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Today's Early Church Wisdom
“The professions and trades of those who are going to be accepted into the community must be examined. The nature and type of each must be established… brothel, sculptors of idols, charioteer, athlete, gladiator…give it up or be rejected. A military constable must be forbidden to kill, neither may he swear; if he is not willing to follow these instructions, he must be rejected. A proconsul or magistrate who wears the purple and governs by the sword shall give it up or be rejected. Anyone taking or already baptized who wants to become a soldier shall be sent away, for he has despised God.”
~ Hippolytus (170AD – 236AD)
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Responding to the Tempter

When Jesus declares in Matthew 4:7, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God,’” He answers Satan by citing Deuteronomy 6:16 and grounding His response in the authority of Scripture, expressed in the Greek text as pálin gégraptai (“again it stands written”) and ouk ekpeiráseis kyrion ton theón sou (“you shall not utterly test the Lord your God”). Ekpeirazō intensifies the idea of testing into a wilful, presumptuous trial of God’s faithfulness or power. Rather than a neutral “testing,” this implies forcing God’s hand through reckless or unbelieving action, as seen in Israel’s failure at Massah, where distrust masqueraded as a demand for proof. In context, Satan’s suggestion that Jesus throw Himself from the temple pinnacle weaponizes Scripture (Psalm 91) to provoke a spectacle that would bypass obedient trust. Jesus’ refusal reveals that true sonship is not proven by dramatic signs but by quiet submission to the Father’s will. 