Abhaya

Abhaya

As I sat in peace with a book,

my cat spotted two others

playing nearby.

He began to stalk

with a bristle in his fur.

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

Jesus started his public ministry with a phrase that has gotten a lot of play:

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (NAB)

“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” Matthew 4:7

This one took me a while to mull over. During Jesus' 40 days in the desert, the devil presented him with three temptations. I covered the first one in the previous post. Today's quote covers the second temptation.

Satan brought Jesus up to the top of the great Temple in Jerusalem. Quoting Scripture, he dared Jesus to jump, reminding him that God would send angels down from heaven to catch him. Jesus refused, saying:

“Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord, your God, to the test.’” (NAB)