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The Temptation of Christ
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Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high
mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory
of them; (Mat 4:8)
And saith unto him, All these things
will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. (Mat 4:9)
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee
hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve. (Mat 4:10)
What was the devil really offering Jesus?
What was the great temptation here? Jesus was the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. He was the One who created all these things and here Satan is
claiming to have the power to deliver them to Him if He will simply fall
down and worship him. If we thought no deeper than this it would seem a
bit ridiculous for Satan to be making such an offer to Jesus. However,
there is much more to the temptation of Christ than this. We have here
the very Son of God, weakened by 40 days of fasting and being alone,
being tempted by the devil. The devil isn’t going to be foolish with so
much at stake. He will most certainly give it his best shot.
“The kingdoms of the world and the glory of them … “ Glory means
dignity, honor, and praise. The devil was giving Jesus an alternative to
the future that lay before him here on earth. Jesus knew that the road
ahead for him led to suffering, shame, rejection, and death at the hands
of those that He came to save. His mission on earth was to subdue the
rebellion against God in the hearts of men and win their hearts back to
God. He wanted to win their honor and praise and here it was offered to
him if He would only fall down and worship Satan. The most severe
temptation usually is presented as a shortcut to God’s Will. It is very
unlikely that the devil will try to talk you out of doing God’s Will –
he will simply suggest a shortcut, or an easier way to accomplish the
same end. But Satan is a liar and we will never be able to do God’s Will
any way but God’s way.
Who wants suffering, shame, and rejection when honor, dignity, and
praise are being offered instead? And when it seems possible to
accomplish the same end without the suffering, the devil calls you a
fool for not going that route. So most people will fail the same test
that Jesus passed here. They love the praise of men more than the praise
of God. (John 12:43) Men will compromise and water down the message of
God because it is offensive to some and standing for the absolute Truth
would bring reproach and rejection to them. Other folks just go along
with the crowd and do what is necessary to be accepted, assuming that
God will approve them also. They fall for the devil’s lie that you can’t
achieve God’s Will without the approval of men, but the cost is very
high. You may have the praise of men but it costs the presence of God in
your life.
The essence of the meaning of lust is “I must have it, and I must have
it now.” Therefore, the devil is always at hand to give you a choice,
and you have the liberty to choose what appears to be the easiest and
fastest way at the time. Choosing the path of least resistance may seem
the right thing to do at the time, but in God’s order there is a cross
before there is a crown. Without the cross the crown has no real
meaning. Before wheat can become bread it has to be broken, and for
grapes to become wine they must be crushed. That is the order of things
in this sin-cursed world and therefore the reason that Jesus turned down
the devil’s offer. He could not save his life and ours also. If He
refused to suffer then we could not be saved, and if we refuse to suffer
for others then we are not like Jesus, and our life is not going to
produce anything of value to the kingdom of God.
He saved others; himself he cannot
save. (Mat 27:42)
Mike Miller
4/19/2008
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