Hello my friends. Life seems to have
its bumps right now, so I am not getting these out as regularly as I would
like. Please pray for me, that I would be able to get each post written,
without them interfering with my callings as God’s child, wife, and mother.
Please know I am NOT complaining. I love writing and feel God has called me to
do this. I just need to keep my priorities straight, as we all do.
I want to thank you all for praying
for me. After a long bout of Vertigo, and visiting 3 doctors, it is finally
gone. Praise God! I am back to driving and living normally! Yay!
Ok, back to our study. We have been
talking about the revelation I have had that Jesus truly understands the things
I go through. When I go to Him, He can actually relate and how I came to this
“light bulb” moment.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not
have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who
in every respect has been tempted as
we are, yet without sin. (ESV)
Let’s take a quick review. In Part 1
we talked about that Jesus understands us because He IS one of us. He came to
this earth as a human. Jesus could physically, and emotionally feel everything
that we feel. The one difference was Jesus was perfect and did not sin.
Then in Part 2 we looked at the first
temptation Satan brought to Jesus. Satan tempted Him with food. A temptation of
the physical body, something we can all relate to. Jesus resisted the
temptation by relying on God to provide for Him and so can I.
Today we will look at the 2nd
temptation. On a side note, this will obviously be more than 3 parts. There is
more to cover than I realized. I hope you are getting as much out of it as I
am! Anyway…
Satan and Jesus now go to the top of
the temple in Jerusalem. Satan starts telling Jesus, “Throw yourself off of
this temple, if you are really who you say you are.” (my paraphrase) Can’t you
just hear the sarcasm, nagging and even contempt in his voice? OOH just irks
me! Then Satan even has the nerve to “quote” scripture. Here’s what he says,
Matthew 4:6 …“‘He will command his angels
concerning you,’ and “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest
you strike your foot against a stone.’” (ESV)
But,
like most things Satan does, he twists this scripture to say what he wanted it
to say, not what it actually says. He leaves out the part that the angels are
there to guard Jesus. This is what the verse actually says.
Psalm 91:11-12 11For
he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways 12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone. (ESV)
The angels are not there for Jesus to
take matters into His own hands. As Jesus states in John 6:38, He is there to
do “the will of him who sent me.” Jesus is on earth to do what God sent Him to
do, die on the cross for us.
So Jesus responds to Satan with
Deuteronomy 6:16. He tells Satan that when we test God we sin, and Jesus is not
going to test God. That would be like me saying ok “God, I need you to prove to
me that you are God. So I’m going to run into this eighteen-wheeler and I want
you to keep me from having an accident.” REALLY? Yes, he wants us to trust Him,
but He wants us to do it without sinning and using the brain He gave us!
With this temptation, Satan appeals to
Jesus as a human by trying to use His mind against Him. Specifically playing
mind games with Him by not quoting scripture accurately. Then Satan wants Jesus
to usurp God’s authority and command the angels to rescue Him.
Does Jesus need to prove His power to
Satan or anyone else? Do I need God to prove to me that He is all-powerful?
Don’t I see God’s power evidenced through out my life?
What I do need to do is watch very
carefully how Satan use things that seem good for my harm. We cannot forget…
I Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your
adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to
devour. (ESV)
As I look at
this temptation, I realize a little more, that Jesus gets me, because He
actually understands how I think. Wow! Doesn’t matter if I’m a man or a woman.
He understands how humans think. I’m not even sure I get that. What a comfort!
Living in Grace,
Angie
These are the sites I
used as references.
Temptation of Jesus: Links
to the commentaries and blogs I used-
This one you will have
to scroll down to the 5 blogs titled Temptation of Jesus Part I- Temptation of
Jesus Part V
You are absolutely right! He understands us and He loves us outrageously anyway.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great line of thought and encouragement Angie!