Nails

but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:15

Has Been Tempted – Nails weren’t customary. Did you know that? Most criminals were not nailed to a cross. They were simply tied to the post. Death by crucifixion did not occur because of the torture of nailing or even piercing. It was not loss of blood that killed the victim. It was suffocation. The outstretched arms prevented the lungs from exhaling moisture. The immovable, bent legs prevented the body from shifting the weight. Over time the lungs filled with fluid. Slowly, very slowly, the victim just couldn’t breathe anymore. Rome perfected the most torturous form of death invented by Man. But it didn’t require nails.

So, why not crucify Yeshua in the ordinary way. It would have been just as effective. Even the prophecy could have been fulfilled without the nails since it only required being “hung on a tree.” No, nails served a different purpose; one that none of his executioners even realized.

The Greek verb here is peirazo. It is derived from another verb that means “to test by passing something through the substance.” This is the verb used to test cloth or metal. Metaphorically, its derived sense means to put to trial or to tempt. But pay particular attention to the imagery. In order to ascertain the quality of something, it was perforated. Nails! You want physical imagery of temptation? Think of the nails passing through Yeshua’s wrists. This is the picture of an examination of strength or weakness. His death is the portrait of strength, not weakness.

The verb is a passive perfect participle. You might not care about the grammar, but you need to know what this means. First, it is passive. That means the action is done to the subject. Something from the outside affects the subject. Just as the nail passes through the wrist, so temptation is a blunt force of harm and destruction from the outside. Temptation happens to us. Sure, we might play a part in the propensity and we certainly have a role in the response, but temptation starts with something on the outside. That’s why we have the opportunity to resist. If temptation were an essential part of our very being, there could be no resistance. Which among you can resist being male or female? Which among you can prevent yourself from being tall or short, blond or gray (forget hair dyes) or anything else essentially you. If temptation is essentially you, then give up now. You simply can’t resist.

This verb is in the perfect tense. In Greek, this is an action completed in the past with continuing significance for the present. Now we see why it is used here. What He endured is common to all of us. No, we didn’t all have nails hammered through our wrists. We weren’t all crucified by the Romans. But we all face the test of quality. He faced it without failing. He accomplished the will of the Father. He knows exactly what it is like to suffer under the force of the enemy. That’s what’s the same. Our circumstances might not be His, but the attack is identical, the test identical and therefore, He knows us right down to the core.

Oh, yes, it’s a participle – a continuing action. That’s why we translate “having been tempted.” Not one incident but a whole lifetime wrapped up in a summary action verb. His life’s summary can be ours. How? How can we share in the “perfect” life? Ah, because He invites us to.

Topical Index: trial, test, peirazo, Hebrews 4:15