Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 4:8

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

8. an exceeding high mountain ] It is idle to ask what this mountain was, or in what sense Jesus saw the kingdoms of the world. It is enough that the thought and the temptation of earthly despotism and glory were present to the mind of Jesus.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

An exceeding high mountain – It is not known what mountain this was. It was probably some elevated place in the vicinity of Jerusalem, from the top of which could be seen no small part of the land of Palestine. The Abbe Mariti speaks of a mountain on which he was, which answers to the description here. This part of the mountain, says he, overlooks the mountains of Arabia, the country of Gilead, the country of the Amorites, the plains of Moab, the plains of Jericho, the River Jordan, and the whole extent of the Dead Sea. So Moses, before he died, went up into Mount Nebo, and from it God showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, unto the utmost sea, and the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, and the city of palm-trees, unto Zoar, Deu 34:1-3. This shows that there were mountains from which no small part of the land of Canaan could be seen; and we need not suppose that there was any miracle when they were shown to the Saviour.

All the kingdoms of the world – It is not probable that anything more is intended here than the kingdoms of Palestine, or of the land of Canaan, and those in the immediate vicinity. Judea was divided into three parts, and those parts were called kingdoms; and the sons of Herod, who presided over them, were called kings. The term world is often used in this limited sense to denote a part or a large part of the world, particularly the land of Canaan. See Rom 4:13, where it means the land of Judah; also Luk 2:1, and the note on the place.

The glory of them – The riches, splendor, towns, cities, mountains, etc., of this beautiful land,

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Mat 4:8

Again, the devil.

The third temptation

I. The preparation for this temptation. Satan suits the external circumstances to the temptation, and draws his snare from them. All the senses may be sources of temptation, but chief amongst them is the eye. It is more closely allied to the imagination than the other senses, and feeds it with objects.

II. The offer.

1. The altered form of the temptation. He did not preface his assault with the confession of doubt or flattery, If Thou be the Son of God. Perhaps he felt the incongruity of such a form of address when the condition he proposed was an act of adoration to himself; or he no longer explored Christs Divinity.

2. The passion appealed to-the most powerful-the inordinate love of possessing. Satan offered to resign his power in this world and the next.

III. The condition.

IV. This is a real temptation to Christ.

1. A warning against worldliness.

2. That such an act should be suggested to Christ may prevent those who are troubled with horrid thoughts from despair. (W. H. Hatchings, M. A.)

The persistency of Satan

As an enemy that besiegeth a city will go about it, and espy where the wall is weakest, and most fit for his entrance, and there will be sure to give his strongest onset; and as a man that Would strike fire with a flint will turn it about in his hand, to see what part is fittest, even so the devil: he goes about a man, and, as it were, turns him to and fro to spy out his weakness, and to what sins he is most inclined; and there he will be sure to try him often, and to assault him with the greatest violence. Example: If a man be impatient of poverty, he will seek to carry him to picking and stealing; if a man be prone to covetousness, he will provoke him to fraud and oppression; if he be inclined to ambition, Satan will puff him up with pride and vainglory. (W. Perkins.)

Successive temptations

Like the wave that falls over upon the sea shore, only to be followed by others, perhaps of more encroaching violence. (E. Scobell, M. A.)

The subtlety of Satan

Satan, by the subtlety of his nature and long experience, knoweth our estate, our temper, our hunger, our chief desires; and, accordingly, setteth on us. For though he know not the heart directly, yet he knows our corruption in general, as we are men. Further, by our outward behaviour and gesture he can gather our especial corruptions, as a physician, by outward signs in the pulses and the like, can judge of the particular disease within. Besides, his experience giveth him much light into our weakness, so as like a cunning angler, he can bait his hook, so as he hath experience the fish will take; and though he see not the fish in the water, yet by his gule and cork he can tell when he is taken. So Satan hath for sundry men sundry baits, and can tell by the eye, hand, speech, gesture, whether the man be or will be taken. (T. Taylor, D. D.)

Defeat made subservient to victory by Satan

It is said of the Duke of Wellington, that he knew how to extract from defeat the means of victory. The prince of darkness is well skilled in this art. (L. H. Wiseman.)

Kingdoms of the world.
His aim was to induce Jesus to seek universal dominion in an easier way than the prophets had foretold, and which the Father had marked out. (L. H. Wiseman.)

Satans delusive offer of the world

Satan cannot offer us similar greatness; but he tempts by ruling ambition; as in the case of Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon. And how the poor fools ,were betrayed! Alexander dies of drunkenness; Caesar was stabbed in the Senatehouse by a friend; and Napoleon died in exile at St. Helena. He tempts also by mere ordinary worldly blessings. (R. Watson.)

He concealed their vanity.

Reflections on the third temptation

1. The danger attending worldly prosperity.

2. It is a constant device of Satan to present to us a partial and false view of the world.

3. In the example of Jesus we have a perfect instance of deadness to the world.

4. The example of our Lord rebukes covetous and worldly ambition.

5. That Satan is after all a hard master; under the guise of liberality he solicits severe conditions.

6. Our Lord reveals to us the true riches.

7. The Church is destined for universal dominion. (L. H. Wiseman.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Verse 8. An exceeding high mountain, and showeth him] If the words, all the kingdoms of the world, be taken in a literal sense, then this must have been a visionary representation, as the highest mountain on the face of the globe could not suffice to make evident even one hemisphere of the earth, and the other must of necessity be in darkness.

But if we take the world to mean only the land of Judea, and some of the surrounding nations, as it appears sometimes to signify, (see on Lu 2:1), then the mountain described by the Abbe Mariti (Travels through Cyprus, c.) could have afforded the prospect in question. Speaking of it, he says, “Here we enjoyed the most beautiful prospect imaginable. This part of the mountain overlooks the mountains of Arabia, the country of Gilead, the country of the Amorites, the plains of Moab, the plains of Jericho, the river Jordan, and the whole extent of the Dead Sea. It was here that the devil said to the Son of God, All these kingdoms will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” Probably St. Matthew, in the Hebrew original, wrote haarets, which signifies the world, the earth, and often the land of Judea only. What renders this more probable is, that at this time Judea was divided into several kingdoms, or governments under the three sons of Herod the Great, viz. Archelaus, Antipas, and Philip which are not only called ethnarchs and tetrarchs in the Gospels, but also , kings, and are said , to reign, as Rosenmuller has properly remarked. See Mt 2:22; Mt 14:9.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

This is the third temptation by which the tempter solicits our Saviour to sin, and of all other the most impudent. For what can be more impudent than for the creature to expect a homage to him from him who was his Creator. What mountain this was, and how our Saviour was taken up into it, are things not revealed, and of very little concern for us to know. The text tells us it was exceeding high, yet not high enough from whence one kingdom could be seen in the extent of it. It is therefore most probable that Dr. Lightfoot judgeth most truly, that

“the devil, being the prince of the power of the air, formed an airy horizon before the eyes of Christ, carrying such pompous and glorious appearance of kingdoms, states, and royalties in the face of it, as if he had seen those very kingdoms and states indeed.”

Such things the devil can do, and doth do, by condensing the air first, then shaping and figuring, and lastly so colouring it, that it may represent what he intends. All these things he promised to give our Saviour, if he would fall down and worship him. The same eminent person well observes, that

“what Luke calls worshipping before the devil, Matthew calls worshipping the devil”;

and concludes solidly,

“that if to worship before the devil be to worship the devil, worshipping before an image (as the papists do) must be worshipping the image.”

The devil here arrogates to himself what was Gods alone to give, and such ordinarily are the devils promises of things, as to which he hath no power to fulfil what he promiseth.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

8. Again, the devil taketh himup“conducteth him,” as before.

intoor “unto”

an exceeding high mountain,and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory ofthemLuke (Lu 4:5) addsthe important clause, “in a moment of time”; a clause whichseems to furnish a key to the true meaning. That a scene waspresented to our Lord’s natural eye seems plainly expressed. But tolimit this to the most extensive scene which the natural eye couldtake in, is to give a sense to the expression, “all the kingdomsof the world,” quite violent. It remains, then, to gather fromthe expression, “in a moment of time” which manifestlyis intended to intimate some supernatural operationthat it waspermitted to the tempter to extend preternaturally for a moment ourLord’s range of vision, and throw a “glory” or glitter overthe scene of vision: a thing not inconsistent with the analogy ofother scriptural statements regarding the permitted operations of thewicked one. In this case, the “exceeding height” of the”mountain” from which this sight was beheld would favor theeffect to be produced.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain,…. That is, he took him off from the pinnacle of the temple, and carried him through the air, to one of the mountains which were round about Jerusalem; or to some very high mountain at a greater distance; but what mountain is not certain; nor can it be known; nor is it of any moment; it has been said g to be Mount Lebanon: here he

sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and glory of them. By “all the kingdoms of the world” are meant, not only the Roman empire, as Dr. Lightfoot thinks, though that was, to he sure, the greatest in the world at that time; but all the kingdoms in the whole world, which subsisted in any form, whether within, or independent of the Roman empire; or whether greater or lesser: and by “the glory of them”, is meant, the riches, pomp, power, and grandeur of them. Now the view which Satan gave Christ of all this, was not by a representation of them in a picture, or in a map, or in any geographical tables, as h some have thought; since to do this there was no need to take him up into a mountain, and that an exceeding high one; for this might have been done in a valley, as well as in a mountain: and yet it could not be a true and real sight of these things he gave him; for there is no mountain in the world, from whence can be beheld anyone kingdom, much less all the kingdoms of the world; and still less the riches, glory, pomp, and power of them: but this was a fictitious, delusive representation, which Satan was permitted to make; to cover which, and that it might be thought to be real, he took Christ into an high mountain; where he proposed an object externally to his sight, and internally to his imagination, which represented, in appearance, the whole world, and all its glory. Xiphilinus i reports of Severus, that he dreamed, he was had by a certain person, to a place where he could look all around him, and from thence he beheld ,

“all the earth, and also all the sea”; which was all in imagination. Satan thought to have imposed on Christ this way, but failed in his attempt. Luke says, this was done

in a moment of time, in the twinkling of an eye; as these two phrases are joined together, 1Co 15:52 or “in a point of time”. The word , used by Lu 4:5 sometimes signifies a mathematical point, which Zeno says k is the end of the line, and the least mark; to which the allusion may be here, and designs the smallest part of time that can be conceived of. Antoninus the emperor uses the word, as here, for a point of time; and says l, that the time of human life, and the whole present time, is but a point. Would you know what a moment, or point of time is, according to the calculation of the Jewish doctors, take the account as follows; though in it they differ: a moment, say they m, is the fifty six thousandth, elsewhere n, the fifty eight thousandth, and in another place o, the fifty three thousandth and eight hundredth and forty eighth, or, according to another account p, eighty eighth part of an hour. If this could be thought to be a true and exact account of a moment, or point of time, it was a very short space of time indeed, in which the devil showed to Christ the kingdoms of this world, and their glory; but this is not more surprising than his vanity, pride, and impudence, in the following verse.

g Vid. Fabricii Bibliograph. Antiq. c. 5. p. 137. h Vid. Fabricium, ibid. & Grotium in loc. i Apud Fabricium, ib. k Vid. Laertium in Vit. Zenou. l De seipso, l. 2. c. 17. & l. 6. c. 36. m T. Hieros. Beracot, fol. 2. 4. n T. Bab Beracot. fol. 7. 1. o Avoda Zara, fol. 4. 1. p T. Bab. Beracot, fol. 7. 1.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

And showeth him ( ). This wonderful panorama had to be partially mental and imaginative, since the devil caused to pass in review “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.” But this fact does not prove that all phases of the temptations were subjective without any objective presence of the devil. Both could be true. Here again we have the vivid historical present (). The devil now has Christ upon a very high mountain whether the traditional Quarantania or not. It was from Nebo’s summit that Moses caught the vision of the land of Canaan (De 34:1-3). Luke (Lu 4:5) says that the whole panorama was “in a moment of time” and clearly psychological and instantaneous.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

1) “Again, the devil taketh him,” (palin paralambanei auton ho diabolos) “Again (a third time) the Devil (the old slanderer) took Him,” or conducted Him, accompanied Him in a nigh-supernatural manner.

2) “Up into an exceeding high mountain,” (eis horos hupselon lian) “Into an extremely high mountain,” or up to the peak of an extremely high mountain. It is a trait of Satan to show the glitter of sin, not the gutter of sin’s consequence – in 1) Strong drink, 2) adultery, 3) nicotine and narcotics, etc., Gal 6:7-8.

3) “And sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world,” (kai deiknusin auto pasas tas Basileias tou kosmou) “And pointed out to him all the kingdoms of the world order,” in every direction, in the four parts of the earth, for a panoramic view of natural glory of all the organized kingdoms of the universe in orderly, organized array or arrangement, which is conveyed by the Gk. word “kosmos”, meaning families, tribes, and nations, orderly organized.

4) “And the glory of them;” (kai ten doksain auton) “And the glory or splendor of them,” as if the Lord were ignorant regarding them, Luk 4:5 adds to the clause “in a moment of time.” It appears that Satan was permitted to accompany Jesus up into an exceeding high mountain and show him for a fleeting moment the transcendent splendor of all earthly glory, a humanly breath-taking view. Yet, all this shall pass away, 1Jn 2:15-17; Rom 12:2.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

8. The devil taketh him to a very high mountain. We must keep in mind, what I have already stated, that it was not owing to any weakness of Christ’s nature, but to a voluntary dispensation and permission, that Satan produced this effect upon his eyes. Again, while his senses were moved and powerfully affected by the glory of the kingdoms which was presented to them, no inward desire arose in his mind; whereas the lusts of the flesh, like wild beasts, are drawn, and hurry us along, to the objects which please us: for Christ had the same feelings with ourselves, but he had no irregular appetites. The kind of temptation here described was, that Christ should seek, in another manner than from God, the inheritance which he has promised to his children. And here the daring insolence of the devil is manifested, in robbing God of the government of the world, and claiming it for himself. All these things, says he, are mine, and it is only through me that they are obtained.

We have to contend every day with the same imposture: for every believer feels it in himself and it is still more clearly seen in the whole life of the ungodly. Though we are convinced, that all our support, and aid, and comfort, depend on the blessing of God, yet our senses allure and draw us away, to seek assistance from Satan, as if God alone were not enough. A considerable portion of mankind disbelieve the power and authority of God over the world, and imagine that every thing good is bestowed by Satan. For how comes it, that almost all resort to wicked contrivances, to robbery and to fraud, but because they ascribe to Satan what belongs to God, the power of enriching whom he pleases by his blessing? True, indeed, with the mouth they ask that God will give them daily bread, (Mat 6:11) but it is only with the mouth; for they make Satan the distributor of all the riches in the world.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

(8) An exceeding high mountain.Here, if proof were wanted, we have evidence that all that passed in the Temptation was in the region of which the spirit, and not the senses, takes cognisance. No specular mount (I use Miltons phrase) in the whole earth commands a survey of all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. St. Lukes addition in a moment of time, in one of those flashes of intuition which concentrate into a single act of consciousness the work of years, adds, if anything could add, to the certainty of this view. Miltons well-known expansion of this part of the Temptation (Paradise Regained, Book III.), though too obviously the work of a scholar exulting in his scholarship, is yet worth studying as the first serious attempt to realise in part, at least, what must thus have been presented to our Lords mind.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

THE THIRD TEMPTATION, Mat 4:8-11.

8. Again Satan is twice defeated. He could not persuade Jesus to distrust his Sonship, nor presumptuously to assume it. He will make a third effort. He will offer Jesus a Messiahship and a royalty beyond all possibility of doubt, and beyond all limitation. He will first authenticate his power by miracle; he will then show the splendor of the prize; he will then declare on how easy terms, and under what allegiance, Jesus can be a Satan’s Messiah, lord of the world under “the god of this world.” An exceeding high mountain Arriving like a thought at his destination, Satan lays no hand upon him; all is done, as we may suppose, by the power and with the quickness of a volition. And as the Saviour’s bodily eye took in the limits of the prospect, his perceptive faculty, out-reaching its material organ, acquiring the sweep of Satan’s own vision, beheld all the kingdoms of the earth and around the globe, with the glory thereof, in an instant of time.

Yet, after all, it is not said that our Lord really beheld the world’s kingdoms. It only says that Satan showed, that is, pointed them out, for the word asserts nothing more. Yonder, eastward, lies Persia; down southward is old Egypt; and, lo! far to the west, beyond the Mediterranean, is imperial Rome, where Tiberius now rules the world. Thou shalt possess his throne and more. And Satan points with his hand, and paints with his tongue, and offers him a warranty of all that goodly parcel of land. Why should he prefer a doubtful Messiahship to a certain universal monarchy?

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Again, the devil takes him to an extremely high mountain, and shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.’

Matthew then describes last the temptation that centred on what he has described in the previous chapters, the kingship of Jesus. In vision, or in His mind’s eye, Satan takes Jesus onto ‘a very high mountain’ from which all the kingdoms of the world can be seen. Even granted that this meant all the kingdoms of the known world, or of the Roman world, this was not physically possible. But in the mind’s eye anything is possible. And there, stretched before Him, Jesus visualised all the nations of the world. And before His vision was brought also the fullness of their glory. He knew that the promises of God for Him included dominion over the whole world and its glory (Dan 7:14). And here it all was now in front of Him awaiting, His pleasure.

Matthew may intend us to contrast this high mountain with that in Mat 17:1. On this high mountain Jesus was offered the kingdoms and the glory of the world. On the high mountain in Mat 17:1 He would manifest the glory of God that was truly His. There He would manifest His true Kingly Rule to those who were to establish it on earth.

There was something of a parallel here with Moses on Mount Nebo when God showed him the country of Canaan (Deu 34:1-4), but if so it is in order to hint to Jesus that He could succeed where Moses had failed. It is possibly significant that Moses had been there because of his own failure to trust God and walk in humble obedience. And now, humanly speaking, Jesus on this high mountain could make the same mistake.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

And still the devil is not overcome:

v. 8. Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.

Once more the tempter attacks; there is no ceasing in his efforts to destroy God’s work, 1Pe 5:8. And he has great power, he controls, to some extent, the forces and the wealth of the earth, as a prince of the power of the air, Eph 2:2. See Joh 12:31; Joh 14:30; Joh 16:11; Eph 6:12. A stratagem of magic the devil here employed, to conjure up the wealth and the glories of all earth’s kingdoms in an alluring, almost irresistibly appealing picture, all in a moment of time, Luk 4:5. The location of the exceeding high mountain here referred to is immaterial, also the question whether the picture was a physical demonstration or a mental suggestion. The main fact in Matthew’s narrative is the refined subtlety, but also the extreme denseness of the tempter:

v. 9. And saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.

For an ordinary human being no proposition, in itself, could have been more attractive. What a dazzling picture of absolute sway over the world and possession of its glory was here offered to the lowly and rejected descendant of David! But what folly to presume upon the unlimited disposition of the wealth and grandeur of the world in the presence of Him who of right holds all the nations of the earth as His inheritance and the utmost ends of the world as His possession! The condition of Satan demanding homage to him as the superior was therefore almost naively awkward. But he staked all on this last powerful appeal to worldly ambition, involving the willful yielding to the most heinous form of idolatry.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

Mat 4:8. Again, the devil taketh him, &c. The adversary, enraged, as it should seem, with his ill success in the two former attempts, casts off all disguise in this. He speaks no more of Son of God; but desperate, and thence impudent and audacious, he offers at once his whole stock of gaudy trumperies, all worldly power, dominion, and glory, and arrogantly sets the price at which they are to be purchased. Le Clerc is of the same opinion with the author referred to on Mat 4:1 that what is here related, may more safely be conceived to have happened to Christ in a vision or dream, than really; but this, says Dr. Whitby, is a vain dream and a vision of his own brain; and that which robs us of all the practical improvement of our Lord’s temptation. For, why should Christ have been led into a wilderness to have this dream or vision? Did he fast only in a vision forty days and forty nights? Or, why is it said, that he afterwards was hungry? Why is it said, that the devil spake to him, set him on a pinnacle, upon a high mountain, &c. &c.? and looks it not far more odd to give the devil power over the fancy of our Lord, to raise such imaginations in him, and suggest such dreams to him, than barely to give him that power over our Lord’s body, which neither did nor could do him any hurt? I observe again, that as God caused Moses to see the whole land of promise from the top of Nebo, either by strengthening his eyes to see it thence, or else by representing it to him as it were in a large plan or map in all the valleys round about him; so might the devil, in the valleys round about that high mountain upon which Christ stood, make a large draught of the stately edifices, guards and attendants of kings, appearing in their splendour, visible to the eyes of Christ; which appearance could not be so well made to him, or advantageously seen, had he been in a plain. Wetstein is of opinion, that the devil might point out the kingdoms of the world to him in some such manner as this; “Turn thine eyes to the east, there is the kingdom of the Persians, to whom thy ancestors were subject, and the kingdom of Arabia, rich in gold, in frankincense and myrrh: Turn to the south, there is the kingdom of Egypt, where the descendants of the patriarchs suffered so long and severe a servitude: Turn to the west, there you see Tyre and the isles, abounding in merchandize and wealth; you see Rome, the queen and empress of the world: On the north, you see Syria, whose king Antiochus once profaned the temple, and brought such evils on the Jews; you see Galilee, whose fertility you know, and where you have hitherto lived in obscurity.” Thus the devil pointed out to Jesus the kingdoms of the world, and their grandeur. Macknight, with several others, is of opinion, that this prospect was confined to the land of promise; and that the mountain of Nebo, whence Moses had a prospect of the whole land, was very probably that from which the devil shewed our blessed Saviour all the kingdoms of the world, that is, the whole of promise; for so the word is used, in the literal sense at least, of Rom 4:13. The land of promise, in its largest signification, reached from the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, east and west, and from Egypt on the south to beyond Sidon north-wards, Deu 11:24. In Joshua’s time, that extent of country contained thirty distinct principalities, besides the Philistines and Sidonians, as Spanheim observes; and even in our Lord’s time it comprehended several kingdoms, some of which are mentioned Luk 3:1. All these the devil pointed out to Jesus in the temptation; taking particular notice of their glory; that is, their great and opulent cities, their rich fields, their hills covered with wood and cattle, their rivers rolling through fertile valleys, and washing the cities as they passed along; and promised to put him in possession of the whole instantly, if he would fall down and worship him. By confining this prospect to the land of promise the third temptation in Dr. Macknight’s judgment had a peculiar force. The devil, that he might know whether Jesus was the Messiah, offered to give him all the kingdoms of the land to which the Messiah, as such, had a peculiar right; see Psa 2:8; Psa 72:8. He hoped thus to have enticed him to commit idolatry; thinking that, if he was not the Messiah, he would eagerly embrace this, as the speediest way of accomplishing his design.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Mat 4:8 f. ] , Ezr 1:2 . Not a hyperbolical expression: amplissimum terrarum tractum, but actually all the kingdoms of the world, Luk 4:5 . The devil could indeed regard only all heathen lands as his disposable possession (Luk 4:6 ; Lightfoot, p. 1088; Eisenmenger, entd. Judenth. II. p. 820 ff.); but even unto those remote heathen lands, and beyond, and far beyond the small country of Palestine, has the marvellous height of the mountain enabled the eye to look; the Holy Land, with the temple and the peculiar people of God, certainly belonged besides to the Son of God as a matter of course; therefore to explain it away as omnes Palaestinae regiones (Krebs, Loesner, Fischer, Gratz) is quite away from the point.

] If Thou wilt have cast Thyself down before me as Thy master, and thereby have manifested Thy homage (Mat 2:2 ) to me. By the fulfilment of this demand the devil would have made Jesus unfaithful to Himself, and would have secured his own world-rule over Him. Where the mountain in question is to be sought for (according to Michaelis, it was Nebo; according to others, the Mount of Olives, Tabor, Moriah, Horeb) is, considering the miraculous nature of the scene (Luk 4:5 : ), not even to be asked; just as little is to be rationalized as if it denoted not merely the actual pointing, but also the verbis demonstrare (Kuinoel, Glckler); the , moreover, is the external splendour of the kingdoms that lay before His eye.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

Two Mountain Scenes

Mat 4:8-9

To this proposition Jesus Christ returned an answer which caused the devil to leave him. He received a great offer and he declined it with holy sternness. It was truly a great offer nothing less than “all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;” and the return to be made was sentimental rather than practical, or at least would have been so regarded by any other man than Jesus Christ. The offer was Empire, and the price was Worship. Jesus Christ said No, and came down from the mountain as poor as he was when he was taken up. With what ease he could have had “the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them,” and what good he could have done if all things had been under his control! Yet he said No; and in after days he who might have been King of the world said, “The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” So much, you say, for throwing away the great opportunities of life! Read again “Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them;… and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Mat 18:16 , Mat 18:18 ).

Put these two mountain scenes together, and consider all that has happened between the one occasion and the other. If you thus lay hold of the case in all its bearings, some such thought as this will run through your mind You can take the world on the devil’s terms, so simple, so easy; or you can say No to the devil, and come down to poverty, to hard work, to sorrow, to sacrifice, and through that rugged course you can find your way back to the mountain clothed with larger power, even with much of heavenly and earthly dominion put into your hands.

And it comes very much to this in life. To every man the devil is saying, Accept the world on my terms; fall down and worship me, and I will give you riches, fame, power, or whatever you think will make your life happy. Such a temptation comes in some form and in some degree to every heart, does it not? Now in direct opposition to this, Jesus Christ says Take no thought for your life; seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these prizes and honours, so far as they are good, will be added to you: the devil took me up into an exceeding high mountain, and offered me the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if I would fall down and worship him; I said No to his offer, and I came down from the hill to live a life of sacrifice, patiently and lovingly to do the work of him that sent me; and in the long run I ascended another mountain, from which I could see more kingdoms and greater than before, and instead of the rulership of one world, all power in heaven and in earth was given unto me: he that would save his life shall lose it, he that will lose his life for my sake shall find it; that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die!

Considering the peculiarities of the human mind, so far as we know them, the appeal of the devil has one supreme advantage over the appeal of Christ it is not only addressed to the senses, but it promises instant gratification: no time need be lost; there is the prize, and here is the direct road to its attainment! Whereas in the appeal of Christ we come upon all the difficulties of delay and suffering, to which is added a scarcely confessed suspicion of possible miscarriage and disappointment. The devil promises you for today; and for today Christ seems to promise nothing but tears and thorns and crucifixion. “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leadeth to destruction, and many there be that find it.” See how true it is in all life that when a prize is within view we are impatient of delay. Thus, if you stifle the expression of your convictions, you may have a certain honour almost instantly; if you utter and defend your convictions, you may have to wait seven years for that same honour! If you lull your conscience into slumber, you make your fortune in a twelve-month: if you obey your conscience, you may never make a fortune at all! Truckle, and be rich; resist, and be poor: go with the world, and be flattered; go against it, and be scorned. Who can hesitate between contrasts so broad!

If we call in the moralist to help us in this difficulty, he will probably direct our attention to facts as the best elucidation of principles, and may challenge us to consult the unquestionable and solemn testimony of human experience as a final authority within the region of reason. He will be likely to tell us in the first place that all these promises of short cuts to supreme position and influence are lies. He will acknowledge, indeed, that there are short roads to ownership, notoriety, and self-importance; but these he will carefully distinguish from the supremacy that is solid and enduring and beneficent. He will, too, damp the ardour of the young by assuring them that realities are often the exact opposite of appearances, and may startle them still further by the assurance, which he will be able to justify by many examples, that it is possible for a man to be the slave of the very things which he seems to own and rule. Look at the price required for the supremacy offered to Christ “If thou wilt fall down and worship me!” But consider what it is to worship at the wrong altar! It is to debase the affections, to bring the best energies of the soul under malign influence, and to forfeit the power to enjoy the very things which it is supposed to purchase. Worship expresses, though it may be feebly, the worshipper’s supreme ideal of life; if, therefore, it be offered to an evil spirit, the whole substance and course of life will be deeply affected by the error. What if the very act of false worship disqualify the soul for relishing any supposed or undoubted joy? Offer a man long draughts of the choicest wines if he will first drench his mouth with a strong solution of alum, and what are the choicest wines to him then? They cannot penetrate to the palate, they are absolutely without taste, and they mock the appetite they were meant to gratify. So, if a man put his moral nature under false conditions, and create anarchy between himself and the principle of eternal righteousness, no matter what fortune or honor may accrue to him, his power of serene enjoyment is gone, and he becomes burdened and plagued by his very successes. This will be the first point insisted upon by the moralist; in the plainest words he will say “The promise is very great, but it is a lie to begin with, and the man who sells his soul to get it will soon find that he is neither more nor less than a dupe of the devil.

But what of the facts which seem to contradict this theory of the moralist? “I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree: their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than heart can wish; they are not in trouble as other men.” Do they not seem to have gotten the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them? In answering this inquiry the moralist will insist that such facts exactly illustrate what he has just said viz., that some men are the slaves of the very things which they seem to own and rule. He will contend that technical possession is not full ownership, and he will make his appeal to final and decisive results rather than to temporary appearances and relations. For example, he will acknowledge that the wicked have been in great power; but he will show that they have “passed away,” and that they have not been found even by those who most diligently sought for them; he will acknowledge that the wicked have sometimes had more than heart can wish, but he will prove that they have always been set in “slippery places,” and that their “end is destruction.” He will not confine himself within narrow limits in giving his judgment, but will include within his survey spaces and times needful for securing a just perspective. It is quite true that “if in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable;” but if we bring considerations of eternity to bear upon the discipline of time, even now we may have joy, and may even “glory in tribulation also.”

Now look at the other side of the case. Jesus Christ resists the temptation to give his soul for gain, and he goes down the hill poor, lonely, and apparently helpless. He brings back nothing but his unimpaired integrity; he is whole of heart, and that is all you can say about him, unless you add, what is really the same thing in other words, that his faith in God and his idea of worship are pure and wise. His course seems for a time troubled with the frown and judgment of God, for few friends come to his side, there is no joy in his lot, his work is hard, and the return of his toil is poor. He calls himself a King, and men laugh at him; he says he is the Son of God, and men take up stones to stone him. Is it not, then, quite plain that he lost his chance when he said No on the hill, and that he must take the consequences of his obstinacy? A man who would so argue would seem to have a good deal of sound sense on his side; at any rate, he might refer to so-called facts with very emphatic confidence. He might almost feel called upon to treat with positive mockery the words of Christ, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you,” for more obvious irony never provoked the laughter of mankind. And still the shadows thicken upon the gloomy scene; poverty is made poorer by loss upon loss; and further on his oldest friends drop off, and the disciple he loves the most instinctively assumes an attitude of departure. Plainly enough, this Man who set Worship above Empire sacrificed his fortune to his sentiments, and lost a crown to save an idea. If there be anything more on the dark and downward way of his ill-luck, it cannot be other than a Cross a Cross with aggravations too; and in its agony he will learn that violent sentiments have violent ends. So it would seem! We are told that the earth is round; but there are great crags and pits on its rugged surface for all that. We are told that Christ had a kingdom, when it is quite certain that he had not so much as a home. These are great contradictions, and it is simply in vain for us to try to force a reconciliation; reconciliation can only be wrought, if wrought at all, by time, often long and dreary.

“The eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them;… and Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” And there is nothing of boast or vaunt in the Lord’s sweet tone. It is as if the sown wheat had said in golden harvest, “Behold, I have been brought up from the depths of death, and my life is an hundredfold more than before.” It is thus, through all the ages, that the good man comes to his strength and crown, through pain and tears, through nights of gloom and days of toil, and grief that makes the heart grow old, and forsakenness that makes a man afraid of his own voice, so weird and so mournful is life in its emptiness and silence! It is a long way, you see, and some men die before they get a glimpse of its sunny end. How, then, as to the truth of the doctrine that to be right is to be rich? To test that doctrine you must get into the very heart of the sufferer himself. He will show you the compensations of a righteous life; he will tell you how sweet is the bread eaten in secret, how holy and all-comforting is the approval of a good conscience, and how infinite is the independence of the soul whose trust is in God. In such a case the poverty is wholly on the outside: the soul is clothed in more than purple and fine linen, and is rich with more than gold. Outside, things are rough enough undoubtedly; the storm does not spare the roof, nor do the rags keep away the biting wind, yet somehow the man who is right has a quiet and thorough mastery over the circumstances which fret and vex the mere surface of his life. The king is within. The fountain of his joy is not dependent on the clouds, but on “the river of God, which is full of water.” “The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.”

Whilst all this is true, and is sealed as such by the oath of a number which no man can number, it is also outwardly true, so to speak; that is to say, goodness rises to its right position in the world and takes the throne of supreme and imperishable power. In the last result it is goodness that conquers and rules. “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree, he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.” “He shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green.” “Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him: for they shall see the fruit of their doings.” Now and again life suddenly opens, and we see flashes and glimpses of what is coming upon the world. In the midst of tumult and blasphemy, so mad that we think there is no more chance for goodness, we see such homage paid to right as gives hope of its final conviction and universal sway. There are conflicts in which character determines the issue. In times of panic goodness is relied upon. In affliction and sorrow and ruin, it is the good man who is sent for. When the fierce wind throws down strong walls, and the whole air is black with cruel plague and pest, sparing neither old nor young, neither woman nor child, he who prays best is king. So, even in the outer world, and in tangible and visible ways, goodness comes to recognition and honour, in addition to its being accompanied by inward and spiritual satisfactions.

After this course of thinking we should be able to set down for human guidance one or two principles which seem, at least, to reach the point of certainty. Such as: First: Right ideas of worship will show the exact line of personal denial and sacrifice. Be right in heart towards God, and you will know what to do in the time of flattering offers and splendid opportunities.

Second: It is through temptation that we learn the true value of many convictions and habits. From our point of view it may seem a small thing to give up worship that we may win kingdoms; it might seem indeed as if we were getting the kingdoms for next to nothing. The devil did not reckon so. He aims to get our worship, for he who has the heart has all!

Third: Self-denial, in the name and strength of God, may be a long time in coming to fruition in honour and dominion, at least visibly, as we have just said. In the case of Christ it took nearly three years to die and rise and ripen, but in its ripening it filled heaven and earth! “If we suffer with Christ we shall also reign with him.”

Fourth: Whatever we have, much or little, of comfort, or honour, or influence, let it be as a flower ripened in the sun; something coming up out of a deep true character; beauty added to strength. Woe to the bloom that is artificial!

In the long run, then, we shall get our right position; our sorrows will become our joys; our sacrifices will be turned into our victories: and, truly, in a sense impossible to express in words, we shall not serve God for nought. To suffer in the right spirit is our daily difficulty. It is easy to suffer defiantly; it is almost comfortable to suffer ostentatiously; but to suffer as if we were not suffering, even with meekness, quietness, and long patience, to enter into the “fellowship” of Christ’s sufferings, and to work out our course just as he did, who is sufficient? Bravado will come to nothing. Selfish martyrdom will have no holy resurrection. Morbid pride in the neglect and disparagement accorded by the public will end in no blessing. Unrepining resignation, deep and loving trust in God, earnest diligence in all duty, loyal obedience to every sign of our Father’s will, out of this discipline will come sweetest joys, honours as the stars for number, and peace deep as the calm of heaven.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

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;

Ver. 8. Again the devil taketh him ] This master fly Beelzebub, though beaten away once and again, yet returns to the same place. See how shameless he is in renewing his temptations after a flat repulse. He solicits and sets upon our Saviour again (as Potiphar’s wife did upon Joseph, for all his many denials), and is not only importunate, but impudent. Stand we therefore still upon our guard, and look for no ease here. The Roman captains, when they had once triumphed, took their ease ever after. No so with Cato, and is therefore highly commended. So may not we if ever we will be approved as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, 2Ti 2:3 . Our whole life is a continual warfare, and we must look for the continual hail shot, hell shot of satanical assaults and suggestions. ( Hannibal victor vel victus nunquam quiescebat. Ita nec diabolus. ) When Xerxes fought against the Greeks, “the sea was full of ships,” saith the orator, “the earth of soldiers, the air of arrows,” , , . So fares it with the saints under Satan’s batteries: no truce, but continual conflict. Ever since these two strong men fought, there is no more peace. St Paul sounds the alarm, “Arm, arm! take the whole armour of God and be ever in your harness,” , Eph 6:11 . And St Peter gives the reason, “Because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh, and watcheth, night and day, seeking whom he may devour.” This he doth out of his contrariety to God who careth for us, 1Pe 5:7-8 . For our encouragement, as the devil is Leo , a roaring lion, so is Christ Leo de tribu Iuda, , the lion of the tribe of Judah, that delivereth us, and maketh us more than conquerors; holding the crown of glory over our heads (as we are fighting), with this inscription, Vincenti dabo, ” To him that overcometh will I give,” &c. ( Christus est , idem et antagonista, qui immittit et dirigit tentationes nostras. Pareus.) Fight therefore and faint not, your reward is sure, your armour is of proof. Get on both those pieces of defence (as the girdle of truth, breastplate of righteousness, shoes of peace and patience, shield of faith, helmet of hope) and those also of offence, as the sword of the Spirit and darts of prayer. And then resolve with that aged citizen of Exeter in King Edward VI’s time, who when the town was besieged, said, “That he would feed on the one arm and fight with the other, before he would consent to yield the city to the seditions.” (Hayward’s Life of Edward VI) it is said of Sceva at the siege of Dyrrachium, that he so long resisted Pompey’s army that he had 220 darts sticking in his shield and lost one of his eyes, and yet gave not over till Caesar came to his rescue ( Densamque ferebat pectore sylvam Lucan); and of Sir Thomas Challoner (who died A.D. 1566), that he served in his younger time under Charles V in the expedition of Algiers, where being shipwrecked, after he had swum till his strength and his arms failed him, at length catching hold of a cable with his teeth, he escaped, not without the loss of some of his teeth. The like (and somewhat more) is reported of Cynegirus the Athenian in the Persian wars. These did thus for a corruptible crown or temporary honour; what should not we do for an eternal?1Co 9:251Co 9:25 . Hold out, and hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown from thee, Rev 3:11 . Be of Queen Elizabeth’s disposition, who provided for war even when she had most perfect peace with all men. God’s Spirit sets up a standard in the saints, Isa 59:19 ; “And stronger is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” That old serpent hath his head so bruised and crushed by Christ that he cannot now so easily thrust in his mortal sting, though he assay it never so often, unless we dally with him and lay ourselves open, unless we tempt Satan to tempt us by inconsideration, security, or venturing on the occasion. Vitanda est glacies, si nolis cadere. He that tastes of the broth will have a mind to the meat. The Nazarites might not only not drink wine, but forbear to eat of the grape whether moist or dried,Num 6:3Num 6:3 .

Into an exceeding high mountain ] Whether mountains were made at first or cast up by the flood, there are those who dispute. I think, made at first, Psa 90:2 . Yet is the earth round (as an apple is, notwithstanding some knots and bunches in it). And that being round, and so naturally apt for motion (as the heavens are), it stands firm and unmoveable, Ecc 1:3 : this is admirable. God hath hanged it upon nothing, saith Job, Job 26:7 in the midst of the heaven; like Archimedes’ pigeon, equally poised with its own weight. But why took he our Saviour into so high a mountain? That he might thence have the fairer prospect. And perhaps in imitation of God taking up Moses into the mount. The devil delights to be God’s ape, that he may by counterfeiting the like to God, bring his holy ordinances into disgrace. Thus the heathens had their sacrifices, washings, tithes, oracles, &c. Vitruvius and others tell us that the temple of Diana at Ephesus and her image therein were made of cedar. So for Christ bruising the serpent’s head, Satan hath set up Hercules killing the Lernaean Hydra. Which fable who seeth not plainly to have been hatched in hell, and suggested to the poets, in an apish imitation of God, merely to elude his oracle? The like may be said of the fable of Orpheus his wife, suddenly snatched from him, for looking back upon her: which was made out of the story of Lot’s wife. So their Hercules with his ten labours was the Scripture Samson. And their Sethon, king of Egypt, and priest of Vulcan (who was helped from heaven by his god against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, that invaded him), who could it be else but Hezekiah, king of Judah? Ita diabolus (operum Dei Momus) per Egyptios hoc egit, ut divinum Miraculum in Iudaea editum vilesceret, fidem et authoritatem amitteret, et tanti operis gloria ad turpissima idola rediret. (Bucholcer.) Thus the devil attempted by his Egyptians to transfer the glory of a divine miracle upon himself.

And showeth him all the kingdoms of the earth ] In their beauty and bravery. A bewitching sight, doubtless, and would have moved much with a carnal heart. (This world at the last day shall be burnt for a witch.) But here the devil’s fire fell upon wet tinder, and therefore took not. Gain and glory! rule and riches! Quis nisi mentis inops, &c. Who but the weak minded. Set but a wedge of gold in sight, and Joshua (that could stay the course of the sun) cannot stay Achan from lusting and laying hold on it. Balaam’s ass never gallops fast enough after preferment. And Zimri will have his Cozbi, though he die for it. These three enchantresses, “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,” 1Jn 2:15-16 , -pleasure, profit, and preferment (the worldly man’s Trinity)-whom have they not bewitched, befooled, bebeasted? St John showeth that a man may be very mortified, a father, yet wondrous subject to dote on the world. Of the which, nevertheless, we may say (as Aaron of the people) it is wholly set upon wickedness, Exo 32:22 ; or, as another sometimes said of a historian, “Both the words and shows of it are full of fraud.” ( , Plutarch de Herodot.) It promiseth (as the devil here) great matters, but payeth, pro thesauro carbones, instead of mines, coal pits. Captain Frobisher, in his voyage to discover the Straits, being tossed up and down with foul weather, snows, and inconstant winds, returned home, having gathered a great quantity of stones, which he thought to be minerals: from which, when there could be drawn neither gold nor silver, nor any other metal, we have seen them cast forth (saith Mr Camden) to mend the highways. How often do the devil and the world give men stones and serpents instead of fish and bread, even the bread of deceit, Pro 20:17 , that proves gravel in the teeth! How often are they disappointed that hunt after lying vanities, and so forsake their own mercies! as Jonah freely acknowledged, Jon 2:8 for it had like to have cost him a choking. What got Balaam by running after his wages of wickedness, but a sword in his ribs?Num 31:8Num 31:8 . Achan by his wedge, but the stones about his ears? Judas by his thirty pieces, but the halter about his neck? Cranmer by his subscription, but such a wretched condition, as that there were left him neither hope of better nor place of worse, as Cole could say in a sermon at his recantation? Adeo ut neque spem meliori, nec locum peiori fortunae reliquerit. Ut iam nec honeste mori, nec vivere inhoneste liceret. (Melch. Adam.) Many of the Romish renagades, that run thither for preferment, what little respect have they oftentimes, and as little content in their change! Rossensis had a cardinal’s hat sent him, but his head was cut off before it came. Allin had a cardinal’s hat, but with so thin lining (means, I mean, to support his state) that he was commonly called “the starving Cardinal.” Stapleton was made professor of a petty university, scarcely so good as one of our free schools in England. Saunders was starved. William Rainolds was nominated to a poor vicarage under value. On Harding his Holiness bestowed a prebend a of Gaunt, or, to speak more properly, a gaunt prebend. Many others get not anything, so that they wish themselves at home again; and sometimes return in the same discontent in which they went.

And the glory thereof ] Wherewith he hoped to dazzle our Saviour’s eyes (those windows of the soul), and so to imprison his affections. But he mistook himself. This heavenly eagle had oculum irretortum: eyes that see backwards, nothing moved with these tempting objects. But how many are there, alas, that have died of the wound of the eye! that have fallen by the hand of this vile strumpet, the world; who by laying forth her two fair breasts of profit and pleasure, hath cast down many wounded, as Solomon’s harlot, Pro 7:26 ; and by the glittering of her pomp and preferment hath misled millions; as the going fire leads men into hedges and ditches, or as the serpent Scytale, which when she cannot overtake the fleeing passengers, doth with her beautiful colours astonish and amaze them, so that they have no power to pass away till she have stung them to death. (Pliny.)

a The portion of the revenues of a cathedral or collegiate church granted to a canon or member of the chapter as his stipend. D

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

8. . . ] The enquiry where and what this mountain was, is entirely nugatory, no data being furnished by the text.

. . . . ] The additional words in Luke, , are valuable as pointing out to us clearly the supernatural character of this vision. If it be objected, that in that case there was no need for the ascent of the mountain, I answer, that such natural accessories are made use of frequently in supernatural revelations: see especially Rev 21:10 . The attempts to restrict to Palestine , (which was, besides, God’s peculiar portion and vineyard, as distinguished from the Gentile world,) or the Roman empire, are mere subterfuges: as is also the giving to the sense of ‘points out the direction of.’ The very passage of Polybius cited to support this view, completely refutes it, when taken entire. Hannibal, from the Alps, is directing the attention of his soldiers to the view of Italy; (in sight) , where we may observe the distinction between the two compounds – and – : and further, that it is not . but . that he pointed out to them. Euthymius, however, interprets our verse thus, , , , , , , : and even Maldonatus approves it.

In this last temptation the enemy reveals himself openly, as the , and as the father of lies; for though power is given him over this world and its sons, his assertion here is most untrue.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Mat 4:8-10 . Third temptation . : a mountain high enough for the purpose. There is no such mountain in the world, not even in the highest ranges, “not to be sought for in terrestrial geography,” says De Wette. The vision of all the kingdoms and their glory was not physical. . What world? Palestine merely, or all the world, Palestine excepted? or all the world, Palestine included? All these alternatives have been supported. The last is the most likely. The second harmonises with the ideas of contemporary Jews, who regarded the heathen world as distinct from the Holy Land, as belonging to the devil. The tempter points in the direction of a universal Messianic empire, and claims power to give effect to the dazzling prospect.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Mat 4:8-11

8Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; 9and he said to Him, “All these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me.” 10Then Jesus said to him, “Go, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.'” 11Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Mat 4:8-9 This temptation implies a vision instead of an actual event. Compare Luk 4:5 which said “in a moment of time.” In either case, it was a real and personal temptation confronting Jesus.

There has been much discussion as to what Satan meant by his claim in Mat 4:9 : (1) does it imply that he owned all of the kingdoms of the earth? or (2) does it imply that he was simply trivializing the world’s sin by showing Jesus its splendor? Satan is called the “god of this world” (cf. Joh 12:31; 2Co 4:4) and ruler of this world (cf. Eph 2:2; 1Jn 5:19) and yet this world is owned by God who created and sustains it! The exact extent of Satan’s influence, ownership (cf Luk 4:6), and free will (cf. Job 1-2; Zechariah 3) is uncertain, but his power and evil are pervasive (cf. 1Pe 5:8).

Mat 4:9 “if” This is a third class conditional sentence which implied probable future action. This verse shows Satan’s true desire to replace YHWH!

Mat 4:10 “Then Jesus said to him” This loosely quotes Deu 6:13. It does not appear in this form in either the Masoretic Text (MT) or the Septuagint (LXX). Jesus added the word “only.” This verse and Deu 6:5 affirm the needed commitment to God in heart, mind, and life.

The fact that Jesus loosely quotes a Scripture text ought to encourage us to memorize Scripture (i.e., Psa 119:11; Psa 37:31; Psa 40:8), the purpose is to know its main point and live it out daily, not necessarily to quote it perfectly especially in times of temptation and trials (cf. Eph 6:17).

“Go, Satan” This is similar but not identical to Mat 16:23. Some early Greek manuscripts, C2, D, L, and Z, add “get behind me Satan.” Apparently early scribes added this phrase which is from Mat 16:23. The UBS4 gives the shorter text a “B” rating (almost certain).

Mat 4:11 “Then the devil left Him” Luk 4:13 adds the phrase “until an opportune time.” Temptation is not once-and-for-all, but ongoing. Jesus would experience temptation again. Peter’s words at Caesarea Philippi were as tempting and cutting as Satan’s words in the wilderness (cf. Mat 16:21-23).

“angels came and began to minister to Him” The Greek word “minister” is often associated with physical food (cf. Mat 8:15; Mat 25:44; Mat 27:55; Act 2:6). This recalls 1Ki 19:6-7, where God miraculously provided food for Elijah. God’s angels ministered to His unique Son. God provided all that Satan said he could provide.

Why the incarnate son of God would need the ministry of angels is a mystery. Angels are ministering spirits to the redeemed (cf. Heb 2:14). Twice in Jesus’ life angels helped Him in times of His physical weakness, here and in Gethsemane (cf. Luk 22:43 in MSS *, D and L and the Vulgate).

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Again, &c This should be “The devil taketh Him again”, implying that he had taken Him there before, as “It is written again” in Mat 4:7. See App-117. This is the second temptation in Luke (Luk 4:5).

taketh. As in Mat 4:5; not anago, “leadeth up”, as in Luk 4:5.

exceeding. Not so in Luk 4:5; because there it is only oikoumene, the inhabited world, or Roman empire (App-129.); here it is kosmos (App-129.)

kingdoms. See App-112.

world. Greek. kosmos, the whole world as created. See App-129.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

8. . .] The enquiry where and what this mountain was, is entirely nugatory, no data being furnished by the text.

. . . .] The additional words in Luke, , are valuable as pointing out to us clearly the supernatural character of this vision. If it be objected, that in that case there was no need for the ascent of the mountain,-I answer, that such natural accessories are made use of frequently in supernatural revelations: see especially Rev 21:10. The attempts to restrict to Palestine, (which was, besides, Gods peculiar portion and vineyard, as distinguished from the Gentile world,) or the Roman empire, are mere subterfuges: as is also the giving to the sense of points out the direction of. The very passage of Polybius cited to support this view, completely refutes it, when taken entire. Hannibal, from the Alps, is directing the attention of his soldiers to the view of Italy; (in sight) , where we may observe the distinction between the two compounds – and -: and further, that it is not . but . that he pointed out to them. Euthymius, however, interprets our verse thus, , , , , , , : and even Maldonatus approves it.

In this last temptation the enemy reveals himself openly, as the , and as the father of lies; for though power is given him over this world and its sons, his assertion here is most untrue.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Mat 4:8. , again) This was the third and last conflict, as is evident from the expression Depart, Mat 4:10.-, a mountain) A new theatre of temptation.-, shows) To His eyes those things which the horizon enclosed: the rest, perhaps, by enumeration and indication. Satan is a subtle spirit.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

world

The Greek word kosmos means “order,” “arrangement,” and so, with the Greeks, “beauty”; for order and arrangement in the sense of system are at the bottom of the Greek conception of beauty.

When used in the N.T. of humanity, the “world” of men, it is organized humanity– humanity in families, tribes, nations–which is meant. The word for chaotic, unorganized humanity–the mere mass of man is thalassa, the “sea” of men (e.g.) Rev 13:1 (See Scofield “Rev 13:8”). For “world” (kosmos) in the bad ethical sense, “world system” Joh 7:7.

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

the devil: Mat 4:5, Luk 4:5-7

and showeth: Mat 16:26, Est 1:4, Est 5:11, Psa 49:16, Psa 49:17, Dan 4:30, Heb 11:24-26, 1Pe 1:24, 1Jo 2:15, 1Jo 2:16, Rev 11:15

Reciprocal: Gen 31:1 – glory Num 22:17 – I will promote Num 22:37 – General Dan 2:31 – and the Mar 8:36 – what Rom 10:18 – unto the ends 2Co 4:4 – the god Rev 12:9 – the Devil

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

THE PATH TO VICTORY

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain. All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

Mat 4:8-10

What is the significance of this temptation? Whence did it derive its force?

I. The recognition of Divine sonship.We shall gain a clearer understanding of what this mysterious trial was, if we look back for a moment to those which preceded it. Both the other voices were prefaced by the words, If Thou be the Son of God. No doubt is here expressed or implied as to that Divine Sonship; the consciousness of it must, we can but reverently believe, have been ever present with the Christ. But the temptation was to draw upon that store of supernatural power which was ever within His reach. Nor would such yielding have been to all outward appearance a renunciation of His claims. The desire for food is innocent in itself; trust in the Divine Providence is the souls best strength and stay. But to have followed either suggestion would have been to turn aside from His appointed course. The first two trials were more subtle than appears at first sight. The victory lay in the refusal to separate Himself in His sorrows from mankind; it lay in that complete self-emptying of which St. Paul speaks. And when we turn to the third and final conflict, we seem to find that it too was a far more terrible conflict than any which can come upon men, though it be full of the deepest teaching for us all. The Lord was in truth the Son of Man. He had taken upon Him that nature which is the flower and the crown of created life. Through this Incarnation it should receive new strength; fresh gifts were thus placed within mans reach, for it is in Christ that men become partakers of the Divine nature. So is the Church in fact the Body of Christ. Why should it not be established then and there? The Gospel of an Incarnate Word might now be preached. Is not this the Gospel itself?

II. The fact of sin.But for one fact, it would be the Gospel. That fact is the fact of sin. And does it not seem plain that the suggestion of evil which came to the Sinless One was that He should recognise the rights of sin in the universe of which He was the Creator? Was it, indeed, necessary that the Incarnation should be fulfilled in the Atonement, that the condescension of the Divine Charity should stoop to the Cross? The devil only departed for a season, and we know that more than once this very temptation assailed the Redeemer. The Shadow of the Cross was ever with Him; and in the earlier, as in the later days of ministry, the greatest, supremest trial of Jesus lay in the submission to the Cross and all that it involved. To have refused the Cross would have been to have left evil unconquered; it would have been a recognition of its right to a place in Gods world; and thus it would have left humanity unredeemed. And it is deeply significant that the two occasions on which the Lord was comforted by a ministry of angels were the two great occasions on which He resisted the impulse to shun the Cross, and thus leave the work of Redemption but half done. But the path to victory is the royal road of the Cross.

Dean Bernard.

Illustration

Once more the scene changes. They have turned their back upon Jerusalem and the Temple. Behind are also all popular prejudices They no longer breathe the stifled air thick with the perfume of incense. They have taken their flight into Gods wide world. There they stand on the top of some very high mountain. It is in the full blaze of sunlight that He now gazes upon a wondrous scene. Before Him rises from out the cloud-land at the edge of the horizon, forms, figures, scenescorn, woods, sounds, harmonies. The world in all its glory, beauty, strength, majesty, is unveiled. Its work, its might, its greatness, its art, its thought, emerge into clear view. And still the horizon seems to widen as He gazes; and more and more and beyond it still more and still brighter appears. Foiled, defeated, the enemy has spread his dark pinions towards that far-off world of his, and covered it with his shadows. The sun no longer glows with melting heat; the mists have gathered on the edge of the horizon, enwrapped the scene which has faded from view. And in the cool shade that followed have the angels come and ministered to His wants, both bodily and mental.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE GREATEST DANGER IN LIFE

You have a kingdom; your greatest danger in life lies in the matter of that kingdom, and that, in exactly the same way as the trial was presented to our Masterthe temptation of taking the kingdom too soonor compassing it by a forbidden pathor by receiving it upon wrong terms.

I. The time of the kingdom.In that kingdom, which is coming, doubtless a part of the happiness will be, that there will minister to our joy everything which can please the natural senses. But are we, then, to grasp at these things now, when the indulgence can only be obtained at the sacrifice of the spirituality, if not of the life, of the soul? May I go into the pageant, and into the glitter, of life? May I allow myself brightness and music, where God is not? No. My kingdom is not of this world. Or, take a young Christian, just going forth into the battle. He knowsand truly knowsthat the victory, and the triumph, and the trophy, are already his. Is he, therefore, to walk now in his high confidences? Is he to be full of the elation of the assurance of a final perseverance? Let not him that girdeth on his harness, boast himself as he that putteth it off.

II. The way to the kingdom.But the danger may lie, not so much in respect of the time, as of the way to the kingdom. Between Christ and that kingdom there lay a long and difficult road. It was a deep valley that He had to cross to reach the height, which lay before His view. In the journey to heaven, beware of taking the line which seems often the shortest. Whatever bright things are before you; and however near they look, depend upon it, you have to go lower before you can go higher. If even He was made perfect through sufferings, shall we wonder that we must pass to our rest through much tribulation? Be content to go through the needful education of your soul. Be busy with your own proper duties. Then you will be ready to take the kingdom.

III. Happiness can be too dearly purchased.Never accept anything, by accepting which, you would make a compromise with your conscience. Immediately, the value of it will be gone, and the bloom will perish! There are men of business. They amass great fortunes; and then they spend their fortunes nobly in the promotion of Gods glory. But, in the way in which they get their fortunes, and realise those earnings, their consciences are grieved, and their souls are damaged, in the seeking. It is a beautiful temptation! But, to get a fortune badly, and spend it wellis worshipping Satan!

IV. Have a fixed principle.Observe our Lords mode of dealing with the suggestion, which would do an evil that a good might come. He lays down one great fixed principle. Godonly God must be worshipped. Whatever trespasses on His solitary majesty, whatever detracts, in one iota, from Him, that must never be! Admit of no possession, no joy, no privilege, no honour, temporal or spiritual, which does not, in some way or other, glorify God. If your love and reverence for God be diverted one hairs breadth, by any proposition that is made to you, that proposition is a lie! Suspect anythinghowever pleasant, however great, however goodwhich does not directly glorify God. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. Act with it as you would act with a viper. Fling it off! Fling it off in a moment. Get thee hence, Satan!

V. Victory.Then,before that holy firmness,the devil leaveth Him, and behold angels came, and ministered unto Him. God knows well how to make up to His own childwhen He is alone with Him afterwardsfor all He has been passing through, in the day, for His sake! What a little sanctuary will his own room be to him that night! Look at the matter thus, you, who are tempted; lay in strength for the battle again, you, who are being comforted: for so it must be, so it will be, to the end. The battle will never close,the lights and the shadows will fulfil their courses: peace and trouble, trouble and peace, alternating, as the tidetill He comestill He comes in His kingdom.

The Rev. James Vaughan.

Illustrations

(1) It is utterly idle to attempt to reduce to any natural law, or even to a definite idea, the circumstances which attended this third temptation. I am inclined to think that the transit of Christ was to a real mountain, and that there was an actual prospect of exceeding grandeur and beauty lying at its foot: but that, aided by the scene it sought, the imagination was carried further than the landscape, either to the glories of the Roman Empire, then called the world, or, wider still, to certain great transcendant kingdoms, such as shall be hereafter. The pattern, therefore, submitted to the view will be neither altogether material, nor altogether ideal, but a part true, and the more the mirage.

Just as almost all the seductions are, which do play before our minds. There is a reality, no doubt, in the rich, and gay, and pleasant things which this world presents, to lure away the young heart. But, oh! if a little, a very little of it, is solid, how large, how cruelly large is the fiction which surrounds it!

(2) A world of exceeding loveliness is appointed to you, where, even now, your prepared throne stands waiting for you. There, every desire that ever played upon your imagination, shall more than realise itself; and all the capabilities, of which you are conscious in yourself, will find infinite satisfaction in the perfected will of God. Brighter things than fancy ever drew,loves, sweeter than you have ever conceived,an elevation of knowledge that no thought has ever touched,and power and might greater than the archangels,and purities spotless as the throne of God,and pleasures sweet and fresh as the rivers of paradise,and light that never shall be dimmed, ministering to all, that is yoursnot very far off! But, between all this and you, Satan has spread his fatal counterfeit. Too well it mimics the true!

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

4:8

If the reader will examine the various definitions of kingdom given in chapter 3:2, he will learn that the word sometimes means the territory ruled by a king; in other words, it is something that can be seen with the fleshly eye. However, the rulership of such realms would necessarily involve much glory, so the devil called the attention of Jesus to that feature. A miracle or supernatural performance had to be done in order to make such a display before the eyes of Jesus, but that does not present any difficulty for the Bible has numerous instances that show he has been suffered to use such power when it suited the Lord’s plan to have it so.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

[Showed him all the kingdoms of the world, etc.] that is, Rome with her empire and state. For, 1. That empire is called all the world; (which word Luke useth in this story), both in sacred and profane writers. 2. At this time all cities were of little account in comparison of Rome, nor did any part of the earth bear any vogue without that empire. 3. Rome was ‘the seat of Satan,’ Rev 13:2; and he granted to the beast of that city both it and the dominion. 4. This therefore seems to be that whereby he attempts to ensnare our Saviour in this object, namely, that he promiseth to give him the pomp and power of Caesar, and to deliver into his hand the highest empire of the world, that is, the Roman. This, antichrist afterward obtained.

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

Mat 4:8. An exceeding high mountain. Its situation can only be conjectured; the Mount of Olives, which was relatively high; others, the mountain in the wilderness (Quarantania), Nebo, Tabor.

Sheweth him. Luke adds, in a moment of time, this may imply some supernatural extension of vision. Magical influence on the part of Satan is less probable than an actual pointing out of the regions in sight, and a vivid description of the adjoining realms

All the kingdoms of the world; not to be restricted to Palestine, a narrower meaning which world occasionally has, but never in such a phrase. It becomes intelligible on the theory suggested: actual vision with added rhetorical description.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

The next sin, which Satan tempts our Saviour to, is the sin of idolatry, even to worship the devil himself. O thou impudent and foul spirit! To desire thy Creator to adore thee, an apostate creature! Surely there can be no sin so black and foul, so gross and monstrous, but that the christian may be tempted to it, when Christ himself was tempted to worship the tempter.

St. Matthew reads the words, If thou wilt fall down and worship me: St. Luke, If thou wilt worship before me.

Whence we may gather, says Dr. Lightfoot, That if to worship before the devil be to worship the devil, then to worship before an image is to worship the image.

Observe, 2. The bait which Satan makes use of to allure our Saviour to the sin of idolatry; and that was, in representing to his eye and view all the glories of the world in the most inviting manner, and that in a moment of time; to the intent it might affect him the more and prevail the sooner.

Learn thence, That the pomp and greatness, the glory and grandeur, of this world, is made use of by Satan, as a dangerous snare to draw men to a compliance with him, in his temptations unto sin. When Satan sets thee upon a pinnacle, look to thyself.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Mat 4:8-9. Again the devil taketh him up In what way is not said; into an exceeding high mountain Probably one of the mountains in the wilderness, and from that eminence, partly by the advantage of the place, from which he might behold many magnificent buildings, rich fields, pleasant meadows, hills covered with wood and cattle, rivers rolling through the fertile valleys, and washing the cities as they passed along; and partly by an artful visionary representation, showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them Whatsoever was gay, splendid, or glorious, either in respect of the honours, riches, or pleasures of the world; their great and opulent cities, sumptuous edifices, costly attire, equipage, pomp, and splendour; displaying to his view one of the finest prospects that the most pleasurable and triumphant scenes could furnish out; and all this, not one after another, but in a moment of time, that so they might amaze and affect him the more with their splendour, and on a sudden prevail upon him, which otherwise they would not have been so likely to do. And saith unto him With the most egregious impudence, falsehood, and pride; All these things will I give thee All this glory and power, and all these possessions, if thou wilt fall down and worship me The devil now showed clearly who he was, and therefore Christ, in answering this suggestion, calls him by his proper name, Satan, which, though he undoubtedly knew him, he had not done before. We may learn from hence not to conclude we are utterly abandoned of God when we are assaulted with horrible temptations; Christ himself, we see, was tempted even to worship the devil: but in such cases let us, like Jesus, resolutely repel the temptation, rather than parley with it. Dr. Doddridge observes, that, if we suppose Satan, in these two last temptations, to have worn the form of an angel of light, it will make them both appear more plausible; for thus he might pretend, in the former, to take charge of Christ in his fall, as one of his celestial guards; and in this latter to resign to him a province which God had committed to his administration and care. And this, he thinks, may not be inconsistent with supposing that he first appeared as a man, (it may be as a hungry traveller, who pretended to ask the miracle of turning stones into loaves for his own supply,) for angels, under the Old Testament, had often worn a human form.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

The high mountain to which Satan took Jesus next is traditionally near Jericho, but its exact location is not important. It simply provided a vantage point from which Satan could point out other kingdoms that surrounded Israel.

"The placement of Jesus on the mountain of temptation, where He refused to acknowledge the devil’s ’authority,’ is deliberately juxtaposed to the mountain (Mat 28:16) of ’the great commission,’ on which He later affirmed that all ’authority’ in heaven and on earth had been granted to Him (Mat 28:18)." [Note: Garlington, pp. 301-2.]

Luke’s wording suggests that Satan presented all the kingdoms of the world to Jesus in a vision (Luk 4:5). It is hard to tell if Jesus’ temptations involved physical transportation or visionary transportation, but my preference is visionary transportation. This temptation would have universal significance, not just personal and national significance, as the first and second temptations did.

Satan offered Jesus immediate control over all the kingdoms of the world and the glory connected with reigning over them (Mat 4:9), something that God would give Him eventually as the Messiah. [Note: See ibid., p. 290.] In the will of God, Jesus would achieve universal rule (Psalms 2) but only as the Suffering Servant who would have to endure the Cross first.

God’s divine authentication of His Son (Mat 3:16-17) drew attention to both Jesus’ Davidic messiahship and His Suffering Servant role. This temptation consisted of an opportunity for Jesus to obtain the benefits of messiahship without having to experience its unpleasant elements. To get this, however, Jesus would have to change His allegiance from God to Satan. This involved idolatry, putting someone or something in the place that God deserves. Later Peter suggested the same shortcut to Jesus and received a sharp rebuke as Satan’s spokesman for doing so (Mat 16:23).

This was a legitimate offer. Satan had the ability, under the sovereign authority of God, to give Jesus what he promised, namely, power and glory (cf. Mat 12:25-28; Luk 10:18; Eph 2:2). Israel, God’s other son, had formerly faced the same temptation to avoid God’s uncomfortable will by departing from it and had failed (Numbers 13-14). This third temptation, like the other two, tested Jesus’ total loyalty to His Father and His Father’s will. Had Jesus taken Satan’s bait He would have been Satan’s slave albeit, perhaps, a world ruler.

"Jesus was in effect tempted to subscribe to the diabolical doctrine that the end justifies the means; that, so long as He obtained universal sovereignty in the end, it mattered not how that sovereignty was reached . . ." [Note: Tasker, p. 54.]

For a third time Jesus responded by quoting Scripture to His adversary (Mat 4:10). He banished Satan with the divine command to worship and to serve God alone (Deu 6:13).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)