Luke 4:8

‘And Jesus answered and said to him, “It is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” '

It was not difficult for One who sought to be obedient to know what to do. For it was written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve' (Deuteronomy 6:13). This was the principle on which His whole life had been lived, and He recognised that nothing must come before this. If the Father's will was to be the way of suffering, so be it. But what was sure was that God must come before all. To submit His will to that of any other for whatever reason could not even be contemplated. And so He gives His reply to the Devil. Whatever he offers it will not be enough, for He is God's Servant and will worship and serve Him only. God's purposes must be carried out in God's way.

That there is Messianic implication here is clear, for many of the Old Testament promises for the Messiah had been of ruling over the kingdoms of the world. That task He could have fulfilled had He taken advantage of the Devil's offer. But it would have involved submission to another than God, and that was not what being the Messiah was all about. Thus He declares His decision on the basis of Scripture, which is constantly His guide.

It is also interesting to note that what Jesus is rejecting here is not only a temptation but the dream of many in Israel. It was their hope and longing that the Messiah would arise and defeat the nations of the world and set Israel in the highest place. But here Jesus turns that idea down. He knew that He was in fact powerful enough to achieve what Satan had offered even without Satan's help. But as a way of bringing about God's purposes He rejected it. He later explains why to Pilate. ‘My kingship is not of this world. If my kingship were of this world then would my servants fight' (John 18:36). Then He explains that He had come to be the King Who witnesses to the truth which is precisely the position that He takes up here.