Jesus, tempted by the devil (3) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2024

Then he (Satan) brought him (Jesus) to Jerusalem, set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over you to keep you, and, In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. And Jesus answered and said to him, It has been said, You shall not tempt the LORD your God. Now when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.
Luke 4:9-13.

Jesus, tempted by the devil (3)
The third temptation was of a religious character. Satan knew the Word of God and quoted from the Old Testament. The verses cited are truth: they apply to Christ, the Son of God. But once again Satan found no point of contact: he could not tempt the Son of God to sin.

He wanted Christ to put God to the test. But nothing could move Him to give up His trust in God and His dedication to His will. Proving whether God would stand by His word and preserve His Son amounted to sheer unbelief! Man was not to test God but trust His promises, just as Christ did.

Jesus was tempted in this way right at the beginning of His ministry to reveal his purity and holiness. But it meant intense suffering for Him to be confronted by Satan with these wicked temptations. Christ underwent them out of love towards God and towards believers in order to set us an example how to stand up against temptation, and so that He could understand and help us through His experience, "for in that he himself has suffered, being tempted, he is able to aid those who are tempted" (Hebrews 2:18).

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Today's reading: Isaiah 11:1-12:6 · Acts 24:10-21