Jesus tempted in every way?

[Eldanuumea]

In Hebrews 4, there is a verse that says that Jesus was tempted in every way that we are.
I have come to doubt that, for the simple reason of my gender.

It occurred to me years ago, when I was still bearing children, that Jesus had never experienced temptations exclusive to wives or mothers. There are things I've faced that Jesus never had to face, just because he was a man, not a woman.

This may seem trivial, or like I am putting too much importance on literal wording, but I am increasingly feeling this tension.

Anyone ever thought along these lines, or have some personal wisdom to share on this subject?

 

[bob x]

In Robertson Davies' Fifth Business, the protagonist talks with this irrepressible old monk who has some seriously heretical ideas, and one of the things he says is that the older he gets, the more aware he is that he is living through stages of life that Jesus never experienced at all, so he is getting more interested in God the Father than in the Son, "who spoke with all the certainty and impetuosity of youth, where I yearn to hear a voice with the ambiguity of age."

 

[iBrian]

I'm not actually too sure what sort of temptations you are referencing - maybe because the kids have seen it to that for the past few nights I'd get no sleep, so I can;t read your inferences properly.

Are you talking about specific generic responses, such as protecting family, or is there a specific sex and gender issue involved here?

 

[Thresher]

I believe he could have been tempted like us because I believe that He was a man, not a pre-existent being because thats what fits with the scripture from what I've been able to gather.
I don't think his name was Jesus though because there is no J in Hebrew.
I also don't quite understand how he could sympathize or understand us though if He never sinned. Or to understand the hatred that came at him for telling the truth.
I don't understand what gender specific temptations your talking about.

 

[littlemissattitude]

Interesting that you bring this up. I have never understood the theory that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine, but yet never sinned. If he was fully human during the time that he sojourned here with us, he had to have sinned - as being a sinner is an integral part of being human, at least as I understand the Christian theology of being a human being. Same thing with being tempted. (I have more to say on the temptation issue, but I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll make my own when I've done a little research on a couple of points I'm not really sure about.)

As far as the gender question - I think the presumptive fact that Jesus was a man leaves a lot of experience out of his reach. This is a bit problematical to me, as well, though honestly I never thought about it until this thread posed the question. An interesting idea for further contemplation.

 

[DeaconJustin]

Interesting that you bring this up. I have never understood the theory that Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine, but yet never sinned. If he was fully human during the time that he sojourned here with us, he had to have sinned - as being a sinner is an integral part of being human, at least as I understand the Christian theology of being a human being. Same thing with being tempted. (I have more to say on the temptation issue, but I don't want to hijack this thread, so I'll make my own when I've done a little research on a couple of points I'm not really sure about.)

As far as the gender question - I think the presumptive fact that Jesus was a man leaves a lot of experience out of his reach. This is a bit problematical to me, as well, though honestly I never thought about it until this thread posed the question. An interesting idea for further contemplation.

Christ was a paradox. He was human and yet sinless; he was human and yet divine. We know that he had human impulses, as evidenced partially by his whithering of the fig tree, but I think it's a mistake to try and define too closely just how he was God and man. The truth of the matter is that the Gospels do not detail very much of his life. It's like trying to watch HBO on cable when you don't subscribe. You get gibberish most of the time and brief flashes of clarity on rare ocassions.

The Bible tells us that Christ was tempted as a human is tempted, in the same ways that we are tempted. He was tempted with power, with food, he was tempted to back away from fulfilling his mission. He was probably tempted with sex and women, so on and so forth. Does this mean that he experienced every single situation that life could ever offer? I don't think so. He experienced only those things that occurred in his own life. So yes, I think you're taking that particular verse far too literally. The merit of the verse is knowing that Christ was tempted like humans are tempted.

If you would care to enumerate these specific temptations you're talking about, that'd be just plain spiffy. Because, I really haven't any idea what you're referring to. There are specific things that both sexes experience that most, aside from perhaps hermaphrodites, with never experience, but I wouldn't call them temptations.

 

[Mus Zibii]

I'm new here, so forgive me for digging up this old thread. My attempt at apologetics would be, perhaps he was only tempted in fundamental ways, and that passage and the flawed doctrine that followed is confused by semantics.