EXPLORE THE TEXT
We can trust God’s faithfulness without demanding miracles.
5 Then the devil took him to the holy city,
had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
For it is written: He will give his angels orders concerning you,
and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
7 Jesus told him, “It is also written:
Do not test the Lord your God.”
Scholars have different ideas about where this pinnacle of the temple might be.
Note that some believe it could be the part of Solomon’s Porch,
which rose to more than 450 feet above the Kidron Valley.
Others think it could have been an area known as Herod’s portico,
which also rose high above Kidron.
The exact location is not as important as Satan’s purpose for bringing Jesus there.
briefly discuss the second temptation
identify keywords or phrases.
Talk about how those terms are significant to the story.
Explain Satan’s attempted use of Scripture and Jesus’s response by highlighting this content from page 16 of the PSG:
Jesus defeated Satan in round one by quoting the Word of God.
Satan now tried to turn the tables on Jesus by using the Word of God himself.
His implication was:
“Jesus, if you believe so strongly in Scripture,
then use the Word of God to prove that You are the Son of God.”
Quoting from Psalm 91:11-12,
Satan challenged Jesus to throw Himself off the top of the temple into the valley below. .Satan misused Scripture, taking verses out of context.
The psalm speaks of a life lived in God’s will.
When our lives are lived in His will, God can be counted on to protect and provide for us.
For Jesus to misuse this verse and jump off the temple in a spectacular fashion would place Him outside of God’s will.
Jesus used another Scripture, Deuteronomy 6:16,
to reject Satan’s temptation.
He understood the meaning of the passage that Satan was twisting,
so He could respond with wisdom and the authority of God’s truth.
Context matters when it comes to understanding and applying God’s Word in our lives.
We have to be careful to avoid the temptation to twist God’s Word
to fit our own ideas and agendas.