Luke 4:8, commentary and pictures

Worship and service belong to the Lord God alone, and homage is to be given to no other. These were Christ's words in the third and closing temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of His public ministry, answering Satan's offer of all the kingdoms of the world in their glory if He would worship him. He utterly refused the bargain, would not depart in the slightest from His Father's will for earthly glory, but chose the appointed way of humility, suffering and death. He spoke the dismissal with divine authority as heaven's Commander, and Satan had no power to resist it but was forced to withdraw as a conquered foe, after which angels ministered to Jesus. That complete victory, gained as humanity's representative where Adam fell, broke Satan's power and makes it possible for fallen people to conquer, for united to Christ by faith they can resist as He did with Scripture alone and need not remain under sin's dominion.

Wilderness Setting and Offer

The reply was given in the third and closing temptation in the wilderness at the beginning of the public ministry, after Jesus had been led by the Spirit from Jordan full of the Holy Ghost and had fasted forty days and forty nights eating nothing in a desolate wilderness. The conflict there was the outbreak of the unceasing battle between Christ and Satan, fought not amid gaiety and feasting but in desolation where Christ felt real keen pangs of hunger as surely as He later suffered death on the cross. As soon as that suffering began Satan came with temptations fitted to the circumstances, seeking by every device to overcome the Redeemer by offering an easier way to gain His object than the path of trial and suffering He had entered. Those who yield to such specious bewitching influence serve the enemy of all righteousness and not God, even when they believe God is leading them.

The offer was set forth from an exceedingly high mountain in a magnificent panoramic view of all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them in their loveliness, prosperity and splendor, presented in a moment of time. Satan had real power to take Jesus in his arms and carry Him up into that exceeding high mountain and to the pinnacle of the temple, and that same power will be exercised to a wonderful degree upon the present generation. The power and splendors thus displayed were offered to be given into His hands if He would bow down, acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of darkness, and worship him.

He came not as a hideous monster but as a mighty though fallen angel, disguised as a beautiful young man more like a monarch, as an angel of light and a Heaven-sent friend, concealing his real character. He was once the covering cherub who became envious of Christ and fell with sympathizers, and now surrounded Jesus alone with demons pretending to be angels from heaven, with seducing attractions and most deceiving artful sophistry. He came with Scripture in his mouth, using wily insinuations against God as with the first parents and with Eve, seeking to undermine confidence, destroy faith and trust, keep the mind under constant strain, and allure into controversy as if reading unspoken thoughts. He sought thus to take advantage of Christ's weakened, suffering, emaciated condition after forty days and forty nights of the most fearful assaults, when mental suffering made the ordeal most severe.

Avowing himself leader of rebellion and god of this world, he claimed the kingdoms as his own and offered their power, glory, honor, riches and splendors without struggle if Jesus would worship him, acknowledge him as supreme, and yield allegiance. It was presented as an easier way that would spare suffering and death and deliver from a life of sorrow, hardship, conflict and an ignominious death bearing the sins of the world with separation from the Father's love. Acceptance would have yielded the victory in the great controversy and triumphed the same rebellion by which Satan sinned in heaven in seeking to exalt himself above the Son of God, a temptation beyond human understanding. Jesus would not bargain for the kingdoms by bowing, would not abandon His mission of suffering, but remained faithful to His Father's will on the appointed path to redeem the world through His death.

His studied plan was decisive and hung all his prosperity upon success, to draw Christ from allegiance and cause Him to depart from His Father's will. By preventing completion of the plan of salvation he hoped to retain the kingdom he claimed, save his own life and kingdom, reign in opposition to God, defeat Christ's attempt to gain victory over the human race and establish His kingdom, and gain victory over the entire human race. He knew through prophecy that a Saviour was predicted whose kingdom would not be established in earthly triumph with worldly honor and display, but that the Prince of Heaven would establish a kingdom upon the earth Satan claimed as his dominion, embracing all the kingdoms of the world. Then Satan's power and glory would cease and he would receive retribution for the sins he introduced and the misery he brought upon man, with his empire contested, his right disputed, and his power broken.

That claim to rule was only partly true, for he had wrested dominion from Adam, but Adam's rule was entrusted by the Creator and was subject to Christ. God remained the earth's owner and Christ remained its rightful King, and Satan could exercise his usurped authority only with God's permission. Accepting the offer would have meant surrendering Christ's true kingship and holding dominion under Satan. The earthly kingdom desired by the Jews, which they would have welcomed had He offered it, was burdened by sin's curse and sorrow and woe.

Words and Authority of Reply

The command declares that worship and service belong to the Lord God alone, teaching exclusive loyalty to Him and refusal of homage to any other. It was spoken as rejection of Satan's offer of the kingdoms of the world and their power, glory, honor and splendor, with a command to desist and depart. The answer was given from Scripture at the opening of the public ministry, as resistance maintained on behalf of humanity. Jesus would not bargain with Satan for the kingdoms by bowing to him, but remained faithful to His Father's will.

He would not worship anyone but God, would not depart in the slightest from His Father's will, and would not be turned from humility and sacrifice to earthly glory. Accepting worldly power would have meant yielding to Satan and abandoning the mission of suffering, so He refused and preserved His integrity. He chose the way appointed by His Father through a life of suffering and dreadful death in order to redeem the world. Solicitation could not compel Him to sin without His consent.

The rebuke was spoken with divine authority as heaven's Commander, with humanity aided by divinity even while weakened and suffering. Divinity flashed through suffering humanity as the words were spoken with power. This proved He had clothed divinity with humanity without exchanging divinity for humanity. It gave Satan proof he could not gainsay that Jesus is the Son of God, equal with God, all He claimed to be.

The summary dismissal baffled Satan so that he had nothing to say. Though the struggle left Jesus physically faint, His faith did not fail. Satan had no power to resist the command and was forced to obey, withdrawing from the field and from the Redeemer as a conquered, defeated foe in humiliation and rage. Angels then ministered to Jesus with food and strength, to great joy in heaven.

Victory Won for Humanity

Christ's victory in the answer was complete, without yielding in a single point even in thought on the ground where Adam stumbled and fell, reversing Adam's failure as completely as Adam failed. In enduring a test such as no human being will ever pass through He honored the Father and placed humanity on vantage ground with God. Satan could solicit sin but could not compel Him to commit it unless He consented, and He would not depart in the slightest from His Father's will.

The conflict was fought and the victory gained on humanity's behalf, as humanity's representative and head. Divine power united to humanity gained an infinite, wonderful and priceless victory that raised humanity's moral value and standing before God. By that self-denial over appetite He broke the power of appetite and enslavement and prevented Satan from drawing all humanity into rebellion.

That victory is the foundation of the plan of salvation and gives fallen people in Christ's name the key and means whereby they may overcome. Strength, grace and divine power are provided to all who are personally exposed to the very same temptations and who seek it, and united to Christ by faith and holding fast to His divine power they need not remain under sin's dominion. Satan may distress and tempt but cannot control the will or force sin without consent, yet each person must for himself individually gain the victory by faith and Christ's victory will not benefit anyone unless he also overcomes on his own account. Those whose perceptive powers are blunted by Satan's artifices and who love gatherings of gaiety, pleasure and feasting look upon it as a common warfare between two kings with no bearing on life and character and find the Saviour's humiliation and victory meaningless, while Satan who failed to overcome Christ remains their adversary to the end of time.

By refusing the short way and choosing suffering and dreadful death by the way appointed by His Father, Jesus lawfully redeems the possessions Satan claimed and becomes their lawful heir to receive the kingdoms of earth as an everlasting possession. After a season all in heaven and earth will submit to Him, while Satan's power will be limited, taken away, bound, overthrown and cast out and he himself finally given into Christ's hands to be destroyed by death, never more to annoy Jesus or the saints in glory. The wilderness was the first great struggle with the tempter in which the destiny of the human race was at stake and Christ was conqueror, followed by a last fearful struggle in Gethsemane and the cross deciding the same issues and sealing the covenant for the heathen inheritance, for if Christ could be overcome the earth would become Satan's kingdom and the race forever in his power.

Satan's presumptuous and blasphemous demand for homage revealed the great deceiver's character, malice and presumption before the loyal universe. The wilderness contest unmasked him as he contested every claim of the Son whose mercy revealed God's character. Failing there he turned to strategy, working through human agents, priests and people, to oppose Christ, thwart His ministry and hunt Him to the cry for crucifixion. The tempter there was the same evil spirit later met in the possessed man in the synagogue at Capernaum and in the tombs, though assuming another form, and He who defeated him in the wilderness knew his identity and with calm authority wrested the writhing captives from his grasp and broke his hold, showing Satan seeks his object by various devices.

The verse belongs to the gospel contrast between Satan's kingdom and God's kingdom at the beginning of Christ's ministry, challenging Satan's claim to dominion over the world. Christ's loyalty in standing loyal to God shows Satan has not gained complete control of humanity and calls for being on the Lord's side. The account as a whole, studied in the light of the long fast in which He contended single-handed with the prince of darkness while angels watched their loved Commander with inconceivable interest and man's salvation hung on who would conquer, reveals the sin of indulgence of appetite and its power over human nature. It is a neglected yet most important subject bearing on Christian temperance and on Christ carrying out redemption.

Rejecting Rival Claims to Worship

Worship and service belong to the Lord God alone, and Christ's answer in the wilderness is the rule for refusing divine homage to any other. The claim of the pope to be the visible head of the universal church with supreme authority over all bishops and pastors is met by that answer. His taking the titles of Deity as Lord God the Pope, assuming infallibility, and demanding homage from all men is directly opposed to Scripture. God never appointed any man to be head of the church, and papal power over Christ's church can exist only by usurpation. That usurpation was advanced by corrupting Christianity, exalting popes and priests to pardon sins, and withholding the Bible.

Satan offered Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their glory if He would acknowledge the supremacy of the prince of darkness, but Christ refused all compromise, rebuked the presumptuous tempter, and forced him to depart. Satan meets with greater success presenting the same temptation to man, leading the church to seek worldly gains and honors by seeking the favor and support of great men of earth and of powerful rulers. Having thus rejected Christ, the church yielded allegiance to the representative of Satan, the bishop of Rome. The same claim urged by Satan in the wilderness is still urged through the Church of Rome, where vast numbers yield homage to the pope. Ministers face the same temptation to worldly gain in different forms, and yielding to it makes them false to their trust and would have prevented the world's redemption.

The worship and service Satan demanded openly from Christ in the wilderness he still seeks from every person, but not by coming openly demanding homage. He asks only that they be dazzled and allured by worldly attractions that engage the mind and affections and lessen heavenly attractions. He tempts with the glories of the world in exchange for worship, with worldly honor, wealth, pleasures, rank, position and money, and with promises of wealth for using business methods that serve him. When devotion, anxiety, care and labor go to worldly interests, and when integrity, conscience and unselfishness are yielded, that love is worship and service yielded to him and gains for him all he asked of Christ. Such love dethrones God from the heart, degrades the faculties into captivity to sin, corrupts faith, weakens moral power, blunts conscience, deadens spiritual life, eclipses the love of Jesus and the immortal inheritance, leaves room for further evil, and ends in loss of the soul.

Appetite, love of the world, and presumption are the three leading allurements by which people are overcome, and Christ's resistance in the wilderness strengthens weak purposes and resolves. Each person must choose whether to serve Christ or worship and follow the deceiver, and resisting brings victory. Worship the Lord thy God and serve Him only are the terms of salvation, to be kept ever before workers going to people who have souls to lose or souls to save. This means being doers of the word, refusing to let alien maxims and customs blind the eyes, and never surrendering integrity, honesty and principle for earthly advantage or ambition. Power and riches gained dishonestly become a curse, and yielding to the bargain of worldly honor and glory for acknowledging Satan's supremacy can fix a person's condition by a decision made in a moment.

Pattern for Resisting Temptation

Jesus met powerful deceptive temptations in the wilderness with Scripture alone, answering only with what stands written rather than entering into argument with the enemy. Though abundantly able to answer logic with logic and eloquence with eloquence, He gave Satan not one word to lead him on but met each test point by point with Scripture. He knew the Scriptures and spoke only His own words that He had inspired holy men of old to write, meeting all the great leading temptations with which man is beset while weakened by fasting and mental suffering through forty days and nights of fearful assault. Satan came disguised not as a fallen angel but as a beautiful young man more like a monarch, with Scripture in his mouth and seducing attractions, using most deceiving and artful sophistry to undermine confidence in God and seeking to take advantage of Christ's weakened, suffering condition. His surely aimed fiery darts found no lodgment, proving human arguments and reasons are useless against Satan and that Scripture alone repulses him and puts feet on solid immovable rock.

The verse gives the pattern for meeting an opponent, not by spending time answering every objection on Satan's ground but by keeping to the constant affirmative of the Word. That constant affirmative baffled Satan so he had nothing to say, and strengthening the soul by quoting the promises presents the light and salvation Christ has given in the Word. Believers must learn these lessons from the Word and hang them in memory's hall to meet Satan the same way, using spare time to commit Scripture to memory instead of reading foolish, trifling stories, so that when beset they can resist him, baffle him, speak words in season, and become strengthened unto characters prepared for immortal life where there will be no danger of being overcome. All that is written in the law and in the prophets is true and carries its proof in itself, with Scripture its own expositor carrying its own keys and Scripture unlocking Scripture. Meeting temptation also requires fasting, prayer, suffering and steadfast obedience, with meditation and prayer helping avoid dangerous situations that give Satan an advantage, and guarding the tongue when feelings are stirred.

Satan can use Scripture in tempting Christ, disguising his effort to overthrow Him as something good. He can make temptation appear noble and present himself as humanity's friend rather than its enemy to overthrow confidence. Quoting Scripture can be used to gain people's confidence and then deceive them, so his devices must be discerned.

United to Christ by faith and holding fast to His divine power, believers need not remain under sin's dominion but can resist temptation by relying on God's word and its promises rather than on circumstances or their own weakness. Following Jesus' example and holding fast to self-denial enables resistance to satanic deception, with self-denial, temperance and self-control first at the table and then in every part of life. His life is the safe pattern for those who would overcome as He did, exposing indulgence and appetite's hold as sinful and preparing the way for redemption. His wilderness temptations include appetite, love of the world, and presumption — the three leading allurements by which people are overcome — with the worldly-prospects temptation seeking to draw people away from principle and integrity, yet His example strengthens weak purposes and resolves. His victory over appetite was won on humanity's behalf, with divine power united to humanity gaining an infinite victory that raised humanity's moral value before God, providing strength to all personally exposed to the same temptations, though each must individually overcome and cannot benefit unless he also gains the victory on his own account.

The words commanding Satan to get behind Him are a watchword for practical use, which the converted sinner grasps while laying hold of Christ's power, with God's Word giving courage and Christ supplying strength that breaks Satan's hold. Parents are urged to speak them as they follow Christ's example, and steadfast self-denial following the Saviour equips people to answer the enemy's deceitful advances with Christ's rebuke. Believers use them against temptation and accusations, rejecting the claim that sin leaves no hope and affirming that sin will not rule over them. They use them against accusations that God has forgotten them by affirming faith in Jesus' death, love, imputed righteousness and robe of righteousness. Christ Himself speaks them to drive Satan from between the soul and Himself so His light shines in, for Satan constantly intrudes between people and God to make them voice his suggestions instead of God's words, dampen faith, resist intercession, or come between friends as with Peter, and the rebuke removes that barrier so Christ can come close, keep His servant from being overcome, and lead him to believe Christ's words rather than men's words, for Christ's words are truth and righteousness.

The rebuke supplies words for rejecting Satan and refusing any alliance with evil, presenting God's Word as a clear guide for resisting wrong and walking in obedience to God's will. A disciple applies it by holding fast to integrity and refusing, whatever the pressure, to break contracts or be bought or sold, an integrity especially required in medical work and business. A person must refuse to heed his suggestions, tell him to get behind them, and commit to listening to God alone, giving every part of nature and every talent to God with no attribute surrendered to Satan and rejecting his bribes and suggestions at once.

The verse belongs in the threefold wilderness test after baptism attested by the opened heavens and the Father's voice, where Jesus was buffeted more strongly than His disciples will ever be yet kept His will submitted to His Father's will without yielding to the enemy's will for a moment. Though apparently alone He was surrounded by angels commissioned to minister to those under the enemy's assaults, and after He resisted Satan left Him for a season and angels ministered unto Him with grace and strength from God. The same pattern holds for His followers: buffeted by Satan for a season, if they resist him while keeping the will yielded to God their trial will be followed by grace and strength imparted by His angels. His example thus teaches followers to resist and overcome Satan's devices, including denying appetite and overcoming its power.