The STRUCTURE of the Ministry of Jesus in Jerusalem

Having briefly written about the SETTING of His ministry, I wish to write on the composition and structure of the Lord’s ministry, hopefully in an approach that will show some interpretation and analysis of Jesus’ ministry in a number of His visits up to Jerusalem at various crucial times throughout His earthly ministry.

First Visit to Jerusalem ... Insight to Future Ministry.

When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male child is to be consecrated to the Lord") and to offer sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: "A pair of doves or two young pigeons" (Luke 2:22-24)

This act is in line and accord with the Old Testament Mosaic regulations as displayed in (Leviticus 12:1-4) The Lord said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites: A woman who becomes pregnant and gives birth to a son will be ceremonially unclean for seven days, just as she is unclean during her monthly period. On the eighth day the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go up to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over".
The fortieth day having arrived, Joseph and Mary go up to Jerusalem from Bethlehem. From any place or location in Israel one always goes up to Jerusalem, always up to the Temple in Jerusalem. We are now very much aware of two important facts here, not only the mother’s purification but also the child’s presentation.
The purification ended with a Sacrifice (Luke 2:24). The presentation of Jesus mentioned in verse 22 and 25f. refer to and included Redemption, the payment of a ransom fee.
On the fortieth day The Redeemer was Himself Redeemed! Not in the sense that Jesus was going to redeem His people and indeed all people of course, for He is, and ever will remain sinless.
The bedrock underlying truth of the Redemption is this: in the night of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt "the house of bondage" all the firstborn Egyptian’s were slain (Exodus12: 29). Also in God’s sight all the Israelites had forfeited their lives too. However in place of death God was willing to accept from the tribe of Levi livelong service in the Tabernacle, later in the Temple, and from all the tribes five shekels for the firstborn as a symbolic offering.
Jesus too was under the sentence of death, He was born "under the Law" (Galatians 4:4), and this in the sense not only of being under personal obligation to keep the Law but also of being duty -bound - with a duty to which He had voluntarily obligated Himself - vicariously (suffered, undergone, or done as the substitute for another, taking the place of another) to bear the Law’s demands and penalty and satisfy its rigid demand of perfect obedience.

Jesus had no personal guilt, but had of His own free will taken upon Himself the sin of the world (Isaiah 53:4-6). "Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken of God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all". A key reference in the New Testament is (John 1:29), "The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ". It would appear the redemption fee paid at this time was a symbol of the infinitely greater ransom to which Jesus would later refer to, in saying, "The Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28 see also Mark 10:45). 
It was in connection with the payment of the redemption fee that Joseph and Mary publicly consecrated their forty day old child to God, as Samuel had once being similarly dedicated, recorded in the earlier writings (1 Samuel. 11, 28).

On this first visit of Jesus as a baby to the Temple in Jerusalem Joseph and Mary brought the purification sacrifice. According to (Leviticus 12:6f.) "A lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering". We note here that the same Law states, "If she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for sin offering" (Leviticus 12:8).

It was this poor person’s offering that was brought in this case.

The reason for this choice, was not that Joseph and Mary were desperately poor. We know after all that Joseph was a highly skilled craftsman, a carpenter. He must have had sufficient money to pay the redemption fee for Jesus. Also the circumstances surrounding this very special little family, show on the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, he must have been solvent enough to pay lodging fees and cover incidental expenses. Besides, for forty days the family had been living in or near Bethlehem. Whether during this time Joseph found work and earned wages we do not know, though Jewish craftsmen were known to be hard working and thrifty. One fact however is crystal clear: the means, the money, at Joseph’s disposal were insufficient to purchase the more expensive offering of the lamb plus the bird. 
Turtledoves are migratory birds flying in flocks over the Land of Israel, (Jesus at a later date, told His hearers to consider the birds of the air). and so can only be obtained from spring through till autumn, but there was always plenty of pigeons available all year round. One could buy two young pigeons or turtledoves for much less than a tenth of the amount demanded to purchase a lamb plus a bird.
So we see real people in a very real world, caring for their young child Jesus, dealing with immense issues of heart and mind, going up to Jerusalem, counting the loose change, at this time where prophecy and pigeons meet and merge in the unfolding Will of God. Simple and yet sublime.

Second Visit to Jerusalem ( 12 years of age)

Days slip into months, and months into years, the mystery we call time moves on relentlessly. The forty-day-old baby boy, soon became an upwardly growing twelve-year-old boy. So through the coming of a little child the Divine Work of mending a broken world was begun. (Luke 2:40 ff.) "And the child grew and became strong; He was filled with wisdom, and the Grace of God was upon Him. Every year His parents went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while His parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking He was in their company, they travelled on for a day. then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find Him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him. After three days they found Him in the Temple Courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Every one who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers.
When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. His mother said to Him, " Son why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you".
"Why are you searching for Me?" He asked "Didn’t you know I had to in My Father’s House?" But they did not understand what He was saying to them.
Then He went down to Jerusalem with them and was obedient to them. But His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."

This incident is so important to our understanding of the early years in which Jesus was preparing for His future ministry. It shines like a bright star in the darkness of the unrecorded years. The impenetrable veil is parted, giving us access to that which is an almost unfathomable mystery of His self-awareness and self-revelation of this wonderful young Jewish boy.

We are aware of the influence exerted upon His early education by Joseph and Mary, especially by His mother, this is implied throughout the Gospel writings. Of course, His, was a loving pious Jewish home; and at Nazareth there was a synagogue, with possibly a school attached. In that little synagogue Moses and all the Prophets would be read and taught. Discourses and sermons and addresses would be delivered on a regular basis. At a later date Jesus Himself would stand up to read, (Luke 4 : 15ff.) He went to Nazareth, where He had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day He went into the synagogue, as was His custom. And He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written:
The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and the recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.
Then He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him, and He began by saying to them, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." 
All spoke well of Him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from His lips. "Isn’t this Joseph’s son?" they asked.

The mind of Jesus was thoroughly saturated with the Sacred Scriptures - He was so familiar with them in their every detail. It is thought by some scholars that the home at Nazareth possessed a precious copy of its own of the entire Sacred Volume, which from earliest childhood would feed and strengthen the understanding of the Saviour. An Interesting thought .....!

This familiarity from earliest childhood with the Scriptures in the original Hebrew also explains how at the age of twelve Jesus could be found "in the Temple; sitting in the midst of the doctors and teachers, both hearing them and asking questions". It is generally thought that on this occasion referred to, Jesus had gone up to the Temple in Jerusalem as being "of age" in the Jewish sense of the expression, or, to use their own terms as a "Bar Mitzvah," or "Son of the Commandment," by which obligations and privileges were conferred on the youth, and he became a full member of the congregation. 

I have listened to preachers at various times and in various Churches and Chapels preach this, as a fact, in the life of Jesus. However I believe a little caution and research may be helpful in this area of ministry. Having attended a number of "Bar Mitzvah's" in the Street Lane Synagogue in my local area in the City of Leeds, as an invited quest, one is aware that the legal age for this meaningful service was not twelve, but thirteen (Ab. V. 21). On the other hand, the Rabbinical Law encouraged (Yoma, 82 a) that even before the legal age was reached lads should be brought up to the Temple, two years, or at least one year before, to witness and share in the events of the festive rites. It was a common sense thing to do for the boys.

It is with certainty and in conformity to this Biblical custom that Jesus went on the occasion named to the Temple. Again we also know that is was the practise of the members of the Sanhedrin - who on ordinary days sat as judicatories, from the close of the morning sacrifice to the time of the evening sacrifice - to come out on the Sabbath and feast -days on to the "the Terrace of the Temple," and there mix and mingle with the people in Jerusalem.

It was a general public event, lots of talking, teaching, exposition of Scripture, great liberty and freedom. People would be asking questions, discussing, objecting at times to statements made. All taking an intelligent part in these open debates. These open lectures took place during the "Moed Katon," or the Minor feast days between the second and last day of the Passover week.

Jesus took a very active part throughout, meanwhile Joseph and Mary, had, as allowed by Law, returned home towards Nazareth on the third day of the Passover Week, whilst the twelve year old Jesus had remained behind.
So these circumstances and customs also explain why His appearance in the midst of the doctors and teachers, although very remarkable considering His young age, did not command attention or concern.
In fact, the only qualification required to be part of the proceedings on the Temple terraces was a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures in the Hebrew language, and a proper understanding of these Scriptures. Jesus was outstanding on both counts. We see this time and time again in His life-giving ministry. He would often say to the people, "Have you not read?" (Matthew12:3) "-- Haven't you read what David did ---" (Matthew 12:5) "Or haven’t you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the Temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? I tell you that One greater than the Temple is here." (Matthew19:4) "Haven’t you read," He replied, "that at the beginning the Creator made them male and female...". (Matthew 21:13), ""It is written He said to them, "My House will be called a House of Prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers". ( Matthew 22:29f.) Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the Power of God. At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in Heaven. But about the resurrection of the dead - Have you not read what God said to you, I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
Jesus was twelve years of age, with an immense understanding and insight of the Hebrew Scriptures. Jesus handled these Scriptures with ease, clarity and compassion. The Word of God was indeed the flashing sword of the Saviour, He was to use its inherent power on every occasion throughout His life-giving ministry. He would confront men and woman from every civilian, military and religious rank, He would deal decisively with devil and demon in the proclamation of the Gospel. His Word of Power was built and based on the entire writings of the Sacred Scriptures as a complete whole. Preaching and teaching the Word from Genesis to Malachi. Scripture to Jesus was a full and complete whole, not a collection of disconnected jigsaw pieces. He will remain forever the supreme example to all who minister the Gospel in truth. 

Jesus believed in the Supremacy of all Scripture and the Primacy of Preaching.

That was His way. It should be our way too.

The young Jewish boy returned home to Nazareth, in perfect obedience to Joseph and Mary, and in perfect obedience to His Father in Heaven, so was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene". (Matthew 2:23)
We move on with the years, and we arrive at a moment when Heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him (Matthew 3:16). And a voice from Heaven said, "This is My Son, whom I love, with Him I am well pleased." Immediately after this declaration and manifestation of the Deity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In characteristic style (Mark 1:12-13) writes, "At once the Spirit sent Jesus out into the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan. Graphically he adds, "He was with the wild animals and angels attended Him". In Jesus day there were many more species of wild animal in Israel, including lions, than today. Only Mark reports their presence in this connection, he emphasises that God kept Jesus safe in the desert. Angels attended Him, as they had attended the Children of Israel during their forty years in the desert. (Exodus 23:20, 23; 32:34.) The desert experience of Jesus is recorded in much greater detail in Matthew 4:1-11, and Luke 41-13. the next visit of Jesus to Jerusalem is in connection with these accounts.
The Third Visit of Jesus to Jerusalem ... Triumph over Satanic Temptations.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is written: Man does not live on bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth ."
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 your self 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". Jesus answered him, "It is also written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour. "All this will I give you" he said, "if you bow down and worship me." Jesus said to him, "Away from Me Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him." Then the devil left Him, and the angels and attended Him. (Matthew 4:1-11).
Here in the desert wilderness we are standing on Holy ground, and listening to the very words of Jesus Himself. For the duration of those forty days and nights Jesus was utterly alone, with not another soul near Him, not a disciple or a friend or anyone to see what happened and to tell the event afterward.
Yet the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, and Luke are able between them to give a vivid and detailed account. There is only one explanation to what happened out there in the desert, far from the beaten track and the eyes and ears of men: the facts came direct from the lips of Jesus Himself.
Divine Self-revelation of a titanic struggle in the wild and desolate loneliness, of the rocks and crags. With the fierce sun beating down by day and the cutting night wind moaning in the night hours. Dangerous prowling beasts, starving hunger, demon voices whispering to His heart and mind, the grace of God and the angels brought Him through the ordeal.
Jesus told His disciples of His temptation and testing, because He was compelled to tell them. He had to share with them in this great matter. The titanic struggle He had been through could not be totally silenced. Indeed the whole Gospel and our personal hopes are bound up with a Saviour "who was in all points tempted" - not just here and there, but in all points - "like as we are" (Hebrews 4:15). It will be helpful at this point to refresh our mind with the tremendous truth recorded in Matthew 3:16-17 ... "As soon as Jesus was baptised, He went up out of the water. At that moment Heaven was opened, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him. And a voice from Heaven said, "This is My Son," with Him I am well pleased." 
Events surrounding Jesus’ baptism reveal the intense religious excitement and social ferment of the early days of John the Baptist’s ministry. Herod had been rapacious and extravagant; Roman military occupation was harsh. Some agitation centred around the charge of procurators from Gratus to Pilate in A.D. 26. Most of the people hoped for a religious solution to their problems and their low political fortunes, and when they heard of a new prophet, they flocked out into the desert to hear him. The religious sect (Essenes) from Qumran professed similar doctrines of repentance and baptism. Jesus was baptised at Bethany on the other side of Jordan (John 1:28). John also baptised at ‘Aenon near Salim’ (John 3:23).
The testing / temptation took place in (1) the desert region of the lower Jordan Valley, (2) a high mountain (possibly one of the sheer abrupt cliffs near Jericho that present an unsurpassed panorama) and (3) the pinnacle of the temple, from which the priests sounded the trumpet to call the city’s attention to important events.
Three key concepts are clear from Jesus’ baptism, and call, and testing. The whole focus of this event is on Jesus’ ‘commissioning’ not just a public revelation of His Mission. He is the Davidic Messiah, the Son of God, and the Servant whose mission is to bear the sins of His people.
Again there is no suggestion that Jesus became Son of God at His Baptism. It was a pivotal experience not in that it made Jesus anything which He was not already, but that it launched Him on the Mission for which He had long prepared, and defined that Mission in terms of Old Testament expectation.
Satan’s intention was no doubt to make Jesus do wrong, persuade Jesus to do wrong in the testing in the desert. But we do well to remember in all these events that the initiative was with God (Matthew 4:1). and the whole emphasis of the narrative is on the testing of Jesus‘ reaction to His Messianic vocation as Son of God. The initiative always lies with God, not with Satan. I feel this is a vital and crucial truth.
Certainly in the ‘Testing of God’s Son’ in Matthew’s order of events we have a specific examination of Jesus’ newly revealed relationship with His Father also we note that Satan ‘drops his disguise as it were’, to reveal his true aim and purpose.
The focus of the testing of Jesus in the desert is on the Old Testament Scriptures. Parallels between Jesus’ experience and that of Moses (vv2, 8). are clearly seen. Forty days and forty nights. The number itself recalls the experience of Moses (Exodus 24:18; 34:28). and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8). as well as the 40 years of Israel’s temptation/testing in the desert (Deuteronomy 8:2-3). We note also that Jesus as the Son of God, could surely claim with absolute confidence the physical protection with God promises in (Psalm 91:11-12 and throughout the Psalm). to those who fully trust and believe in Him. Satan strategy is centred around these wonderful promises of protection and safety. So why not try it by forcing God’s hand (and so silence any lingering doubts about His relationship with God)? However to do so would indeed be to tempt God.
The Son of God can live only in a relationship of trust which needs no test. Christians perplexed by the apparently thin line between ‘the prayer of faith’ and ‘putting God to the test’ should fully understand and note that the devil’s suggestion was of an artificially created crisis, not of trusting God in situations which result from faithful and obedient ministry, service and witness.
To focus on the theme of my essay I will investigate the second testing of Jesus in Jerusalem at this point of writing. 
The choosing of the place is evidence again of the sly cunning of the devil. ‘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 angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."
Jesus answered him, "It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ "
"The Holy City," and in the Holy City "the Temple," and in the Temple the "Highest Point." Every sentence in the narrative is descriptive, and carries its own particular value. What this place meant to Jesus is difficult for us to fully understand. Jerusalem was the very centre of the deepest life of the nation, all the hopes and aspirations of the thinking people were there. The devout child of Abraham, in whatever part of the world he found himself in, turned his face to the City of Jerusalem as his heart went out to the God of his Father’s in prayer. Thousands of Jewish people would join in the prayer of the Psalmist (137:5) "If I forget Jerusalem, Let my right hand forget her skill".
Jesus of Nazareth was certainly no exception to that rule. He loved the City of Jerusalem. He came to it again and again, and when at last its people’s finally rejected Him, as he knew would happen, and it was necessary that He should pronounce it’s doom. He did so, heart and voice enveloped in emotion, and the curse pronounced was wet with the tears of His love and compassion.
To this place the devil conducted Him. This place that reminded Him of all God’s past dealings with His People, and the City which was the centre of the promises of God through the patriarchs and the Hebrew prophets, through the sweet singers and psalmists and writers of old. Here Satan brought Jesus to attack His trust in God!
If the City was dear to the heart of most Jewish people, the Temple was even more so. It was the centre of the City. Indeed, the City was great, primarily because it contained and was built and gathered around, the Temple. Of all the nations on the face of the earth only Israel as a nation was a theocracy, they were under the immediate government of God, and His place of communication and revelation was of course the Temple. It was in a very real sense the peculiar glory of Jerusalem. Even when spiritual values were low, there still remained in the heart of many Jewish people a veneration for that Temple, all that was worthwhile, all that was the highest and best in their chequered yet wonderful history, experience, and hope was here. It was indeed the very House of God.
Just how precious it was to the Saviour is recorded for us in many ways, especially, perhaps, by the fact that at the beginning and the close of His ministry Jesus cleansed it from the traffickers. (How and why I will cover later in the essay). How often Jesus would stand in its courts, and walk down its porches, and speak to all the people in crowds at times, to small groups and to individuals as the situation presented itself. The Temple was the centre of the national life, the place at which the religion of the Jewish people had its supreme manifestation and expression, the splendid symbol of that precious principle of faith in God, on which the whole nation had been created, and to this sacred place the devil brought Jesus. 
Again I am forcibly aware that in these incredible events the initiative was with God Himself.
Place With A Past.
We are not surprised that Matthew the Jew, calls Jerusalem "The Holy City". Many cherished memories are associated with Jerusalem or Zion. Was it not the city where David, Christ’s great ancestor, had established his throne? Had not God promised to dwell there? This was the city to which the tribes went up to give thanks to the name of Jehovah. 
Pinpointing the Pinnacle.
To this city the devil by God’s sufferance has brought Jesus, and has set Him on the very pinnacle (literally wing) - the temple had no pinnacles as such, of the outer wall of the entire temple complex. The exact spot is not given. It may have been the roof-edge of Herod’s royal portico, overhanging the Kedron Valley, and looking down some four hundred and fifty feet, a "dizzy height," as Josephus points out (Antiq XV.412). This place was located southeast of the temple court, perhaps at or near the place from which, according to tradition, James the Lord’s brother, was hurled down. 
Satan, Sandals and Sharp-edged Stones.
"Since you are the Son of God," whispers the tempter "throw your self down." His reasoning was probably along the line, "You will be able to prove your confidence in the Father’s protection a confidence which Jesus had just affirmed (verse 4), "Beside, if Scripture, which You so readily quote, is true, no harm will come to You, for it is written, ‘He will give His angels instructions concerning You.’ They will not merely arrest your fall. No, they will do more. Very tenderly they will bear You up in their hands, lest You, wearing only sandals, should hurt Yourself by striking your foot against the sharp-edged stones at the bottom of the drop.’"
Shadow of the Almighty. Safety of all Saints.
The passage quoted is from Psalm 91:11,12. As quoted by the devil, there is, an omission, which is important for us to grasp. Psalm 91:11 ends with the words "to guard you in all your ways." Matthew 4:6 contains nothing to correspond to this. Luke 4:10 merely has "to guard you." So we note in both these Gospels the words "in all your ways" are left out. When these words are included, God promises to protect the righteous man in all his righteous ways; for these are the ways of the man who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, abides under the shadow of the Almighty and has found his refuge in Jehovah, upon whom he has set his love. They are the ways of the saint (Proverbs 2:8). the good man (Proverbs 2:20). It is to such a man that the words apply, "He will give his angels charge concerning you. to guard you in all your ways." When these words "in all your ways" are omitted, it becomes easier to interpret the passage as if it were a promise of God to protect the righteous no matter what he does! So read, the passage would seem to correspond more closely with what the devil wants Jesus to do.
Rushing in Rashness is be Rejected.
However, this point is probably of minor importance, since what Satan omits amounts to far more than a few words in a quotation. The devil omits any reference to the Scriptural truth that the Lord does not condone but condemns and will punish reckless rashness, or any trifling with divine providence, or any rushing into totally unwarranted danger. The following Biblical incidents will emphasis this important point. 1...(Genesis 13:10, 11) "Lot looked up and saw the whole plain of the Jordan was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt towards Zoar. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of Jordan and set out towards the east." -- Rushing into a rash decision, a bad choice. 2...(Psalm 19:13) "Keep your servant also from wilful sins; may they not rule over me. Then will I be blameless, innocent of great transgressions. -- Prevent wilful rash and sinful actions in my life. 3....(Daniel 4:28-33) "All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?" The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken away from you. You will be driven away from the people and will live with wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most high is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird." --- Instant retribution for proud and rash words of mouth by the most powerful man in the world at that time. God reduced the reigning monarch to a rummaging misfit, from governor to one who grovelled in the grass! "And those who walk in pride He is able to humble." states (Daniel 4:37). in stark reality. 
4.... (Romans 1:30). "They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless." -- God will give to each person according to what he has done. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 2:6, 9). Here we have Paul writing in a direct manner as always, and dealing with the sinful heart of men and the inevitable consequences of their ruthless rashness. 5.... (2Peter 2:10). This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord". -- This is especially true, the arrogant heretics of Peter’s day are highlighted in this 5th. example from Scripture of God’s hatred of wickedness at every level of human behaviour and activity. This behaviour of constantly trifling with God’s providence on every level of behaviour will one day reap its reward. A new Channel 5 TV. show is now been transmitted, a so-called comedy programme with the title ‘God Almighty’ a dreadful choice of title thought up by evil, arrogant producers and writers! I am reminded of a Red Shield outreach by the Salvation Army some time ago with the theme across the nation ‘For God’s Sake Give!’ Whoever thought of that particular phrase was lacking in tact, discernment or reverence. Rash choices, rash actions, each testing God’s Grace in a very off-hand manner. Foolish men and woman moving in circles of unwarranted danger.
Human action of this manner will inevitably result eventually in Divine reaction. The day of ignorance and wilful rashness in sin will give way to the day in God’s plan of reality and retribution. Only the acceptance of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ can prevent such a negative and final conclusion in these serious matters concerning fallen humanity. Only the Cross can cancel the indictment against wilful men. The responsibility of preaching the Gospel, is of course with every Gospel preacher called by the Lord to minister to their own generation. What an awesome calling is ours.
Satan’s proposal, here at the Temple was subtle and calculating. Seeking to prove the Father by luring His Son to take part in a skydiving exercise from the very summit of the sacred building.
Jesus however does not slip into the entrapment, He knew to do so would be substituting rashness and presumption for His complete and entire faith and trust in His Father. It would display a false trust in His Father in this second wilderness temptation, and would have been an act of rashness at the very highest level, for it would have meant nothing less than to risk self-destruction through false trust.
The Lord Jesus, rejected the sly proposal of the devil, and redemption’s plans and purpose’s remained securely intact and on course, His sinless body remained the perfect sacrifice. His precious Blood would be shed on the Cross at Calvary, not on the sharp jagged rocks and boulders laying at the foot of the Temple precipice. Jesus refused to experiment with His Father by compliance with such a Satanic proposal. So much was at risk here, and the Lord Jesus in absolute control gained a wonderful victory. The Master was masterly in dealing with malignancy.
Rabbinical Tradition Lacks Real Validity.
"When the king, Messiah, reveals Himself, then he comes and stands on the roof of the holy place" states an ancient rabbinical tradition, and based on the statement of old, a number of commentators and writers are of the opinion that the tempter was trying to suggest that Jesus, by casting Himself from the Temple’s pinnacle, would establish himself as being indeed the Messiah, for, after a miraculous safe, soft landing, the crowd, having watched the descent with bated breath, would shout with excitement, "Look, He is unhurt. He must be the Messiah!" 
For Jesus, so the argument continues, this would then be an easy way to success. The cross with its shame would be avoided, the crown with its splendour, obtained without struggle, pain or agony.
It is an interesting Jewish theory only, for there is no valid support for it. No crowds or spectators are even mentioned in the Gospel narratives. More importantly, Jesus, in his reply does not refer to anything of the kind. Like so many fanciful and colourful theories the entire idea is better dismissed. Luke 16:31 argues against it "He said to him,’ If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
The reason why Jesus peremptorily rejects the devil’s proposal is clearly stated in Matthew 4:7. Jesus said to him, ‘It is also written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ A quotation from (Deuteronomy 6:16). which in turn speaks of the situation of the Israelites described in Exodus 17:1-7. how at a place called Massah and Meribah the people made trial of the Lord and rebelled against Moses because of the lack of drinking water. They accused Moses of having cruelly brought them, their children, and their cattle, out of Egypt and into the desert, to destroy them! They were almost ready to stone him to death, and instead of trusting the Lord, they rashly, insolently and provocatively challenged God, by saying "Is Jehovah among us or not?". 
Jesus knows that similar behaviour on His part, by unnecessarily exposing Himself to danger just to test and see what His Father’s reaction might be, whether He would be with Him, or not, would amount to grievous transgression. In that it has absolutely nothing to do with humbly trusting in the protecting care and safety promised in Psalm 91. He therefore calmly answers the tempter with Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:16).
False Confidence or Faith Centred in Jesus.
Daily life all around us displays many and ample examples of false and rash confidence, similar to that which the devil urged Jesus to exercise. A person will pray with much passion for sound health and a fit body, whilst ignoring the common sense rules of health, such as a good diet, and regular exercise. Or he will expect God’s blessing on his life and neglect every means of grace provided for him. study of Scripture, attendance at the House of the Lord, living a life that benefits other people in any way and is self-centred. Again some plead for their families and children, but fail to speak or lovingly witness to them at any time or place. Some put themselves in dubious environments, books, TV, computer inter-net sites, then ask for holiness in their life's. -- "You should not put the Lord your God to the test" is the answer to these ongoing problems.

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