Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. The geography of the temptations moves from the wilderness (where Israel wandered) to the holy city and the temple pinnacle (the center of Israel's religious life). The devil can take Jesus to the holy city; the holy city is not a place of spiritual safety from which the enemy is excluded. The pinnacle of the temple — probably the southeast corner of the temple complex overlooking the Kidron Valley, a dizzying height — is the setting for the second temptation. The move from wilderness to city, from stone to temple, is the move from physical need to religious display. The temptation shifts register but its underlying logic remains the same: use your identity as Son of God in a way that bypasses the Father's way.

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