Reacting Righteously

Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was certainly powerful enough to call down legions of angels to stop his inevitable suffering and death on a cross. The same Jesus, the Word of God, became flesh and was made like us in every way; yet, when he was tempted by Satan, Christ did not succumb to his physical hunger but resisted the Devil. Jesus also became a true friend to sinners during his earthly ministry, yet he did not panic when Lazarus passed away. In these three situations, Jesus displayed righteous reactions. He could have hastily responded to provocation and destroyed those who sought to destroy him, but he knew his mission was to redeem his people from their sins through sacrifice. In fact, when he was reviled, he didn’t revile back (1 Peter 2:23). He didn’t cave in to temptation for immediate pleasure, either.