Expert: Messianic Rabbi Yochanan Levine - 4/2/2011

Question
Is it possible that Jesus was tempted this way, also because the bible says women followed him, an wherever he went, he knew women would be there, trying there best to persuade him into this, an that the bible says that God would provide a way out for us out of this temptation..which i find in leviticus, about the semen of a man , ..that he should go shower, and he will be unclean until evening. Is this telling us that to keep from defiling the body that if we want to keep our bodies safe from women we should masturbate, an be unclean till that evening, taking the pressure away from us at that time. Remembering that Jesus was tempted in every aspects as we are today...please be clear an straight..I have had many talks on this subject..Bless you an May the Lord keep you...

Answer
Hi Brandon,

The Bible says that Y'shua (Jesus) was tempted in all ways, yet without sin:

Hebrew 4:15  For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

So we can be sure he was tempted sexually. Sexual urges are perfectly natural and a man in his position would have had no problem with opportunities for violating the Torah restrictions had he chosen, but we know he did not. I doubt most 1st century women would have been trying to tempt him to have sex (a capital offense) however, it was a very different time and he was a deeply respected rabbi (even by his critics). The main temptation would have been to marry (which Jewish tradition demands of rabbis), not to have sex outside of marriage. While that might have been a temptation it is not one he would have succumbed to. Being tempted is not the same as succumbing to the temptation. There is no evidence that he had sexual relations (nor became unclean by contact with semen in other way).

The verses some people use to condemn masturbation (Genesis 38 in particular) are not talking about masturbation at all. Onan's sin was in "pulling out" early, not in "wasting his seed" or masturbation. He was required to impregnate his sister-in-law and he refused due to greed.  There is no verse in the Bible addressing masturbation either way. Most religious people condemn it as an "uncleanness" however this is based on drawing conclusions and localized notions of morality.

People (especially men) have always masturbated. You will need to pray and determine what to do or not to do. Young men (especially) often have strong sexual urges and one can certainly make the case that masturbation is safer in many ways (both spiritually and physically) than sexual acts with another person. Generally its one of those topics people just don't talk about. Once they do discuss it, they find it is far more common than they may suppose. The main thing, in my opinion, is avoiding becoming addicted to the act or placing too much importance on it. An occasional session when the pressures gets too great is no big deal and is in many cases beneficial. That's my thoughts on the matter.

Shalom