Article September 26, 1959 ISSUE

REFUSE TO "CAST THYSELF DOWN"

DOROTHY J. SEELEY

The Bible states that following his baptism, Christ Jesus was led of "the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil" (Matt. 4:1). One of the temptations occurred when he was taken up by the devil, or evil, and set on a pinnacle of the temple. The devil said, "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down." Jesus effectively countered this suggestion by quoting the Scripture, "Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."

Jesus was not impressed or influenced in the least by the suggestion of evil, for he knew that all the devil could ever do was to talk and that there was no authority or power behind its words. Jesus handled evil's suggestion in this instance as he always did— with sudden dismissal—and thus maintained his freedom and dominion.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

THE IMPORTANT MAN IS THE PERFECT MAN