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The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. \u201cIf you are the Son of God,\u201d he said, \u201cthrow yourself down from here. For it is written: \u201c\u2018He 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.\u2019\u201d Jesus answered, \u201cIt is said: \u2018Do not put the Lord your God to the test.\u2019\u201d

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\u201cDo something spectacular,\u201d the devil says: \u201cmake a name for yourself.\xa0 Get a reputation.\xa0 Show them something they\u2019ve never seen before.\xa0 Prove God exists already so that they believe!\u201d

The first temptation is about our appetite for the material gratifications of life.\xa0 The second about our ambitions to power and control.\xa0 The third is about our desire for approval.\xa0 \u201cYou\u2019ll prove yourself and show them all,\u201d the devil says: \u201cthese worshipers will never doubt you again.\xa0 They\u2019ll clap, they\u2019ll cheer, they\u2019ll know you\u2019re God and they\u2019ll finally love you.\u201d\xa0

How much don\u2019t we do in our life to impress or gain the approval of someone else?\xa0 Or to gain a place of belonging for ourselves in the group?\xa0 Whether it\u2019s from our parents, our spouse, our boss or peers, many of us push to earn the approval we crave.\xa0 Sometimes at great lengths and great cost, all for the elusive prise of getting a smile, a digital like, or even love itself.

But again, like the pursuits of our appetite and ambitions, our pursuit of approval leaves us empty and bitter more often than it leaves us full of the love we desire.\xa0

Because the love we long for isn\u2019t earned.\xa0 Love is a gift, not a transaction.\xa0 It can\u2019t be earned or won by a good performance, report card, or reputable position.\xa0 Love is given.\xa0 As God does in our baptisms when he says: \u201cyou are my child, whom I love: with you I am well pleased.\u201d

The invitation is simply to receive this identity we already have as the beloved children of God, approved by him not because of what we have done, but simply out of his good, gracious gift in Jesus.\xa0

So when the devil\u2014questioning Jesus\u2019 sonship\u2014tells him to take a flying leap to prove God good to his word, Jesus comes back with the voice of truth from scripture that there is no need to put God to the test.\xa0 Jesus knows who he is.\xa0 He is God\u2019s beloved son.\xa0 And no ploy from the devil will make him doubt it or feel the need to prove it\u2014not to himself nor to the throng of worshipers below.\xa0

Now, we\u2019re not Jesus.\xa0 And we do doubt God\u2019s love sometimes, even as we doubt our imperfect places of human love and belonging sometimes. \xa0I think God knew we would, and so he gave us a sign to remind us: not a gimmicky showman Jesus performing angelic dare-devil stunts, but a humble, faithful Jesus who was quite literally dying to love us.\xa0

It is only in receiving this unconditional, unflinching love of God in Jesus Christ that we begin to learn what it means to be loved.\xa0 It is only rooted in this love of God that adopts us as children with a home and place of belonging that we begin to feel safe and trusting enough to offer the same love to others.

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