If Jesus was tempted how can he be God?

Jesus in his humanity was tempted like any other human.

James 1:13-15: “Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death."

 Because one is tempted does not mean a response will be produced.

Matt 4:1-3 “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread."

Luke gives us the source of the temptation V.13-14 “Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from Him until an opportune time.

All these temptations instigate a response from the sin nature in man of which Jesus had none, the devil was tempting his humanity that was at the time weak from hunger, trying to have him use his power to feed the flesh.

Could Jesus have sinned in his humanity? Jesus being both God and man were one person. If his humanity was separate it could have willed to do what it wanted, but the humanity of Christ cannot be separated from His deity.  His spirit ruled over His flesh in everything; this is why He was without sin. While He had the choice to sin and could be tempted from the outside, He did not have the ability to sin. Being God He was in complete control over His humanity. He did not act independently on his own initiative but always had the purpose to do the will of God, that which is holy and sinless. Temptability does mean one is susceptible to do that temptation, for Jesus, temptation could not bring out any desire in him to sin.

Heb. 2:18: “For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”

 Were the temptations genuine? Did he feel what we do? Each of us can relate to being tempted and have successfully resisted that temptation not giving in to the pull of sin. The temptations were real but could not elicit a response. It would something like this, I do not like asparagus, you can offer me this to eat all day, dress it up with additives that will hide its smell but I will not respond in the least, I’m dead to it, I won’t eat it. I’m sure everyone has at least one thing like this they can use as an example in their life.

Heb. 4:15: “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.” This means in each area of sin he was tempted (i.e. the world, the flesh the Devil), what it does not mean that he was tempted by every known sin to mankind.

Some argue that if there was no possibility for his sinning then the temptations were meaningless. The nature of the temptations were not there to trap him but to prove his deity. The true purpose of the temptations was to demonstrate He could not sin and was proof that He is the Sinless Son of God.