All this week on Things Unseen we've been thinking about the temptations of Jesus, and

I pointed out something that you've probably noticed. The three temptations are described

in detail by Matthew and Luke, but they record them in different orders. In Matthew the

order is, turn stones into bread, then throw yourself down from the temple, and then

thirdly I will give you the kingdoms of this world if you'll fall down and worship me.

But in Luke the order is, stones into bread fall down and wash up, and then throw yourself

down from the temple. And to some Bible readers that seems very puzzling, but there's almost

certainly a straightforward explanation. What the two gospel writers are doing is recording

the three temptations in terms of what they're wanting to communicate to us about the Lord

Jesus. So today let's take Luke's order. Luke's climax is with the temptation to Jesus

to throw himself down from the temple. Show your trust God's promise to send angels

to save you, says Satan. That's what he promises, isn't it? He will command his angels to

guard you, that's part of scripture, and they will bury you up, lest you strike your

food against a stone. Interesting isn't it that in this temptation the devil actually

quotes from scripture from Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12. In the earlier temptations it was

Jesus who was quoting from scripture. Now it's as if the devil is trying to throw the

Bible back in Jesus' face. He quotes these promises that were given to believers in

general and he challenges Jesus. If or since you're the son of God, prove that these promises

hold good by giving a spectacular demonstration that they want. Go on Jesus, test God to see

if these promises are true and then people will flock to you. Incidentally, although we're

thinking about Jesus' temptations this week, not about the ways in which we are tested,

it is worth remembering that the devil uses or more accurately misuses the Bible. I read

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