5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours.” 8 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’” 9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” 12 Jesus answered, “It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” 13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. ~ Luke 4:5-13
Luke gives us three examples of the temptations Satan threw at the Lord Jesus. First, in v.3 he says, "If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Then, in v.5–7 Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world and says, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 If you worship me, it will all be yours." Finally, in v.9–11 Satan took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple and said, “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone."
We come to the second temptation in v.5, where we read, "The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world." Again, the devil is questioning God's promise. Here the devil is offering the Lord Jesus rule and reign over the whole earth without having to go to the cross. All of this only if the Lord Jesus will worship this one who once said, "I will be like the Most High."
Notice the response of the Lord Jesus in v.8 which reads, "It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only." The Lord Jesus responds with God's definition of this subject. That's it! That's the key, letting God define us and our lives.
In v.9, we see the third temptation which reads, "The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down from here."
With this third temptation, the devil quotes Scripture. In v.10-11, we read, "For it is written: “‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” But, the devil is quoting the verse out of its context. This verse that the devil is quoting comes from Psalm 91. In quoting this verse, the devil is suggesting a way that was not the way of God.
Then in v.12, the Lord Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:16 which reads, "It is said: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test."
In v.13, we read, "When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." The Greek word kairos is used here, not chronos, not chronological time, but just the right showing of time. The devil is waiting to tempt the Lord Jesus at "an opportune time." Perhaps when he perceives that He is weakened.
The Lord Jesus said to the religious leaders, "You do err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God." We'll never know the power of God until we know the Scriptures; they go hand and hand.
These temptations are amazingly relevant for us today. Satan doesn't tempt the mature with adultery, fornication, stealing, lying, murder which are all too obvious. When Satan means business with someone strong in the faith, he sticks with religion and he makes the Bible his textbook.
He says to us "If you are a child of God, why are you living like a pauper? If you are a child of the king, why don't you live like a prince? The children of the king don't drive second-hand clunkers, they drive new cars. The children of the king don't throw their lives away in ministry, living on a shoestring budget, building no reserves. If you are a child of the king, claim your blessings. God has promised to send his angels to make you healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. Throw yourself into these blessings. The best testimony you can be to your status as an heir of God is to be wealthy and have the best of everything."
If only we today could see this new "gospel" as a species of Satan's temptation to Jesus. Satan had one aim in the wilderness: to do whatever he could to keep the Lord Jesus from suffering. He was willing to let the Lord Jesus have all the glory and authority of a world ruler if he just wouldn't gain it through suffering. He was eager to let Jesus use his divine power if he would just use it to relieve his suffering. He was willing to let all the worshipers in Jerusalem see and acknowledge his divine sonship if only the angels of God would keep Jesus from suffering.
In Matthew 16, the Lord Jesus said to the disciples that he had to go up to Jerusalem and suffer and be killed, and Peter said, "God forbid, Lord"? Jesus responded to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me" (Matthew 16:23). Satan's aim in the wilderness was to hinder Jesus from suffering. Because His suffering and death meant the final destruction of Satan and the salvation of you and me. And Satan's aim in the church today is to hinder us from following the Lord Jesus when he says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me (in the path of suffering)." (Luke 9:23).
People sometimes ask, if Satan is real, why don't we see more demon possession and exorcisms in America. Satan holds American Christianity so tightly in the vice-grip of comfort and wealth that he's not about to tip his hand with too much demonic craziness. What Satan fears most in the American church is an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that causes us to say with Paul, "I count everything as refuse that I might gain Christ . . . that I might know the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, becoming like him in his death."
