Luke 4:5-8 - It's A Trap!

Introduction

Today, we’re looking at the second of the three final temptations of Christ in the wilderness.

Luke has made the case that Jesus is the Son of God and just before our account, the Holy Ghost rested on Him and the Father spake from Heaven and said in Luke 3:22, “Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.”

So, right after this moment, which was probably the highest moment in Jesus’ life came what was the lowest time in His life, when He was fasting alone in the wilderness and tempted relentlessly by Satan for 40 days.

Last week, we dealt with the first temptation, when Satan tempted Jesus to turn a stone into bread.

Satan was tempting Jesus to doubt the love of the Father and meet His need outside of His will.

Jesus, of course, didn’t give into the temptation and responded by quoting Deut 8:3 when He said, “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

Jesus told Satan that He was not going to step outside of the Father’s will to meet His need.

He was going to remain in the will of the Father, trusting that the Father loved Him and would meet His needs in His timing and in His way.

And so, that didn’t work, so Satan moved onto the next temptation, which we see in verse 5.

Luke 4:5–7 KJV 1900

And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 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. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

Satan promised Jesus he would give Him the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would bow to him. (v. 5-8)

Satan brought Jesus up to a high mountain and showed Jesus all the people of earth at once.

We’re not told exactly how that worked.

We know that Satan is a supernatural being.

So, whether Satan showed Jesus in a vision, or somehow physically showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world at once, we don’t know.

But we know that Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world at once.

Satan said he would give Jesus rule of all the earth.

He said he would give Jesus all the power, or authority, and the glory of all the nations.

He said that all of this belonged to him and that He could give it to whoever he wants and he wanted to give it to Jesus.

At first, I thought Satan had inflated view of himself and was offering Jesus something he couldn’t deliver on.

But then, as I was studying out, I found out that Satan actually could have done this for Jesus.

The Bible gives Satan titles like the “prince of this world” (John 12:31) “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4) and the “prince of the power and the air” (Eph. 2:2).

And so, Satan does have a level of authority over the nations.

And we find in Revelation 13:2 that Satan will one day give the power and glory of all the nations to one man.

Satan will give the authority and glory of the nations to the Antichrist.

Revelation 13:2 KJV 1900

And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.

And so, Satan had the power to do this.

He said, look Jesus, haven’t you suffered enough?

Haven’t you been humiliated enough?

You’ve lived this 30 years in obscurity as a carpenter’s son.

You’ve gone 40 days without food.

And now you’re going to live another 3 and a half years only to be hated and rejected and then crucified?

Why don’t you just skip all that?

Skip the beatings.

Skip the mocking.

Skip the crown of thorns that will be crushed into your skull.

Skip the nails in your hands and feet.

I have the power of the nations, you don’t have to suffer to be the King, I have the power to give the nations to whoever I will and I want to give them to you.

Just one condition though: just bow to me.

In verse 7, he said, “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.”

Just one moment of worship and the world can be yours.

This is where Satan’s deception came, though.

For Jesus to do this required more than just bowing to worship.

Satan never tells the full cost for what he offers.

Jesus may have been able to, like the Antichrist, had the authority and glory of all the nations, but it would have been a temporary kingdom.

The Antichrist was the first to be thrown in the Lake of Fire.

Satan promised Jesus the doesn’t show you where his offer leads.

Satan didn’t tell Jesus what He would be losing.

Jesus would gain an immediate, but temporary kingdom, but He would lose the eternal Kingdom that the Father would give Him.

Jesus would lose His relationship to the Father.

Jesus would lose His ability to be our Savior.

Satan focused on what Jesus would gain if he bowed to Him, but conveniently left out everything Jesus would lose.

Jesus told Satan to get behind him.

Jesus didn’t even give thought to what Satan said.

Jesus wasn’t interested in what Satan had to offer.

Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:13

Deuteronomy 6:13 KJV 1900

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name.

Jesus said in verse 8, ‘for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

Israel was God’s chosen people and God had great plans for Israel.

God was about to lead them into the Promised Land.

God was warning them that they would be temped to forget God, but because of their relationship to God and because of the plans God had for them, they needed to serve and worship Him and Him alone.

Jesus was focused on worshiping and serving the Father.

What mattered most to Jesus was His relationship to the Father.

Jesus knew the Father was the only One who deserved worship.

Jesus knew that the Father loved Him.

Jesus knew that the Father had great plans for Him in the future even if that meant suffering in the present.

Nothing that Satan could offer Jesus would have been enough to make it worth losing His relationship with the Father and what the Father had planned for Him.

Statements

Don’t give up what you want most for what you want in the moment.

Satan’s methods sound easy in the moment.

God’s methods involve difficult times.

They involve testing and trials.

They involve dying to self.

Satan promises everything you want without the suffering.

Normally, he promises fast results.

Satan shows you the benefits, but doesn’t explain the real cost.

He doesn’t show you what you lose.

He doesn’t show you the pain attached to his offer.

It is never as fun as he says.

He never tells you about the consequences.

He doesn’t tell you about the emptiness and purposeless you feel when you go his way.

He hates you.

Satan promises temporary fulfillment at the cost of eternal rewards.

Satan wants to make your life easy now but will make you pay later.

Too often, people don’t get saved because they enjoy their sin too much.

They want a fun life.

They don’t want the restrictions of holy living.

They don’t want to suffer for Christ.

They want life to be easy, fun and free from guilt.

They will one day regret that decision (Luke 16)

But it won’t always take that long to realize you made a bad choice.

Satan is a liar.

He’s like a mouse trap who offers delicious gooey peanut butter that’s way better than the crumbs you’ve been scrounging and working hard for.

He’s like a Venus fly trap.

They’re brightly colored, they almost looks like a flower and they’re coated with sweet nectar.

And so, a hungry ant, probably on its way to work hard to gather food for the nest, sees the beautiful, sweet Venus Fly trap.

They climb up the stem into the mouth of the trap and start feasting on the nectar.

But just below the nectar is waxy and slick.

The ants loose their footing and slide into the tube and the trap closes them in.

Satan is a master deceiver.

He sugarcoats the way to ruin.

He makes the Broad Way look so fun and exciting and usually, at first, it really is. We call that the pleasures of sin.

You’ll head down that road and feast on the pleasures of sin, but before long, you’ll lose your footing and Satan will close the trap and you will find yourself in a place you never thought you would ever be.

“Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.”

Jesus is honest with you.

Jesus never said, follow me and I’ll fix all your problems.

Jesus never promised health, wealth and prosperity.

Jesus never promised an easy life with no more problems.

Be careful when people say things like that.

In fact Jesus promised that there would be be trials.

But He also promised to walk with you through the storm.

He promised rest for your soul.

Jesus said if you follow Him you will most likely be rejected.

He said if you follow Him you will have to deny yourself.

There will be a lot that you cannot do if you follow Jesus.

You will need to be willing to give up your life.

But He also promised He would give you a better life.

He promised you an abundant life.

A life full of fulfillment, joy and peace instead of an unfulfilled life that may be filled with a lot of things, but still feels so empty.

He said that those will keep their life will lose it and those who lose their life will find it.

Satan tells you it’s just one easy decision.

Just bow to me one time Jesus, and all the kingdoms will be yours!

How tempting! Just one decision and he will gain so much.

Just one drink won’t hurt me.

It’s just one text message to that boy I know I’m not supposed to talk to.

It’s just one church service.

You may enjoy what he gives you for a time, but it won’t last.

Following God may not promise a problem free life, but it does promise an abundant, fulfilling life as you walk with God and an eternal life with God after it’s all over.

Focus on God and put Satan behind you.

Don’t entertain the offers of sin and Satan.

Satan will focus on what he will give you, but he won’t tell you what you will lose.

Don’t give up what you want the most for what you want in the moment.

Worship God and no one else.

Devote every minute of every day to the worship and service of God.

You don’t have time to entertain the plans of Satan because you’re too caught up in God’s plans.

You have no time for Satan.

Decide that you do it God’s way even if it leads to a cross.

Nothing Satan has to offer is worth losing you relationship with God.

God loves you more than anyone.

God alone deserves your worship.