Matthew 4:10

‘Then Jesus says to him, “Get you from here, Satan, for it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”

For the final time Jesus calls on Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:13). And with it He despatches Satan from Him. Satan had promised Him authority. Now He called on His own authority. He had been strengthened, not weakened, by His temptations. Satan must now leave at His command. Note His final exposure of ‘Satan' as being the source of all His trouble. He was an ‘Adversary' (satanas) indeed.

As Matthew has made clear, Jesus had come into the world as one born to be King. His birth had been signalled by creation, and His kingship proclaimed by the readers of the heavenly bodies (the Magi), and the angels. His destiny was sure. But it had to be achieved in God's way, and that was not the way that Satan had in mind.

And Jesus pointed out that to the one who knows God, God must be everything. He alone must be the object of their worship and their homage. All else must take second place. And that meant hearing His voice and doing His will, and not turning to expediency, or listening to other voices than His. He must be all in all. Jesus would yet receive His kingship. In a sense He was already ‘born King of the Jews'. But it must only be in God's way and in God's time. There could be no short cuts.

‘Get you out from here Satan.' This must indicate the end of the temptations. Having sought to overcome Him Satan finds himself defeated and has to submit to His will. This serves to confirm that this was the final temptation. It explains why Luke drops this sentence. He does so when he alters the order of the temptations, in order to place emphasis on the Temple.