If Jesus had no sin nature and could not sin, how can Satan tempt him?

Although Christ had no sin nature and could not sin (impeccability), he still felt the extraordinary weight of Satan’s temptation in a way he could not as God alone (temptability). God has no needs and has infinite possessions, pleasure, and power, making him impervious to temptation. As human, Jesus had none of these—he was extremely hungry, very poor, and a societal outcast. Nonetheless the non posse peccare quality of deity was shared by his human nature, rendering him infinitely resistant to temptation. The mighty oak feels the hurricane’s winds even though it does not fall like lesser trees; likewise, Christ felt the full range of temptation without succumbing (or even being subject to the possibility of succumbing) to it.

Note on the temptation of Christ: Satan was, particularly in the first two temptations, much too cagey to level a frontal assault upon the Mosaic Law. His appeals for Christ to satiate his hunger and prove his Messiahship on the surface seem legitimate. It would not have been selfish for Christ to eat bread (how, indeed, can God ever be accused of sin for acting in his own best interests?), and the Law seems to invite prophetic validation (Deut 18:20–22). The offense seems most likely to be tied to Christ’s divine mission. Christ’s mission was not to use his divine powers (1) to palliate his human frailty, (2) to parade his abilities before those who already knew his identity, or (3) to escape the cross experience and receive his kingdom directly by deviant means. By succumbing to these subtle Satanic suggestions, Christ would have erred by jeopardizing his mission.