A Tale of Two Kingdoms (1)

The Devil’s Offer

When the devil finally got to meet Jesus, and that on his own turf, he wasted no time to tempt Him, if only to ascertain whether this Man was made of the same stuff as Adam. Adam practically handed over to him the dominion man once enjoyed. The Prince of the World relished the sight of this second Man in a weakened state after much fasting.  Along came his advances.

See, these are the marvelous kingdoms of the world, from Egypt to the Roman Empire to China in the east. All these belong to me, and I can give them to you. Isn’t it what you want and why you are here?

One by one the Prince pointed out to Jesus, all in a flash, the splendor and majesty of civilizations on the earth, from near to far, from eons past to ages future. And as if to prove beyond doubt his ownership, he summoned the greatest of the rulers of these kingdoms before them, and they bowed to the Prince.

See, I told you so, they belong to me, these kingdoms.

Jesus did not dispute the claim - Satan is the Prince of this world.  Nevertheless He was overcome with emotion, and chills went up his spine. He was hungry, after having gone without food or water for forty days, but it was not physical weakness that led to this. Jesus was not fooled by the appearance of the earthly kings; their majestic look could not camouflage the wretchedness of their soul. Jesus could see through all this. But His concern did not stop with these. He had seen the atrocity Satan lashed upon the people of the lands. The  devil had indeed come to steal, kill and destroy.  So for a moment Jesus was thrilled at the possibility of an immediate relief for them. He longed to free them from the clutch of the evil one, for He so loved them.

I will give all to you, together with the subjects of the lands, those children of Adam that you love. You have come to save them, have you not?

We know the story (Luke 4: 1-13), Jesus did not accept the offer. We are told the reason too.

Only bow down and worship me.

Jesus could not have submitted to such a preposterous condition, even as a Man. But if we think that the last statement by Satan is the reason why Jesus could not have accepted the offer, we could be wrong. I think there is more as to why He turned down the offer.  Let’s take a look at it from another angle and ask ourselves this question: could Jesus have accepted the offer if Satan did not require Jesus to worship him? Suppose that somehow Satan had come to his senses and recognized Jesus as the true king of the universe. Now he desired to surrender all back to Jesus. Could Jesus have accepted the offer?

I think not. The reason is this: Jesus did not come to take over Satan’s kingdom; He came to bring His own. These are two very different propositions.   

Photo Credit:bela_keifer on FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Scripture Link:BibleGateway.com