FOR SINCE HE HIMSELF WAS TEMPTED: en ho gar peponthen (3SRAI) autos peirastheis (APPMSN):

The Greek reads more literally (specifically the literal word order) "for in that He suffered, Himself being tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted." (Young's literal translation)

"For" (gar) indicates that what follows can explain how Jesus' being made like His brethren in all things has made Him a merciful and faithful High Priest for us. 

Tempted ((3985) (peirazo from the noun peira = test from peíro = perforate, pierce through to test durability of things) is a morally neutral word simply meaning “to test” or to try. The aorist tense points to the fact that His "having been tempted" is a past completed action.

Paul explains that now as our great High Priest

"Christ Jesus is He Who died, yes, rather Who was raised, Who is at the right hand of God, Who also intercedes for us (present tense = He is  constantly interceding on our behalf and so is always ready to come to the aid upon hearing our cry for help!)." (See note Romans 8:34)

Christ did not have each temptation we have but experienced every kind of temptation a person can have. He has met our sorrows. He has faced our temptations. He knows exactly what help we need; and He can come to our aid immediately when we cry out for help!

Wuest comments that peirazo

"referred first to the action of putting someone to the test to see what good or evil is in the one tested, and second, because so many broke down under the test and committed sin, the word came to mean a “solicitation to do evil.” Both meanings are in view here. Our Lord in His incarnation as the Last Adam, was put to the test and was also solicited to do evil (Mt 4:1–11 "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.")." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)

Whether the tests becomes a proof of righteousness or an inducement to evil depends on our response. If we resist in God’s power, the tests becomes a test that proves our faithfulness. If we do not resist in His power (or try to resist in our own power), the test becomes a solicitation to sin. The Bible uses peirazo  in both ways. Be of sober spirit, be on the alert!

IN THAT WHICH HE HAS SUFFERED: en ho gar autos peponthen (3SRAI): (Hebrews 4:15-note; Hebrews 4:16-note; Hebrews 5:2-note, Hebrews 5:7-9-note; Mt 4:1-10; 26:37-39; Lu 22:53)

He (Himself) is emphatic. Contrary to what might have been expected, He suffered.

O Saviour Christ, Thou too art man;
Thou hast been troubled, tempted, tried;
Thy kind but searching glance can scan
The very wounds that shame would hide.
-Henry Twells

Suffered (3958) (pascho) means to suffer (to feel or bear what is painful, disagreeable or distressing, either to the body or mind. We suffer pain of body; we suffer grief of mind). It means to be affected by something from without. It means to undergo an experience, usually difficult, and normally with the implication of physical or psychological suffering.

Christ’s suffering included temptation. He experienced the lure of sin, but He never surrendered Himself to it. He knows what it is like to be tempted, so He knows how to assist those who are being tempted.

Suffered is in the perfect tense which emphasizes that although the temptation Christ suffered in the flesh is a thing of the past, its effect is permanent, in the sense that the effect of His compassion and understanding remains to aid us in our own temptations.

Alexander Whyte notes that...

We shall never understand anything of our Lord's preaching and ministry unless we continually keep in mind what exactly and exclusively His errand was in this world.

A T Robertson summarizes Jesus' suffering noting that

"The temptation to escape the shame of the Cross was early and repeatedly presented to Christ, by Satan in the wilderness (Mt  4:1–11), by Peter in the spirit of Satan ("And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You. ”But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.” Mt 16:22-23.), in Gethsemane ("Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be grieved and distressed. Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.” Mt 26:36-39) and caused intense suffering to Jesus ("And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Lu 22:44;  "Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered." Heb 5:8)." (Robertson, A T. Word Pictures in the New Testament)

Constable adds that...

"As our priest Jesus Christ can help us because He has undergone the same trials we experience (in body, mind, and emotions) and has emerged victorious. The testing in view is temptation to depart from God’s will, specifically apostasy. The picture is of an older brother helping his younger brothers navigate the pitfalls of growing up successfully. That is the role a priest plays." (Tom Constable's Expository Notes on the Bible)

Illustration of the great truth that Jesus Who Suffered as a Man is thus "Able to come to our aid" - Bob Weber, past president of Kiwanis International, told this story. He had spoken to a club in a small town and was spending the night with a farmer on the outskirts of the community. He had just relaxed on the front porch when a newsboy delivered the evening paper. The boy noted the sign Puppies for Sale. The boy got off his bike and said to the farmer, "How much do you want for the pups, mister?" "Twenty-five dollars, son." The boy's face dropped. "Well, sir, could I at least see them anyway?" The farmer whistled, and in a moment the mother dog came bounding around the corner of the house tagged by four of the cute puppies, wagging their tails and yipping happily. At last, another pup came straggling around the house, dragging one hind leg. "What's the matter with that puppy, mister?" the boy asked. "Well, Son, that puppy is crippled. We took her to the vet and the doctor took an X ray. The pup doesn't have a hip joint and that leg will never be right." To the amazement of both men, the boy dropped the bike, reached for his collection bag and took out a fifty-cent piece. "Please, mister," the boy pleaded, "I want to buy that pup. I'll pay you fifty cents every week until the twenty-five dollars is paid. Honest I will, mister." The farmer replied, "But, Son, you don't seem to understand. That pup will never, never be able to run or jump. That pup is going to be a cripple forever. Why in the world would you want such a useless pup as that?"

The boy paused for a moment, then reached down and pulled up his pant leg, exposing that all too familiar iron brace and leather knee-strap holding a poor twisted leg. The boy answered, "Mister, that pup is going to need someone who understands him to help him in life!"

Crippled and disfigured by sin, the risen, living Christ has given us hope. He understands us--our temptations, our discouragements, and even our thoughts concerning death. By His resurrection we have help in this life and hope for the life to come. (Brian Bell, Calvary Chapel, Murrieta)

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Spurgeon in Morning and Evening writes...

It is a common-place thought, and yet it tastes like nectar to the weary heart—Jesus was tempted as I am. You have heard that truth many times: have you grasped it? He was tempted to the very same sins into which we fall. Do not dissociate Jesus from our common manhood. It is a dark room which you are going through, but Jesus went through it before. It is a sharp fight which you are waging, but Jesus has stood foot to foot with the same enemy. Let us be of good cheer, Christ has borne the load before us, and the blood-stained footsteps of the King of glory may be seen along the road which we traverse at this hour. There is something sweeter yet—Jesus was tempted, but Jesus never sinned. Then, my soul, it is not needful for thee to sin, for Jesus was a man, and if one man endured these temptations and sinned not, then in his power his members may also cease from sin. Some beginners in the divine life think that they cannot be tempted without sinning, but they mistake; there is no sin in being tempted, but there is sin in yielding to temptation. Herein is comfort for the sorely tempted ones. There is still more to encourage them if they reflect that the Lord Jesus, though tempted, gloriously triumphed, and as he overcame, so surely shall his followers also, for Jesus is the representative man for his people; the Head has triumphed, and the members share in the victory. Fears are needless, for Christ is with us, armed for our defence. Our place of safety is the bosom of the Saviour. Perhaps we are tempted just now, in order to drive us nearer to him. Blessed be any wind that blows us into the port of our Saviour’s love! Happy wounds, which make us seek the beloved Physician. Ye tempted ones, come to your tempted Saviour, for he can be touched with a feeling of your infirmities, and will succour every tried and tempted one.

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HE WAS TEMPTED - We had everything set .for the first bass fishing expedition of the year. We had exotic new lures that we knew would be irresistible to those big six-pounders lurking beneath the surface of our favorite fishing lake. We would tempt them with Sassy Shads, brightly colored new Hula Poppers, buzz baits, a "killer" red flatfish with a black stripe, and a white double spinner with long bright streamers. And, if all else failed, we had some fresh Canadian crawlers. Out at dawn, we hit all the best spots with our assortment of delectable temptations. But nothing happened. We worked the shore. We cast along the weeds. We tried every lure in the tackle box—even the crawlers. Finally we gave up. Heading back to the cabin, we concluded, "The fish just aren't hungry."

Satan has a whole "tacklebox" of alluring devices he uses to tempt us. Some are gaudy and exotic, easy to spot—yet oh, so tempting. Others whet our appetites in quiet and subtle ways, appearing harm-less until the hook is set. Whatever the temptation, we can best resist if we do not let our thoughts dwell on evil but on things that are true, noble, just, pure, and lovely (see note Philippians 4:8). With mental discipline and the help of the Holy Spirit, we can keep our hearts full of goodness. Then, in frustration, Satan will have to say, "They just aren't hungry."—D. C. Egner (Our Daily Bread, Copyright RBC Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved)

Every step away from the devil
leads us one step closer to God.

HE IS ABLE TO COME TO THE AID: dunatai (3SPPI) toiz peirazomenois (PPPMPD) boethesai (AAN): (7:25,26; Jn 10:29; Phil 3:21; 2Ti 1:12; Jude 1:24)

Touched with a sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same.
Isaac Watts
(Play With Joy We Meditate the Grace)

Able (1410) (dúnamai - see related word dunamis) means to have power, whether by virtue of one’s own ability and resources through a state of mind or favorable circumstances. To be capable, to have the ability.  Dúnamai implies both a fitness and willingness to do a thing. Christ is both competent and ready to undertake for His people. If we have not, it is because we ask not.

"Able" is in the present tense indicating that Jesus is continually able to help the tempted because he has perfect sympathy with them. Stated another way, present tense speaks of the fact that "being able" is always true of Jesus.

Robertson notes that "He is able"

"strikes the heart of it all. Christ’s power to help is due not merely to his deity as God’s Son, but also to his humanity without which he could not sympathize with us (Heb. 4:15)." (Word Pictures in the New Testament)

Expositor's Bible Commentary writes that...

"The words "he is able" are important and mean more than "he helps." Only he who suffers can help in this way. Jesus went all the way for us. He was not only ready to suffer, but he actually did suffer." ((Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible Commentary 6-Volume New Testament. Zondervan Publishing)

Kent Hughes says

Think of it this way—which bridge has undergone the greatest stress, the one that collapses under its first load of traffic, or the one that bears the same traffic morning and evening, year after year? (Hughes, R. K. Hebrews: An Anchor for the Soul. Volume 1.  Crossway Books; Volume 2 or Logos)

Jesus is a "bridge" which is continuously able.

Jamieson writes that...

Not only as God He knows our trials, but also as man He knows them by experimental feeling. (Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., Fausset, A. R., Brown, D., & Brown, D.   Critical and explanatory commentary)

Barnes writes that...

This does not mean that he would not have had “power” to assist others if he had not gone through these sufferings, but that he is now qualified to sympathize with them from the fact that he has endured like trials. The idea is, that one who has himself been called to suffer is able to sympathize with those who suffer; one who has been tempted, is able to sympathize with those who are tempted in like manner. One who has been sick is qualified to sympathize with the sick; one who has lost a child, can sympathize with him who follows his beloved son or daughter to the grave; one who has had some strong temptation to sin urged upon himself can sympathize with those who are now tempted; one who has never been sick, or who has never buried a friend, or been tempted, is poorly qualified to impart consolation in such scenes. Hence, it is that ministers of the gospel are often - like their Master - much persecuted and afflicted, that they may be able to assist others. Hence, they are called to part with the children of their love; or to endure long and painful sicknesses, or to pass through scenes of poverty and want, that they may sympathize with the most humble and afflicted of their flock. (Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible)

C H Spurgeon commenting on "He is able" notes that Jesus

"(1) has the right, acquired by His suffering, to enter in among sufferers, and deal with them. (2) He has also the disposition to succour them. He obtained that tender temper through suffering, by being Himself tempted. (3) And then He has the special ability. Our Blessed Master, having lived a life of suffering, understands the condition of a sufferer so well that He knows how to make a bed for him." (The Biblical Illustrator)

The fact that God is "able" is illustrated in God's rhetorical question in the face of Sarah's failure to bear Abraham a son, Jehovah stating

"Is anything too difficult for the Lord? (the expected answer of course is "no") At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” (Ge 18:14)

Later in Hebrews the writer in reference to Jesus reminds his tested readers that

"Hence, also, He is able (priests were never able to save even temporarily) to save (present tense = continually save = see following note) forever (KJV is more accurate = "uttermost" - to final perfection or completeness) those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." (Heb 7:25)

Here "salvation" appears to be referring primarily to sanctification (present tense salvation) rather than justification (past tense salvation). To state it another way "save forever" refers to Jesus' saving work in the sense that He is bringing about God's desired end, conformity to the image of His Son and ultimately glorification (future tense salvation).

Paul writes Timothy that as a preacher, an apostle and a teacher he had suffered and yet his firm declaration remained

"I am not ashamed; for I know (knowing with certainty) Whom I have believed (perfect tense = began in the past and has continuing effect or result, speaks of permanence) and I am convinced (perfect tense = a settled persuasion regarding the matter, a fixed and immovable position) that He is able (literally = is powerful enough) to guard (military term = soldier on watch accountable with his life to protect that entrusted to his care) what I have entrusted (“my deposit” as in a bank, the bank of heaven which no burglar can break) to Him until that day." (See note 2 Timothy 1:12)

Jude emphasizes God's inherent ability to act on our behalf writing the great benediction

"Now to Him Who is able (present tense = continually able) to keep (guard = soldier on watch accountable with his life to protect that entrusted to his care) you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen." (Jude 1:24-25)

Paul states that God's enablement working for and in and through believers is unlimited and beyond our comprehension writing

Now to Him Who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. (See notes Ephesians 3:20; Ephesians 3:21)

Spurgeon writes that...

this is the reason why he suffered, and why he became a man capable of suffering, that he might be able to succor the tempted. It was for this that Christ left heaven, for this he was born of the virgin, for this he lived for this he died, that he might be “able to succor them that are tempted.”

Glory be to his holy name for ever and ever! Amen.

Come to the aid (997) (boetheo from boé = at a shout or cry (as for aid or help) + théo = to run) (Click word study on boetheo) means literally to run on hearing a cry of those in danger to give help and assistance. To hasten to the help of the oppressed. To bring or furnish aid.  To render assistance to someone in need. To help someone in need. To assist in supplying what may be needed. Running to the cry of one, as a parent responding to the cry of distress from a child.

Although the word boethéo is not used, Matthew gives us a blessed illustration of Jesus' succoring or coming to the aid of one in need recording the story of Peter walking on the water

"but seeing the wind, he became afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:30-31) (Comment: Jesus' response is a vivid picture of what He will do for us beloved. And what was the condition? He cried out and so too must we. It is a humbling thing to cry out in need to another but God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. If a man or woman is willing to humble themselves in the presence of the Lord, he will lift them up!)

It is interesting that the writer of Hebrews uses three forms of the Greek word for "help" ("come to the aid"): the verb form (boethéo here in Heb2:18), the noun (boetheia in Heb4:16), and the adjective (boēthós in Heb 13:6).

Boethéo is used 8 times (1x Mt; 2x Mk; 2x Acts; 1x 2Cor; 1x Heb; 1x Rev) and is translated in NAS as (come to the aid, 1; come to...aid, 1; help, 4; helped, 2).

The basic meaning  boethéo is “to run to help,” then “to help” and is a word often used of doctors according to (Kittel, G. et al. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Page 108. Grand Rapids, Eerdmans) The cognate (related) adjective boēthós is found in Heb 13:6 ("so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my [personal] Helper [the One Who responds to my call for help], I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?” quoting Ps. 118:6-7), encouraging us that God is the "Helper" of the righteous. The word for helper, boēthós, surprisingly, is not used anywhere else in the New Testament, but it is common in the Septuagint, used 45 times (the first describing the wife as a man's helper Ge 2:18)

Boethéo  means to run at a cry or call for help as when the Canaanite woman pleaded with Jesus to have mercy on her demon-possessed daughter Matthew recording that she

"came and began to bow down before (Jesus), saying, “Lord, help me!” (Mt 15:25)

Wuest translates it

"she fell upon her knees and touched her forehead to the ground in profound reverence before Him, saying, Sir, be helping me."

Warren Wiersbe adds that our Great High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ,

"stands ready to help us! He was tempted when He was on earth, but no temptation ever conquered Him. Because He has defeated every enemy, He is able to give us the grace that we need to overcome temptation. The word “succour” (boethéo "Come to the aid") literally means “to run to the cry of a child.” It means “to bring help when it is needed.” Angels are able to serve us (Heb1:14), but they are not able to succor us in our times of temptation. Only Jesus Christ can do that, and He can do it because He became a man and suffered and died."  (Wiersbe, W: Bible Exposition Commentary. 1989. Victor) (Bolding added) 

Mills states that boethéo

"denotes a loud, ringing cry for help, thus emphasizing the desperate, helpless state of the supplicant." (Mills, M. The Acts of the Apostles. Dallas: 3E Ministries)

Wuest commenting on Hebrews 2:18 says

"How precious to know that when we are being tempted, the Lord Jesus always stands ready, eager to run to our cry and bring us aid." (Wuest, K. S. Wuest's Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: Eerdmans)

A W Pink adds that we need to

"Remember who He is, the God-man. Remember the experiences through which He passed! He, too, has been in the place of trial: He, too, was tempted—to distrust, to despondency, to destroy Himself. Yes, He was tempted “in all points like as we are, sin excepted.” Remember His present position, sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high! How blessed then to know that He is “able” both to enter, sympathetically, into our sufferings and sorrows, and that He has power to “succour.” (Pink, A W: An Exposition of Hebrews)

“As Man, a man of sorrows,
Thou hast suffered every woe,
And though enthroned in glory now,
Canst pity all Thy saints below.”

KJV Study Bible notes...

"How much easier it is to help someone when we ourselves have gone through similar trials! Christ as Man has fully suffered the greatest of trials and so can ably comfort. These suffering Jews needed to hear that Christ had suffered as they were suffering." (Bolding added. King James Version Study Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson)

As Paul reminds us

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort; Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ." (2 Co 1:3-5)

MacArthur adds that

"Ours is not a cosmic God, powerful and holy, but indifferent. He knows where we hurt, where we are weak, and where we are tempted. He is the God we can go to not only for salvation but for sympathy." (MacArthur, J.: The MacArthur Study Bible Nashville: Word Pub)

Wiersbe adds that

"Now He is a merciful and faithful High Priest; we can depend on Him! He is able to succor us when we come to Him for aid. The word succor means “to run when called for” and was used of physicians. Christ runs to our aid when we call Him!"(Wiersbe, W. W. Wiersbe's Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books)

Matthew Poole writes that...

"This is the most powerful preservative against despair, and the firmest ground of hope and comfort, that ever believing, penitent sinners could desire or have."

Adam Clarke add that...

"There are three things," says Dr. Owen, "of which tempted believers do stand in need: 1. Strength to withstand their temptations; 2. Consolations to support their spirits under them; 3. Seasonable deliverance from them. Unto these is the succour afforded by our High Priest suited; and it is variously administered to them: 1. By his word or promises; 2. By his Spirit; (and, that, 1. By communicating to them supplies of grace or spiritual strength; 2. Strong consolation; 3. By rebuking their tempters and temptations; ) and 3. By his providence disposing of all things to their good and advantage in the issue." Those who are peculiarly tempted and severely tried, have an especial interest in, and claim upon Christ. They, particularly, may go with boldness to the throne of grace, where they shall assuredly obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Were the rest of the Scripture silent on this subject, this verse might be an ample support for every tempted soul."

Boethéo means to relieve (which in turn means to free, wholly or partially, from pain, grief, want, anxiety, care, toil, trouble, burden, oppression or any thing that is considered to be an evil; to ease of any thing that pains the body or distresses the mind.)

JESUS THE SAVIOR SUCCOURS SUFFERING SAINTS

Christ "was a Man of Sorrows that He might be a God of succours."

Boethéo means to succor (KJV reads "He is able to succour them that are tempted") which is a word you may not be too familiar with, but which means literally to run to or run to support hence, to help or relieve when in difficulty, want or distress; to assist and deliver from suffering; as, to succor a besieged city; to succor prisoners. (succor is derived from Latin succurrere = to run up, run to help, from sub- = up + currere to run).

E. A. Thomson in The Biblical Illustrator has this quote in regarding the succor provided by our Savior Who has suffered slings similar to His saints:

“If ever I fall into a surgeon’s hands with broken bones, give me one whose own bones have been broken.” How can those who have never known what illness is, enter with the tenderness of a perfect fellowship into the chambers of the sick? or how can those who have never known a want understand with a matter-of-fact experience the anxieties of the poor and needy?" (The Biblical Illustrator)

The writer's point is this - Jesus is the Great Physician Who knows! He is able. He is ready to come to your cry for aid. Cry out beloved. His is the same One today Who yesterday said...

"Is My hand so short that it cannot ransom? Or have I no power to deliver? Behold, I dry up the sea with My rebuke, I make the rivers a wilderness..." (Isa 50:2)

Later in Isaiah He answers declaring

"Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short that it cannot save. Neither is His ear so dull That it cannot hear." (Isa 59:1)

In a similar statement W. Gouge writes that

"It is found by experience that childbearing women are more pitiful to others in their travails than such women as are barren. The like may be said of such as are afflicted with any painful malady." (The Biblical Illustrator)

Charles Haddon Spurgeon writes concerning "JESUS SUCCOURING.

“He is able to succour them that are tempted.” 1. In this we note His pity, that He should give Himself up to this business of succouring them that are tempted. He lays Himself out to succour them that are tempted, and therefore He does not hide Himself from them, nor pass them by on the other side. What an example is this for us! He devotes Himself to this Divine business of comforting all such as mourn. He is Lord of all, yet makes Himself the servant of the weakest. Whatever He may do with the strongest, He succours “ them that are tempted.” He does not throw up the business in disgust; He does not grow cross or angry with them because they are so foolish as to give way to idle fears." (The Biblical Illustrator)

Spurgeon goes on to discuss Jesus' "methods of succouring them that are tempted" listing out four areas as follows

"(1) Usually by giving a sense of His sympathy.

(2) Sometimes by suggesting precious truths, which are the sweet antidote for the poison of sorrow.

(3) Sometimes He succours His people by inwardly strengthening them.

(4) I have known the Lord bless His people by making them very weak. The next best thing to being strong in the Lord is to be extremely weak in yourself. They go together, but sometimes they are divided in experience. It is grand to feel, “I will not struggle any more; I will give all up, and lie passive in the Lord’s hand." Spurgeon then draws his discussion to a conclusion asking two questions "Where else can you go?. Where better can you go?" (The Biblical Illustrator)

Jeremy Irons asks

"Now shall I tell you how our Lord “is able to succour” you? It is just simply by revealing Himself. “I am thy salvation”; “It is I; be not afraid.” It comforts, it cheers, it upholds. Just observe what encouragement here is for faith to the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having Himself “suffered, being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.” He has the fulness of grace; “all power is given to Him in heaven and in earth”; it is in His own hands, and he is “full of grace and truth.” “He is able to succour them that are tempted.” “Well,” say you,” is He willing?” Suppose I reverse the question: Are you willing that He should? or are you looking somewhere else for succour? Are you willing that He should do it in His own way?" (The Biblical Illustrator)

G. Lawson  writes regarding our Savior's ability to succour His brethren that

"The saying is, “None so merciful as those who have been miserable”; and they who have not only known misery, bat felt it, are most powerfully inclined, not only to inward compassion, but to the real relieving of others miserable. And this was a contrivance of the profound wisdom of that God, who is infinitely knowing and merciful, to find a way how to feel misery and be merciful another way. This was by His Word assuming flesh, that in that flesh He might be tempted violently and suffer most grievously; and all this that He might be more merciful and effectually succour sinful man." (The Biblical Illustrator)

W. F. Adeney writes that Christ is able to succor

"By His knowledge and sympathy He can give just such grace as is needed. Pathology must precede therapeutics. The diagnosis of disease is the first duty of the physician, and it is the most difficult; when that is successfully accomplished, the prescription follows almost as a matter of course." (The Biblical Illustrator)

W. A. Bridge asks

"HOW DOTH HE SUCCOUR those that are tempted in the day and time of their temptation? 1. Christ succours tempted souls before the temptation comes sometimes, by a special manifestation of Himself, His love and fulness, to them. Again, He succours before the temptation by filling the heart with the Holy Ghost. When the vessel is filled with one liquor, it keeps out another. 2. He succours also under temptation by opening the eyes of him that is tempted to see that it is but a temptation. A temptation is half-cured when a man knows that it is but a temptation: when a man’s eyes are open to see the tempter and the temptation. Therefore men are so hardly cured, because they are hardly persuaded that it is a temptation. When they see that, then they say, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Christ opens their eyes. Again, He succours under temptation, by letting fall some glimpse of His love, some love-look upon a tempted soul. And so, when Peter was in the high priest’s hall, Christ looks upon him, and he went out and wept bitterly. 3. After temptation He succours: by filling the heart with joy unspeakable and full of glory; by sending the angels to minister: as when the devil left Christ, had tempted Him and left Him, then came the angels and ministered to Him. Every way — before temptation, and in temptation, and after temptation — the Lord Jesus Christ is a succouring Christ to tempted souls. He was a Man of Sorrows that He might be a God of succours; His heart is full of succours."  (The Biblical Illustrator)

From The Biblical Illustrator

"Leopold, Grand Duke of Baden, in the midst of the suffering caused by his complaint, said to his physician, “Tell me, doctor, are there any who suffer as much as I do?” “Yes, your highness,” replied the doctor; “I have a patient afflicted with the same disease, and lying on a bed of straw.” “On straw!” cried Leopold. With a trembling hand he rang the bell, and ordered his servants to have the best bed in the castle taken to the sick man, as well as all other necessaries."

Now let's look at the noun form (boetheia) of the verb boethéo for an added insight into the meaning. Hebrews 4:16 translates boetheia as "help" (Heb 4:16) which is similar to the meaning in this verse. But in the other NT use of boetheia,

Luke uses the noun in his description of the storm tossed ship in (Acts 27:17, click to read the full account), writing that

"after they had hoisted (the lifeboat) up, they used supporting cables (boetheia) in undergirding the ship and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor, and so let themselves be driven along." 

This procedure of passing ropes under the ship to hold it together is known as frapping, (frap is a nautical term that means to draw tight, to lash down or together). So in the midst of the storm the sailors wrapped cables around the ship’s hull and winched them tight. Thus supported, the ship would be better able to withstand the severe pounding of wind and sea. Beloved, do you see the word picture inherent in the Biblical use of (verb - boethéo, noun - boetheia) in other verses? From time to time all of saints encounter unexpected storm winds and are in need of our great Captain to batten down the hatches, sending His help that we might be able to endure the stormy trial or temptation.

Luke give us an added picture of the meaning of the verb boethéo in his use of the related noun form, boetheia, writing that

"after they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables (boetheia - KJV "helps") in under girding the ship" (Acts 27:17).

Here "boetheia" refers specifically a rope or chain for frapping a vessel to keep the beams from separating. Frapping (derived from Mid French [fraper] to draw tight as with ropes or cables) means a lashing binding a thing tightly or binding things together.

On his second missionary journey, Luke records that

"a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a certain man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us (give us aid).” (Acts 16:9) 

The man of Macedonia in using the plural for himself speaks for Europe, and his cry for help Europe’s need of Christ. Paul recognized a divine summons in the vision.

Kent Hughes helps us understand the picture of the verb boethéo remarking that

This was one of the great turning points of history, and we should thank God for it, for as a result the gospel has come to us in the West. Nothing makes a person strong like hearing someone cry for help! You can be walking down the street completely fatigued so that you would like to lie down on the curb and go to sleep, but then you hear a cry—someone is in trouble!—and you completely forget your weariness. Paul and his associates moved forward in the power of Christ’s strength. (Hughes, R. K.. Acts: The Church Afire. Preaching the Word. Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books) (Bolding added)

Unbelieving Jews from Asia who were in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost

upon seeing (Paul) in the temple (of Herod), began to stir up all the multitude and laid hands on him, (then they began continually) crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! (boethéo - Acting as though Paul had committed an act of blasphemy, they called for help in dealing with it - a vivid picture of the meaning of running to the aid of one who cries out for aid!). This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people, and the Law, and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple. (Acts 21:27-29)

Wuest translates the verse as

they laid their hands on him, crying out, Men, Israelites, be bringing aid

Paul addressing the Corinthians, either saved (who were not living in grace) or unsaved (who had never received grace) and warning them not to receive the grace of God in vain, quotes the Septuagint (Greek of the Hebrew OT) of (Isa 49:8) where God says

at the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped (boethéo) you ("I ran to your cry and brought you aid" Wuest)” ;behold, now is “the acceptable time (now is a propitious, favorably disposed, epochal season),” behold, now is “the day of salvation” (2 Co 6:2)

In the district of Tyre and Sidon a Canaanite woman repeatedly entreated Jesus to have mercy on her and her demon-possessed daughter, responding to His declaration that He "was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel" with both words and actions, falling upon her knees, touching her forehead to the ground in profound reverence before Him, saying

Lord, help (boethéo) me!” 26 And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”27 But she said, “Yes, Lord; but even the dogs feed on the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; be it done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once. (Mt 15:24-28).

In another similar episode involving a demon possessed boy, his father said to Jesus that the demon had

often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help (boethéo) us (aorist imperative = "Help us at once")! (Mk 9:22)

Jesus responded to the father

If You can!’ All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father cried out and began saying, “I do believe; help (boethéo) my unbelief.  (Mk 9:23-24)

The result? Jesus ordered the demon to leave the boy and restored him to his father. (Mk 9:25-27)

And beloved Jesus is able to run to your aid when He hears your cry for His help.

Boethéo is used 77 times in the Septuagint (LXX = Greek of Hebrew OT) compared with only 8 uses in the NT. In the OT the Hebrew word for "help" is "ezer". Samuel took a stone (eben) and named it Eben-ezer as a memorial commemorating Israel's victory (actually God's victory actually) over the Philistines. The Scripture records that

Samuel took a stone (eben) and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer (Lxx = "Stone of the Helper" Greek = noun boethos), saying, "Thus far the LORD has helped (boetheia) us." (1Sa 7:12)

Perhaps right now you need to take a moment and like the Canaanite woman above, bow down in worship (even singing the hymn below), reminding yourself that your Helper Jesus is truly ready, able and willing to run to your assistance no matter the "size or shape" of your test or temptation.

WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS
Play Hymn

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there

OF WHO ARE TEMPTED: toiz peirazomenois (PPPMPD):  (1 Cor 10:13; 2Cor 12:7-10; 2Pet 2:9; Revelation 3:10)

F B Meyer comments on those who are (continuously being) tempted rightly noting that...

Within that circle we all stand. Each is tempted in subtler, if not in grosser, forms; in extraordinary, if not in ordinary, ways. You have been trying, oh, so hard, to be good; but have met with some sudden gust, and been overcome. Tempted to despair! Tempted to yield to Potiphar's wife! Tempted to become a brute! No lawn without the fowler's snare! No day without its sorrow! No night without its noisome pestilence! No rose without its thorn! Do we not need succor? Certainly; and he is able to succor the tempted, because he has suffered the very worst that temptation can do. Not that there was ever one symptom or thought of yielding; yet suffering to the point of extreme anguish, beneath the test. O sufferers, tempted ones, desolate and not comforted, lean your heads against the breast of the God-Man, whose feet have trodden each inch of your thorny path; and whose experiences of the power of evil well qualify him to strengthen you to stand, to lift you up if you have fallen, to speak such words as will heal the ache of the freshly gaping wound. If he were impassive, and had never wept or fought in the Garden shadows, or cried out forsaken on the cross, we had not felt him so near as we can do now in all hours of bitter grief. O matchless Saviour, on whom God our Father has laid our help, we can dispense with human sympathy, with priestly help, with the solace and stay of many a holy service; but thou art indispensable to us, in thy life, and death, and resurrection, and brotherhood, and sympathizing intercession at the throne of God! (Click  F B Meyer's note from The Way into the Holiest)

Are tempted (3985) (peirazo from the noun peira = test from peíro = perforate, pierce through to test durability of things) is a morally neutral word simply meaning “to test” or to try.

Whether the test is for a good (as it proved to be in Heb 11:17) or evil (Mt 4:1 "Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil") depends on the intent of the one giving the test and also on the response of the one tested. (See study of similar word dokimazo)

Peirazo is a morally neutral word that means  try, to prove in either a good or bad sense, and so to tempt or test by soliciting to sin. Note that "tempted" is in the present tense (continuous activity or action) and passive voice (exerted on subject from an outside source or force - but in the case of believers actually includes an "inside force" in a sense - his or her own lusts that have base camp in the old nature inherited from Adam and still resident in our physical bodies) and is therefore more accurately translated "are continuously being tempted".  The fact that this is the reality in all of our lives is another reason believers should not get up each morning and leave home without putting on their "work clothes", the full armor of God (e.g., Eph 6:11ff, Ro 13:12-14, 2Cor 10:3-5) and without the proper mindset that they are living sacrifices, who must constantly choose not to be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewal of their mind. (Ro 12:1-2, Ro 6:11-13, 16, 19)

God gives a blessed promise to all who are being tempted that

"No temptation (or test - this Gk word has no negative connotation) has overtaken you but such as is common to man (characteristic of mankind, i.e., no one is superhuman and immune to temptations - they are part of every person's experience) and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able (i.e., we sin because we want to, not because the devil made us for no temptation is stronger than our spiritual resources), but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Co 10:13)

Take comfort in the fact that God is faithful and trustworthy.  Note that “the way out” is always presented right along with the temptation. The definite article (“the” in English and in Greek) with both “temptation” and “way of escape” points to a specific way of escape (i.e., there is only one way) available in each temptation. Note also that we escape temptation not by getting out of it but by passing through it, God seeing us through by enabling us to endure or bear up under.

Believers can trust Christ to help us survive suffering and overcome temptation. Beloved, what trial or temptation are you facing right now that you need Christ to face with you? When you are suffering, facing seemingly insurmountable trials and temptations, run to the Lord for His strength and His patience. He understands your needs and is ever able to come to your aid upon hearing your cry of distress.

"His heart is made of tenderness,
His soul is fill'd with love.
"Touched with a sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he has felt the same.

"Then let our humble faith address
His mercy and his power;
We shall obtain delivering grace,
In every trying hour."

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John MacDuff (in Palms of Elim) has these devotional thoughts...

THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS

"This is the resting place, let the weary rest; and this is the place of repose"—"Because He Himself suffered when He was tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted." Hebrews 2:18

There can be no more gracious whisper from the leaves of the Heavenly Palm than this. What a magnitude of comfort to every sorrowing one, the simple declaration, "He Himself suffered when He was tempted!" Jesus the Incarnate God, "the Living Kinsman" (Job 19:25), had a mysterious identity of experience with His suffering, and with His tempted people; so that nothing can happen to the members but what has happened to the Head. They can feel that no sorrow shades their souls but the same darkened His. "As He is," so are they "in this world" (1 John 4:17). He Himself—the thorn-crowned King—knows every thorn which pierces them, every pang of spirit and pang of body. The loss of beloved friends, the treachery of false ones, temptation to distrust God's providence, to pervert and misapply His Word, to question the wisdom and reason of His dealings, the forecastings of a dark and troubled future; yes, the saddest and most intolerable woe that can crush and overbear the soul—the sense of Divine desertion—the withdrawal of the countenance of His Heavenly Father. Oh, the unutterable solace in the darkest hour of earthly suffering, to look up to the Brother in our nature—the "prevailing Prince" who has "power with God," and to say, "He Himself suffered when He was tempted!"

When we first contemplate this amazing theme, the identity of experience seems to be partial and incomplete. Jesus, we are led to say, was never 'tempted' as we have been. Temptations might assail, but they could never overcome His sinless, spotless, uncontaminated humanity. He never could know, therefore, the sorest part of these our struggles, when through its own weakness the soul has at last to succumb to the hurricane, and is haunted with the terrors of remorse!

Yes! but let us remember it was the very fact of the Infinite purity of the tempted One which imparted, in His case, the saddest element to temptation. How inconceivable the recoil of the refined and exquisite sensibilities of His holy nature from the presence of sin. And, with these unchanged human sensibilities in His glorified state, how deeply must He still sympathize with the case of His assaulted people! How tenderly must He feel for every wound of His soldiers, seeing that He, the Captain of their salvation, was Himself "made perfect through sufferings."

Afflicted believer! rejoice that sorrow and suffering have (if the expression dare be used) assimilated Christ with you, and you with Christ, in this your trial-hour. With what a divine significance, augmented and intensified by subsequent experience, can He say, "I know your sorrows." If you are bleeding under some peculiarly heavy infliction of the rod, ready to say in the bitterness of your grief, "No one knows, no one can gauge the depth of my anguish," THE SYMPATHY OF JESUS can—He does! "He knows our frame, He remembers that we are dust." With reverence we say it, God—the Omnipotent, Omniscient God—cannot, with all infinitude of His nature, sympathize. He can compassionate; but He cannot sympathize in the way of feeling with us. Sympathy requires, as its two conditions, identity of nature and identity of experience. "We have such an High Priest;" One who is said to be (not touched with our infirmities), but "touched with the feeling of our infirmities."

Our beautiful motto-verse gives more comfort still. The words affirm not merely that Christ has identity of experience—a passive sympathy with His tried people—He is also the helper of the tempted, "He is able to support those who are tempted."

If He is summoning any of us to difficult and perplexing duty, or exacting from us some heavy sacrifice, or even apparently placing us in the way of peril and temptation, He will not allow the burden to crush, or the temptation to overcome, or the fiery trial to consume. He will keep us in the crucible as long, but no longer than He sees to be absolutely needful to test our faith and purify Christian graces. All that concerns us and ours is in His hands.

Oh, as we see the Angels of Tribulation with their sevenfold vials issuing forth from the gate of heaven (see note Revelation 15:7)—how blessed to know that they are marshaled, commissioned by the great Lord of Angels, the once suffering but now exalted Redeemer! In Zechariah's vision (Zech 1:8) of "the man on the red horse"—behind Him were angels and providences—the "black and speckled white horses." But He is between them, ordering, regulating, appointing, all that befalls His people, trusting their persons and fortunes not even to an angel's care, without His own guidance, sanction, and direction.

And when the last hour arrives (which, however varied be our other experiences, we must all encounter), is it not here that His sympathy—the sympathy of fellow-feeling—is most of all valued? He can endorse even this closing experience with the words, "I know it." To the living Christian in his season of affliction, He can say, "I am He who lives." But to the dying Christian He can add, "I am He who was dead." "I know well, through the memories of My cross and passion, the conflict of that final struggle-hour! I know, what it is, O Believer, to die! And because I know this, I can make Palms of comfort to spring up and overshadow you on the brink of Jordan as well as in the wilderness! Fear not to pass what I have passed! Feel amid these buffeting billows that they have swept over Me. And with the thought of Me as your Precursor, and of My deathless exalted sympathy, sing, as you plunge into the stream, "Behold, the Ark of the covenant of the Lord of the whole earth passes over before me into Jordan!" (Joshua 3:11).

"As often, with worn and weary feet,
We tread earth's rugged valley o'er,
The thought, how comforting and sweet!
Christ walked this toilsome path before!
Our needs and weaknesses He knows,
From life's first dawning to its close.

"Just such as I, this earth He trod,
With every human ill but sin;
And though indeed the very God,
As I am now, so He has been.
My God, my Savior, look on me
With pity, love, and sympathy!"

"Learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart."

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John MacDuff in The Pillar in the Night has these devotional thoughts on Jesus...

THE GREAT SYMPATHIZER

"The Lord went before them by night in a pillar of... fire." - Ex 13:21

"For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to support those who are tempted."—Heb. 2:18.

"I know their sorrows."—Ex 3: 7.

"In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."—John 16:33.

He suffered! Sorrowing one, what a gleam of the Pillar-cloud is this!

He suffered! What are all your most agonizing afflictions compared with what He endured for You!

He suffered—poverty, weariness, privation, hunger, thirst, grief, and the minor other ills that flesh is heir to. These, however, were but the surface-heavings of the deeper depths of woe—the assaults of men and the malignity of devils, cruel innuendoes, savage indignities; the loss or desertion of beloved friends; the treachery of trusted associates: that, also, in the case of a nature sensitively strung alike physically and spiritually. "Reproach," said He, "has broken My heart."

He suffered more profoundly still. There was a mystery of anguish in Gethsemane which mortal tongue cannot tell, or imagination conceive. No wonder it is described with an emphasis belonging to no other—"THE Agony." Its undefined dreadfulness is worded in the Greek Litany by "Your sufferings known and unknown." What mean these drops of blood oozing from His brow? What means the thrice-uttered prayer, in a paroxysm of woe, "Let this cup pass from Me"? (Matt. 26:39). What means the climax and consummation of all, when the very sun, in the words of Jeremy Taylor, "put on sackcloth, as if ashamed to confront the spectacle of its expiring Creator": when the wail was evoked from parched and dying lips—the bitterest cry that ever rose from earth to heaven—"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me"?

He suffered. Of Him alone could the words be said—"All Your waves and Your billows have gone over me." Well may He have addressed the question, first to His disciples and then to His suffering children of all ages—"Can you drink of the cup which I drink of, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" With an intense pathos of which the afflicted patriarch knew nothing, He could make the appeal to a whole world of weepers, "Have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O you, my friends, for the hand of God has touched me!" (Job 19:21).

He suffered. But the lesson from these sufferings for you and for me is to watch how, in this melancholy gloom, shone the Pillar of Fire! See His perfect and profound resignation! He takes the cup, whatever that mystic emblem may mean, with trembling hand. Humanity in its weakness, rather humanity in its very strength, utters an "If it be possible"—the prayer of His suffering children still—"let it pass." But it is only for the moment. The bitter chalice is drained to the dregs. Three times He recedes from the edge of the abyss and its "horror of great darkness." But it is a momentary recoil—no more. He plunges in! Self-surrender, heroic obedience, unmurmuring submission can go no farther. His own will is now, as ever, submerged in the Divine—"Not as I will, but as You will." He ceases not in the prolonged conflict until He could utter the cry waited for by all time, and which sends its prolonged echoes through eternity—"It is finished!"

Though we have selected the closing hour of all, He was, during the entire period of His earthly life, "the Faithful and True Martyr" (see note Revelation 1:5). Well may a writer speak of "the fascination of that mournful life-story, so infinite in its pathos and so profound in its wisdom, the most touching of scenes, and the most impressive of tragedies…the loving and gracious Man of Sorrows, listening to every plaint of weakness, and helping every troubled heart to bear its burden, even while on His own there rested the burden of a world's salvation" (Present Day Religion).

Reader, I know not what the circumstances of your suffering are. More than probable they may be identical in kind, though not in degree, with those of your suffering Lord.

(1) They may be physical. As was noted at greater length in a previous chapter, it is only those conversant with a couch of lingering pain who can testify to the reality. The sudden close of the windows, long open to the cheering light of day; the drawn blinds; the tossing from side to side in the hopeless battle with wakefulness—opiates giving, at the best, transient moments of relief—only to renew the pitiless struggle: "Saying in the morning, 'Would God it were evening!' and in the evening, 'Would God it were morning!'"

That pain—that physical pain—on the Cross, He suffered! There were, as I have just said, other reasons of infinitely more tremendous significance which convulsed His soul. But one reason for His being subjected to the pangs of an agonized body, undoubtedly was, that He might impart to every child of anguish His own experimental exalted sympathy. In our hours of prostration, weakness, and weariness—when in their prolonged vigils we may be tempted at times "to faint when we are rebuked of Him," the whisper trembling on parched lips—"Why all this discipline of pain? Why this cruel cross to bear? Where is the wisdom? Where is the love?"—we may think of a Divine fellow-sufferer subjected without any mitigation—(for the very anodyne offered was refused)—to the intensest bodily torture. "Consider Him that endured…lest you be weary and faint in your minds" (see note Hebrews 12:3).

(2) Your sufferings may be mental. Harassment, unkindness, ingratitude, the barbed shafts of malice and slander, all the more grievous to bear if sent winged from the quiver of a friend. It may be anxiety about a beloved relative, the subject of slow disease, around whose couch the too ominous shadows are gathering—"life balanced in a breath." It may be the agony of bereavement, when the long alternations of hope and fear have ended—the vacant niche in your heart—the vacant chair in your home—the cherished name on the gravestone. Or, it may be, in your own case, wasting disease too surely pointing to the fatal termination—this involving the severance of holiest ties, and leaving dear ones solitary and alone to do battle with adversity. These and many such, though varying in their outer form and complexion, your great suffering Master knew in their fullest measure. Yes, inclusive of the last-mentioned; when, Himself racked in agony, He had that agony intensified by the sight of a fond mother jostled amid the crowd that surged around, and made sport of His dying moments; the sword too truly piercing her own heart, as the nails were lacerating the Body at whose feet she crouched.

The refrain of the present meditation is, He suffered; and because He suffered, says the Apostle in our motto-verse, "He is able to support." We have quoted more than once, as suggested by the name of this book, the words which emanated from the Jehovah of the Pillar-cloud, the opening syllables in that drama of the Exodus and the desert; let them be repeated in their most appropriate form here: "I have seen, I have seen the affliction of My people, for I know their sorrows." His whole life, from Bethlehem's manger to Calvary's cross, formed an empathetic commentary and fulfillment. He knew—He knows, every heart-throb of His suffering Israel in every age. He is no god or demi-god of Pagan mythology, who lives in unsympathetic isolation amid the clouds of Olympus, all in ignorance of the travail of a sin-stricken, woe-worn world. From deepest experience He is cognizant of every pang that rends the soul. If one of earth's kingdoms is the Kingdom of Sorrow, He is its King. The crown on His head was a crown of thorns, and, being so, the scepter in His hand is the scepter of kingly sympathy.

It is recorded of Alexander the Great, that he touched with his crown a wounded soldier in the ranks, and that at the touch there were the tinglings of new life. It is so in a diviner, heavenly sense. Christ touches our wounds with His double crown—the crown of thorns as the Human Sympathizer, and the crown of glory as Head over all. It is the thorn-crown which forms the special theme of our present meditation. I always like the conjunction of the two clauses in the familiar Litany—"Pitifully behold the sorrows of our hearts…O Son of David, have mercy upon us!" It was the Lord of the Pillar-cloud, the God-Man, of whom it is touchingly said, "So He was their Savior. In all their afflictions He was afflicted, and the angel of His presence saved them: in His love and in His pity He redeemed them, and He bore them, and carried them all the days of old" (Isaiah 63:8, 9). "It is Christ alone," beautifully says Pere Didon, in his Life of Jesus, "who teaches the joy of suffering, because it is He alone who pours into the soul a Divine life which no pain can overwhelm; which trial only strengthens, and which can despise death, because it permits us to face it with the fullness of immortal hope."

My brother, trust this Great Sympathizer, "who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross." Conquer as He conquered, by a noble submission and self-surrender to the will of your Father in heaven. While you take trial for granted as a part of His appointed discipline, hear the Lord of sorrow encouraging you from His own example and victory—"In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."

We read of Him that "being in an agony He prayed the more earnestly." "Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard (as it has been rendered) because of His reverent submission" (Heb. 5:7). Is not that saying impressive—"He became obedient unto death"? It was a gradual effort requiring Divine self-sacrifice. But it was given, and the triumph was assured. Let this, also, afflicted one, be the sanctified result, in your case, of the Cup which the same Father has put into your hands. "Be more courageous," are the words of Francis de Sales, "in your trials, cherish them carefully, and thank God for vouchsafing to give you ever so small a share in His dear Son's cross."

A Tempted Savior

Our Best Help: For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.—Hebrews 2:18

One important area in which God helps us from the beginning of the year to the end of the year is that of temptation. Recently, a friend of mine, who is a clergyman of the Church of England, wrote to me and included this verse about temptation, Hebrews 2:18. This man is a venerable clergyman, who has always shown me the most constant and affectionate regard. This text is dear to this aged servant of the Lord because of his deep experience of both affliction and deliverance. Through these experiences he has learned his need of solid, substantial food, fit for the veteran warriors of the cross. Having been tempted these many years, my friend finds that as his natural strength decays, he needs to cast himself more and more upon the tenderness of the Redeemer’s love. And he is led to look more fully to Him who is his only help in the day of trouble, finding consolation alone in the person of Christ Jesus the Lord. Hebrews 2:18 is a staff for old age to lean on in the rough places of the way. It is a sword with which the strong man may fight in all hours of conflict. It is a shield with which youth may cover itself in the time of peril. And it is a royal chariot in which spiritual babes may ride in safety. There is something here for every one of us, as Solomon put it: “A portion to seven, and also to eight” (Eccl. 11:2). If we consider the Great Prophet and High Priest of our profession—Jesus Christ—as being tempted in all points (Heb. 4:15), we will not grow weary or faint in our minds. No, we will prepare to run in our future journey, and like Elijah we will go in the strength of this meat for many days to come (1 Kings 19:8).

You that are tempted—and I suppose most readers would fall into this category—read what I have tried to explain about your temptations and the temptations of Jesus. For Jesus, having known your trials, is able to help you at all times.

CHRIST WAS TEMPTED

Our first point is this: many souls are tempted—even Christ was tempted. All the heirs of heaven have carried this burden. All true gold must feel the fire. All wheat must be threshed. All diamonds must be cut. All saints must endure temptation.

Saints are tempted from every direction. It is like Christ’s parable about the house built on the rock. The Bible says,

The rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (Matt. 7:25)

The descending rain may represent temptations from above. The floods pouring their devastating torrents over the land may denote the trials that spring from the world. And the howling winds may typify those mysterious influences of evil that issue from the “prince of the power of the air” (Eph. 2:2).

Now, whether we shudder at the descending rain, fear the uprising flood, or are amazed at the mysterious energy of the winds, we should remember that our blessed Lord “was in all points tempted like as we are” (Heb. 4:15). This is to be our consolation: nothing has happened to the members of Christ’s body that has not happened to Christ, the Head.

Tempted by God

Beloved friends, it is possible that we may be tempted by God. I know it is written that “God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man” (James 1:13). Yet, I read in Scripture, “It came to pass...that God did tempt Abraham” (Gen. 22:1). Also, part of the prayer that we are taught to offer before God is, “Lead us not into temptation” (Matt. 6:13). This verse clearly implies that God does lead into temptation, or why else would we be taught to entreat Him not to do so?

In one sense of the term tempt, a pure and holy God can have no share, but in another sense He does tempt His people. The temptation that comes from God is altogether that of trial. God’s trials are not meant for evil like Satan’s temptations, but they are trials meant to prove and strengthen our graces. All at once, God’s trials illustrate the power of divine grace, test the genuineness of our virtues, and strengthen our character.

You remember that Abraham was tried and tested by God when he was bidden to go to a mountain that God would show him, there to offer up his son Isaac. (See Genesis 22:1–2.) You and I may have a similar experience. God may call us in the path of obedience to a great and singular sacrifice. The desire of our eyes may be demanded of us in an hour. Or, He may summon us to a duty far surpassing all our strength; and we may be tempted by the weight of the responsibility, like Jonah, to flee from the presence of the Lord (Jonah 1:3).

We do not know which temptations we will face until we come to them; but, beloved, whatever they may be, our Great High Priest has felt them all. His Father called Him to a work of the most terrific kind. He “laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isa. 53:6). He ordained Him as the second Adam, the bearer of the curse, the destroyer of death, and the conqueror of hell. Jesus was the seed of the woman, doomed to be wounded in the heel but elected to bruise the Serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). Our Lord was appointed to toil at the loom, and there, with ever-flying shuttle, to weave a perfect garment of righteousness for all His people (Isa. 61:10).

Now, beloved, this was a strong and mighty testing of Jesus’ character. It is impossible that we could ever be thrust into a refiner’s fire as hot as the one that tried this purest gold. No one else could be in the crucible so long or subjected to a heat so hot as that which was endured by Christ Jesus. If, then, the trial is sent directly from our heavenly Father, we may solace ourselves with this reflection: “In that [Christ] himself hath suffered being tempted [of God], he is able to succour them that are [likewise] tempted” (Heb. 2:18).

But, dear friends, our God tries us not only directly, but indirectly. Everything is under the Lord’s control of providence. Everything that happens to us is meted out by His decree and settled by His purpose. We know that nothing can happen to us unless it is written in the secret book of providential predestination. Consequently, all the trials resulting from circumstances can be traced at once to the great First Cause. Out of the golden gate of God’s ordinance, the armies of trial march forth in array. No shower falls from the threatening cloud unless God permits it; every drop has its orders before it hastens to the earth.

Consider poverty, for instance. So many people are made to feel its pinching necessities. They shiver in the cold for lack of clothes. They are hungry and thirsty. They are homeless, friendless, despised. This is a temptation from God, but Christ suffered the same: “Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head” (Matt. 8:20). When He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was hungry, and it was then that He was tempted of the Devil. (See Matthew 4:2–3.)

It is not only the scant table and the ragged garment that invite temptation, for all providences are doors to trial. Even our mercies, like roses, have their thorns. Men may be drowned in seas of prosperity as well as in rivers of affliction. Our mountains are not too high, and our valleys are not too low, for temptation to travel. Where can we go to get away from temptations? What wind is strong enough to carry us away from them? Everywhere, above and beneath, we are troubled and surrounded by dangers. Now, since all these trials are overseen and directed by the great Lord of providence, we may look at them all as temptations that come from Him.

Christ suffered every kind of temptation. Let us choose the special one of sickness. Sickness is a strong temptation to impatience, rebellion, and murmuring, but He “Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses” (Matt. 8:17). His appearance was marred more than that of any man (Isa. 52:14) because His soul was sorely vexed and, consequently, His body was greatly tormented.

Bereavement, too, is such a trial to the tender heart! You arrows of death, you kill, but you wound with wounds worse than death. “Jesus wept” (John 11:35) because His friend Lazarus slept in the tomb. That great loss taught Jesus to sympathize with the widow in her loss, with the orphan in his fatherless estate, and with the friend whose acquaintance has been thrust into darkness. Nothing can come from God to the sons of men unless the same thing or a similar thing also happened to the Lord Jesus Christ. Herein let us wrap the warm cloak of consolation around ourselves, since Christ was tempted like we are.

Tempted by Men

We are tempted more often by men than by God. God tries us now and then, but our fellowmen every day. Our foes are in our own household and among our own friends. Out of mistaken kindness, they would often lead us to prefer our own ease to the service of God. Links of love have made chains of iron for saints. It is hard to ride to heaven over our own flesh and blood. Relatives and acquaintances may greatly hinder the young disciple.

This, however, is no novelty to our Lord. You know how He had to say to Peter, well-beloved disciple though he was, “Get thee behind me, Satan...thou savourest not the things that be of God” (Matt. 16:23). Poor, ignorant human friendship tried to keep Jesus back from the cross. It would have made Him miss His great purpose for being fashioned as a man, and it would have robbed Him of all the honor that only shame and death could win Him.

Not only true friends, but also false friends attempt our ruin. Treason creeps like a snake in the grass; and falsehood, like an adder, bites the horse’s heels (Gen. 49:17). If treachery assaults us, let us remember how Jesus was betrayed: “He that eateth bread with me hath lifted up his heel against me” (John 13:18). “Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me” (Ps. 41:9). What should be done to you, false tongue? Eternal silence rest on you! And yet, you have spent your venom on my Lord; why should I marvel if you try your worst on me?

We are tempted by friends, and we are often assailed by enemies. Enemies will waylay us with subtle questions, seeking to trap us by our words. Oh, cunning devices of a generation of vipers! They did the same to Christ. The Sadducee, the Pharisee, the lawyer—each one had his riddle. And each one was answered—answered gloriously—by the Great Teacher, who cannot be trapped.

You and I are sometimes asked strange questions. Doctrines are set in controversy with other doctrines. Texts of Scripture are made to clash with other texts of Scripture. We hardly know how to reply to these things. Let us retire into the secret chamber of this great fact: in this point, also, Christ was tempted.

When Jesus’ foes could not prevail against Him with questions, they slandered His character. They called Him “a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners” (Matt. 11:19). He became the song of the drunkard, and their reproach broke His heart.

This may happen to us. People may accuse us of the very thing of which we are the most innocent. Our good deeds may be misrepresented, our motives misinterpreted, our words misreported, and our actions misconstrued. In this, also, we may shelter ourselves beneath the eagle wings of this great truth: our glorious Head has suffered, and, having been tempted, He can give us aid.

However, His foes did even more than this. When they found Him in an agony of pain, they taunted Him to his face (Matt. 27:39–40). Pointing with the finger, they mocked His nakedness. Thrusting out the tongue, they jeered at His claims. They hissed out that diabolical temptation: “If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him” (Matt. 27:42).

How often the sons of men have mocked us and then accused us in like manner. They have caught us in some unhappy moment—when our spirits were broken, when our circumstances were unhappy—and then they have said, “Now where is your God? If you are what you profess to be, prove it.” They ask us to prove our faith by a sinful action, which they know would destroy our characters—some rash deed that would be contrary to our profession of faith. Here, too, we may remember that, having been tempted, our High Priest is able to help those who are tempted.

Moreover, remember that there are temptations that come from neither friends nor foes, but from those with whom we are compelled to mix in ordinary society. Jesus ate at a Pharisee’s table, even though most Pharisees reeked with infectious pride. He sat with the publicans, even though their characters were contagious with impurity. But, whether it was in one difficult place or another, the Great Physician walked through the midst of moral plagues and leprosies unharmed. He associated with sinners but was not a sinner. He touched disease but was not diseased Himself. He could enter into the chambers of evil, but evil could not find a chamber in Him.

You and I are thrown by our daily duties into constant contact with evil. It is impossible, I suppose, to walk among men without being tempted by them. Men who have no preconceived plan to betray us, entice us to evil and corrupt our good manners simply by the force of their ordinary behavior. We may cry, “Woe is me, that I sojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!” (Ps. 120:5). However, we may remember that our great Leader sojourned here, too; and being here, He was tempted even as we are (Heb. 4:15).

Tempted by Satan

Dear friends, we will not complete the list of temptations if we forget that a vast host, and those of a most violent nature, can only be ascribed to satanic influence. Satan’s temptations are usually threefold, for Christ’s threefold temptation in the wilderness, if I read it right, was a true picture of all the temptations that Satan uses against God’s people. The first temptation of Satan is usually made against our faith. When our Lord was hungry, Satan came to Him and said, “If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matt. 4:3). Here it was, that devilish “if,” that cunning suggestion that He was not God’s Son, coupled with the enticement to commit a selfish act to prove that He was the Son.

Ah, how often Satan tempts us to unbelief! “God has forsaken you,” he says. “God has no love for you. Your experience has been a delusion. Your profession of faith is a falsehood. All your hopes will fail you. You are only a poor, miserable fool. There is no truth in religion. If there is, why are you in this trouble? Why not do as you like, live as you want, and enjoy yourself?” Ah, foul fiend, how craftily you spread your net, but it is all in vain, for Jesus has passed through and broken the snare.

Dear reader, beware of intermeddling with divine providence. Satan tempts many believers to run before the guiding cloud, to carve their own fortunes, to build their own houses, to steer their own ships. Trouble will surely befall all who yield to this temptation. Beware of becoming the keepers of your own souls, for evil will soon overtake you. Ah, when you are thus tempted by Satan and your adoption seems to be in jeopardy and your experience appears to melt, fly at once to the Good Shepherd. Remember this: “In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb. 2:18).

The next foul temptation of Satan with Christ was not to unbelief, but to the very opposite—presumption. “Cast thyself down” (Matt. 4:6), he said, as he poised the Savior on the pinnacle of the temple. Even so, he whispers to some of us, “You are a child of God; you know that. Therefore, you are safe to live as you like. ’Cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee’ (Luke 4:9–10).”

Oh, that foul temptation! It leads many an antinomian by the nose, and he is like “an ox [going] to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks” (Prov. 7:22). For many an antinomian will say, “I am safe; therefore, I may indulge my lusts with impunity.”

You see, the Devil tries to use the doctrine of election or the great truth of the final perseverance of the saints to tempt you to soil your purity. He tries to use the mercy and love of God to tempt you to stain your innocency. However, you who know better, when you are thus tempted, console yourselves with the fact that Christ was tempted in this way, too, and He is able to help you even here.

The final temptation of Christ in the wilderness was that of idolatry. Actually, ambition was the temptation, but idolatry was the end at which the tempter aimed. “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Matt. 4:9). The old Serpent will suggest to us, “I will make you rich if you will only venture upon that one dishonest transaction. You will be famous; only tell that one lie. You will be perfectly at ease; only wink at one small evil. All these things will I give you if you will make me lord of your heart.” Ah, then it will be a noble thing if you can look up to Him who endured this temptation and bid the fiend depart with, “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matt. 4:10). Then, Satan will leave you, and angels will minister to you as they did to the tempted One of old.

Tempted in All Positions

Not only are we tempted from all directions, but we are tempted in all positions. No man is too lowly for the arrows of hell; no man is too elevated for the arrows of hell. Poverty has its dangers: “Lest I be poor, and steal” (Prov. 30:9). Christ knew these dangers. Contempt has its aggravated temptations. To be despised often makes men bitter; it often exasperates them into savage selfishness and wolfish revenge. Our Great Prophet knew from experience the temptations of contempt.
It is no small trial to be filled with pain. When all the strings of our personhood are strained and twisted, it is little wonder if they make a sour note. Christ endured the greatest amount of physical pain, especially upon the cross. And on the cross, where all the rivers of human agony met in one deep lake within His heart, He bore all that it was possible for the human frame to bear. Here, then, without limit, He learned the ills of pain.

Turn the picture around: Christ knew the temptations of riches. You may say, “How?” He had opportunities to be rich. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus would have been glad to give Him their substance. The honorable women who ministered to Him would have grudged Him nothing. There were many opportunities to make Himself a king. He could have become famous and great like other teachers and earned a high salary. However, knowing the temptations of wealth, He also overcame them.

The temptations of ease—and these are not small—Christ readily escaped. There always would have been a comfortable home for Him at Bethany. There were many disciples who would have felt highly honored to find for Him the softest couch ever made. But, He who came not to enjoy but to endure spurned all, but not without knowing the temptation.
He learned, too, the trials of honor, popularity, and applause. “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna,” said the multitudes in the streets of Jerusalem, as palm branches were strewn in the way and He rode in triumph over the garments of His disciples. (See Matthew 21:6–9.) But, experiencing all this, He was still meek and lowly, and in Him was no sin (1 Pet. 2:21–22). When you are cast down or lifted up, when you are put into the strangest of positions, remember that Christ has made a pilgrimage over the least trodden of our paths and is therefore able to help them that are tempted.

Tempted at All Ages

Further, let me remark that every age has its temptations. Even children, if believers, will discover that there are peculiar snares for them. Christ knew these. It was no small temptation to a twelve-year-old boy to be found sitting in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and answering their questions. It would have caused pride in most boys, and yet Jesus went down to Nazareth and was subject to His parents (Luke 2:51).

It says in Luke 2:52 that “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” It would be dangerous to grow in favor with God and man if the word God were not included. To grow in favor constantly with men would be too much of a temptation for most teenagers. It is good for a man to bear the yoke in his youth; for youth, when honored and esteemed, is too apt to grow self-conceited, vain, and disobedient.

When a young man knows that he will become something great someday, it is not easy to keep him balanced. Suppose that he is born to an estate and knows that when he grows up he will be lord and master and will be popular with everybody. Why, he is apt to be very wayward and self-willed. Now, there were prophecies that went before concerning Mary’s son. They pointed Him out as King of the Jews (Matt. 2:1–2) and a mighty one in Israel. Yet, I do not find that the holy child Jesus was ever lured by His coming greatness into any evil actions. So, teenage believers, you who are like Samuels and Timothys, you can look to Christ and know that He can help you.

It is unnecessary for me to repeat the various afflictions that beat upon Jesus in His full manhood. You who today bear the burden and heat of the day will find an example here. Old age, also, does not need to look elsewhere, for we may view our Redeemer with admiration as He went up to Jerusalem to die. His last moments were obviously near at hand; He knew the temptations of an expected death. He saw death more clearly than any of you, even if your temples are covered with white hair. Yet, whether in life or in death, on Tabor’s summit or on the banks of the river of death, He is still the same—tempted ever, but never sinning; tried always, but never found failing. O Lord, You are able to help those who are tempted. Help us!

I do not need to write more about this. Perhaps I have not mentioned your particular trial, but it may be included in one of the general descriptions. Whatever your trial may be, it cannot be so rare that it is not included somewhere in the temptations of our Lord Jesus Christ. I, therefore, now turn to the second topic of this chapter.

CHRIST SUFFERED

My second point is that as the tempted often suffer, Christ also suffered. Notice, our text does not say, “In that He Himself has also been tempted, He is able to help them that are tempted.” It is better than that. The text tells us that Christ suffered: “In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb. 2:18). Temptation, even when overcome, brings to the true child of God a great deal of suffering.

The Shock of Sin

This suffering consists of two or three things. It lies, mainly, in the shock that sin gives to the sensitive, regenerate nature. A man who is clothed in armor may walk through tearing thorns and brambles without being hurt; but if he takes off his armor and attempts the same journey, how sadly he will be cut and torn. Sin, to the man who is used to it, is no suffering. Being tempted causes him no pain. In fact, temptation frequently yields pleasure to the sinner. To look at the bait is sweet to the fish that plans to swallow it before long. But the child of God, who is spiritually new and alive, shudders at the very thought of sin. He cannot look at sin without abhorrence and without being alarmed at the possibility of falling into an abominable crime.

Now, dear friends, in this case Christ indeed has experience, and it far surpasses ours. His hatred of sin must have been much deeper than ours. A word of blasphemy, a sinful deed, must have cut Him to His very heart. We cannot even comprehend the wretchedness that Jesus must have endured in merely being on earth among the ungodly. For infinite purity to dwell among sinners must be something like the best educated, the most pure, the most amiable person being condemned to live in a den of burglars, blasphemers, and filthy wretches. That man’s life would be misery. No whip or chain would be needed. Merely associating with such people would be pain and torment enough. So, the Lord Jesus must have suffered a vast amount of woe just by being near to sin.
The Dread of Temptation

Suffering, too, comes to the people of God from the dread of a temptation. Dread arises in our hearts as the shadow of the temptation falls upon us, announcing its soon arrival. At times there is more dread in the prospect of a trial than there is in the trial itself. We feel a thousand temptations in fearing one.

Christ knew this. What an awful dread came over Him in the black night of Gethsemane! It was not the cup—it was the fear of drinking it. He cried, “Let this cup pass from me” (Matt. 26:39). He knew how black, how foul, how fiery its contents were; and it was the dread of drinking it that bowed Him to the ground until He sweat, as it were, great drops of blood (Luke 22:44). When you have a similar overwhelming pressure on your spirit in the prospect of a trial, fly to the loving heart of your sympathizing Lord, for He has suffered all this.

The Source of Temptation

Temptation also causes suffering because of its source. Have you ever felt that you would not have minded the temptation if it had not come from where it did? “Oh,” you say, “to think that my own friend, my dearly beloved friend, should tempt me!” Perhaps you are a teenager, and you have said, “I think I could bear anything but my father’s frown or my mother’s sneer.” Perhaps you are a husband, and you have said, “My thorn in the flesh is too sharp, for it is an ungodly wife.” Or, you are a wife (and this is more frequently the case), and you think there is no temptation like yours, because it is your husband who assaults your religion and who speaks evil of your good.

It makes all the difference where the temptation comes from. If some scoundrel mocks us, we think it honor; but when it is an honored companion, we feel his taunt. A friend can cut under our armor and stab us the more dangerously.

Ah, but the Man of Sorrows knew all this, since it was one of the chosen twelve who betrayed Him. Moreover, “it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief” (Isa. 53:10). To find God to be in arms against us is a huge affliction. “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?...My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) is the very emphasis of woe. Jesus surely has suffered your griefs, regardless of their source.

The Fear of Dishonoring God

I have no doubt, too, that a portion of the suffering of temptation lies in the fact that God’s name and honor are often involved in our temptation.Those of us who are in the public eye are sometimes slandered. When the slander is merely against our own personal character, against our modes of speech or habit, we can receive it gratefully and thankfully, blessing God that He has counted us worthy to suffer for His name’s sake (Acts 5:41). However, sometimes the attack is very plainly not against us, but against God. People say things that make us cry with the psalmist David, “Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law” (Ps. 119:53).

When direct blasphemies are uttered against the person of Christ, or against the doctrine of His holy Gospel, my heart has been very heavy because I have thought, “If I have opened this dog’s mouth against myself, it does not matter; but if I have made him roar against God, then how will I answer, and what will I say?” This has often been the bitterness of it: “If I fall, God’s cause is stained. If I slip through the vehemence of this assault, then one of the gates of the church will be carried off by storm. Harm comes not just to me, but to many of the Israel of God.” David says this about grieving the saints: “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me” (Ps. 73:16).

Jesus had to suffer for God, for it is written, “The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me” (Rom. 15:3). He was made the target for those arrows that were really shot at God, and so He felt this bitterness of sympathy with His ill-used God.

I cannot, of course, be specific enough to hit on the precise sorrow that you, beloved believer in Christ, are enduring as the result of temptation. But, whatever phase your sorrow may have assumed, this should always be your comfort: Jesus suffered in temptation. He did not merely know temptation as you sometimes have known it, when it has hit you and fallen harmless to the ground, but it festered in His flesh. It did not make Him sin, but it made Him suffer. It did not make Him err, but it caused Him to mourn. Oh, child of God, I do not know a deeper well of purer consolation than this: “He himself hath suffered being tempted” (Heb. 2:18).

CHRIST HELPS THE TEMPTED

Now for the third and last point. Those who are tempted have great need of help; and Christ, having been tempted Himself, is able to help them. Of course, Christ is able to help the tempted because Christ is God. Even if He had never endured any temptation, He would still be able to help the tempted because He is God. However, we are now speaking in our text of Christ as a high priest; we are to regard Him in His complex character as God-man. For Christ is not only God, but man, and not only man, but God. The Christos, the Anointed One, the High Priest of our profession, is, in His complex character, able to help them that are tempted.

Because He Was Tempted

How can He help us? Why, first, the very fact that He was tempted has help in it for us. If we had to walk through the darkness alone, we would know the very extremity of misery. But, having a companion, we have comfort; having such a companion, we have joy.

Darkness surrounds me, and the path is miry, and I sink in it and can find no foothold. But, I plunge onward, desperately set on reaching my journey’s end. It worries me that I am alone. I can see nothing, but suddenly I hear a voice that says, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil” (Ps. 23:4). I cry out, “Who is there?” and an answer comes back to me: “I, ’the faithful and true witness’ (Rev. 3:14), the ’Alpha and Omega’ (Rev. 1:8), the sufferer who was ’despised and rejected of men’ (Isa. 53:3), I lead the way.” Then, at once, light surrounds me, and there is a rock beneath my feet. If Christ my Lord has been here, then the way must be safe and must lead to the desired end. The very fact that He has suffered, then, consoles His people.

Because He Was Not Destroyed

But, further, the fact that He has suffered without being destroyed is inestimably comforting to us. Think about a block of ore just ready to be put into the furnace. Suppose that block of ore could look into the flames and could see the blast as it blows the coals to a vehement heat. If that ore could speak, it would say, “Ah, how awful that I should ever be put into such a blazing furnace as that! I will be burnt up! I will be melted with the slag! I will be utterly consumed!” But, suppose another lump all bright and glistening could lie by its side and say, “No, no, you are just like I was, but I went through the fire and lost nothing. See how bright I am! See how I have survived all the flames!” Why, that piece of ore would anticipate, rather than dread, being exposed to the purifying heat. It would anticipate coming out all bright and lustrous like its companion.

I see You, Son of Mary, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh (Gen. 2:23). You have felt the flames, but You are not destroyed. There is no smell of fire on You. Your heel has been bruised, but You have broken the Serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). There is no scar, nor spot, nor injury in You. You have survived the conflict. Therefore, I, bearing Your name, purchased with Your blood (Acts 20:28), and as dear to God as You are dear to Him, I will survive the conflict, too. I will tread the coals with confidence and bear the heat with patience. Christ’s conquest gives me comfort, for I will conquer, too.

Because He Was a Great Gainer

Please remember, too, that Christ, in going through the suffering of temptation, not only did not lose anything, but He gained much. Through suffering, He was a great gainer. It is written that it pleased God “to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb. 2:10). It was through His suffering that He obtained the mediatory glory that now crowns His head. If He had never carried the cross, He would have never worn that crown. (It is a transcendently bright and glorious crown that He now wears as King in Zion and as leader of His people, whom He has redeemed by blood.) Had He not carried the cross, He would still have been God over all and blessed forever; however, He could never have been extolled as the God-man Mediator unless He had been obedient even unto death (Phil. 2:8). Therefore, He was a gainer by His suffering.

Glory be to His name, we get comfort from this, too! For we also will be gainers by our temptations. We will come up out of Egypt enriched, as it is written, “He brought them forth also with silver and gold” (Ps. 105:37). Wewill come forth out of our trials with great treasures. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life” (James 1:12). The deeper our sorrows, the louder our song. The more terrible our toil, the sweeter our rest. The more bitter the wormwood, the more delightful the wine of consolation. We will have glory for our shame; we will have honor for our contempt; we will have songs for our sufferings; and we will have thrones for our tribulations.
Because He Sends His Grace to Help Us

Moreover, because Christ has suffered temptation, He is able to help us who are tempted by sending His grace to help us. He was always able to send grace; but now as God and man, He is able to send just the right grace at the right time and in the right place. A doctor may have all the drugs that can be gathered, but an abundance of medicine does not make him a qualified practitioner. If, however, he has gone himself and seen the case, then he knows just at what crisis of the disease a certain medicine is needed. The medications are good, but the wisdom to use the medications—this is even more precious.

Now, “it pleased the Father that in [Christ] should all fulness dwell” (Col. 1:19). But, where would the Son of Man earn His diploma and gain the skills to use the fullness correctly? Beloved, He won it by experience. He knows what sore temptations mean, for He has felt the same. You know, if we had comforting grace given to us at the wrong point in our temptation, it would tempt us more than help us. It is just like certain medicines: given to the patient at one period of the disease, they would worsen the malady, though the same medicine would cure him if administered a little later.

Now, Christ knows how to send His comfort in the nick of time. He gives His help exactly when it will not be a superfluity. He sends His joy when we will not spend it upon our own lusts. How does Hedo this? Why, He recollects His own experience; He has passed through it all. “There appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (Luke 22:43). That angel came just when he was needed. Jesus knows when to send His angelic messenger to strengthen you, when to use the correcting rod, and when to refrain and say, “I have forgiven you. Go in peace.”

Because He Prays for Us

I will not write much more on this subject. Having suffered Himself, having been tempted, Christ knows how to help us by His prayers for us.There are some people whose prayers are of no use to us because they do not know what to ask for. Christ is the intercessor for His people; He has success in His intercession; but how does He know what to ask for? How can He know this better than by His own trials? He has suffered temptation.

You hear some believers pray with such power, such unction, such fervor. Why? Part of the reason is that they pray from experience—they pray out of their own lives; they just tell the great deep waters over which they themselves sail. Now, the prayer of our Great High Priest in heaven is wonderfully comprehensive. It is drawn from His own life, and it takes in every sorrow and every pang that ever rent a human heart, because He Himself has suffered temptation. I know you feel safe in committing your case into the hand of such an intercessor, for He knows the precise mercy for which to ask. And, when He asks for it, He knows how to word it so that the mercy will surely come at the right time.

Ah, dear friends, it is not in my power to bring out the depth that lies in my text. However, I am certain of this: when He causes you to go through the deep waters, when you are made to pass through furnace after furnace, you will never need a better support or provision than my text: “In that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb. 2:18). Hang this text up in your house; read it every day; take it before God in prayer every time you bend your knee. You will find it to be like the widow’s cruse of oil, which did not go dry, and like her handful of meal, which did not run out (1 Kings 17:16). It will sustain you as much a year from now as it does when you begin to feed on it today.

Will my text not suit the awakened sinner as well as the saint? Perhaps you are a timid soul that cannot say that you are saved. Yet, here is a loophole of comfort for you, you poor troubled one who is not yet able to get a hold of Jesus: “He is able to succour them that are tempted” (Heb. 2:18). Go and tell Him you are tempted—tempted, perhaps, to despair, tempted to self-destruction, tempted to go back to your old sins, tempted to think that Christ cannot save you. Go and tell Him that He Himself has suffered temptation and that He is able to help you. Believe that He will, and He will, for you can never believe in the love and goodness of my Lord too much. He will be better than your faith to you. If you can trust Him with all your heart to save you, He will do it. If you believe He is able to put away your sin, He will do it. Only honor Him by attributing to Him a good character of grace; you cannot give Him too good a name.

Trust Him, He will not deceive you,
Though you hardly on Him lean;
He will never, never leave you,
Nor will let you quite leave Him.

Receive, then, the blessing. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you forever. Amen and Amen.