Get thee behind me... It is written!

Mat 4:8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
Mat 4:9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.


Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
Luk 4:7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.


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A third great temptation- and I say great temptation because while WE might not personally find these particular temptations enticing, these temptations WERE extremely enticing to our Savior. To think that they weren't enticing at all and merely nuisances that Jesus could wave off without a second glance is to discredit the humanity that Jesus shares with us. We have to look at these revealed temptations from the point of view of ONE truly tempted. REAL temptations.


The devil once again transports Jesus supernaturally taking Him to a VERY high mountain. Once on top of that VERY high mountain the devil shows Jesus ALL the kingdoms of the world. Think about this for a moment. If we went up to the highest mountain on earth would we be able to see ALL the kingdoms of the world? Absolutely NOT. Again, the devil is using supernatural means to tempt Jesus. People don't believe the devil has supernatural power but he does and he's not afraid to use it whenever he can, whenever he's allowed. Using that supernatural power the devil flashed before Jesus' eyes in a moment of time ALL the kingdoms of the world…the entire WORLD.

Now imagine for a moment that's you again, you're on that mountain and the devil shows you all the kingdom's of the world- all the rulers, all the land that is being ruled throughout the world, the tremendous power involved in ruling all the land, all the people, all this is revealed to you and then you are told YOU can have it all. Now you know YOU do not possess the power, the rulership, the kingdoms they belong to another.


The devil OWNS them. That's right. The rulership of this world belongs to the devil. Shocked? Jesus wasn't shocked. The devil told Jesus that he would give Him ALL the power, all the glory of all the kingdoms of the world- that it was delivered to him and he could give it to whoever he wanted to give it to. This wasn't a lie, even from the father of lies, it was the truth. When Adam and Eve sinned they gave up the right to the world God created for them to rule, for them to have dominion over. The devil took over the dominion of the world and until our Savior returns and until the earth is made new it remains the devil's.


The devil told Jesus the world and all its power would be His if only Jesus acknowledged that the devil was worthy of being worshipped, worthy of being given the honor due to God. There was NO way Jesus was going to do that, no way. Jesus would suffer living in the world corrupted by sin, he'd lived in it since His birth and He would continue to do so rather than take a SHORT CUT, rather than take the path that would mean NO suffering. Jesus felt pain, intense pain. To think that Jesus didn't or couldn't suffer is foolish. The pain in store for Jesus was akin to the worst pain we can ever imagine, even more so.


This temptation that the devil offered to Jesus was a REAL temptation that Jesus resisted, that He endured. He replied to the offered temptation with this--


Mat 4:10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.


Luk 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.


Jesus said- GET THEE BEHIND ME… Jesus was putting the devil where he belonged… BEHIND HIM. Jesus was telling the devil that not only would He not worship Him or bow before Him but the devil's place was BEHIND HIM, he wasn't even worthy of being in front of Him let alone being worshipped. Here the devil was tempting Jesus offering Him all the power of the world- here the devil was believing Himself to be important, powerful, godlike and Jesus put Him in His place with those words.


Just imagine a millionaire coming to you and offering you all their millions and you telling them no, that their offer wasn't worth a thing to you, that they were beneath you. This is just a tiny imaginary scenario here - Jesus faced the REAL thing, Jesus was offered a way out of all suffering and He refused. Jesus put the devil in his place- behind Him - completely unworthy of being in front of Him or beside Him.


And once more Jesus used these words - FOR IT IS WRITTEN. We cannot forget these words!!! We have to USE these words. FOR IT IS WRITTEN.


Jesus told the devil- For it is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve


Psa 96:9 O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.
Deu 6:13 Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.
Exo 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.


Worship the LORD!
SERVE the Lord they God!
NO OTHER GODS BEFORE GOD!


Jesus God the Father first always!


No other would get His worship, no other!


Putting the devil in His place, Jesus resisted the temptations, Jesus endured the temptations. Victorious over the temptations enough was enough and the devil was no longer allowed to tempt Jesus- at least for a season.


More on this tomorrow by the grace of our Lord and Savior.


Amen.