There’s nothing new under the sun

The Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) all give variations on the same story of Jesus going into the wilderness for 40 days and being tempted by the devil. Mark makes just a quick reference to this. But Matthew and Luke go much deeper into the event, including conversation between Jesus and the devil. And in both of Matthew’s version (Matthew 4:1–11) and Luke’s (Luke 4:1–13), they have the devil offering three temptations to Jesus. I want to focus on one of those temptations today.

Matthew 4:8–10 states: “Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendour; and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ‘“

Luke 4:5–7 states: “Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, ‘To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.’ Jesus answered him, ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ‘“

Besides some minor wording arrangement, the only other difference is which number of temptation this is. In Matthew’s gospel, it is the third temptation and in Luke’s it is the second.

The key point here is that Jesus rejects the “invitation” of the devil to…