Jump Start # 424 

Matthew 4:5-7 “Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning you’; and  ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, ‘On the other hand, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

  We continue our look at the temptation of Jesus as recorded in Matthew. The gospel lists three different temptations. The first, dealt with human nature and the desire to survive—hunger.

  The temptation today, the second one, is about trusting God and more so, God’s word. There are some things to note from our verses today.

  First, like the temptation yesterday, Satan challenges Jesus to “prove” that He is the son of God. The expression, “if you are the Son of God,” was not uncertainty on Satan’s part. He knew. We remember that the book of James tells us that the demons believe. On many occasions the demons would declare that Jesus was the Son of God. A better translation of this expression would be, “Since you are the Son of God…” You can do it and since you are this way, just do it.

  Second, this temptation causes the most difficulty to figure it out. When all of this started, Jesus was alone, fasting in the desert. Did Satan take him actually to Jerusalem? How was it that no one saw them? How did they get to the top of the temple? Did this really happen? Was this a dream? Those are some real questions that I’m not sure I know the answer. I tend to think that it really happened. A dream is not the same as a real temptation in the body. Nothing is said about Jesus “falling asleep” or “waking up”. When this temptation was over, how did they get back to the desert?

Third, Satan knows the Bible. He first quoted God to Eve in the garden and added a word to change the meaning of what God said. Here He quotes the passage correctly. However, the passage is not talking about jumping off buildings, nor standing on a freeway or any thing like that. Using the Bible out of context or inaccurately is useless and unproductive. Many do the same as Satan today. They will claim, ‘The Bible says…’ but they do not look at the context of the passage to understand who God is speaking to.

Fourth, Jesus replied, once again, with a passage from Deuteronomy. Now we have the Bible pitted against the Bible. The difference is that Satan misused the Bible and Jesus was quoting it accurately.

  Trusting what God says is a matter of faith, not challenges or putting God to the test. Thomas fell into this after the resurrection when he said, ‘unless I see the nail prints, I will not believe.’ He had to have personal proof. The woman had reported seeing the resurrected Christ. The two men on the road to Emmaus had reported seeing the resurrected Jesus. The rest of the apostles saw the resurrected Jesus. Thomas would not believe. Are we that way sometimes? Do we expect God to do something to us personally to win our confidence in Him?

  The apostle Paul said we walk by faith and not by sight. Our faith is built upon trusting the word of God. To trust it, we must use it properly. Understand who is being talked to. Understand the circumstances. Do some digging. Figure things out by looking, reading and thinking.

  Satan pulled out a passage from Psalms. Great verse. Nothing to do with jumping off buildings. Misused it. Misapplied it. Thought he had Jesus. He didn’t. Jesus is the word. He knows the word. It is His word. Misquoting someone or taking things out of context seems to be the norm for many politicians. Some do that when they feel the heat of getting caught. Some do it to tear down others. This is a ploy of Satan.

  Knowing the word of God, really knowing it and understanding when others are misusing it is valuable. It helps in times of trials, troubles and even temptations.

Roger