(Apologies for this one being late - I was in long weekend mode - The eDev slipped my mind completely!!)
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5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6 "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" `He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' "
7 Jesus answered him, "It is also written: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'" Matthew4:5-7
The second temptation takes things to a whole new level and that's not only because they are at highest point of the temple!
Here's why:
1. Satan, having recognised that Jesus uses Scripture as a defence, now also makes (mis-)use of Scripture.
2. Again He tries to appeal to vanity: "If you are the Son of God..."
3. This time, it looks like Jesus' work/ministry could be assisted by doing what Satan suggests, because the people in Jerusalem would see Him on top of the temple and when the angels caught Him, they would know that He was the Messiah.
So what is this temptation all about?
1. It's the temptation to be impressive and grab the limelight by a display of power and influence. ("See! God listens to ME!")
2. It's about making God fit into our agendas and abusing God's promises to make us look good. Had He jumped, the assumption would be that God would be forced to rescue Him. This places Jesus in the driving seat instead of in the passenger seat. It's a case of "Here I go Lord, please bless _my_ plans."
3. It's the temptation to lead by being impressive instead of leading with character. It is significant how often Jesus healed people and then asked them to keep it quiet.
We may not be tempted to jump off tall buildings, but we can be tempted to "strut our stuff" and "show our clout." We name-drop or experience-brag. We like to appear super-spiritual.
We're also tempted to rush ahead of God and ask Him to bless our plans - to reduce Him to a vending-Deity, giving us what we want when we push the claim-a-promise-button.
Jesus refuses to do that - He refuses to muscle into the driver's seat and move God into the passenger seat. He won't hold God to ransom!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
