The Rulers

“He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God.”

The Soldiers

“If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself.”

The Thief

“If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.”

(from Luke 23:35-39)

The test:  if He was God, Jesus should save Himself.  He didn’t — He failed the test.

The Angel

“He shall save His people from their sins.”

(from Matthew 1:21)

Their test was the wrong test.
He wasn’t there to save Himself.
He was there to save His people.

You can’t set tests for God.

It is wrong to set tests for God.  We have no right to demand He act in a particular way, to insist He must do X, Y, and Z for us.  I have no right to appoint myself as His judge.

It is foolish to set tests for God.  We don’t have a clue.  The “tests” of Luke 23 show we might demand the exact opposite of what is necessary.  If He did what they demanded, we would have no Saviour.  He is playing chess, and we’re playing checkers.  Scratch that.  He is perfectly playing a million simultaneous games of 3-D chess, and we’re playing noughts & crosses (tic-tac-toe, X’s and O’s) and can’t even see the game board very well.

You can’t set tests for God.

Yesterday:  Luke’s Unique Account