EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/9/2026
6:48 PM
My
Worship Time Focus:
“Satan
Tempted Christ To Trust God Presumptuously”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke 4:9-12
Message
of the verses: “9
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple
and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from
here, 10 for it is written, "’He
will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’ 11 and “‘On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” 12
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your
God to the test.’” (ESB)
Satan’s first two attempts to lure Jesus into sin had
failed completely, but Satan made one final effort, and as we look at this last
temptation from Luke’s gospel, we can say that in Matthew’s account it was
second. Luke arranged the temptations
thematically rather than chronologically.
Taking Jesus to Jerusalem, Satan had Him stand on the pinnacle
of the temple. That may refer to the
southeast corner of the temple complex, overlooking the Kidron Valley several
hundred feet below. It was there that
the devil said to Jesus, “If (since) You are the Son of God, throw
Yourself down from here.
Jesus had rebuffed Satan twice before by quoting of
Scripture, so Satan now quoted Scripture himself. Now as one thinks about that they can realize
that Satan knows the Bible from front to back, he is not stupid, but he is
evil. Satan even quoted this scripture
in the same way Jesus had: “For it is written, ‘He will command His angels
concerning you to guard you,’ and, ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so
that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Now since Jesus would
not deviate from His obedience to the plan of God, Satan offered Him an
opportunity to allow God to fulfill His word.
The passage the devil quoted (Ps. 91:11-12) is from a messianic Psalm,
where God pledges to protect the Messiah.
The devil hoped that one of the two things would happen if Jesus did
jump. If He was killed by the fall, He
would not die on the cross as a substitute for sin as the Old Testament
predicted that He would. (Psalm 22 and
Isaiah 53 are two references to this.)
Or by forcing God to miraculously deliver Him, Jesus would cease to be
in submission to His plan and will. The
essence of this final temptation was to presume on God, to back Him into a
corner where He would be forced to act.
But Jesus refused to act presumptuously.
Instead, Jesus countered Satan’s twisting of the Scripture by quoting
another passage from the book of Deuteronomy “16 "You shall not put the LORD your God to
the test, as you tested him at Massah.”
“This type of temptation is perhaps the most subtle and
dangerous” writes John MacArthur, “of
the three, because it seemingly encourages people to exercise faith in
God. In reality, it arrogantly, brazenly
demands things from God, turning Him into a utilitarian genie who grants people’s
every whim. That false view of faith,
promoted in its most extreme form by the so-called prosperity gospel (also know
as the ‘name it and claim it’ movement), in essence makes man sovereign. If the right formula is used, God has to
respond. When He does not deliver the
goods they have claimed by faith, however, many become disillusioned and abandon
Him.
“In contrast to that false, even
blasphemous view of faith, true faith humbly submits to God’s will. It prays, as Jesus taught, ‘Your will be
done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:10; cf. Luke 22:42).”
(Matt. 6:10; cf. Luke 22:42)
“10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on
earth as it is in heaven.”
42 saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove
this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.’”
5/9/2026
7:13 PM
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