
3. Matthew 26-27 (Mark 14-15; Luke 22-23; John 18-19) Jesus is tempted many times to save Himself,
4. Luke 2: 42-51 Jesus is tempted to disrespect His earthly parents,
5. John 8: 1-11 Jesus is tempted to pass judgment prematurely on a woman taken in adultery.
Jesus refused temptation every time He was confronted by it. He was not free of temptation at any time in His life, but He was free of making the wrong choice. But there is more to a perfect life than living free of making wrong choices. A perfect life would also require choosing the right thing in all circumstances. Next time we will discuss whether or not Jesus successfully chose the right in all circumstances.
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