Matthew 4:9

Matthew 4:9. Satan in his true character.

All these things, i.e., ‘all that renders them attractive to the love of power, pleasure, wealth, honor' (J. A. Alexander).

Will I give thee. The world is to a certain extent under the power of Satan, not absolutely nor permanently, indeed, but actually. His greatest weapons are his half-truths, his perversions of the truth. Recognizing in this Person One who would reconquer a kingdom for Himself, he offers to surrender his own part of this kingdom in its temporal extent. But Christ's sway over the world was not of a kind that could be given by Satan, however wide and deep-seated the power of the latter might be. Yet to Jesus, who as man must conquer the world through suffering and death, this was a real temptation.

If thou wilt fall down and worship me. The next verse shows that religious worship is meant; devil worship in this case. Satan, fallen through ambition, would ask no less for his dominion. His price is always exorbitant. The proposal was bold, but in the contest between them it must come to this. Satan at last offers all he could, but throwing away all disguise, asks from One tempted in all points like as we are, what he asks from us.