Matthew 4:1-11
In Jesus’s second temptation, it’s hard to see the allure of throwing oneself off the peak of the temple in hopes that angels will appear to offer protection. Yet a closer look reveals the temptation of demanding God prove himself to our satisfaction. When our ultimate aim is security and protection, God becomes a means to that security and protection. We “test” him then, to see if he is able to serve as a means to our real god, our sense that everything will be all right. Jesus didn’t come to protect himself. He came for the world. He came for the church. He came for us. He bore our reproach, our curse, and our exile. This other-directedness freed Jesus to live out a very different life from the anxiety-filled lives so many carry on.