The Lust of the EyesThe devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours." Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.'
Luke 4:5-8
Interesting...isn't it? What would tempt a king...kingdom? We usually automatically think of of the problems we have with "lusting" with our eyes in regard to sexual images...but, that's not what is going on here in the text. It is a far deeper and more widespread issue...It is GREED...it is COVETING...or at least it is the devil's attempt to draw us off our course as he tried to draw Jesus off his collison course with the cross...and eventually resurrection.
The second temptation is to authority and worldly glory. This sounds like a vision...thus the phrase "in an instant". Instantly, Jesus can see each of the kingdoms of his day: Herod's petty domain closest to him, then Rome's towering buildings and Caesar's court, and all the other empires. Jesus could see it all.
The devil said to Jesus, "If you worship me, it will all be yours." What was Satan's bargain? The Greek word for "worship" is proskuneo. "Proskuneo used to designate the custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground, etc.; the Persians did this in the presence of their deified king, and the Greeks before a divinity or something holy; (fall down and) worship,prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, welcome respectfully.'
The Father had already promised to give the Son all the kingdoms of the world:
“I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.”
Psalm. 2:7–87
…but first the Son had to suffer and die. (John 12:23–33)
The suffering must come first, then the glory. “Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?".
Luke 24:25–27
Satan’s offer to Christ was valid, but his terms were unacceptable, and the Savior refused.Satan had said nothing about service, but Jesus knew that WHATEVER we worship, we will serve.
Service to the Lord is true FREEDOM, but service to Satan is terrible BONDAGE!
God’s pattern is to start with suffering and end with glory...while Satan’s pattern is to start with glory and end with suffering. If we can recognize this...we can avoid this trap of the lust of the eyes.
Jesus took the cross before the throne…and just as there were NO shortcuts for Him...There are no “shortcuts” in the Christian life, and there is no easy way to spiritual victory and maturity.
What is one of Satan’s biggest shortcut to us: GREED
“Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."” Luke 12:15
WHAT IS IT THAT GETS YOU OFF COURSE? What is the recurring distraction to your Christian walk...the "shortcut" that the evil one continues to place in front of you?
How do we resist that temptation...that pull of what our eyes see, our greed, our coveting of the things of others, or even more of the things we already have...?
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires."
2 Peter 1:3-4
Questions to discuss:
1. What is the essence of the second temptation, to attain power and splendor?
2. What similar temptations do we face today?
3. What physical or mental needs and desires make us vulnerable to temptation?
4. What is the source of the divine power in 2 Peter 1 and how do we apply it to our walk?
This temptation is very typical of the way Satan manipulates us to try and steer us off the Path. Everything he was offering to Christ was already promised him by the Father. Satan was trying to get Christ to lust for "instant gratification", rather than following the Father's will. It is easy for us to fall into this trap today, by going into deep debt for material possessions, gambling, following "get rich quick" schemes and other ploys to gain worldly wealth and power. These things make us a slave to money, and makes money our idol. Striving to be successful is not a sin in itself, but putting that quest for success and prosperity ahead of God is the sin, and this trap is one of Satan's most effective tools to capture both believers and non-believers.
ReplyDeleteGood word Brandon...so many have been lured in trap into the instant things...it spoke to me about how God's pattern is suffering to glory, but Satan's is always glory to suffering..e.g., the instant success. Thanks for commenting and following...I hope you will enjoy Luke as much as I have been.
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying the study of Luke, I need to spend more time on it than I have been able to this week though. I love the blog, it's nice to be able to pull up all this additional information and study materials. I think that this will be a very useful way for people to get deeper into the Word. We just need to get more people involved with it.
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