Matthew 4:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

NIV: "All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

NASB: and he said to Him, 'All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.'

CSB: And he said to him, "I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me."

NLT: I will give it all to you,' he said, 'if you will kneel down and worship me.'

KJV: And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

NKJV: And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

For the third temptation of Jesus, Satan has taken Christ to a high mountain top. This seems to have been chosen simply for the sake of drama; no mountain can literally see the entire world. On this peak, Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in their glory. This most likely involved supernatural visions of various places on earth.

This last temptation involves pure and simple power. Satan offers Jesus ownership and rule of the entire world in exchange for worship. What gave this temptation heft is that the rule of the earth did, in fact, belong to Satan. Paul calls the Devil the "god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4) and Jesus Himself will later refer to Satan as the "ruler of this world" (John 12:31). Satan could have handed over the keys to Jesus in exchange for being worshiped by the Son of God.

The reader should note—with emphasis—that this is the only place in Scripture where an individual is offered prosperity in exchange for worship. Likewise—with emphasis—the reader should note such an offer comes from Satan. The so-called "prosperity gospel," which presumes that faith is an avenue to worldly wealth or success, is a despicable perversion of God's truth (1 Timothy 6:5; 2 Peter 2:1–3).

We're not told that this temptation was something Jesus considered prior to this moment—as He would have with His hunger (Matthew 4:1–4). Still, most people can understand the attraction of being offered that much earthly power. Jesus, though, understood He would become king over all the earth; and that would happen in God's timing. Satan's offer was to allow Jesus to skip the suffering and waiting, and to take power immediately.

Jesus was content to wait to take the throne under the right circumstances. John quotes Christ as saying, "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" (John 12:31–32).

Jesus will not only quote Scripture to refuse this last temptation, He will soundly rebuke Satan and send him away for suggesting it.

Matthew 4:1–11 describes Jesus' temptation in the wilderness. After 40 days and nights of fasting, Jesus faces three temptations from Satan. Each one attempts to lure Christ into abusing His power; to take immediately what God the Father has promised to provide later. Jesus resists each temptation with a quote from Deuteronomy, refusing to rebel against the plans of God the Father. Finally, Jesus refuses to worship the devil in exchange for the kingdoms of the earth. He tells the devil to leave, and angels come minister to Him.

Matthew 3 ended with the Holy Spirit coming to rest on Jesus following His baptism. Now the Spirit leads Him into the wilderness to endure tempting by the devil after 40 days of fasting. Jesus demonstrates His sinlessness by resisting all temptations. He begins His ministry in the region of Galilee, settling in Capernaum and calling some disciples to follow Him. Jesus' work in Galilee includes traveling from place to place, proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of heaven is near and healing every kind of affliction. He soon becomes famous, drawing huge crowds from great distances.

Matthew 3 ends with a great affirmation from the voice of God the Father: Jesus is His Son. Immediately after that, God's Spirit leads Jesus into the wilderness for a time of temptation by the devil. Jesus passes that test and then begins His ministry in the region of Galilee. Jesus begins to call His disciples and travel around the region. He teaches in the synagogues and heals people with every kind of affliction. Jesus' fame grows quickly. This provides Him a large audience for the Sermon on the Mount, which Matthew begins to record in chapter 5.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.