Satan Tempts Jesus With the World

Matthew 4:8-11  

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Jesus Christ, after fasting for 40 days, was physically very weak but spiritually strong through contact with God the Father (using the spiritual tools of fasting, prayer, Bible study and meditation). Matthew describes two other temptations that Jesus successfully overcame before this one (Matthew 4:1-7; see “Jesus’ Temptation in the Wilderness: What Can It Teach Us?”).

For this third temptation, Satan pulled out all the stops. He showed Christ all the glorious kingdoms of this world—a world that Satan still ruled over. He offered it all to Jesus then, tempting Him with a shortcut to becoming King without having to go through the horrible death the Savior would have to die.

Jesus Christ did not say that Satan didn’t have the right to offer Him the world. The Bible says that Satan is the god of this age (2 Corinthians 4:4), though he disqualified himself by his evil actions and is due to be replaced by Jesus Christ at His second coming (Revelation 11:15).

Jesus Christ knew that Satan wanted Him to sin by breaking the First Commandment—worshipping someone other than God. If He had sinned—but, of course, He didn’t—Jesus would have failed to become the perfect Savior, and Satan would have thwarted God’s plan.

Obviously, Jesus powerfully overcame the temptation and defeated Satan. The holy angels then came to care for Him. After overcoming Satan, Jesus Christ continued His course to become our perfect Savior and soon-coming Messiah and King.

This temptation gives a brief glimpse into the invisible spirit world. For more on this, see our articles “Satan: A Profile” and “Are Demons Real?

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