Misinterpreting Scripture – Luke 4:9-13

I have been spending a lot of time immersed in Jehovah’s Witnesses history and teaching.  They have their own translation of the Bible and in John 1:1 they translate, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”  Their convoluted views on Jesus’ coming, Jesus’ sacrifice, and, of course, Jesus’ being a created person, are a lesson in the misuse of Scripture.  People have learned this lesson well from the master.

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, for it is written,

   “‘He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you,’

     and

   “‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.  (Luke 4:9-13 ESV)

For his third temptation Satan tries to parry Jesus’ use of Scripture with his own (he quotes Psalm 91:11-12).  Somehow he is able to take Jesus to Jerusalem miraculously and set him on the highest point of the temple precinct where there is a precipitous drop to the crowds below.  He challenges him to make good on God’s promise that His angels will guard Jesus by casting himself down and letting everyone see his miraculous rescue by God.  Once again this will impress everyone that he is the Messiah and Jesus can avoid the cross.

But Jesus once again goes to Deuteronomy (6:16) to show the devil that his exposition of the Scriptures is faulty.  The promise God gives in Psalms cannot be the basis for testing God.  We aren’t to purposely put ourselves in harms way just to see how God must deliver us.

Satan realizes that he has failed to compromise the character of Jesus so he leaves and looks for another opportunity later.  Jesus has passed the test that Adam failed to pass.  Jesus has the right now to lead a new humanity, a new race of those who believe in him and submit to the Father.  But the path to that will lead him to the cross where he will have to suffer and die to purchase life for this new humanity.