Submitted by Sam Nobles
“Again,
the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of
the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, ‘I will give You all these
things if You will fall down and worship me.’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Go away,
Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve
only Him.’ Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and
began to serve Him.” (Matthew 4:8-11 HCSB)
Satan tempted Christ to worship
him by offering Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, all for the
price of worshiping him. Some think that this is a lie of the devil, but I
think there is legitimacy to what he is saying. Paul the apostle called the
devil “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians
4:4). Jesus even referred to him as the “ruler of this world” (John 14:30). Not to mention it is very
clear that Satan has been allowed to have dominion over this earth.
This had to be a real
temptation. How? It has been no secret that the ultimate plan of God is for the
kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ. This
very real temptation was for Christ to have this authority and rule over the
kingdoms of this world without the suffering of the Cross.
There are two kingdoms – one
kingdom, from God’s perspective, is for Jesus to inherit. It is filled with
pure hearts in resurrected bodies; where intentions and impulses are righteous,
but that only comes by redemption which only comes by the Cross. The second
kingdom, from our perspective, isn’t half bad. We live on a beautiful planet
that is filled with some of the grandest sights that man’s eyes have ever seen.
Not to mention that Jesus could have the allegiance and glory of all the people
that live on this earth. This was an opportunity for Jesus to be the king
without having the Cross.
The most unthinkable part of
Jesus’ mission on earth was to face the Cross and be separated from the Father.
In fact, the only time we see Jesus question the Father’s plan was when it came
to the Cross (Matthew 26:36-39). I truly
believe it is possible when Jesus told Peter, “Get behind me Satan,” He has the
wilderness temptation in His mind when He was tempted to avoid the suffering of
the Cross (Matthew 16:21-26).
Scripture to Claim:
“He
also said to them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise
from the dead the third day’” (Luke 24:46 HCSB)
