Matthew 4:5 ESV
Matthew 4:1 (the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness)
Matthew 3:13-16 (Baptism of Jesus)
Matthew 3:17 ESV
Matthew 4:6 ESV
Psalm 91:11 ESV
Psalm 91:1-10 ESV
Psalm 91:12 ESV
Matthew 4:7 (Jesus did not need to put God to the test)
I’ve had a ‘thing’ about angels since 1967 when I went to hear Billy Graham at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. I was a young teenager.
I don’t know how I knew angels were there that night…I just knew it.
I could feel them.
I could hear their wings.
I knew they surrounded the stadium, guarding and protecting everyone there.
Several years later Billy Graham wrote a book about angels entitled, “Angels: God’s Secret Agents” and I read it cover to cover several times. I started asking my dad questions about angels as well. I was young (as I see it now) but I came to view Angels as God’s Secret Angels on earth. I was a newlywed when I read the book. It had a huge impact on my life and my theology.
When the devil challenged Jesus in the wilderness, one of the major challenges he brought before Jesus involved angels. In Matthew 4:5 we learn,“Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple.”
We are told as Matthew 4:1 began that the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He would be tempted by the devil.
God had a plan. It’s been my experience that God always has a plan for me and part of God’s plan includes preparing me for what is to come. The wilderness was where God was preparing Jesus for what was to come. God knew many people would try Him and tempt Him during His time on earth.
God was showing Jesus what to expect on earth. God knew many people and groups would put Jesus to the test. God knew Jesus would not be given special treatment because of who He was…the opposite was true! Throughout His ministry, Jesus was challenged again and again, even to the end. Even at the cross Jesus was challenged.
God was teaching Jesus that when He would receive shouts of praise for being the great healer, great humility would be required. It’s difficult for us to separate God the Father from God the Son because they are ONE. However, we have to remember that while Jesus was fully divine, He was also fully human. As a human being, He could have been tempted to receive their shouts of praise as a human would receive it. Jesus HAD to remain humble in order for Him to accomplish what He was sent to do.
Just prior to Jesus’ time in the wilderness he was baptized by John the Baptist. In John 3:13-17 when Jesus showed up wanting John to baptize Him, John knew the significance of that moment. John was thinking it should be Jesus who baptized him, but Jesus let John know His baptism needed to happen. For sure, the instant Jesus came out of the water after John baptized Him, the heavens opened and the Spirit of God descended on Him. In Matthew 3:17 we are told, “and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
Many witnessed Jesus’ baptism and they saw the Spirit descend on Jesus and they heard the voice of God proclaim the truth about Jesus. The devil saw it as well and took it as an outright challenge.
In Matthew 4:6 the devil, “said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you.”
The devil was trying to goad Jesus into a match right then and there. The devil was taunting Jesus to prove He is the Son of God. He even quoted scripture! Psalm 91:11 says, “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.”
The devil used the words of Moses in Psalm 91 to subliminally suggest to Jesus that God really should help Him more.
Prior to Psalm 91:11 in Psalm 91:1-10, Moses wrote, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.”
Satan was hoping Jesus would take the bait when he quoted Psalm 91.
The devil was reminding Jesus of the promises Moses made about God in that Psalm. He promised God would be a refuge. Moses wrote that God could be trusted to deliver. He spoke of God’s faithfulness all night and throughout the day. The devil wanted Jesus to remember the promise that the thousands and even tens of thousands will not move Him and no evil or plague will come to Him because God is His refuge.
By quoting Psalm 91:11, Satan was reminding Jesus of the words Moses wrote in Psalm 91:12, “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
The devil was daring Jesus as if to say, ‘throw yourself down…I’m sure the Angels will come’.
The devil really was saying, IF God really loves you, He will bear you up so you will not be harmed.
What the devil was really hoping is that because Jesus hadn’t eaten for 40 days and He was really hungry, thirsty, and really really tired, He would mess up and say something He didn’t really mean to say.
That could have happened…but it didn’t.
Instead, Jesus thought of God the Father and He told Satan He would not fail. He did not need to put God to the test (Matthew 4:7).
That’s because even though Jesus was fully human, He was also fully divine. Even when He was really hungry, really thirsty, and really really tired, Jesus was ONE with the Father and the Spirit and He knew He could trust in the plan.
Spiritual Practice: Trust
Say to God, “I trust You.” Even when we are really tired and weak, we CAN trust God.
In God, Deborah
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