Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command His angels concerning you'; 'on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will 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.'" (Matthew 4:5-7)In His response to Satan, Jesus quotes from Deut. 6:16, “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test, as you tested Him at Massah.” Here, Moses is reminding the people of a time when they complained about not having water. They were questioning whether God was really leading them and taking care of them. Moses says that “they tested the LORD, saying, "Is the LORD among us, or not?" (Exodus 17:7)”
The context of Jesus’ response refers to the time when the Israelites had tested God at Massah by refusing to accept that God was among them until He performed a sign for them. They were demanding that God prove His presence and provision in the way they wanted in order to trust Him and follow Him.
Satan is trying to raise doubt, “Is God really with you? Are you sure? What proof do you have? Hey, if God is really with you, let Him prove Himself? Jump, if He’s with you, He’ll keep His promise and won’t let you get hurt.”
The temptation here is to demand that God provide for us as we desire to prove His care in the present. It is the temptation to put conditions on our trusting God for the future by demanding that He do something we desire to prove Himself. It is a demonstration of a lack of faith. It leads to the sin of unbelief.
To be perfectly human is to trust God even when we can’t see Him. When it looks like He’s abandoned you, you keep trusting and obeying Him. The perfect human will not say, “God if you’re real, prove yourself by doing . . .” This in itself is a statement of unbelief.
Next: (9) Jesus: Perfectly Sinless Pt. 4
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