Some thoughts on Matthew 4:5-7 (thread):

"Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down...'"

Jumping from the temple is suicidal, except that Jesus is the Son of God.

If it was necessary for the Christ to be crucified and raised for our sins, then Jesus could not, at that point, have died. The devil knows this, and even quotes the word of God to establish the fact, "for it is written." His reasoning is based on faith in God's word.

The devil claims, “‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” Scripturally, and theologically, the devil does not appear to be mistaken.

Jesus, as the Son of God, is protected by God from anything that might bring about his premature death. One could argue that this is true of us as well, since our deaths come about by divine appointment (Deuteronomy 32:39, Hebrews 9:27, etc.).

However, the death of Christ, and our deaths, do not come about *merely* by divine appointment, which is to say, what we *do* actually matters. What Jesus does in response to the devil's invitation also matters, but there is a difference here between Jesus and us.

Whatever Jesus does, he is guarded by the truth of Scripture, his Sonship, divine appointment, and in particular the necessity of his sacrificial death on the cross. There is no way, in other words, that the Lord will fail to protect Jesus, even if he throws himself down.

But there's a catch. There's something more important than avoiding death, and that's avoiding sin. Thus, "Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.''" Jesus says that even the certainty of physical salvation doesn't justify folly.

If the Son of God were to cast himself from the pinnacle of the temple he would be giving into the devil's temptation to put the Lord his God to the test. Certain rescue from death awaits him. Nevertheless, "You shall not put the Lord your God to the test."

It follows, then, that our faith in God, even with all of its benefits, does not justify putting our God to the test. Putting God to the test is not a sign of faith, but of folly. It's sin. Of course, this does not mean we should fear death, but it does mean we should fear God.