The World and Everything in It...Can Be Yours

MATTHEW 4: 1-11 Did Satan have the power to give Jesus the kingdoms of the world? But in what sense did Satan mean he would give Jesus these kingdoms? Did he mean that Jesus would be allowed to rule as an earthly king over the entire world? Or did he mean that he simply wouldn’t interfere in whatever Jesus had planned? Luke’s account records Satan as saying, “All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it” (Luke 4:6). Satan offered Jesus the power and the glory of all the kingdoms of the world. He certainly stated that he possessed these things and that he could give them to whoever he desired. But Satan is a liar (John 8:44). Was this merely a ruse? 2 Corinthians 4:4 states that he is the god of this world. He certainly holds influence, through sin, over the majority of the world and he may have had a temporary power to control the world, but ultimately all things are under God’s control and Satan must have known that. So even if Satan had the power to offer these things, what he offered Jesus could only have been a temporary affair and ultimately not part of God’s eternal plan to save man. But Satan asks too much of Jesus for these things; he asks Jesus to worship him. We should note that here we have doubt in the word “if” in this verse. Satan was completely unsure as to whether Jesus would worship him or not. The Greek construction indicates this uncertainty. Bowing down to worship Satan is a thought that is repulsive even to the weakest of Christians and it doesn’t appear to be too long before Jesus is disgusted with the request and quickly refuses. The word “worship” means to engage in a peculiar and exclusive act of reverential homage or tribute to someone or something. Satan wanted Jesus to “fall down” or “bow down” and worship him. The act of falling down prostrate at the feet of another is often characterized in the New Testament as an act of worship, and when it is done wrongly, it is always corrected. Peter so corrected Cornelius in Acts 10:25,26. An angel so corrected the apostle John in Revelation 19:10 and 22:9. When it is done correctly, however, it is never rebuked. We find such in Matthew 2:11 with the example of the wise men worshipping the infant Jesus. In Matthew 8:2 a leper worshipped Jesus. The apostles also worshipped Jesus after His resurrection (Matthew 28:9). Such seems to be what Satan wanted Jesus to do here. Vs. 10 – Jesus flatly refused to worship Satan. It was an appalling concept. Jesus answers Satan with the words “Get thee hence,” “Be gone,” “Go away,” or in the modern vernacular “Get out of here.” It is a strong rejection and one which was closely followed, once again, by scriptural rebuke. Jesus quotes from the Septuagint version of Deuteronomy 6:13. God alone is worthy of our worship, no other. See comments above on verse 9. This is the third time that Jesus has quoted from scripture to refute Satan. It is a powerful example to us that if we know the scriptures then we can route Satan’s temptations. Again, Psalm 119:11 is very appropriate, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.” When we know and understand God’s word, we have the greatest weapon of righteousness with which to go on the offensive against Satan (Ephesians 6:17).

Vs. 11 – The devil left Jesus, at least, for now. Satan may leave us alone for a time, but he will always return and seek us out again. As long as we are on this earth, we have temptation. God has promised, however, that he will not completely abandon us to Satan’s devices. 1 Corinthians 10:13 states “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” There are four things in this verse that give us assurances that we can overcome temptation when Satan brings it upon us. 1) We can know that all temptations are common to men. Somewhere someone else has been able to overcome that temptation. 2) We can know that God is faithful. Thereby, we can rely upon Him for all things and need not be tempted by anything. 3) God will not allow us to be tempted above our ability to resist. Knowing this, we can understand that whatever temptation comes our way, it is something that we know we can refuse or else God wouldn’t have allowed it. 4) With each temptation there is a way to escape out of it so that we don’t sin. We need to look for that escape route. With all of this help in time of temptation, we certainly have the ability to effectively resist sin in our lives. We ought to note, however, that these promises are not given to those who are not Christians. Satan has his complete way with them. From Kevin Cauley http://preachersfiles.com/matthew-41-11-jesus-is-tempted-by-satan/