The Kingdoms Of This World

The devil tempted Jesus three times while He was in a vulnerable state. The second and third temptations are particularly interesting as they show how much power the devil has on this earth. It also proves that Jesus' mission was not to gain political or religious power, but to sacrifice Himself for our sins.

What does this mean for followers of Christ? Should we attempt to gain political power? How should Christians think about the government?

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The Second Temptation of Jesus (v 5-7)

Matthew 4:5-7:

Then the devil took him to the holy city, Jerusalem, to the highest point of the Temple, and said, “If you are the Son of God, jump off! For the Scriptures say,

‘He will order his angels to protect you. And they will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone.’”

Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

The devil wanted Jesus to prove He was the Son of God and asked Jesus to jump off the highest point of the temple in Jerusalem and have His angels come and save Him.

[The devil quoting Scripture is very interesting and there's much to say about this, but that's for another time!]

Can you imagine the scene had Jesus actually jumped off the highest point of the temple and angels came to the rescue and carried Him to safety?! What a miraculous site that would have been! Certainly, everyone who witnessed it would have immediately have known who Jesus actually was and He would have claimed His power in an instant.

Thankfully, of course, Jesus had other plans!

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The Third Temptation of Jesus (v 8-10)

Matthew 4:8-10:

Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.”

“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,

‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

The last temptation was the greatest: Tempting Jesus with political authority over all the "kingdoms of the world". This obviously implies that the devil has authority over the kingdoms of this world to begin with.

The commentary in my Bible suggests that perhaps "the devil was exaggerating his implied power". I don't believe so. If the devil did not have this power then certainly Jesus would have known this and it would not have been much a temptation if Jesus knew the devil was "bluffing". These were real and legit temptations. For example, the first temptation was to turn stones into bread after Jesus fasted for 40 days! Now that's a real temptation!

The commentary from my Bible continues: "or he may have based his offer on his temporary control and free rein over the earth because of humanity's sinfulness." That is exactly what I believe. In fact, this is mentioned throughout the Bible:

John 12:31: "The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out."

2 Corinthians 4:4: "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe."

(See also John 14:30, John 16:11)

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What should Christians do knowing that Satan is the ruler of this world?

Doesn't it seem obvious that we should not seek out political power? If you're looking at this objectively, that seems like the last thing we should do! Suddenly, I don't seem so crazy for calling myself an anarchist!

This is also one reason that I'm not a fan of "Christian Nationalism". I don't see how gaining political power would help us to make disciples of Christ.

I'm not saying that everyone in government is Satanic, or that they're all evil psychopaths. (OK, maybe they're evil psychopaths, they're just not all Satanists! 😂) But it just seems to me that the state as a whole is a mechanism by which Satan accomplishes his goals.

Let me know your thoughts. I'll also elaborate on my contentions with Christian Nationalism and why I don't think that's the correct path forward in a future blog post.

If you've happened to have read this far, I appreciate you, hope you're doing well and encourage you to stay in the Word!

Until next time,

-Steve