Matt. 4:5-7 NASB
Then the devil *took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
The devil took Jesus to the top of a temple and expected Jesus to demand a miracle from God. This miracle would prove that Jesus was the Son of God. This miracle even had a scripture verse to go with. Yet, in the words of Crag Keener in his book Miracles Today, “Ignoring works that God has already done, then asking God to prove himself just to get what we want, is faithless….”
The devil chose to tempt Jesus to demand a miracle of God using the words of scripture. If the devil levied this ploy against the Messiah, certainly it might be one he would employ against the believer. Proving God, especially using miracles, is not the will of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We are saved by faith, and not by miracles. When the devil came to Christ Jesus and asked for Him to prove Himself by demanding of God using scripture, Christ resolutely refused and used scripture as well from Deuteronomy 6:16, quoting, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Miracles are not to be demanded of God to prove God. God has already poured out abundant miracles around us through creation, answered prayers, and by testimony from others who have experienced miracles. Revelation 12:11 NASB states, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony….” Rejecting other's testimony and then expecting a miracle from God as proof is not faith--it is something else.
The greatest miracle is the salvation of Christ Jesus and the evidence of that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thomas, a disciple of Christ, just could not believe that Christ resurrected and said, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25-28). This is not the same as demanding evidence. This was a difficult moment, possibly of grief, in the face of tragedy. Yet, Christ did not leave Thomas in his doubt and grief. Christ revealed Himself to Thomas so that Thomas could believe.
Sometimes we confuse genuine doubt, like that of Thomas, with withholding belief because we want God to act the way we want God to act. When we demand of God and use scripture to validate our demand that is not faith. That is something different. Where is your faith today? Are you intentionally withholding it because there is a certain miracle you demanded of God and He refused to act according to your plan? Or is your faith like those in John 20:29 that are blessed, who did not see, "yet believed?"
Then the devil *took Him along into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and he *said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written: ‘He will give His angels orders concerning You’; and ‘On their hands they will lift You up, So that You do not strike Your foot against a stone.’” Jesus said to him, “On the other hand, it is written: ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’”
The devil took Jesus to the top of a temple and expected Jesus to demand a miracle from God. This miracle would prove that Jesus was the Son of God. This miracle even had a scripture verse to go with. Yet, in the words of Crag Keener in his book Miracles Today, “Ignoring works that God has already done, then asking God to prove himself just to get what we want, is faithless….”
The devil chose to tempt Jesus to demand a miracle of God using the words of scripture. If the devil levied this ploy against the Messiah, certainly it might be one he would employ against the believer. Proving God, especially using miracles, is not the will of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 NASB says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” We are saved by faith, and not by miracles. When the devil came to Christ Jesus and asked for Him to prove Himself by demanding of God using scripture, Christ resolutely refused and used scripture as well from Deuteronomy 6:16, quoting, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.”
Miracles are not to be demanded of God to prove God. God has already poured out abundant miracles around us through creation, answered prayers, and by testimony from others who have experienced miracles. Revelation 12:11 NASB states, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony….” Rejecting other's testimony and then expecting a miracle from God as proof is not faith--it is something else.
The greatest miracle is the salvation of Christ Jesus and the evidence of that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thomas, a disciple of Christ, just could not believe that Christ resurrected and said, “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (John 20:25-28). This is not the same as demanding evidence. This was a difficult moment, possibly of grief, in the face of tragedy. Yet, Christ did not leave Thomas in his doubt and grief. Christ revealed Himself to Thomas so that Thomas could believe.
Sometimes we confuse genuine doubt, like that of Thomas, with withholding belief because we want God to act the way we want God to act. When we demand of God and use scripture to validate our demand that is not faith. That is something different. Where is your faith today? Are you intentionally withholding it because there is a certain miracle you demanded of God and He refused to act according to your plan? Or is your faith like those in John 20:29 that are blessed, who did not see, "yet believed?"