January 16

Matthew 4:8-10

Again, the devil *took Him to a very high mountain, and *showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory; and he said to Him, "All these things will I give You, if You fall down and worship me."  Then Jesus *said to him, "Begone, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.'" (NASB)

Satan said to Jesus, “I will make you a deal you cannot refuse!”  No deceit!  No smoke and mirrors!  No subtle appeal to a desire that would enable the victim to justify himself/herself!  Just a straight forward “I want this and I will give you that for it.”

Satan said, “Jesus, you want to be in charge of people.  You wish to be in charge of their physical behavior.  I offer you the opportunity to be King of Kings, to be in control of everyone, to do as you please with the entire world if you will give me what I want—your worship.  Give me your spiritual allegiance, and I will give you control of the world.”

If we get lost in “where was Jesus,” “how could Jesus see all the kingdoms,” what was “their glory,” and “could Satan deliver on his promise,” we miss the point of the temptation.  Jesus saw the point and replied to the point in his answer. 

At stake was his relationship with God.  Jesus knew only God was worthy of his worship—end of discussion!  To mess with his perception of need or perception of personal identity was one thing, but boldly to attack his relationship with God was off limits!  Only in this did Jesus tell Satan in no uncertain terms to leave!

Jesus’ answer may have been taken from Deuteronomy 6:13.  Remember the first four of the ten commands in Exodus 20:1-11 deal with Israel’s relationship with God.  Only God was (is) worthy of worship.  The foundatione wqas (isw)H for all obedience was (is) worshipping the God who is the Source of all things.  That was (is) ground zero for all who follow God!

Suggestion for reflection: In your devotion to God, do you have a price?  If so, what is it?  (Read Colossians 4:14 and 2 Timothy 4:10.)