Matthew 4:6 NASB
[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;
and ‘On their hands they will bear You up,
So that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.'”
Study
The temptations follow the same pattern as those in paradise (Genesis 3). Everything is built on questioning God’s spoken word:
▪︎ “Did God Say?”
▪︎ and “If Thou be the Son of God”.
After satan was confronted with the power of the Word of God and Jesus’ trust in the Father in the first temptation, Satan now used the same means (the great imitator) and turned to Jesus’ trusting in God.
He quoted Psalm 91:11-12, which contains a promise to the believers.
So the devil can use scriptures, but he takes them out of context and applies them incorrectly. (We also see the same happening with false teachers, as a result of which many are misled).
Here he was trying to tempt Jesus to prove the truth of God’s promise.
But Jesus did not accept the offer, because He had confidence in His Father, and proofs and tests are signs of lack of faith and trust.
So here too the temptation was aimed to disrupt the relationship between Jesus and the Father.
Twitter: @SchoemakerHarry
Website 1: https://devotionals.harryschoemaker.nl
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