Temptations of Jesus (Part 3)

(Part 3)

Luke 4: 9-13

The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. For it is written: “He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.

When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

In this third temptation, somehow the devil leads Jesus to the highest point of the temple saying: “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here”. Then he tries to back this up by quoting scripture himself, For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways, they will lift you up in their hands,   so that you will not strike your foot against a stone from Psalm 91

Yet again the word “if”, meaning prove who you say you are! And wrapped up with “if”, we see a subtle attack on any self-doubt within the man Jesus. Prove yourself, throw yourself from here, and if you are who you claim to be, then God will send His angels, so you don’t even get a scratch.

Now I don’t know about you, but if I was on top of the highest point of a tall building, throwing myself off the top would be the last thing I would consider doing. (Look at that photo of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and imagine!) If truth be told, I would be clinging tightly to anything I could get hold of so I wouldn’t fall. But for Jesus, this isn’t the case because he is the Son of God, and therefore had nothing to fear.

But in this trial, Lucifer not only tempts Jesus to jump and make a public spectacle; and by it give a mighty sign, that would reveal who he was. Lucifer is also testing God the Father.

By jumping and being saved by the angels, no one would be able to deny who Jesus was. Sure, what could be easier, Jesus would have revealed beyond doubt that he is the Son of God. The Father will have protected him, and by this, there would be no need for faith, the people would believe that Jesus was the Messiah and make him their earthly King.

Had Jesus capitulated and jumped, he would have put the Father to the test, and in this, he would have sinned. And by sinning, he could not be the Messiah. Had he jumped, it would have been because of self-doubt in who he was, needing reassurance from the Father.

Thankfully, Jesus remained true to the Father, and simply quotes scripture, Deut 6:16 “Do not put the Lord your God to the test” Jesus sees Lucifer' scheme, and responds by demonstrating his firm and resolute faith in the Father by waiting for Him to bring about His will at the right time, rather than trying to bring it about prematurely himself.

In triumphing over this temptation, Jesus shows us how we are to behave in times of trial. We are to look to the word of God for answers, while we wait patiently and passively for God to bring about his will for our lives, in his perfect timing, and not in ours.

Have a great day and, God bless.

Trev.