We live in a postmodern age in which truth is not only flexible; it’s non-existent. This impacts every area of our lives, including our theology. A clear example of this can occur when we discuss Bible passages. If we hear somebody quote a verse completely out of context, we might be tempted to point out that the verse doesn’t actually mean that. It is quite common to then be told that the verse “means different things to different people.” The person quoting the verse will often say that the verse speaks to him in the way he’s using it and that we can’t dogmatically say the verse has only one meaning. We might even be told that the Holy Spirit has spoken to the person in a particularly powerful way. If we point out that the context determines what a verse means, we might be accused of being a “context Nazi.”
Free Grace people are, in fact, often accused of this. We might point out that we ourselves used to think a certain passage taught something that contradicts free grace salvation. However, when we looked at the context, we found that there was no contradiction at all. We realized that what we thought the verse was “saying to us” was not what the verse meant. Our theology had been challenged, but it was great to see that truth is truth and that the Bible doesn’t contradict itself.
It should come as no surprise that the Lord was not postmodern. In fact, He was definitely a context Nazi! When His enemies confronted Him with OT verses and passages in an effort to discredit Him, He insisted on looking at the context. I was reminded of this recently by the way He dealt with a passage when He was in a situation that would have made a postmodern way of interpreting the passage very beneficial to Him–temporarily.
Immediately before Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, the Father announced that Jesus was His Son (Luke 3:22). The voice from heaven alluded to OT passages predicting that the Christ, the Son of God, was to suffer. Having been declared the Son of God, Jesus was, therefore, to suffer.
When Satan tempts Jesus, he uses the Father’s words. Taking the Lord to the top of the temple, Satan tells Him to jump down. After all, if He is indeed the Son of God (as the Father just declared), the OT says the Father will protect Him in a miraculous way (Luke 4:9-11).
Satan quotes from Ps 91:11-12. These verses say that God will send angels to watch over the righteous and protect them from harm. Satan was telling Jesus to publicly jump off the temple because God would send angels to save His life, thus demonstrating to the people that God was watching over Him. This would certainly impress the people, and they would believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Imagine how tempting it would have been for the Lord to let these verses speak to Him in whatever way He wanted. If He acted on what Satan said these verses taught, God would be honored. Jesus was the Messiah, and this would prove it. The people would see the power of God as He sent His angels to save the eternal King. This would also lessen the suffering the Messiah would have to go through, as the people would see who He was. This was a win-win situation.
I can imagine a postmodern person confronted with such a situation. A verse says that God protects His people. He will use miraculous means to do so, if need be. It would be great to experience such a miracle and thus magnify God’s love and power. I can almost hear somebody say, “That is what this verse means to me! The Holy Spirit has placed that upon my heart. It is my truth! I want to see a miracle in my life.”
Nobody should be shocked, however, that the Lord didn’t do that. Instead, He dealt with the verses in context. He said that it is wrong to test the Lord, meaning that the righteous person does not put himself in a dangerous situation in order to force God to demonstrate that He will keep His promises (Lk 4:12).
A look at the context of Psalm 91 shows that Satan takes these verses out of context. The psalmist has confidence that God will protect him because the psalmist trusts in God. The psalmist flees to the Lord as his refuge, loves the Lord, and calls upon Him (Ps 91:2, 9, 14, 16). The whole psalm speaks of the person who recognizes that God’s ways are better than his own. He is an obedient believer.
Satan is telling the Lord to ignore what the Father wants. The Father’s way, as seen at the baptism, is that Christ will suffer. Satan tells the Lord to do it His own way and put the Father to the test in order to be recognized as the Christ. Jesus doesn’t have to suffer, after all.
Even the way Satan begins this temptation denies the context. He says to Jesus, “If you are the Son of God…” But the Father has just said that He is. The Lord’s reply is that He does not have to put God to the test to show that He is the Son of God. God has already said that He is. The Lord does what Psalm 91 says He should do: He trusts in the ways of the Lord.
It’s OK to be a context Nazi. Jesus was. I am grateful He was.
