Gotta serve somebody
“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This saying is traced back to Robert the Bruce Scotland, a 14th century king who, the legend says, suffered a major defeat at the hands of the English. After this he went into hiding in a cave. While there he watched a spider, trying to spin a web. Each time the spider failed, it simply started again. The story goes that Robert was so inspired that he left the cave and returned to lead his troops in a series of victories. Perhaps this was Satan’s own thinking as he sought to tempt Jesus in the wilderness.
Last week, we looked at the first temptation that pushed Jesus in his hunger. He had been fasting for forty days. Satan tempted him to turn stones into bread. Jesus could do that. Later Jesus would take five small loaves and two fish and make them into enough to feed over 5000 people! The temptation, though, was whether Jesus would trust God for his provision and care. Jesus’ response to Satan was swift: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” (Luke 4:4) Jesus would trust his Father for his food.
Satan wasn’t done; he would try, try again! The next temptation is found in Luke 4:5-8. This time, the temptation has to do with God’s plan and whether Jesus would trust that plan, even though it would mean great suffering for himself. “And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’”
This was most likely a vision of some sort where Jesus was shown all that Satan promises to give him for just one simple act of worship. Notice what he is shown: all the kingdoms of the world! The question we would want to ask of this temptation is whether Satan had the authority to promise all the kingdoms of the world? It is true that he is called the “prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). Satan likely believes the claim but at best the answer of Satan’s authority is most likely yes and no.
There is no doubt that Satan has a great deal of influence in the world, but does he have the proper authority to promise the all the kingdoms to Jesus? Satan is a liar and the father of lies. There is no reason to believe that he is telling Jesus the complete truth. The temptation was ultimately about seizing power on his own, apart from God’s plan. The offer made here appears to be a much easier route to go than the one by which Jesus would obtain all these things from God; namely, the Cross.
I say ‘appears’ because the condition under which Satan would supposedly give Jesus the kingdoms of the world was a complete denial of the Father’s plan, but also of the Son himself. Christ worships no one but is himself the object of worship. Satan’s condition is that the Son renounce his allegiance to the Father and renounce his own nature as eternal Son of God, second person of the Godhead. He is to bow down and worship Satan, an act that would not be a one-time action, but that would change all eternity.
From Psalm 2 we know that all the kingdoms of the world are to belong to Jesus. The Apostle Paul tells us that in the end every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord of all. Satan was supposedly offering this same outcome but in a way that would bypass the suffering and place Satan at the top.
Jesus’ response is a summary taken from Deuteronomy 6:13, “And Jesus answered him, It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” The context is preparation to enter the Promised Land. Idolatry was a constant threat and so they were reminded that they are to render worship to God alone. They failed, but Jesus does not. He sees the lies and he sees the true cost, and chooses God’s way, which is the cross before the crown. Why does this temptation matter? Jesus shows us our own lives in his, suffering before glory.
Pastor Everett Henes, the pastor of the Hillsdale Orthodox Presbyterian Church, can be reached at pastorhenes@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Opinion
