Imagine you are riding a bike through the countryside. You know you’ll soon need to cross a river and notice a fork in the road that leads to two different bridges. You take the turn to the left because that leads to the closest bridge. When you get to the water’s edge, you see that this bridge is bad repair. You see rotting beams and lots of missing wood. As you get even closer, you see that many planks are missing from the actual bridge portion. To make matters worse, you see several abandoned bicycles sticking out of the mud in a shallow section of the river under the bridge.

Looking downstream, you have a full view of the other bridge. It’s a massive structure made of concrete and steel, with giant pylons driven deep into the river bed. Many cars and large trucks are crossing in both directions. You can also see a bike lane with many cyclists making their way across the bridge.

Which bridge do you choose—the one with rotten and missing wood, which is obviously compromised and untrustworthy, or the one that can bear your weight and bring you safely to the other side?

Likewise, whom do you trust when tempted, the One who has borne the full weight of sin, or yourself, who has given into temptation many times?

In Hebrews 4:18, we are given a tremendous promise about the ability of Jesus to help us in times of temptation. He alone has borne the full weight of temptation and not given in. “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Hebrews 4:18).

We know Jesus was tempted by the devil while in the wilderness for 40 days. It’s a compelling story you can read about in Luke 4:1-14. However, we must not think that this intense time of testing was the only time that Jesus was tempted. The scripture tells us, “When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:13). Given the critical mission of the Son of God, and given the power of the devil, we can assume that Jesus was tempted many, many times throughout His life, just as we are.

We can also conclude that His temptations were far worse and more intense than anything we have ever faced. He withstood incredible temptations in suffering. Indeed, the evil one was tempting Him to give in. And this would have been a much greater temptation than any of us have ever faced. Yet, in all of His temptations, He remained sinless. The greater the temptation, the greater the strength and resistance needed to endure.

Which brings us back to the bridge. This has been a classic illustration of how Jesus resisted sin and how we are to trust in the one who did not and could not sin. Jesus has proved Himself by bearing up under the full weight of temptation to sin. When we think of the broken-down wooden bridge, that’s where we often put our trust to overcome sin and temptation. We trust ourselves, our own self-effort, willpower, technique, or other human-oriented solutions. Jesus was faithful and sinless and, therefore, able to come to our aid when tempted.

Here is a true story of a bridge built to withstand incredible weight:

As the Union Pacific Railroad was being constructed, an elaborate trestle bridge was built across a large canyon in the West. Wanting to test the bridge, the builder loaded a train with enough extra cars and equipment to double its normal payload. The train was then driven to the middle of the bridge, where it stayed an entire day. One worker asked, “Are you trying to break this bridge?” “No,” the builder replied, “I’m trying to prove that the bridge won’t break.”

So it is with Jesus. His temptations proved He could endure whatever the devil threw at Him. His endurance of the massive weight of temptation, which no human had ever faced or ever endured and never will, proved His ability to help us and qualified Him as our Sinless Savior.

So, which bridge will you choose? The imperfect one with often-compromised integrity and instability, or the Sinless Savior who can and will come to your aid—the One who will carry you safely through the most difficult of temptations?