Matthew 4:9

And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. AND SAITH UNTO HIM, ALL THESE THINGS WILL I GIVE THEE - "and the glory of them," adds Luke. But Matthew having already said that this was "showed Him," did not need to repeat it here. Luke () adds these other very important clauses, here omitted - "for that is," or 'has been,' "delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it." Was this wholly false? That were not like Satan's usual policy, which is to insinuate his lies under cover of some truth. What truth, then, is there here? We answer, Is not Satan thrice called by our Lord Himself, "the prince of this world?" (; ;...

1-11 Concerning Christ's temptation, observe, that directly after he was declared to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of the world, he was tempted; great privileges, and special tokens of Divine favour, will not secure any from being tempted. But if the Holy Spirit witness to our being adopted as children of God, that will answer all the suggestions of the evil spirit. Christ was directed to the combat. If we presume upon our own strength, and tempt the devil to tempt us, we provoke God to leave us to ourselves. Others are tempted, when drawn aside of their own lust, and enticed, James 1:14; but our Lord Jesus had no corrupt nature, therefore he was tempted only by the devil. In the temptation of Christ it appears that our enemy is subtle, spiteful, and very daring; but he can be resisted. It is a comfort to us that Christ suffered, being tempted; for thus it appears that our temptati...

Verse Matthew 4:9. _IF THOU WILT FALL DOZEN AND WORSHIP ME_] As if he had said, "The whole of this land is now under my government; do me homage for it, and I will deliver it into thy hand....

ALL THESE THINGS ... - All these kingdoms. All these dominions Satan claimed a right to bestow on whom he pleased, and with considerable justice. They were excessively wicked; and with no small degree of propriety, therefore, he asserted his claim to give them away. This temptation had much plausibility. Satan regarded Jesus as the king of the Jews. As the Messiah he supposed he had come to take possession of all that country. He was poor, and unarmed, and without followers or armies. Satan proposed to put him in possession of it at once, without any difficulty, if he would acknowledge him as the proper lord and disposer of that country; if he would trust to him rather than to God. WORSHIP ME - See the notes at Matthew 2:2. The word here seems to mean, to acknowledge Satan as having a right to give these kingdoms to him; t

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 4:1 THE TEMPTATION. The Father's acceptance of the Lord's consecration of himself for the work of the kingdom does not exclude temptation, but rather necessitates it. Psychologically, the reaction from the ecstasy of joy in hearing the announcement of Matthew 3:17 was certain; ethically, such testing as would accompany the reaction was desirable. Even the Baptist was, as it seems, not without a special temptation during this period (cf. John 1:19; and Bishop Westcott's note). At the very commencement of his official life the Lord is led consciously to realize that he has entered on a path of complete trust (even as his brethren in the flesh

AND SAITH UNTO HIM, ALL THESE THINGS WILL I GIVE THEE.... This is more fully and strongly expressed by the Evangelist Luke. Luke 4:6. 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--ALL SHALL BE THINE. In which words he sets up himself to be the God of this world, and the sovereign disposer of it: he pretends it was delivered to him by the true God, who had left it to his arbitrary disposal; and that he could invest Christ with the power and government of it, and put him in possession of all its glory, and make good and support his title to it, and interest in it. Never was such monstrous arrogance expressed as this; when this poor, proud, wretched creature, has not the disposal, at his pleasure, of anyone single thing; no not the least in the whole universe. He could not touch,

Matthew 4:1. _Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil._ What a change it seems from the descent of the Holy Spirit to being led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil! Dear friends, be especially on the watch after a great spiritual joy, for it is just then that you may have some terrible temptation. Mayhap, the voice from heaven is to prepare you to do battle with the enemy. I have noticed that the Lord has two special seasons of blessing his people; sometimes, before a great trial, to prepare them for it; and, at other times, after a great affliction, to remove the weakness which has been thereby occasioned. Think not that you can come up out of the waters of baptism, and then live without watchfulness. Imagine not, because the Spirit has sealed you, and borne witness with your spirit that you are the Lord's child, that therefore

4. THE TESTING OF THE KING AND HIS TESTIMONY. _ 1. The Testing by the Devil. (Matthew 4:1 .) 2. His Testimony and His Disciples. (Matthew 4:12 .) 3. The Powers of the Kingdom. (Matthew 4:23 .)_ CHAPTER 4 The first part of this chapter gives us the history of the temptation of the King. This is a most important topic, many-sided in its applications; large volumes have been written on it without exhausting it. We will therefore have to confine ourselves to the bringing out of some of the most important teachings, without attempting to go into many of the precious details and applications to the believer. The baptism marked, as we saw in the last chapter, our Lord's entrance upon

THE TEMPTATION (Mark 1:12 f.*, Luke 4:1 *). Jesus'sudden recognition of His Sonship or Messiah-ship and of the responsibility thus laid upon Him, found natural expression in His retirement into solitude. In the dreary wilderness of Judæ a (p. 31), which overhangs the north of the Dead Sea, He grapples with the problem of what is involved in being God's Son, of how the Messiah must do God's will. The narrative is taken (as in Lk.) from Q. There are three episodes, each containing a proposed course of action and a Scriptural reason for its rejection. The second and third scenes are transposed in Lk., but Mt. probably preserves the original order. Both Mt. and Lk., like Mk., lay stress on the impulse of the Spirit, and mention the forty days as preceding the three episodes, though Lk. (like Mk.) makes the whole period one o

ALL THESE THINGS WILL. GIVE THEE. All disguise is laid aside. Satan claims to be. Prince of the world and the disposer of human kingdoms. Jesus came to be. King but the pathway to the crown is weary, painful, beset with thorns, and wet with tears and blood. Satan proposes an easier way. He will rally the Jewish nation around him, set him on the throne of David, make him the Messiah, King of the world, and have him rule surrounded by human glory if he will only consent to give up his idea of. spiritual kingdom "not of this world," and worship the god of this world by conforming his kingdom to the worldly ideas of Israel. The temptation is to turn away from the path of self-denial, the cross and the tomb, and to establish an outward, worldly dominion....