Why Did the Devil Take Jesus to the Holy City, Jerusalem, and Tempt Him There—Even Quoting Scripture?
“Then the devil led Him to Jerusalem and had Him stand on the highest point of the temple. ‘If You are the Son of God,’ he said, ‘throw Yourself down from here. For it is written: “He will command His angels concerning You to guard You carefully; they will lift You up in their hands so that You will not strike Your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus answered, ‘It says: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left Him until an opportune time” (Luke 4:9–13).
As I meditate on the passage, I seek to receive the lessons and teachings that this passage offers.
(1) Meditating on Luke 4:9–13 in Light of Matthew 4:5–7: When I ponder Luke’s account of this temptation, I also consider Matthew 4:5–7, which describes the same event. Reflecting on these passages together reveals three intriguing insights.
(a) The Order of the Temptations: In Luke 4:9–13, this episode is described as the third and final temptation of Jesus. In Matthew 4:5–7, it is recorded as the second.
(i) We do not know for certain why the order differs, but one striking detail in Luke’s account is this: In both the first temptation and the third, the devil begins his words with the same phrase—“If You are the Son of God …” (Lk. 4:3, 9).
· That repetition is significant. The devil certainly knew that Jesus was the Son of God. Yet he twice prefaced his temptations with that conditional phrase. Why? Because his aim was to lure Jesus—the One who is one in essence with the Father (“I and the Father are one,” John 10:30) and who shares the full divine nature—to abandon His mission of saving others and instead save Himself.
- In the first temptation, the devil approached Jesus when He was famished after forty days of fasting in the wilderness (Lk. 4:2): “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread” (v.3). In other words, “You are starving—use Your power to save Yourself.” Jesus’ reply, “Man shall not live on bread alone” (v.4), exposed the lie.
- In the third temptation, the devil said, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down from here, for it is written: He will command His angels concerning You to guard You” (vv.9–10). Again, the message was the same: “God will rescue You—save Yourself.”
n But when Jesus was later on the cross, crying out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”) (Mt. 27:46), the Father—who had once declared, “You are My beloved Son; with You I am well pleased” (Lk. 3:22)—did not “come down” to rescue Him from death. Just as God once said, “I have come down to rescue them” (Exod. 3:8), here He did not come down—because Jesus’ death was the very purpose of His coming: our redemption.
(b) Why the Temptation Took Place in the Holy City: The devil took Jesus to “the holy city” (Mt. 4:5), “Jerusalem” (Lk. 4:9), and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple. This led me to think also of the “Holy City, the New Jerusalem” described in Revelation (21:2, 10).
(i) Why Jerusalem? Was it a random location? Certainly not. The devil had a deliberate reason for choosing that place.
· Isaiah 52:1–3 declares that through Zion—Jerusalem—God would bring redemption to His people, freeing them from the chains of sin and death. If Jerusalem represents the center of God’s saving work, then the devil’s choice becomes clear: He brought Jesus, the Son of God, to that holy place and tempted Him to avoid the cross—to choose self-preservation over self-sacrifice. By saying, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down… for it is written: He will command His angels concerning You to guard You,” (Lk. 4:9–10) the devil sought to turn Jesus away from His calling as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29; cf. Eph. 1:7; Col. 1:14), urging Him instead to save Himself—to refuse death.
- Before beginning His public ministry, Jesus was tempted three times in the wilderness (Mt. 4:1–11; Lk. 4:1–13). At the end of His ministry, while hanging on the cross, He faced three temptations again—this time through people: (1) The rulers sneered: “He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One” (Lk. 23:35). (2) The soldiers mocked: “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself” (vv.36–37). (3) One of the criminals blasphemed: “Aren’t You the Messiah? Save Yourself and us!” (v.39) The essence of all three is identical: “Save Yourself—don’t die.” Satan never wanted Jesus to die for the sins of the world. Thus, through rulers, soldiers, and even a dying criminal, Satan repeated the same temptation three times.
n What This Teaches Us: Satan tempts us continually—from the beginning of our lives to the end. He mocks us, urging us not to die to self or obey God’s will, but to live according to human desires. His temptations draw ever closer: first through distant observers (“the rulers”), then through those nearer (“the soldiers”), and finally through those closest to us (“the criminal beside Jesus”). The most dangerous temptations often come through those we love the most—our own family or close companions.
(c) The Devil Quoted Scripture—But Distorted It: When the devil tempted Jesus, he too said, “For it is written …” (Lk. 4:10; Mt. 4:6).
(i) This reveals that the devil also uses Scripture in his temptations. Yet when he quotes it, he alters it—either adding or omitting words—to twist its meaning.
· When he cited Psalm 91:11–12, he deliberately left out the phrase “in all your ways.” Let us compare Psalm 91:11-12 with Luke 4:10-11:
- Psalm 91:11–12: “For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
- Luke 4:10–11: “He will command His angels concerning you to guard you… they will lift you up in their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”
n By omitting “in all your ways,” the devil subtly distorted the meaning. This reminds us of Revelation 22:18–19, which warns against adding to or taking away from God’s Word.
· The devil’s purpose in misquoting Scripture was to stop Jesus from relying wholly on God’s Word.
- He does the same with us today—tempting us to misinterpret, dilute, or misuse the Scriptures so that we no longer trust God completely, but instead rely on our own reasoning.
n This brings to mind a verse I learned during college discipleship training under the topic Assurance of Guidance: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight” (Prov. 3:5–6). When I meditate on this passage, I realize that trusting my own understanding is the greatest obstacle to divine guidance. Even when a path seems good and reasonable, if it is chosen apart from faith, it ultimately leads to regret.
· Psalm 91, which the devil quoted, was written to praise God’s power to deliver His people from trouble—not to encourage testing Him (Hochma).
- Scripture makes clear that God does not condone reckless or presumptuous behavior that interferes with His providence (Deut. 6:16; 18:20; Isa. 45:9). The devil, of course, ignored that truth entirely (Hochma).
n Therefore, we must remember: merely quoting Scripture does not guarantee that we are communicating God’s truth (Hochma).
· Even today, Satan leads believers astray by twisting God’s Word, often through false teachers, corrupting pure faith (Mt. 22:29; 2 Cor. 2:17) (Hochma).
- Many heretical groups boldly claim the Bible as their foundation. Their error lies not in quoting Scripture but in manipulating it—interpreting it to fit their own selfish agendas. In Korean, we call this “아전인수 (ajeoninsu)”, literally “drawing water to one’s own field”—a phrase describing the selfish act of diverting water from a shared source to one’s own land. In the same way, false teachers twist Scripture for personal gain (Hochma).
(2) Jesus’ Response to the Devil’s Second Temptation: Jesus answered, “It is written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” (Mt. 4:7; cf. Lk. 4:12).
(a) This was a precise response to the devil’s deceitful use of Scripture. Jesus did not reject the verse the devil quoted but demonstrated the right principle of interpretation—understanding Scripture in its full context (Hochma).
(i) The verse Jesus cited, Deuteronomy 6:16, recalls Israel’s testing of God at Massah, when the people quarreled with Moses because there was no water (Exod. 17:1–7): “Do not test the Lord your God as you did at Massah.”
· At Rephidim (meaning “refreshment”), there was no water (v.1). Thirsty and angry, the Israelites complained, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” (v.3) They tested God by asking, “Is the Lord among us or not?” (v.7) So Moses named the place Massah (“testing”) and Meribah (“quarreling”).
- From this account, three lessons emerge: (1) In times of lack, it is easy to argue and complain (vv.2–3). (2) In times of lack, we must not test God. Israel tested Him because they doubted His presence (v.7). (3) We must act according to God’s Word (v.6).
n Just as Israel quarreled at Rephidim—ironically, the place meaning “refreshment”—we too are tempted to complain when something is missing in our lives. But instead of testing God, we must cry out to Him in faith. In His time, He will answer. When He does, we must respond with obedience. Then, just as God brought water from the rock, the spiritual Rock, Christ Himself (1 Cor. 10:4), will cause rivers of living water to flow from within us (Jn. 7:38).
· Deuteronomy 6:16 therefore warns us not to repeat Israel’s unbelief at Massah. To “test God” means to doubt Him—to question His presence or faithfulness.
- We must not fall into that pattern. Instead, we must trust and obey, confident that the Lord is truly among us (Internet).