The Second Temptation

Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours” (Luke 4:5-7).

In the second temptation, the devil . . . showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. It doesn’t take long for Satan to show all he has to offer. It was not the world itself but the kingdoms of this world he offered. There is a sense in which he does have authority over the kingdoms of this world. Because of man’s sin, Satan has become “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11, “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4), and “the prince of the power of the air” (Ephesians 2:2). God has purposed that “the kingdoms of the world” will one day “become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ” (Revelation 11:15). So Satan was offering to Christ what would eventually be His anyway.

But there could be no short cut to the throne. The cross had to come first. In the counsels of God, the Lord Jesus had to suffer before He could enter into His glory. He could not achieve a legitimate end by a wrong means. Under no circumstances would He worship the devil, no matter what the prize might be.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version®, NKJV © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.