The Difference Between Adam and Jesus

Human beings could not be saved unless a human being reversed the curse on the world by keeping God’s law perfectly and then dying to bear the penalty of sin. Paul tells us as much in Romans 5:12–21, which is one of the key biblical texts for understanding Christ’s vocation as the last Adam. The Apostle outlines explicitly how the obedience of Jesus brings life to those in Him by faith in contrast to the death that comes to those in Adam because of his disobedience. Other passages speak to the work of Jesus as the last Adam more indirectly by telling us about events that demonstrate Jesus’ Adamic vocation. Of these texts, perhaps none more clearly shows Jesus as the last Adam than those texts that tell us about our Lord’s temptation.

Since the occasion of Adam’s fall was his temptation by the devil (see Gen. 3), it makes sense that Jesus’ undoing the fall would involve successfully resisting Satan’s temptation. Yet while the parallels between the temptation of Adam and the temptation of Christ are clear enough, there are also significant differences. Adam was tempted in the lush garden of Eden. Jesus, as we see in today’s passage, endured temptation in the wilderness, in harsh, desolate conditions (Mark 1:12). Note also that in Eden, Adam faced the devil’s temptation with the consolation of having his wife, Eve, at his side. Jesus was alone in the wilderness when Satan came to Him. In the garden, Adam had plenty to eat, for he had the fruit of every tree but one available to him (Gen. 2:16–17). Luke’s account of Jesus’ temptation informs us that our Savior had been fasting and was hungry when He faced the devil (Luke 4:1–2). Finally, when Adam was tempted, he had not seen people around him engaged in the practice of sin. Jesus had grown up around other sinners, making it more difficult to resist the crowd. It is easier to break God’s law when one has seen everyone else do it. But Jesus still resisted Satan successfully despite the peer pressure.

Aside from those differences, the point of temptation of Adam and Jesus was the same. Satan tested their resolve to believe God and to take our Creator at His word. He introduced doubt into the minds of our first parents by questioning whether the Lord had really told them not to eat (Gen. 3:1), and he tried to do the same with Jesus by encouraging Him not to believe that God would meet His needs. Jesus refused to disbelieve His Father, and He overcame the devil (Luke 4:1–13).