Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”
Matthew 4:5-6 NIV
The second temptation Jesus faced was on the word of God. As we see in today’s verse, the devil will challenge you on the word of God. When you get on fire for God, reading His word and living according to His will. When you are growing spiritually and trying to base your life and decisions on what God says. The devil will come and try to use that word against you. The devil’s mission is to tamper with your understanding of the word of God. He will, in a subtle way, give an interpretation to the word of God that you know.
Meanwhile, to overcome the first temptation, Jesus quoted the scriptures. It looks to me like the devil saw that Jesus had decided to pattern His life according to the word of God. Jesus was not going to live unguardedly because He was the Son of God. He continued to prove His submission to the will of the Father. So, the devil in a bid to play smart, chose to trip Jesus up based on what He upheld – the Word. The devil thought, ‘Since you intend to live by God’s Word let me quote You a verse of Scripture and see if You will obey it’.
If I may ask, “When the genuineness of your faith in the word of God is tested will you be victorious? Will you not throw caution to the wind by acting without understanding?”
So the devil took Jesus to the highest point of the Temple and told him to jump off. Do something miraculous so people can see and let them see God do a miracle for you. Show them that God always answers you; prove to them. Then they will know how great God is and that you are the Son of God. Trying to convince Jesus to do this selfish act (that is out of the will of God) Satan quoted from Psalm 91:11-12 where God promised to care for His own.
However, Psalm 91 speaks on the need to trust God. Knowing that, when you are doing what God wants you to do, God is going to protect you. What the devil is trying to do is to get Jesus to do something out of God’s will but camouflage it as if it came from God. This is why it is important to know God’s word, not just about it. The devil will use the word of God to confuse you and to mislead you. He will twist God’s word and water it down for you in order for you to think you are living by it when in reality you are living by the devil’s. What was Jesus’ response?
Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
Matthew 4:7 NIV
Jesus knew what the devil was doing. So Jesus reminds the devil that we should make sure we have a good understanding of God’s word for our lives and not place ourselves into circumstances that force God to work miracles on our behalf. The devil’s plan is for us to misunderstand God’s word, misapply it or ignore it altogether. How would you respond to his tricks? Will he not catch you unaware?
