11-9-13 M/O the Holy Souls
Matthew 4:6 is the sixth verse of the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. Jesus has just rebuffed Satan’s first temptation in this verse the devil presents him with the second one while the pair stands on the pinnacle of the Temple of Jerusalem.
And saith unto him, If thou art the
Son of God, throw thyself down: for it
is written, He will give his angels
charge concerning thee: and upon their
hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou
dash thy foot against a stone.
As with Matthew 4:3 Satan is not doubting that Jesus is the Son of God but rather is stating that he should do these things because he is the Son of God. Satan here is trying to convince Jesus to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple because God has promised that he will not be hurt. To advance this temptation the devil quotes scripture, as an escalation over the first temptation. The verse quoted is from Psalm 90:11–12. those verses read:
- For he has given his Angels charge
- over you, to keep you in all your ways.
- In their hands shall they bear you up, least
- you dash your foot against a stone.
God is promising only to protect from accidents, not from deliberate acts such as the one Satan is proposing. “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” was Jesus answer. And so it is all through the ages that all the Saints, prophets and men of God continually are tested by their peers. Looking for spectacular acts, miracles, etc. Most miracles get ignored anyway as people want their type of Saint, Prophet or Messiah. “If I tell you the truth, why don’t you believe me.” Says the Lord.
In retrospect I have the same problems with (Catholics?) It’s not enough that I have given them 17 mysteries of the faith, never said before since the history of the Church. Sadly enough most only care about the availability of a Mass. I could easily apply another quote from Our Lord that would fit right in here perfectly. ” Not by bread alone does man live, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” The final and last word here on earth is fast approaching, that obvious day, St Peter tells us, is the same day he made the remark, Pentecost Sunday.
Grace be with you, in Christ, Joseph