Stepping Away from the Ledge - Dr. Russell Moore

"Then the Devil took Him to Jerusalem and set Him on the highest point of the temple, and said to Him, "If you are the God's Son, throw yourself down from here. For the scripture says, 'God will order His angels to take good care of you.' It also says, 'They will hold you up with their hands so that not even your feet will be hurt on the stones.' But Jesus answered, "The scripture says, 'Do not put the Lord Your God to the test.' When the devil finished tempting Jesus in every way, he left him for a while." -Luke 4: 9-13

No one is exempt from fear, especially the fear of not being protected. In the wilderness, the devil tempted Jesus with the same kind of fear that we all face. Jesus identified with us fully in his experience and humanity and triumphed over these temptations.

Temptation of Verification

• for this to be a legitimate temptation, the devil had to offer something Jesus wanted. Satan is asking Jesus to test by sight what God has asked Him to test by faith. In other words, the devil was tempting Jesus to prove that God was faithful.
• the devil says the same to us. He tempts us to test (or verify) by sight what God has asked us to test by faith. At times, the devil tempts us to demand proof and evidence that God is faithful.

Temptation to Vindication

• Jesus was also tempted to prove that He was the Anointed One, the Son of God, if he will throw himself at the pinnacle of the temple, the angels will bear him up and prove that he was in the right.
• We are tempted the same way. We want to prove ourselves right. We want to clear our name of blame or suspicion. We want to protect our reputation.
• Jesus rejects vindicating himself. He knows that in the coming years of his ministry, he will be mocked, ridiculed, reviled, sinfully judged, cursed, rejected, called fraud, and killed. But Jesus also knows that on the third day after his death, he will walk out of the grave and validate all that God declared, "You are my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased."

There is something freeing about walking away from the edge of a cliff, you don't need to prove anything. You can walk back from the ledge and say it doesn't mean that I am out of danger. You can say that "I am carrying the cross and I don't have anything to prove because I am singing. I'm singing my lament, I'm singing my sorrow. I'm singing my anger and I'm singing my pain. But I'm also singing with Jesus in the fact that the word I heard is true and true for me." And as you say that, remember, "Jesus is singing back."

Listen here.