“THROW YOURSELF DOWN FROM HERE” (V. 9)

“THROW YOURSELF DOWN FROM HERE” (V. 9)

“Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is said, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test”’” (v. 12 NASB). Based on Christ’s response to this temptation, we know that at least one of Satan’s intentions was to tempt Christ to put God to the test. One way of putting God to the test might be disguising a dare by calling it faith. Challenging God is not only void of faith; it is also foolish. A self-prompted refusal to seek medical attention for serious illness followed by a public proclamation of God’s obligation to heal you could be putting God to the test. Racing a car and saying God is responsible for keeping you from injury or believing rules of accountability don’t apply to you could also be forms of testing God.

Satan may have had a second intention in this particular temptation. The placement of the temptation at the temple suggests that the enemy may have been hoping a dramatic scene would cause the Jews to hail Jesus as their king before He faced the cross. If Christ had foregone the cross, He would have been no less God, but we would be lost.

In conclusion, I believe our hypothesis was correct. These were no ordinary temptations. They appear to be direct assaults on the messiahship of Christ. We can, however, draw a few closing applications.

            •       Seasons of intense temptation are not indications of God’s displeasure.

            •       Satan is tenacious. Don’t expect him to give up after one or two tries.

            •       Scripture is the most powerful tool in our fight against temptation. Don’t fight back with your words, fight back with God’s!