Loyal to God Alone, Part 1 | How to Fight Temptation

Luke 4:5-6

We should never doubt God’s care and concern. He takes care of the most insignificant of the creatures. How much more will he care for us? But the devil tempted Jesus, nonetheless, to turn from faith in God and to turn to himself to provide for himself. Jesus answered there, confirming God’s intent to provide for all of our needs. He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” The clear implication from the rest of what it says there in Deuteronomy, is that God will provide for all of your needs. He’ll even rain bread from heaven. Bread is not the issue; the issue is, do you trust in God? 

So that first temptation was about daily provision. This second temptation, Luke 4:5-8 it’s about future reward. The devil tempted Jesus with reward, with treasure. And he let Jesus in on a way to get that reward now. He didn’t have to wait to get it later. He could get it right now, all that God had for him. Jesus stood firm. He turned away. How he discerned the devil’s scheme, and how he saw through that temptation. That’s going to be the subject of our study for this morning.

As we embark on our study, I want you to ask yourself a question as you think through the text here. What do I most treasure? What’s most important to me? And then ask yourself a follow up question. Am I living in such a way so as to get that treasure, to attain that reward? Am I living my life in such a way that what I say I want and what I pursue are really dovetailing into the same thing?

Well, with that in mind, look at the text starting in Luke Chapter 4, verse 5, “And the devil took Jesus up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” 

As we get a better grasp here of what’s happening, we’re going to get a better appreciation really, for Jesus’ perfections. We’re going to see on display his wisdom to discern and see through to the true nature of this temptation. We’re going to see his holy resolve to deftly sidestep the trap and stand firm. That’s what I want you to notice most of all is the perfect wisdom and holiness of Christ here. They’re on full display and once again we find in him absolute confidence to trust him as our Savior, to obey him as our Lord, because we may fall to this temptation. But he never did and in anything we’ve failed, he has succeeded. We have in him a firm foundation for our faith. We can learn from Jesus to be loyal to God and to God alone.

So getting right into our outline here, three points this morning. This is the first, simply, the bait. What is the bait? Look at verses 5 to 7, the devil throws a line in the water, and he’s dangling before Jesus an attractive bit of bait, a little morsel. “The devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I can give it to whoever I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’”

As I said, the first temptation was about one thing, food, satisfying hunger. It was a simple need and a simple temptation. This temptation, though, is a bit more complex. This temptation it whittles into the mind. It gets into the appeal, to the desires of the mind, to internal ambition. And as I said, it may seem at first glance easy to figure out, but it’s far more subtle than it appears. The devil here, he offers Jesus the world and despite how it appears at first glance, the price tag he even offers is, seems to be quite low.

But let’s start here with its attractiveness. What made this attractive and an apt temptation for Jesus himself? There are four attractive elements in this temptation. Four aspects of this temptation that really kind of sweeten the deal and make this a very appealing temptation. First of all, it was pleasing to the eye. Second of all, it was pleasing to the mind. Third thing, it was easy, at least it seemed so. Fourthly, it was offered as being something inconsequential.

First is the appeal to what Jesus could see, pleasing to the eye. What the devil showed him here was extremely attractive. In verse 5 it says, “The devil took him up.” If we compare that with what’s recorded in Matthew 4:8, we know that up refers to the top of a very high mountain.

The focus here, keep in mind, it’s not on the entire globe. We don’t need to imagine Jesus looking down from his vantage point probably in the Holy Land somewhere there in Palestine. We don’t need to imagine him looking down on the continents of the western hemisphere. The word here that Luke uses, tells us he looked down not on the entire globe, but on an economic system.

When it says “kingdoms of the world,” the word translated world is oikoumene and that’s a word that refers to household management. We get the word, economy from the word oikoumene, economy. So the devil is showing Jesus the kingdoms of the oikoumene, the kingdoms involved in the economic system. Same word that’s used back in Luke Chapter 2, verse 1 when Caesar Augustus required the whole world, the oikoumene to be registered.

So we’re talking about his realm, his authority. We’re talking about the kingdoms under the authority here of the Roman Empire. And the devil showed Jesus the web of the world’s economy. It started there in Rome and it spread westward through Europe. It spread southward through Judea and Egypt, eastward to Syria and Persia, and he saw all of it in motion. It says he saw it all going on “in a moment of time.” Quite an impressive sight, right?

It was a vantage point that perhaps Abraham had seen centuries before. Back in Genesis 13 we read about the time when Abraham and Lot separated from one another. Lot chose the well-watered lowlands, the Jordan valley, and it contained the infamous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. But after that, after Lot separated and went his way, we read that God came to Abraham and said, “Lift your eyes,” that’s good counsel for all of us, isn’t it?

Lift your eyes. “Lift your eyes up, look from the place you are, northward, southward, eastward, and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” That promise of God, it was fulfilled, but not completely. God did give Israel the land, but the children of Israel, as you know, never fully possessed it. They disobeyed, that brought the judgment of God. They were eventually expelled from the land. And what Israel failed to do, Jesus came to accomplish. He came to fulfill for them. The promise of God remained for the children of Abraham, but the physical possession of that land awaited the reign of the Messiah on earth.

And that’s the promise we read of when we read in Psalm 2:7 and 8, when the father told the son, his Messiah, Psalm 2, “You are my son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” So the Messiah will one day rule the nations from the throne of David located in Jerusalem.

There’s another Messianic Psalm, Psalm 22, and in verse 27-28 it says, “All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord, all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.” That promise is dramatically portrayed over in Isaiah 60. In fact, if you would, just turn in your Bibles back to Isaiah 60. Just quickly because I want you to read this for yourself, to see for yourself this amazing prophecy that promises Israel during the earthly reign of the Messiah, the fulfillment of Abrahamic blessing, and particularly with regard to the rest of the nations coming to Israel. Jesus is the one who fulfills all of this.

Look at Isaiah chapter 60, verse 1, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes all around, and see,” sounds like the call to Abraham, right?

“Lift up your eyes all around, and see. They all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar and your daughters shall be carried on the hip. And then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because of the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you. A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praise of the Lord.” Notice the praises of the Lord are coming from the nations back to Jerusalem. “All the flocks of Kedar shall be gathered to you; the rams of Nebaioth shall minister to you; they shall come up with acceptance on my altar, and I will beautify my beautiful house.

Skip down to verse 10, “Foreigners shall build up your walls, their kings shall minister to you; for in my wrath I struck you, but in my favor, I have had mercy on you. Your gates shall be open continually; day and night they shall not be shut, that people may bring to you the wealth of the nations, with their kings led in procession.” Skip over to verse 14, “The sons of those who afflicted you shall come bending low to you, and all who despised you shall bow down at your feet; they shall call you the City of the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel.

“Whereas you have been forsaken and hated, with no one passing through, I will make you majestic forever, a joy from age to age. You shall suck the milk of nations; you shall nurse at the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, the Lord, am your Savior and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. Instead of bronze I will bring gold, and instead of iron I will bring silver; instead of wood, bronze; instead of stones, iron. I will make your overseers, peace and your taskmasters, righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in your land, devastation or destruction within your borders; you shall call your walls Salvation, and your gates Praise.”

And on and on it goes. As God said, “I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth your possession.” He’s speaking to Jesus there, to the Messiah. And now, the devil gives him a sneak peek. He gives him a preview. Turn back to Luke 4. The devil takes Jesus up onto a high mountain and he gives him this panoramic view of his inheritance, as if to say, There’s your reward. What’s stopping us from getting this started right now?

It’s interesting to imagine what Jesus saw from that vantage point, from the top of a very high mountain. He could see all the terrain features, a fascinating topography of the land, vast, magnificent, beautiful. This vantage point offered Jesus a view of land and sea, all the routes of commerce that connected the kingdoms of the economic system of the world. He could see the Roman roads, probably see the caravans that were traveling on them. He could see the Mediterranean Sea, the ships arriving and departing from coastal harbors. All the industry and the productivity that all of that represented. The dynamism of economic growth, the order and safety and security provided by the Roman system, the Pax Romana.

From that vantage point, that lofty perspective, it would be very easy to see the world at its idyllic best, right? And that’s exactly the way the devil wanted Jesus to see the world. It’s easy to forget when you’re admiring beauty from a high peak, that all that beautiful topography was created by God’s judgment on sin, by a Noahic flood that drowned the entire earth, save eight people and two of every kind of animal.

If you think about it, it is interesting to consider what Jesus could not see from that great height, being so far removed. You know what he couldn’t see in detail? He couldn’t see the sinners. He couldn’t see the sin that poisoned every single relationship. He couldn’t see the sin that insinuated itself into every business transaction. He couldn’t see the crime and corruption. He couldn’t see the backroom deals. He couldn’t see how sin was destroying families, hurting people.

From that height, Jesus couldn’t see all the pain and sorrow. He couldn’t hear the cries for help, the widow, the orphans in distress. All he could see from way up there, perched atop a very high mountain, was the world at its best. The superficial beauty of the world, the picture of busy industry and dynamic productivity. Not too much detail, not too clear of a focus, just the most positive way to look at a fallen world, right? That’s what the devil wanted him to see.

Still, it presented quite a sight. Without allowing too much time to pause and reflect, the devil interrupted that serenity with an offer. Here’s the second aspect of the temptation that made it attractive. It was an appeal here to Jesus’ sense of ambition, a desire of the mind. Notice verse 6, the devil said to him, “to you.” That’s right in front there, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory.”

It’s interesting that in forming the sentence, the devil appealed to self-interest. Those words, to you, they’re up front for emphasis. It’s all about you. It’s all about you, Jesus. That’s at the heart of every solicitation to sin, isn’t it? Self at the center. And notice how he attempts to tempt Jesus this way. He brought him up on a really high mountain. He shows him a spectacular mountaintop view of the world, and then he leads out with this irresistible offer, “all this authority and all the glory.” By showing Jesus this big-picture perspective, he puts the focus where he wants it to be and that is on the glory and the honor, not on the responsibility, not on the duty, not on the work.

As we said, from a high mountain peak, the earth looks pretty good, doesn’t it? I don’t know about you, but I love to travel into the mountains and get up on the Trail Ridge Road and see all of that beauty, all of that glory from up high. I love it. But that’s exactly how the devil wants to keep it. He wants to keep Jesus’ eyes focused on that. That’s the only perspective he wants him to have.

Authority over the earth here, absent of any concern about responsibility. He shows Jesus this amazing, magnificent view in verse 5, “All the kingdoms of the world.” He presents this unparalleled offer verse 6, “All authority and glory,” and he repeatedly puts Jesus at the center of all of it. Notice verse 6, “To you,” verse 7, “It will all be yours.” Incredible view, unparalleled authority, personal glory, not a word about responsibility.

Again, as we read from Psalm 104 earlier, God takes responsibility in his sovereignty for the entire creation. Not just the economic system, not just the important people in the world, not just the rulers and all their interests. He waters the valleys and the hills. He provides drink for the beasts and the birds. He causes the grass to grow thick for food, the trees to grow as homes for the birds. He gives the mountains as a home to the wild goats. To the rock badgers, he gives the rocks.

Psalm 104:27, “These all look to you to give them their food in due season.” That’s God. That’s his way. “With authority” is all responsibility to care. When God gives authority, it assumes the responsibility to serve, to care for, to govern with kindness. He’s a good and wise sovereign and that’s what he promised to his son.

But the devil’s offer, it’s a bit different in focus. It is free of personal sacrifice. No obligation to anyone but self at the center. The whole offer is couched in terms of self-interest and self-glorification. And added to what Jesus saw and heard here was this tacit assurance that this would be easy, I like easy. Don’t you like easy? Much better than hard. It seems to be, right? That’s what he’s offering.

So the third attractive element of the bait here, the devil appealed to a sense of ease, a preference for a lack of difficulty. Take a look at verse 6 again, “To you I’ll give all this authority and their glory, for,” here’s the cause, here’s the reason, “it has been delivered to me and I give it to whom I will.” See? Easy! I got it all figured out. You don’t have to worry yourself, trouble your little mind about a thing.

He presents this offer to Jesus as a matter of will and desire. This is really simple. I just happened to have all this authority and glory to give you, and it’s in my power to do so. In fact, you know what? I want to give it to you. I’m eager to give this to you. He seems so friendly. I mean the devil is such a relational guy. He loves relationship evangelism. He’s leading out with the friendship. He’s leading out with the gifts. Significant gifts at that, right? He’s magnanimous, he’s generous. You might even be tempted to say, what a gracious gesture. What a nice guy.

Just an offer of authority and of glory without any sense of suffering. No sense of difficulty, pain, travail, sorrow. None of that’s there. The devil offers Jesus here a shortcut to personal glory. Bypass the suffering. Don’t worry about paying any dues. Don’t worry about putting in the hard yards, I got you covered. No one needs to know. It will be our little secret.

God’s ways, not so simple. God is clear about his promise of suffering, not only to Jesus, but to all of us who follow Jesus Christ, right? He didn’t promise ease to Jesus. He, instead, promised exactly the opposite. He promised him intense suffering when the father foretold through Isaiah the prophet. In Isaiah 53:11-12, “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; and he shall bear their iniquities.”

There’s a whole lot of anguish described in Isaiah 53. A whole lot of pain, a whole lot of suffering. And it’s not just the suffering at the hands of the Jews. It’s not just the nails that were pounded by Roman hands. It’s the suffering of the father, who put his son to death. It’s the wrath of an omnipotent God, “out of the anguish of his soul.” His soul felt the anguish. “Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied.” “He shall bear their iniquities.” Verse 12, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because,” here’s the reason, “he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors.” Oh, he paid his dues. Oh, he went through the suffering. Will you? Will I?