Satan – Part 2

Matthew 4:1-4

¹Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil [Slanderer].

²And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

³And the tempter [Tempter] came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”

⁴But he answered, “It is written, “ ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple

⁶and 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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’ ”

⁷Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

⁹And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

¹⁰Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan [“Adversary”]! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ”

¹¹Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him.

Round two of the battle between Jesus and the devil finds them at the top of the temple in Jerusalem. For this round, Satan heads into the ridiculous. At least with the last challenge, Satan tempts Jesus with something that was a real need – the assuaging of physical hunger. But this time, he wants Jesus to throw Himself off of the pinnacle to see if the Father will actually send angels to keep Jesus from harm. Then begins the back and forth as Jesus and the devil use God’s Word as their weapon.

Let’s look at the actual texts that are quoted by Jesus and Satan. Here is where we can see Jesus’ commanding strength and the devil’s ability to quote the Bible (with his own spin) in order to win his point. Satan starts with Psalm 91. With this volley he takes the passage out of context and leaves out a line. Compare what he says in verse 6 of today’s reading with the actual passage below. “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, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

Psalm 91:9-12

⁹Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place— the Most High, who is my refuge—

¹⁰no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

¹¹For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

¹²On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.

As you can see, the psalmist is very clear about the conditions under which we find refuge in the Lord. We can always find refuge and protection in the Lord when He is our hiding place, our dwelling place. This passage has nothing to do with testing God to see if He is truly powerful or truly loving enough to help us.

Jesus responds with “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” He is quoting directly from Deuteronomy 6:16 which is a reference to an event that took place in the wilderness wanderings of the Children of Israel. That story is always quoted for you below.

Deuteronomy 6:16

You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.

Exodus 17:1-7

¹All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

²Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?”

³But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

⁴So Moses cried to the Lord, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.”

⁵And the Lord said to Moses, “Pass on before the people, taking with you some of the elders of Israel, and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go.

⁶Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink.” And Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel.

⁷And he called the name of the place Massah and Meribah, because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the Lord by saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

When these verses are examined inside of their context and placed over the ridiculous scenario that the devil has contrived, you can see how this particular challenge plays out. “Satan wants Jesus to test whether God’s power is available to protect and save Him, just as the people of Israel wondered whether God would provide water for them in their thirst. But Jesus will doubt neither God’s promise nor His power. He will not deviate from His Father’s ‘ways.’ [Jesus] has no need to learn whether God’s power and purposes are guiding Him.” (Concordia Commentary Series: Matthew 1:1-11:1. Dr. Jeffery Gibbs. CPH.  p195.) We too have no need to “test” God. He promises His protection and so we can trust that He will always be there for us. Testing Him is an arrogant activity and Jesus stays away from that satanic ploy. Who are we to test the Lord God Almighty? In that regard, we are nothing and it needs to be avoided.