The place for this temptation again changed. Satan took Jesus to a "very high mountain" and enabled him to see the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Satan challenged Jesus' imagination and seemingly offered him the goal of his mission. The deception lay in confusing physical control with spiritual transformation. The changes Jesus' sought through God's will were NOT externally controlling people by forcing them to behave as God wants. The changes Jesus sought occur when people surrender to God from within and willingly become who God wants them to be. The change Jesus seeks is internal resulting in a different lifestyle, not a mere external conformity produced by external control.
The deception of Satan's offer sprang from three things: (1) his route would be quick; (2) his route immediately would achieve the goal of Jesus' mission; (3) his route would be painless--no death on a cross was required. Please note this is a straightforward offer: "Give me the worship of surrendering before me, and I will give you the kingdoms." Also please note that Jesus' surrender to the temptation to change stones to bread or to jump would have placed Satan in control of Jesus as certainly as this temptation would. Satan always seeks the devastation of his control. Satan's war against God [because of his hatred for God] never ceases. The greatest insult Satan can inflict on God is to deceive God's creation into acknowledging him as the supreme one.
Satan wants godly people to place him in the position of supremacy. If he can do it by deceiving them about the importance of physical need, okay. If he can do it by deceiving them in the issue of trusting God, okay. If he can do it by deceiving them into believing that placing him in a position of supremacy is the means to achieving God's purposes, okay. The means he uses to gain supremacy over the godly is unimportant to him. He does not care how he deceives people as long as he deceives them.
Jesus recognized Satan's attempt to deceive him. He realized immediately that Satan's suggestion (1) would not achieve God's objectives and (2) would insult God in the most fundamental way possible. Satan's suggestion disgusted Jesus! When Satan suggested that Jesus insult his Father by placing Satan in the position of supremacy, Jesus promptly acted with indignation: "Satan, go!" He saw Satan [the devil] for who and what he is. To suggest Jesus emphasize physical need over spiritual commitment was one thing, but for Satan to suggest that Jesus insult his Father was too much! Christians need to grasp that acknowledging Satan's supremacy insults God, their loving Father!
Jesus responded to Satan's suggestion/temptation by quoting Deuteronomy 6:13, "You shall fear only the Lord your God; and you shall worship Him and swear by His name."
There is a consistent emphasis throughout the Bible on recognizing that God is Number One. Jesus clearly endorsed God's greatest commandment. "One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?' And He said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the great and foremost commandment" (Matthew 22:35-38). This is a declaration of Deuteronomy 6:4,5: "Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Or, God is first! God's people love God with all their being!
This emphasis is quite obvious as the Ten Commandments open: "Then God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain." It is also obvious as Ecclesiastes closes. Ecclesiastes 12:13: "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person."
Failure to understand this truth resulted in horrible spiritual failure! Isaiah 1:3: "An ox knows its owner, And a donkey its master's manger, But Israel does not know, My people do not understand." Jeremiah 4:22: "For My people are foolish, They know Me not; They are stupid children And have no understanding. They are shrewd to do evil, But to do good they do not know." Jeremiah 9:3,6: "They bend their tongue like their bow; Lies and not truth prevail in the land; For they proceed from evil to evil, And they do not know Me," declares the Lord.... "Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; Through deceit they refuse to know Me," declares the Lord. Judges 2:10-12: "All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel. Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals, and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the Lord to anger." Hosea 4:1: "Listen to the word of the Lord, O sons of Israel, For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land, Because there is no faithfulness or kindness Or knowledge of God in the land."
What Satan suggested was unthinkable! Yet, it is a common deception. Often people who are certain they are God's people are equally certain they should do something evil to accomplish God's purposes. The classic example is John 11:47-50: "Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, 'What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.' But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, 'You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.'" God's purposes would be accomplished by the preservation of the nation and their leadership--even if it meant a man should be killed!
Suffering or the fear of suffering can easily distort our "sight." Never allow pain of any kind cause you to believe anything should be honored above God!
Thought and Discussion Question
Link to Teacher's Guide
Lesson 12