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Hi, Father, according to the synoptic gospels Christ after fasting for 40 days was tempted by Satan and three temptations are mentioned which I won't go into detail. Later at the cross, people taunted Christ telling Him that if He was the Son of God, He should come down from the cross. Their words, if you are the Son of God, echo the words used by Satan. Further in the bible we read that Christ was tempted in all things as we are and yet was and is without sin. From the above, I have two questions. Did Satan influence the people taunting Christ at the crucifixion to tempt Him ? Secondly, what does the words tempted in all matters like we are, mean? Does that mean He endured every single temptation like we do?
Answer to Question 525 Satan may have tempted them, but we shouldn’t always blame him for everything that is bad. The people had a choice to either accept Christ as the Messiah or reject him. The Pharisees and Scribes knew that Christ was the Messiah and thought that with him out of the way they would be free to continue their false piety uncorrected. Their thoughts were evil so they must have originally come from Satan, but they freely consented to these thoughts and acted upon them. Satan can give us evil thoughts, but it is of our own free will when we put them into practice. The Jewish leaders urged the people on to taunt and blaspheme to justify the guilt of their own conscience. For your second question I would say that depends on what you mean by every single temptation. Temptations are always there, but that doesn’t mean that we are obliged to endure them. A person living the spiritual life is aware of the temptations that surround him, but has the power to reject the temptation even before that temptation can make an image in his mind. If we as mere men can do this through spiritual struggle, how much more can Christ who is God-man.
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