Then the devil, taking Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
And the devil said to Him, “All this authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship before me, all will be Yours.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Get behind Me, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” - Luke 4:5-8
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Before we get started, here are some interesting questions to think about based on Luke 4:5-8:
Was the devil lying about having authority over the kingdoms of the earth, or was he telling the truth?
Would he really have given Jesus authority over the kingdoms of the earth like he promised, or was he lying?
Did he or does he even have the authority to give authority over the kingdoms of the earth to someone else, like he promised Jesus he would do?
We can possibly answer some of these questions in Jesus's response to the devil.
Jesus did not dispute that the devil had the authority that he claimed. His rebuke to him was in regards to bowing down and serving anyone other than God.
The gospels say that Jesus was healing and delivering people from demon possession, sickness, and diseases. He was healing the deaf, mute, blind, lame, etc. This indicates that the devil did indeed have authority.
If you think about it, before Jesus came, all the kingdoms of the earth, with the exception of the kingdom of Israel which was led by God, were ruled by the devil. The people of these kingdoms offered human sacrifices to the gods they served, they killed each other, and their kingdoms were not ruled with honesty, integrity or high moral standards. These kingdoms were ruled by evil and the people lived in the darkness.
The people were possessed by evil spirits and these evil spirits caused them to suffer by sickness, disease and death.
When Jesus came, He began delivering people from the evil spirits that had authority over them. But before that, God had to test Him to make sure that He would remain faithful to Him, so that He would fulfill His mission.
If the devil's offer of authority over all the kingdoms of the earth was true, and Jesus would have failed the test, then He would have become the devil's servant and He would have ruled the nations in evil and injustice rather than in righteousness and justice. The nations and the world would have remained in darkness.
But fortunately for mankind that did not happen. Jesus decided that He would not serve the devil, but that He would be a servant of God.
Because of His faithfulness, He was rewarded not only the authority over the kingdoms of the earth like the devil had offered Him, but He was rewarded the authority over all of the universes and everything that was made. He received much more by God than what he would have received by the devil.
When Jesus began healing and delivering people, He limited the devil's power and authority by binding him so that He could plunder his house. Mark 3:27 tells us this.
"Plunder" means "to take the goods of by force (as in war)".
So for Jesus to bind the devil so that He could plunder his house means that He limited His power and authority in order to take people away from the devil and his authority. We are told in Revelation 20:1-3 that he will be bound for a long time and then be released to deceive the nations again for a short time.
While Jesus was here, He trained and sent His disciples out to other cities and nations to inform the people of who He was and that He has been given all authority, therefore they are required to worship and serve Him only. If they obey, they will receive the reward of life, but if they refuse, there will be the consequence of death.
By His disciples going to the places that were ruled by the devil, the people were able to hear about Jesus, receive Him, and worship and serve Him, thereby taking people out of the devil's kingdom, and placing them in God's.
They were given the opportunity to hear about something that they never heard of before. They were given the opportunity to bow down and serve the One who is good.
If Jesus did not come or His disciples had not gone, the people of these places would not have heard about Jesus, and they would have continued to live under the rule and reign of the devil. They would have continued to serve him. Darkness would still cover the earth and evil would rule the nations.
But as people receive Jesus, they leave the realm where the devil reigns as their king by no longer allowing him to have authority over them or their lives, because now, Jesus has it. They enter the realm where Jesus is their Master who they worship and serve.
By people leaving the devil, his realm is being conquered by Jesus, and God's kingdom is growing, until the whole world hears and Jesus comes again to reign on the earth. This is the hope of mankind.
Serving God only is a command of the King. Not only are all people required to obey His command in order to receive life, but His disciples are required to obey Him because they love Him. Obedience to His commands is a sign of faithfulness and allegiance to Him.
If His disciples worship and serve anyone or anything besides or in addition to God, then their allegiance is not to Him, and they are being unfaithful to Him, just as a husband who loves another woman is unfaithful to his wife. Just as unfaithfulness in marriage is not acceptable to God, neither is unfaithfulness to Him. His disciples must worship and serve Him only.
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