The Desert Trials episode 4 - the temple trial: what Jesus said

We’re going through Lent spending time every day, not alone but with Jesus in the desert, not empty but full of his Spirit, not resting but wrestling with the things that get between us and God, not relying on ourselves but trusting in God to win every battle thanks to what Jesus did.Matthew 4:7Jesus answered him, ‘It is also written: “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’Tempted to use the Temple as a platform in a way it was not designed for, Jesus could have argued this out, but instead quoted from a well known Jewish story about a famous place named “testing”.What did it mean for God’s people to put God to the test there?What did it mean for Moses to fail there? What did he do wrong? (There might not be a simple answer to this - scholars have lots!)Can we picture Jesus as succeeding where Moses failed?How would he know how to do that? Where would he get the wisdom and strength?And how can we follow Jesus here? What do we need to more of, or less of, to do this faithfully?Can it help to have God remind us about who he says we are?We're inviting you to spend a few days reflecting on this before we look at another trial in our next episode.