The temptation of man

The author of Hebrews describes in a very elaborate way the process by which Jesus became qualified to the sacrifice of purification. The mere process of incarnation was not sufficient to demonstrate or achieve his perfection: he had to undergo the trials and sufferings of human life and overcome them with obedient submission to the Father.

The word 'peirasmos' can mean either 'trial' or 'temptation'. A trial is an external and public thing; a temptation is more internal and personal. The word retains its ambiguity in the Hebrews letter somewhat, such that it is hard to see which part of the narrative of Jesus' life the author is referring to. See, for example, Hebrews 2:17-18

17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Linking suffering to temptation/testing here is probably evidence that he is talking about the 'test' of Gethsemane and the Passion, the suffering that comes from an external source or threat. But, interestingly, it is this suffering test that Jesus needed to endure to complete the incarnation, to complete his identification with his brethren - 'in every respect' - in order that he could function properly as the high priest. The effectiveness of his priestliness is dependent on his complete identification with the people he represents in making the sacrifice - the peirasmos is, while not the whole of this identification, the significant last part of it.

From here the author moves on to a typological discussion of the wilderness period and the temptation at Massah, using the unforgettable Psalm 95 as his verbal map. The recipients of his letter are warned not to give in to the temptation of unbelief (3:19) and deafness to God's voice. Of course, the one being tested at Massah was Yhwh himself: the people's testing of him was evidence of their hard-heartedness and resulted in their inability to enter the Rest of God.

The recipients of Hebrews however have a significant advantage in their resistance against hardness of heart: they have not merely Moses, but a high priest who is the Son of God but who is also one who has 'in every respect' been tempted as we are - so he is able to sympathize (literally, 'suffer along with') with us. So Hebrews 4:14-15:

14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Peirasmos, it seems, is so closely bound up with human experience, is so universally a feature of what we undergo in this life, that we are not truly represented by a saviour who has not undergone them. Who is Adam after all if he is not the one who was tempted, even before he fell?

What exactly is the reason that temptation/testing is such a feature of the human story? It has to do with the nature and reality of human creature-freedom: the presence of the peirasmos, which offers or prompts an alternative to the obedient response that the Word of God demands, shows that the obedient response is a free submission of the creature. It is therefore a real, genuine and not fraudulent submission to that Word in real personal relationship with it.