The 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.’”

–Parallel verses:
Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭4‬-‭9‬, ‭13‬-‭15‬
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.

When the Israelites were wandering in the desert, Moses delivered the Ten Commandments to them. These were to be the foundational laws for them to live by when they entered the Promised Land. And after delivering these, he followed this up with this passage in Deuteronomy 6, reminding them to treasure and keep these commandments and to worship the Lord their God and him only. For he is a jealous God. Moses reminds the Israelites that in the past, while he was away meeting with God for 40 days and 40 nights on the mountain, they built a golden calf and worshipped it and turned away from God (Exodus 32). And at that time, Moses called the Levites to his side and they took the sword to the wicked people of Israel and killed over three thousand that day. This was God’s judgment upon them for worshipping other gods.

He reminded them of this, so that they would remain faithful to God. And Jesus knew this story. He understood that God his Father was a jealous God. And that it was evil to worship another god. Could he have chosen to worship Satan? Yes, I believe he could have as a human. But he chose the good path instead. So in this partial quote, he called on the strength of this Old Testament story of God’s judgement and his deliverance, to counter Satan’s temptation. Imagine the wealth, the power, the control and position Satan offered Jesus. It was immense and it was incomparable on this earth. But Jesus reminded him that God was good and his way was hard, but better. God was better than his wealth, better than his power, better than Satan’s pleasures galore. Serving God brings a relationship that is worth so much more than anything Satan can offer.

Thank you, Lord, for this lesson from Jesus in how to combat the temptation of seeking after the things of the world. I must seek after you first, and you alone with all my heart!