Verse 9 The devil tries to convince Jesus to show off who He is by going to the top of the temple where everyone can see to proclaim to all the religious people that He is the Son of God and then throw himself off the edge and come up unhurt to solidify His claim. The devil then uses scripture to try to support this idea that the angels will not let Jesus die. They will guard Him and not let Him get hurt says Psalm 91:11, 12. The devil knows scripture and he likes to twist it to fit his purposes or use it out of context. The Bible records many times that the devil has done this to lead people astray. Satan knows the Bible better than many Christians.
Example: There is a scripture in the Bible about God giving us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4) and many Christians fall of the devil’s trap and are led to believe if they desire something (a new spouse, a new wardrobe, a new job, a new house) then they should help themselves to have it because the Bible says… 😞 That’s not what that scripture means. The verse was cherry-picked. It actually says “delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart”. When you delight yourself in the Lord, you don’t have the same fleshly desires anymore for the things in this world. Your desires change and you desire God. For more of God. And when you delight yourself in Him, He will be faithful to fill your desire for more of Him. That’s what that verse actually means.
The verses from Psalm 91 that the devil quoted were meant to encourage us to trust God, not tempt God. See how the devil twisted it. We don’t intentionally put ourselves in harm’s way and quote scripture to force God to save us. Our loving God would never ask that of us. His Word is filled with scriptures about His care for us, including every single hair on our head (Luke 12:7).
Throwing Himself off a building is also not in God’s plan for Jesus to prove His identity this way. Jesus will go to the cross for us and this will prove He is the Son of God. He has nothing to prove to the devil or to people. Jesus knew who He was and the people would soon discover it for themselves that He is the Son of God.
What a reminder to remain confident in who you are as God’s child. You have nothing to prove to people when you live for an audience of One (God). You don’t have to drink alcohol until your drunk to prove you have value in the crowd. You are a child of God and you have so much worth. You have nothing to prove to people when you believe you have value and worth to God.
Here’s something to remember: Satan is always trying to get us to work independently of God and he will use scripture to convince us to take matters into our own hands. Satan makes false promises that there will be no suffering and he highlights the result you want. God’s way often requires suffering because our flesh is prone to sin. Suffering is the opposite of sin. I suffer when I deny myself of something that my flesh wants but God says would not be good for me. Drunkenness. Sexual immorality (affairs, sex outside of marriage, lust). Lying. Cheating. Stealing. Shortcuts. Idolatry. Greed. Jealousy. Envy. Dissension/Division in relationships. Strife. Fits of anger. These things satisfy for a moment and then we’re left with the harsh consequences. When we suffer the flesh, we say no to these things because we know that the suffering will produce better results, God’s best for us in the end. Denying our flesh of what it wants in the moment, which is suffering, will allow God to fill up those emptied out spaces in our lives. It might hurt for a moment but God brings healing in and satisfies eternally what the flesh thought we needed temporarily.
The flesh of Jesus desired relief from the pain of the cross. Just like any of us would want. But His suffering would save the entire world. He would bear our sin on that cross and prove death cannot hold down our Savior, who is God in the flesh, the Son of God Almighty. He would defy the devil and rise from the grave to prove resurrection from the death of sin is real and available for us all. We don’t have to be held down by our burdens and evil/sinful deeds. We can walk away from it and run to Jesus for a new and freeing life. A resurrected life. That holds forgiveness for us when we repent. That’s what suffering produced for us!
It’s okay to deny yourself of your fleshly desires. Let your sinful nature and desire for an easy life suffer. God will give you new desires that will satisfy you deeper and greater than any of those temporary options.
When we’re tempted to react to our naughty kids with anger and frustration boiling in our words and actions. Let your skin suffer a little bit and hold all those immediate emotions captive to God’s Word. Use self-control to administer rebuke and repercussions. When we’re tempted to blow our budget on things we want, we must submit ourselves to suffering and deny our flesh of going into debt just because the flesh desires ‘stuff’.
Verse 12 We are never to use disobedience to back God in a corner to force Him to fulfill His plan. Jesus uses Deuteronomy 6:16 to say we should never test or tempt God. God has given us sufficient proof. God had already given His spirit to Jesus and He gives it to us as well. Jesus didn’t need an angel’s rescue to be assured of who He was. When is enough enough? The proof is all around us. But the flesh is often tempted with needing more proof from God that He is who He says He is and that we are who He says we are.
One pastor said, “we are not to intentionally create the need for a miracle. God will create miracle opportunities on his own.”
Verse 13 Notice that Jesus kept His ground and didn’t give in to the devil’s temptation and the devil left “until an opportune time” (ESV). Meeting Jesus hungry and alone didn’t give the devil any advantage in the end. So he’ll wait for another time to catch Jesus vulnerable.
1 Peter 5:8 says “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (ESV) The devil is always waiting to catch us at “an opportune time.” That’s why we stand on guard by putting on our spiritual armor daily. Pray the armor over yourself and your loved ones and stand your ground ready at all times.
Jesus would not cave to the devil’s temptations. He was determined to do things God, the Father’s way. And He would wait on God’s timing.
If we are followers of Christ, we will come up against some spiritual warfare where the devil tries his best to break us down with stress, pressure, temptation, heartache, and turmoil. This is our time to use scripture to fight back. He can’t stand the proper use of scripture and a people who hold their ground on it. When we stay close to Jesus and live by the Word as He did, we too can become unbreakable to life’s crushing blows and attempts to tear us down.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me learn Your word and keep it fresh in my bones. I want to be able to identify when the scriptures are being used out of context. I want to know the Truth and live the Truth. Your Word is always encouraging me to trust God. Help me not fall into a trap of tempting You with it or cornering You with it, Lord. You are for me, my best. You care for me. I want to live within Your plan for my life, Lord. I have nothing to prove to the devil or to people. I am worthy. I am loved. I have value in the eyes of the Most High God. Jesus, help me to always come to You and consult Your Word for my life. I don’t want to act independently of You. I don’t want to take matters into my own hands. Help me to accept the suffering of my flesh and not choose sin or the easiest way out, or the most comfortable or convenient way. Help my belief choose You, Jesus. Help me to make the right decision that is You when I’m faced with the crossroads of suffering or what satisfies my sinful flesh. Satisfaction to my flesh is only temporary. Help me weed out the sin in my life, Lord. Fill up these emptied places with more of You. Heal me with Your Word where my flesh hurts. Holy Spirit, help me with self-control where I need to deny my fleshly desires. Your Word says You will give me a new heart, a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). Yes! And thank you, Lord. Help me to keep my ground in You, Jesus, help me to recall Your Word when I need it most, and to remain alert with my armor on daily. In Jesus’ name, Amen.