Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. Psalm 119:105
Luke 4
Luke 4:12 Jesus answered, ”It says, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” NIV.
Here Jesus responds to what Luke lists as the final temptation in the wilderness. Satan entices Jesus with doing something significant to attract attention and in that way further Jesus’ mission of redemption. He asks Jesus in essence, “Wouldn’t such a spectacular and public rescue cause multitudes of people to believe in You?” Clearly this interchange between Satan and Jesus is highly significant. In part because it displays the underlying tension which Jesus will undergo throughout His life and ministry. Every challenge by the Jewish leaders is a temptation to utilize an improper response to achieve a positive result. Each moment the obtuse disciples fail to grasp a truth also presents a temptation to shortcut the process of discipleship for a quick fix solution for immediate results.
Although it is clear with whom Jesus is conversing – Satan. About whom does He speak in the response? Upon an initial reading it appears clear that the referent is the Lord God Almighty Maker of heaven and earth. As such Jesus responds by saying that He abides by God’s word and will not take an action just to get a spectacular response from God. Viewing the response that way, Jesus is speaking about Himself and His loyalty to the Father.
There is, though, a nuanced implication which can be view not as an alternate understanding but as a simultaneous implication. Jesus is also addressing Satan and that Jesus himself is the referent. In this understanding Jesus says, “Do You not remember to whom You are speaking? I am the eternal Word of God, who was, and is, and is to come. What do you think you will accomplish by trying to test the Lord your God? Think about what you are doing.”
Apparently, Satan did because he left Jesus temporarily. He returned later at what he must have considered his most advantageous opportunity in the garden of Gethsemane. Only to once again fail to dislodge Jesus from His mission and suffer the overwhelming defeat of the resurrection.
May my life be pleasing to You, O God. Increase my faith to obey what You teach me through the Bible. Amen.
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