And the tempter coming up to him said, If thou be Son of God, speak, that these stones may become loaves of bread.
God has just called Jesus His beloved Son. Now, hungry after forty days in the desert, He hears a suggestion that opens with "if" and sounds harmless.
One writer puts the two moments side by side:
The devil always sows doubts of the Divine Word. Compare Matthew 3:17 with Matthew 4:3 and 6, and see how clearly this comes out. God has just said, "This is My beloved Son." At once the devil says twice over, "If You are the Son of God." The little word "if" is a great favourite with the devil!
Satan uses the same tactic on believers, and it can hide behind humility:
Whatever Satan's aim may be, this is one main part of his tactics. He slips in a doubt — a doubt about our own relationship with God. "If You are the Son of God." Now, search the word of God as you may, never will you find His Spirit leading a soul to doubt... it shows how deeply subtle Satan is. He has made God's own children his instruments. They allow doubts in themselves, and they also help to raise doubts in others. They often excuse it by saying that a lack of confidence with God is a sign of humility, but that plea is mistaken.
That word "if" works in two directions:
You may look at that word "if" in two ways. It casts a doubt on His relationship to God. Or it gets Him to act on the fact of that relationship... "If you are really God's Son, command this stone to become bread." That is: God has kept you hungry. Now your opportunity has arrived. Take yourself out of God's hand, for you are able to make those stones into bread and satisfy yourself. As far as we can tell, the Lord Jesus had performed no miracle up till this moment, but Satan had a true idea of who He was.
Nothing in the suggestion looks wicked:
The power was His. The need was real. The hunger was sinless. Why, then, should He not use His power and make the stones of the ground supply His needs? The suggestion is so simple and plausible. It seems to fit so well with the truth of what He was. And it is so natural for us to use what power we have to meet our own needs. So to any of us it might naturally seem to be no evil suggestion at all — no temptation. But it was.
Satan asks Him to command. His refusal rests on the place He had taken as man:
What subtlety! For did He not have divine power and the right as the Son of God to use it? But He had become man, and man's place was to obey... He might have said, "I am God." Then no rebel creature would have stood up against Him. But there would have been no example for us. He overcame by keeping the place He had taken as man, and that was to obey.
His obedience was not grudging:
He never had a will to wish to go the other way... It was as though He said, No, I am a servant, I cannot command, I obey... The Father's will was His motive for everything.
The attack came from outside Him. There was nothing inside to answer it.
He had no sin whatever. It was not only that He never sinned, but that He had no sin; and this makes all the difference possible... In His nature as man there was no evil for the devil to work on. There was evil outside Him.
Two earlier tests stand behind this one. The first is Eden:
Satan tried to triumph over the Seed of the woman as he had triumphed over the first man. But he found that He was quite another kind of Man... the garden of Eden was very different from the desert in which Jesus was hungry after fasting forty days. Adam ate of forbidden fruit to be as gods, Jesus refused to satisfy His hunger without a word from God.
The second is the nation fed daily in the desert. His reply reaches back to that history:
Our Lord refers to Deuteronomy. He points to the manna, the daily food of Israel, which meant depending on God... He had brought them out into the wilderness as His firstborn son. There He put them to the test. The test was this: were they content with God, and with the food He provided for them day by day? Sadly, they were not!
- Doubt first. The tempter opens with "if," aimed at a relationship God had just announced. He uses the same word on believers.
- Doubt aims at independence. The invitation is to step out of God's hand and meet a real need by feeding Himself.
- Independence hides in harmless things. The hunger was sinless. The power really was His. That is why the suggestion looks like no temptation at all.
- Obedience answers it. Having become man, He would not command where His place was to obey. The Father's will decided everything.
- Victory where others fell. Adam failed in a garden of plenty. Israel failed on daily manna. The Second Man, hungry in a desert, would not move without a word from God.
But he answering said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goes out through God's mouth.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
Then the devil takes him to the holy city, and sets him upon the edge of the temple,
The wilderness is behind Him now, and the tempter's second move is upward — into Jerusalem, onto a high ledge of the temple. It raises three questions: why Matthew puts this attack second, how Satan could carry the Lord at all, and why a city that would soon crucify Him is still called holy.
The word "then" is doing work. Matthew fixes the place of this attack in the order. Luke arranges the same three events another way.
Luke presents the temptations in their moral order. Note that he does not tell Theophilus that the devil attacked the Lord in that order. Matthew, however, states that the temptation on the pinnacle of the temple was Satan's second attack, not his third. In keeping with the character of his Gospel, he tells us how the Lord was tempted: first as man, then as Messiah, and last as the Son of man. Psalm 91 refers to Him as Messiah. Sovereignty over the whole world is to be His as the Son of man. By the words "then" and "again," Matthew (4:5, 8) marks the order of the temptations.
The title sits oddly on a city that would soon reject Him. The word "holy" carries two senses.
"Then the devil takes Him into the holy city, and sets Him on the pinnacle of the temple." A pinnacle of the temple is a very dangerous place — religious pride. Some may wonder why anyone would call Jerusalem the "holy city." Scripture still calls it "the holy city" at the time of the crucifixion (Matt. 4:5; Matt. 27:53), but the word "holy" has two different meanings. Sometimes it means holy in nature, as God is holy. But it also means "set apart," or devoted, as the temple, the city, the land are holy because chosen by Him.
That Satan could carry the Lord there troubles many readers. It also undercuts the very suggestion he was about to make.
It may seem strange that the devil had power to take the Lord, in bodily form, to the pinnacle of the temple. It may seem just as strange that the Lord allowed him to do so. But if the devil had such power, then there is no question about the power of angels to keep the Lord safe, even in a fall from that height. The devil had permission to bring the Lord there, so that the Lord's superiority to all temptation might be proved.
Satan picked the spot with care. A crowd stood below, and the claim under test was Messiahship.
He takes Him to the holy city, Jerusalem, and onto the pinnacle of the temple, because the second temptation is the temptation of Him as the Messiah. Standing on that high place, the people below must have seen Him and recognised Him; Satan was hidden from their view. Suppose He had come down slowly, with the law of gravity set aside, landing unharmed on His feet before the astonished crowd. What a test and proof of His Messiahship! Would they not accept Him at once?
The Lord had just answered from Scripture. So the enemy's next weapon is Scripture — aimed at the very ground the Lord had taken.
The Lord had said that man should "live by every word that comes from the mouth of God." The devil then takes Him up into the holy city and sets Him on a pinnacle of the temple. He builds his temptation on that very point in our Lord's answer — the word of God. He says, in effect, Here is a word of God for you… Very true. It was God's word, and clearly spoken of the Messiah. But what was Satan using it for?… This was making a move without God — doing something by oneself.
The promise Satan quotes has a condition attached, and he drops it. That omission exposes what the whole attack was for.
He could quote Scripture too. He could even apply a Messianic psalm to the Messiah Himself, if only to falsify its truth. But he left out the key condition of such care: "in all your ways" (Ps. 91:11). To cast Himself down from a pinnacle of the temple was no part of God's ways, for Him or for any man… Men say that we tempt God if we do not do the best we can for ourselves. This is the absolute opposite of the truth. We tempt God when we do not trust Him entirely in everything.
- Place — the "holy city" means set apart by God's choice, not holy in character; it kept the title even at the crucifixion.
- Permission — Satan truly had power to carry Him to the temple ledge. If Satan could do that, no one can doubt that angels could hold Him up.
- Pretext — the spot was public and the psalm was Messianic. One slow descent before the astonished crowd, and would they not accept Him at once?
- Omission — the promise guards a man "in all your ways." Satan cut those words, because casting Himself down was no way of God's.
- Path — to act on the promise alone would be a move made without God; we tempt God when we do not trust Him entirely in everything.
and says to him, If thou be Son of God cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give charge to his angels concerning thee, and on [their] hands shall they bear thee, lest in anywise thou strike thy foot against a stone.
The tempter's second approach comes with a verse. He quotes a promise from Psalm 91 back to the One it was written about. The question is how a real promise from God can become a trap.
The temptation opens with the same words as the first. Both come soon after what the Father said from heaven.
The devil always sows doubts of the Divine Word. Contrast Matthew 3:17 with Matthew 4:3 and 6, and note how strikingly this comes out. No sooner has God said, "This is My beloved Son," than the devil says twice over, "If You are the Son of God." The little word "if" is a great favourite with the devil! Jesus fittingly met him with the Word of God.
The place matters. One writer paints the scene as Satan hoped it would look.
He takes Him to the Holy City, Jerusalem, and up on the pinnacle of the temple, because the second temptation is the temptation of Him as the Messiah. As He stood on that high place, the people below must have seen Him and recognised Him. They could not see Satan. What a test and proof of His Messiahship if He had come down slowly! The laws of gravity would be completely set aside, and He would land unharmed on His feet in front of the astonished crowd. Would they not accept Him at once? Why should He be rejected, if this act might quickly make Him their leader, their King and rescuer from the yoke of the Roman oppressor?
The Lord had answered the first temptation with Scripture. The devil builds his next move on that answer.
The devil then takes Him up into the holy city, sets Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and bases his temptation on the very point of our Lord's answer — the word of God. He says, in effect, Here is a word of God for you... Very true. It was God's word, and clearly spoken of the Messiah. But what was Satan using it for?... Scripture did not say, Cast Yourself down, because God has given His angels charge concerning You. The Lord would not turn aside from Scripture because Satan had misused it. He shows us, in the most instructive way, that we must not give up our stronghold just because someone may turn it against us. Where a person misapplies Scripture again and again, he destroys some basic principle of the word of God. Whatever is false goes against some plain passage of Scripture.
Satan quoted the psalm. He did not quote all of it.
Now notice those words: "For he will command his angels concerning you, to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." Satan did not quote the whole of the verse. He left out those four words "in all your ways." How crafty the enemy is. To the blessed Lord he suggests, as it were: "The Scripture is plain that this promise applies to You. Now is Your opportunity to show that it does apply to You."
Jumping would have looked like great confidence in God. One writer names what it would have been.
The enemy sets Him on a pinnacle of the temple, to get Him to apply to Himself the promises made to the Messiah, without staying in the ways of God. The faithful man may certainly count on the help of God while walking in His ways. The enemy wanted the Son of man to put God to the test, to see if He could be trusted, instead of counting on Him while walking in His ways. That would not have been obedience. It would have been a lack of confidence in God — or pride, presuming on its privileges instead of counting on God in obedience.
People often get the idea of testing God backwards. One writer sets it straight.
To cast Himself down from a pinnacle of the temple was no part of God's ways, for Him or for any man. In those ways He knew God too well to need to test Him to see whether He would be as good as His word... So we also learn what tempting God means. Men say that we tempt Him if we do not do the best we can for ourselves. This is the exact opposite of the truth. We tempt God when we do not trust Him entirely in everything. The dependence of the Lord was as perfect as His obedience.
- "If" — The devil aims his doubt at what God had just said about His Son. His favourite word reopens a settled question.
- Ways — The promise covers God's ways, not ours. Satan quotes the guarding and drops "in all your ways," because the leap was no part of those ways.
- Display — Satan offered a Messiah the crowd would know at once, and a crown without rejection.
- Presumption — Claiming a promise while stepping off God's path is not great faith. It is pride.
- Dependence — We tempt God by not trusting Him, never by trusting Him too much. The answer to a misused verse is not to drop Scripture but to hold it whole.
Jesus said to him, It is again written, Thou shalt not tempt [the] Lord thy God.
Satan has just quoted Psalm 91 to the Lord, urging Him to throw Himself from the temple's height. His reply, drawn from Deuteronomy, raises two questions: what is testing God, and why answer a misused verse with another verse?
(The writers below use the older wording "tempt the Lord your God." The ESV says "put the Lord your God to the test.")
The Lord does not argue about how the devil reads the verse. He stays on the written word and adds a second passage to the first.
If Satan cites Scripture wickedly or falsely, the Lord does not leave Scripture for argument. He answers in a way that is absolutely and at once convincing — "It is written again."
That short phrase sets a rule for reading any passage. A verse standing alone can be bent. A verse read with the rest cannot.
The word of God is one vast, comprehensive, and consistent whole. We must not understand any part of it in a way that sets it against the other parts. Satan could quote an isolated text of Scripture to our Lord. But His reply was, "It is written again." "The Scripture cannot be broken." It must be in harmony with itself.
The words are often read as a warning against trusting God too far. One writer says they mean the opposite.
He takes His place with Israel and uses for His guidance the part of the word that holds God's instruction on this subject: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." That passage is often quoted as if it forbade excess in trusting God. In fact it means not to distrust, and not to try whether He is faithful.
Testing is what you do to someone you doubt.
The true Israelite does not need to put God to the test. Suppose you suspect that a dishonest man works for you. You may test him by marking a coin to see whether he steals it or not. Am I then going to mark something for God, to see whether He will keep His word or not? I know God will do it; I do not need to put Him to the proof.
The sentence Jesus quotes carries a history. It points back to Massah, a place in the wilderness.
In meeting the temptation the Lord Jesus quoted from Deuteronomy 6:16: "You shall not tempt the Lord your God, as you tempted Him in Massah." The people had murmured in their hunger, and now they murmured in their thirst. Yet it was by saying "Is the Lord among us, or not?" that they tempted Him. How could they raise such a question? Had not the manna fallen around the camp that very morning, and could they not see the pillar of cloud that spoke of His presence?
Satan's quotation had a piece missing.
Satan quotes Psalm 91, hinting to Jesus that all He had to do was throw Himself down from the highest point of the temple. But as usual he tampered with the plain written word, both its letter and its spirit; after "to keep you" he left out "in all your ways."
The promise covers a man walking in God's ways. A leap from the temple was not one of them.
To throw Himself down from that height, even when Scripture seemed to provide for such a situation, would have been nothing but testing God. It would not have been a step in what the psalm Satan quotes calls His ways. Those ways were ways of dependence; this would have been one of presumption. The man of dependence does not tempt God. Such was Jesus, and again the enemy is foiled.
The answer is not only a defence. It shows where strength lies for anyone facing the same pressure.
Satan quotes a promise to Him. But Christ will not abandon the position of obedience. He answers him, "You shall not tempt the Lord your God." We have here a principle of the utmost importance. We do have the whole word of God as a means of gaining the victory over Satan. But we find strength in the simplest obedience. If Christ has no word from God, He does nothing.
- The attack — Satan's weapon is Scripture itself. He quotes a real verse, with a phrase left out, to push the Lord into a step God never asked for.
- The answer — "It is written again." Jesus does not trade Scripture for argument. Scripture read as a whole corrects Scripture read in pieces.
- The meaning — testing God is not trusting Him too much. It is distrust, demanding proof of a faithfulness He has already given.
- The memory — Massah is the warning. Israel had the manna and the cloud, and still asked whether the Lord was among them.
- The path — God protects in His own ways, not in ways we invent. Dependence keeps the promise; presumption loses it. Strength comes from simple obedience.
Again the devil takes him to a very high mountain, and shews him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory,
Two attacks have failed. Now Satan carries the Lord to a mountain top and spreads the whole world before His eyes. The question is simple. Will the King take His kingdoms from the enemy's hand, or wait for them from God's?
By now the enemy has dropped his disguise.
The third temptation, the pride of life, comes in its proper place. The last two show the evil one unmasked. Jesus has the will of God alone in view, and Satan takes Him — so He is not led. A very high mountain is the place. The kingdoms of the world and their glory are the scene.
The display was no trick of the eyes. What Satan offered was in his hands, but he held it as a thief holds stolen goods.
The third temptation was from the viewpoint of an exceptionally high mountain. It is again miraculous that Satan was able to show the Lord all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory. We must not forget that he is able to work miracles, but his purpose is always evil. His appeal this time was to the human desire for power and wealth. That desire is a strong motivating influence in people generally. The cunning of Satan's offer is plain. These had been handed over to Satan, a cruel usurper, through man's sin.
One writer asks us to feel what this hour was for the Lord Himself.
What anguish of spirit must have been His as He allowed Satan, for a moment, to carry Him to the top of this very high mountain! What sorrow of heart must have been His as He looked at the outward glory of the kingdoms of this world! He knew full well that they were sunk deep in their sin of refusing God and His truth and ways.
Satan offered a throne at once. God's road to that throne ran another way.
He was a King of a different kind, of another moral order, and He would neither receive the kingdoms from the enemy's hand nor rule over a people who were subject to his rule. The path that led up to the throne led Him first to the cross, so that the foundation of the Kingdom might be laid and those redeemed who were to have a place in it. As the Son of Man He will receive the Kingdom from God Himself, "the Ancient of days," and then the kingdoms of this world will become "the Kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ."
Luke's Gospel lists these three tests in a different order. Matthew and Luke arrange them on different principles.
Luke clearly gives us the temptations in moral order and not historical order. Matthew gives us the historical order… The order here agrees with John's analysis of the world in 1 John 2. The first temptation was clearly designed to appeal to the lust of the flesh. The second appealed to the lust of the eyes, and the third to the pride of life. But no such lust or pride had any place in our Lord. The three testings only served to show His perfection in every detail.
Satan dangled the kingdoms in front of Him; he never put them into His hand. The world still works on us the same way.
Luke adds, "for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will" — not as a possession, but as an object to attract the heart. This last temptation has the character of the world. Let us be warned. Anything in this world presented to us as an object to chase after is of Satan. God cannot offer us anything in a world that has completely cast the Son of God out of it. We are heirs of it with Christ. In time He will put us into possession.
The Lord's answer was final. But the offer came round again, to others.
He knew that He was a king. Then Satan came and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Satan offered to give them all to Him if He fell down and worshipped him. The Lord utterly rejected it all. But Satan, so to speak, repeated the offer to the church, and in time she accepted it. In seeking the glory of the world, she has sought honour where Satan is the prince.
- Unmasked. On the mountain the enemy shows himself. The appeal is bare — power, wealth, and glory.
- Usurped. What he displayed was real, but held as a usurper who gained it through man's sin, not as an owner with a right to give it.
- Shortcut. The road to the throne ran through the cross. Christ would take the kingdoms from no hand but God's.
- Offered, not given. Then and now Satan dangles the world before the heart as bait. He never hands it over.
- Refused, then accepted. Christ rejected the bargain outright. His people later took what He refused.
and says to him, All these things will I give thee if, falling down, thou wilt do me homage.
On a high mountain, with the world's kingdoms spread out below Him, Jesus hears the boldest of the three temptations. Everything is offered, on one condition — and that condition forces the tempter to say out loud what he has wanted all along.
Up to now the tempter has worked by suggestion, even quoting Scripture. One writer notes what happened when he named his price:
The Lord knew very well who it was that was tempting Him. But He does not say so until the devil fully shows himself by saying, "If you will fall down and worship me." Then He calls him Satan. "Devil" means the accuser, "Satan" the adversary. The Lord in no way refuses the testing.
The word "worship" here is not about a religious ceremony. It is about who gets credited as the giver:
That was false, and yet true. It was false as to title, but true as to fact; for Satan had gained this through man's sin. As to title, he had none at all. Satan had no right to give glory to anyone. But by his craft he led man to depart from God. He attacked the first Adam and defeated him. He now takes advantage of this victory over man, and here sets himself up as the usurper. "I have all this," he says, "and I give it to whomever I will. If you will own me as the giver" — that is what worship means here — "if you will take it from me, all shall be yours."
The kingdoms were to be His anyway. What Satan offered was not the prize but a shortcut to it:
The enemy failed to deceive that obedient heart, even by hiding himself behind the use of the word of God. So he shows himself in his true character. Now he tempts the Lord a third time: to spare Himself all the sufferings that awaited Him. He does this by showing Him the inheritance of the Son of Man on earth. It would be His once He had reached it — but only by all those paths the Father had marked out for Him, paths that were hard, yet necessary to the Father's glory. All would be His now, if He would acknowledge Satan by worshipping him, the god of this world. The kings of the earth have in fact done this for only a part of these things. How often men have done it for some trifling vanity! But Satan offered Him the whole.
What decided the matter was not the size of the offer but the hand holding it out:
Fallen man would like the gift and would long after the gift. The more glory it had, the more it would attract him. But the Lord Jesus — the perfect Man — thought of the giver. He thought of who it was that offered it. His heart was in perfect tune with the heart of God. So He says, "You shall worship the Lord your God." He would not take an empire or a kingdom from anyone else. He would not take glory, pleasure, or honour from Satan. That is what the poor world is doing right now. Satan comes with his glittering bait, and men swallow it eagerly.
One writer turns the same offer toward us:
Let us be warned: if anything in this world is held out to us as a prize to chase after, it is certainly of Satan. God cannot offer us anything in a world that has completely cast out the Son of God. We are heirs of it with Christ. When He takes possession it will be soon enough for hearts that love Him to possess it. He will never separate us from Himself. When He takes the inheritance of all things in heaven and earth we shall take it with Him. Now He calls us into the lowly path of His rejection. He gives us His obedience, His dependence and His absolute refusal of the world, to be our pattern in it.
He won without one stroke of divine power:
Perhaps nowhere does the perfection of manhood shine so brightly as in the temptation. For Satan to fight against Godhead would be folly. But here is a Man — one who was hungry too, and who in His conflict used no means beyond the reach of anyone. He simply quoted the written word of God, and that was enough. Here was a Man perfectly governed by the Word, and for such a one Satan was no match. The strong man was bound by the stronger.
- The bait — the kingdoms and their glory, offered as a shortcut so the Lord could "spare Himself all the sufferings that awaited Him."
- The price — one act of worship, meaning: own Satan as the giver. He had no title to give, only what he had gained through man's sin.
- The mask — the demand for worship is what unmasked him; only then does the Lord name him Satan.
- The refusal — the perfect Man weighed the Giver, not the gift, and would take glory from no hand but God's.
- The inheritance — refused from Satan's hand, it comes in God's own time. Those who walk the lowly path now will take it with Christ then.
Then says Jesus to him, Get thee away, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt do homage to [the] Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve.
The third attack drops all disguise. The tempter shows Jesus the world's kingdoms and asks for worship in exchange. Jesus answers with a command and a line of Scripture. Together they settle who owns worship, and on whose terms the kingdoms will be His.
Twice Jesus had answered without sending the tempter away. What changed was the demand itself.
Satan first tried to turn Him from the only true place of man — obedience to God and dependence on Him. The Lord kept that place perfectly, and Satan was baffled at both points. So he set the world before the Lord. He offered Him all its kingdoms and their glory, if He would only worship him. Now the tempter had come out in his full character, claiming divine worship for himself. That is when the Lord says: "Be gone, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.'"
The wording matters. Jesus later says something similar to Peter, but not the same thing.
The Lord did call Peter Satan. But He did not say, "Be gone," as He did to the enemy himself (Matthew 4:10). He said, "Get behind me." … It is well worth seeing how the Lord deals with the flesh in a believer who, out of kindness, claims a higher grace than the Spirit. We may and should treat it as Satan's work, as the Lord did in Peter.
The kingdoms were already His. What was wrong was the hand that offered them, and the hour.
These kingdoms all belonged to Jesus. But God's way — the only way He could secure them in everlasting righteousness — was suffering and death. "You shall have them," said the tempter, "by an easy way. I will give them to you if you will only worship me. Acknowledge me as greater than yourself and God. Take them from my hand, and all shall be yours." But those glittering kingdoms had no attraction in that hour for the holy One of God. He would not take them from any hand but God's hand.
Refusing meant choosing the longer road on purpose.
He refused it. He did not take that short and easy cut to glory. He took the hard road that lay through death and resurrection — "Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:26).
All three answers come from one book, and the choice was deliberate.
Deuteronomy tells of obedience. So the One who had come to be obedient — obedient even to death, the death of the cross — went to that book of obedience. He used it to show how He submitted to His Father's will, and to defeat Satan by it.
That same book is in our hands.
Notice that the Lord answered Satan each time with "It is written," quoting from the book of Deuteronomy. That book shows Israel about to enter the promised land. The Christian has the same weapon, and it is called "the sword of the Spirit." Scripture also says, "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
Jesus answered from the place He had Himself taken.
The Lord Jesus had taken "the form of a servant." In that place He glorified God to the fullest, for He was Jehovah's Beloved Servant, and the prophets of Israel gave full witness to Him.
The other side of that is simple:
Bowing to Satan cannot be combined with serving God.
The same trade is still on offer today.
All the kingdoms of the earth will be Christ's in God's own time, and the Lord is waiting for that. Yet how many people, sad to say, have bowed to Satan in some way for scraps of worldly glory or property!
Trench goes further, and gives a test:
Let us be warned: as surely as anything in this world is presented to us as an object to be pursued, it is of Satan. … Now He calls us into the lowly path of His rejection, and gives us His obedience, His dependence, and His absolute refusal of the world, to be our pattern in it.
Jesus met every attack with the Word alone, and the enemy was left with nothing.
So Satan was utterly powerless. He could not advance a single step. Defeated at every point, he had to withdraw, baffled and beaten. And he is as powerless today as he was then, when met in the same way. He cannot touch an obedient, dependent man.
- Claim — The devil asks for what belongs to God alone. The moment he demands worship, Jesus stops answering and orders him out.
- Cost — The kingdoms were already His, but only by way of suffering and death; He would take them from no hand but God's.
- Weapon — Every reply comes from Deuteronomy, the book of obedience. That same word is the sword in our hands.
- Wholeness — Worship and service go together. No one can bow to Satan and serve God.
- Conquest — The enemy retires beaten. He stays powerless against anyone who meets him the same way: obedient and dependent.