A question for those that believe in the impeccability of Jesus...if it was not even possible for Jesus to fall into any kind of sin, why did Satan even bother to try to get Jesus to do things that He shouldn't do while He was in the wilderness? Was Satan ignorant of Jesus' impeccability?
The first question, as I see it, is was Jesus capable of sin? The Paul writes that we have an advocate with the Father (personal note: Jesus) in all ways like as we yet without sin. My question has always been if He is like us in all ways but could not sin how can He be said to be like us in all ways?
Hrm, He could and He couldn't? He could in the same way that Adam and Eve could, since He was human in the original sense - He wasn't sinful human and He wasn't (though now He is) glorified human. He couldn't because then He wouldn't have been the Son. So a divine nature / human nature distinction, perhaps? One that is a mystery and we can't fully understand
"Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." Heb 5:8 Jesus' eternal, divine nature did not change in the incarnation. But having taken on flesh, it appears essential that the flesh be tried and brought into subjection. Having lived in perfect obedience while in the flesh, He then offered a perfect life as a sacrifice for sinners. "And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him." Heb 5:9
So, in other words, you're of the opinion that Jesus was impeccable. That He was not able to sin, rather than He was capable of sin but chose not to sin, is that correct? If so, why did Satan bother to try to tempt Jesus if Jesus was not able to even have the ability to give into Satan's temptations?
Which would indicate He could sin...but chose not to. Which is different than He was not able to sin. So, you believe Jesus was peccable, correct?
His Divine nature could not sin. His human nature could sin. In the hypostatic union, He did not sin. On the cross, He literally became sin. It is all a great mystery that is too marvelous for me.
He was without pec. Even Jesus claimed that the flesh is weak, and it's obvious that Satan did his level best to try and break Jesus' will, to no avail. The point is that Christ would not, could not have allowed his flesh to sin, but would have been severely tested, as the flesh is weak. What does Satan know? The temptations in the wilderness, particularly, directly involve a battle between the Son of God and the devil. Christ is God in the flesh. On the cross, Jesus became sin as a substitute for sinful man, but at no time had He become a sinner or culpable of sin. The Just for the unjust.
Assuming the story is real, the "wouldn't / couldn't" debate is rather futile since none of us were in his mind or heart, and neither were the authors / transcribers of the story. Point is he *didn't*. As for why, again assuming the story is true, I suspect a great reason would be so that Jesus / God could know first hand the truly salient and overwhelming power of temptation. If I believed, I would argue that this experience would justify God's mercy and also remove human justification ("I was tempted... something YOU know nothing about").
Well, Satan is pretty intelligent. He's smarter than human beings, actually. I would think that if Christ truly was impeccable (unable to sin), Satan would be aware of it. After all, Satan was in the very presence of God for awhile early in his creation. If any being should be aware of God's abilities (and any inabilities, like being unable to sin), it would be Satan. That being the case, did Satan suddenly get a form of Alzheimer's and simply forget that Jesus couldn't sin and then did Satan not realize his temptations to Jesus would be a complete waste of his time?
I don't know. We are able not to sin if we would truly be dependent on the Holy Spirit, but alas, we choose not to be. I'm not sure that Satan ever understood the person of Jesus. He'd never seen Him before. You assume that Satan had any idea that God could become human flesh. I think it was likely a surprise to Satan as well.
Wasn't pride not the origin of his fall? Perhaps the saying "pride comes for the fall" is derived from that event.
That was with humans. Jesus, however, was God in human form. If Jesus truly was incapable of choosing to sin (unlike Adam and Eve who could choose to sin), then, Satan's temptations were doomed before they even started and the Devil totally wasted his time even trying to tempt Jesus.
#1. I already hinted to pride. #2. He knew Jesus' mission (among that per 1 John 3:8 to defeat satan) and that if Jesus succeeded his fate was sealed. So desperation, last resort, all or nothing, may have played a role too. And like in the garden, like with Job, God allowed it to happen to Jesus as well, first in the desert and later in His Passion according to John 14:30.