Luke 4:5-7

Peace to you my brothers and sisters.

Today’s Bible Verse: [Luke 4:5-7 ESV] 5 And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, 6 and said to him, "To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. 7 If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours."

Devil: διάβολος diábolos, dee-ab'-ol-os; from G1225; a traducer; specially, Satan (compare H7854):—false accuser, devil, slanderer.

This was an adversary, not a mythical fallen angel hellbent on destroying mankind. It was more of the human nature adversary. There is nothing in scripture that indicates that the modern concept of the devil exists.

World: οἰκουμένη oikouménē, oy-kou-men'-ay; feminine participle present passive of G3611 (as noun, by implication, of G1093); land, i.e. the (terrene part of the) globe; specially, the Roman empire:—earth, world.

The key here is the land. This adversary showed Jesus the land, Israel. At that time there was only one major kingdom of the land and that was Rome.

Worship: προσκυνέω proskynéō, pros-koo-neh'-o; from G4314 and a probable derivative of G2965 (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand); to fawn or crouch to, i.e. (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore):—worship.

This was not worship as in what we do for God but it was paying homage or bowing down and kissing the ring of the person; like what is done for the Pope, a cardinal of the Catholic Church, or a mafia don.

The bottom line is that an adversary came to Jesus in the wilderness, took Him to a high place in Jerusalem, showed Him the land, and told Him that if Jesus bowed down to him then He could give Him power over the land.

So what humans were adversaries to Jesus and could hand Him such earthly powers over Israel? The Pharisees!

If you look at the verses referencing John the Baptist, they show Pharisees testing him. It was a regular practice for them to send members out to test potential messiahs and that was happening here. Additionally, the Pharisees did hold power in Israel and if Jesus joined them, bowed down to them, they would share it with Him.

[Luke 4:8 ESV] 8 And Jesus answered him, "It is written, "'You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.'"

This was Jesus’ answer. As He did, so do I. I bow before no man. This should be your answer as well.

We all have a job.

[Matthew 28:18-20 ESV] 18 And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

All of the disciples of Jesus are to spread His word and the gospel.

This is the gospel:

[1 Corinthians 15:1-6 ESV] 1 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.

[Acts 2:22-24 ESV] 22 "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

[1 John 2:2 ESV] 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

Propitiation: ἱλασμός hilasmós, hil-as-mos'; atonement, i.e. (concretely) an expiator:—propitiation.

This is penal substitution; that is, our sins were transferred to Jesus and His righteous transferred to us.

Go forth and spread this good news.

I pray that God has revealed Himself to you and that you have salvation.

Remember, God is sovereign. That means that he controls everything.

I hope this has been a blessing to you. May the rest of your day be blessed. Peace.