Matthew 4:8

An exceeding high mountain. Inspiration has not revealed the site of the third temptation. Some have suggested Mt. Nebo, from whose advantageous heights (2,644 ft.) Moses viewed the entire Promised Land (Deut. 34:1-4), and then, in vision, the course of the plan of salvation down through the ages (PP 472-477).

Sheweth him. Matthew remarks that the devil showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them” (ch. 4:8), and Luke notes that this occurred “in a moment of time” (ch. 4:5). It is futile to speculate as to how Satan may have been able to present before Jesus the colorful panorama that now passed before His eyes.

Casting aside his guise as an angel from the realms of glory, Satan now stood before Christ in his assumed role of prince of this world (DA 129). He did not hold title to this earth by right, but rather, by wresting from Adam and Eve their God-given domain. Satan claimed to have replaced Adam as the lawful ruler of the world (see Gen. 1:28; Job 1:6, 7), but he ruled as a usurper. Nevertheless, Christ did not directly contest Satan’s claim, and denied only that Satan had any right to accept worship. Jesus even spoke of Satan as the “prince” of this world, in recognition of his de facto rulership (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11).

The world. Gr. kosmos, “world,” or “universe,” from the viewpoint of its orderly arrangement in space. Luke says oikoumene, the “inhabited world” (ch. 4:5), the word appearing in Matt. 24:14; Luke 2:1; Acts 11:28; 17:6; etc. A third word translated “world” in the NT is aion, “age,” or “world,” particularly the world from the viewpoint of sequences of happenings in time (Matt. 12:32; 13:39; 24:3; 28:20; Luke 18:30; etc.).

The glory of them. Satan effectively hid the seamy side of his kingdom, and presented only the dazzling glories of human prowess. He offered Jesus the role of political Messiah, a role in which the Jewish nation would have accepted Him (see John 6:15; see on Luke 4:19).