The temptation in the desert: Could Jesus have sinned?

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When Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the desert, did he actually feel the desire to sin? If not, in what sense was Jesus tempted?

a related question:

*Could * Jesus have sinned, if he wanted to? If not, does that mean Jesus had no free will?

and if Jesus had sinned, what would be the consequences?
 
Jesus was fully human, meaning he is as much human as you and me. This includes a human will. But he also is fully God. His human will is in perfect submission to His divine will. The only way he could have sinned is if He was not fully God. But we all know that is not the case.
 
Could God create a boulder so huge that He could not move it? You are essentially asking the same question. God is Goodness itself. God does not sin, by definition. Jesus is God. Sin is not in His nature.
 
What I wonder about is why the devil wasted his time trying to tempt Jesus, did he really think Jesus would or could sin? That’s what I don’t get!
 
Elizium23 said:
Could God create a boulder so huge that He could not move it? You are essentially asking the same question. God is Goodness itself. God does not sin, by definition. Jesus is God. Sin is not in His nature.
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Jesus was fully human, meaning he is as much human as you and me. This includes a human will. But he also is fully God. His human will is in perfect submission to His divine will. The only way he could have sinned is if He was not fully God. But we all know that is not the case.
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doesn’t this mean that Jesus had no free will?
 
zro_x said:
doesn’t this mean that Jesus had no free will?
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No, it does not. Because someone never sins does not = no free will. He just exercises his free will in choosing not to sin.

Imagine a woman living in a cabin in the woods on a hill. From her elevated position she can see the origin of a river. A town is dumping sewage into the river. Downstream there is a family living near the river. From their position they cannot see that a town is dumping sewage into the river, so they drink from that river.

However, the woman, from her vantage point, can see that the river is polluted--and while she certainly has the free will to drink from the river–has no desire to do so.

That, I think, is a wonderful way to portray the fact that there is no contradiction between having free will and never sinning.
 
Skye_Ariel said:
What I wonder about is why the devil wasted his time trying to tempt Jesus, did he really think Jesus would or could sin? That’s what I don’t get!
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The Devil had no knowledge of Christ’s true nature. He would have no way of knowing if Christ was fully God or not. The Devil is not omniscient.

God Bless
 
zro_x said:
When Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the desert, did he actually feel the desire to sin? If not, in what sense was Jesus tempted?

a related question:

*Could * Jesus have sinned, if he wanted to? If not, does that mean Jesus had no free will?

and if Jesus had sinned, what would be the consequences?
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One of God’s perfect attributes is His incapability to sin; and Jesus, God Incarnate, has all the attributes of Divinity as God the Father. And since Jesus, like God, is incapable of committing sin, Jesus therefore is incapable of falling into temptation.

Posted by Father Ryan Erlenbushfrom from: newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com/2012/02/if-christ-could-not-sin-how-was-he.html
“But, one says, “Jesus isn’t only God, he is also man. Therefore, his human nature allows him to have the possibility of sinning.”
Clearly this cannot be the case: For a nature does not sin, but a person. And Jesus is a Divine Person, therefore, as God and as man, he cannot possibly sin. If Jesus could sin, then it would not be a man sinning, but God sinning through a human nature – and this is absurd.
It is simply and absolutely impossible for Christ to sin, because he is God and God cannot sin.”
 
PRmerger said:
No, it does not. Because someone never sins does not = no free will. He just exercises his free will in choosing not to sin.

Imagine a woman living in a cabin in the woods on a hill. From her elevated position she can see the origin of a river. A town is dumping sewage into the river. Downstream there is a family living near the river. From their position they cannot see that a town is dumping sewage into the river, so they drink from that river.

However, the woman, from her vantage point, can see that the river is polluted--and while she certainly has the free will to drink from the river–has no desire to do so.

That, I think, is a wonderful way to portray the fact that there is no contradiction between having free will and never sinning.
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But the woman, if we are drawing analogies to God, Can’t go drink from the water, even if she wanted to.
 
=zro x;10100468]When Jesus was being tempted by the devil in the desert, did he actually feel the desire to sin? If not, in what sense was Jesus tempted?
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a related question:
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*Could * Jesus have sinned, if he wanted to? If not, does that mean Jesus had no free will?
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and if Jesus had sinned, what would be the consequences?
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These questions friend are without merit:rolleyes:

Jesus COULD [able to] / but “could not” choose to sin being God! Period!

Jesus is God and like US has a mind, intellect, and a freewill; all becuse He is the Creator of them:)
 
zro_x said:
sorry, I think I misinterpreted what you were saying. Are you saying that Jesus could have sinned if he had wanted to? Did he feel the desire to sin? i.e. temptation?
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Could? Yes. Of course. Jesus, being God, certainly had the ability to sin.

However, being God it would have been contrary to his nature to choose to do so.
 
PRmerger said:
Could? Yes. Of course. Jesus, being God, certainly had the ability to sin.

However, being God it would have been contrary to his nature to choose to do so.
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If you look at it that way, why didn’t God create each of us with a non-sinning nature?
 
PRmerger said:
So that he could give us so great a Redeemer.
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Couldn’t God have sent Jesus down from heaven and given us a non-sinning nature?

Doesn’t the bible say that adam and eve walked with God in the garden of Eden?
 
zro_x said:
Couldn’t God have sent Jesus down from heaven and given us a non-sinning nature?
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Again with the “could”. Sure, God *could *have. (Had the ability to).

But He would not have been a Redeemer, right?
Doesn’t the bible say that adam and eve walked with God in the garden of Eden?
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Sure. But, again, God wasn’t a Redeemer.
 
PRmerger said:
Again with the “could”. Sure, God *could *have. (Had the ability to).

But He would not have been a Redeemer, right?

Sure. But, again, God wasn’t a Redeemer.
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why would Jesus necessarily be a redeemer?

the other thing is that adopting this outlook means that God created us with less than perfect natures because he wanted us to sin so he could send us a redeemer. This contradicts the Catholic teaching that god does not want us to sin.
 
zro_x said:
why would Jesus necessarily be a redeemer?
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Because when we sin we are now in the enemy’s camp, so to speak. So we need to be redeemed in order to get back to our proper place in His Camp.

If we never sinned, then we don’t need a Redeemer.

And God’s Redemption of humankind was the act of love that defines love.
the other thing is that adopting this outlook means that God created us with less than perfect natures because he wanted us to sin so he could send us a redeemer. This contradicts the Catholic teaching that god does not want us to sin.
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Your error is saying that God created us with less than perfect natures.

He created us with perfect natures…but then it was ruined by the Original Sin.
 
However, being God it would have been contrary to his nature to choose to do so.
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PRmerger said:
Your error is saying that God created us with less than perfect natures.

He created us with perfect natures…but then it was ruined by the Original Sin.
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Doesn’t this mean that it would have been contrary to our nature to sin, just as much as it is against God’s nature?
 
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