This is not exactly my theme for this evening, but it is closely related. Our Lord Jesus was tempted to worship the Devil. Remember that to be tempted to do something is not the same thing as doing it. There is no sin in the temptation itself. For Christ to be tempted to worship Satan, doesn’t even imply that He would think about doing it. But there are several things in comparing Matthew 4 with Luke 4 for us to consider in this regard. Without meaning to do so, we may think about worship in some indirect, confusing and Satanic way.
What is it to worship? Actually, to define and explain the word isn’t as easy as you might think. There are about half a dozen very different Greek words which are translated “worship.” And there are other synonyms which muddy the waters even more. If I had to choose my favorite worship word, I’d select “doxa” which means “to glory” or “to esteem.” But that word is used only once and actually has nothing to do with the worship of God. My next choice would be “sebazo” and it’s close relatives – meaning “to venerate” or “to reckon venerable” But those words aren’t used here in regard to Jesus’ temptation.
Literally speaking, Satan was tempting the Saviour to “kiss his hand.” Our concordance says that it is related to a word which speaks of a dog who licks his master’s hand. It denotes love and affection, but it’s hardly the most honorable of images. Yet I suppose that it does suggest kneeling or at the very least bowing before the worshipped one. It implies humility and love, but it certainly doesn’t demand either.
So what was Satan demanding? He wanted Christ to acknowledge HIS right to give him all the kingdoms of the world. I don’t know if he expected our Lord to be really sincere or not, because I think even an insincere kiss from the Saviour would have been considered a Satanic victory.
This same Greek word is used in Mark 15 where Christ Jesus was being tormented by the Romans. “Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified. And the soldiers led him away into the hall…. And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews! And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees WORSHIPPED him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him.” I have always thought that those wicked soldiers only bowed before Christ, but they may have actually kissed his hand. In either case, obviously their “worship” was not genuine, and yet it was still called “worship.”
Now permit me to take two steps forward in order to take one step back. Jesus parried Satan’s sinful lunge by replying, “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” We’ll come back to this, but I’d like to draw a temporary conclusion. If the only hand we are supposed to kiss in this religious and spiritual way, can we say that to kiss any inappropriate hand would be tantamount to worshipping Satan?
How many heathen people worship Satan by deliberately serving various evil spirits? How many worship Satan by praying to their dead ancestors, honoring various animals or chunks of rock? Who were the Greeks and Romans worshipping when they honoured their mostly illogical gods? Would I be wrong saying that to worship Buddha would be to worship Satan, or at the very least a demon? This is what Moses declared in Deuteronomy. “They provoked Jehovah to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not.” If to worship Buddha would be to kiss the hand of Satan what is it to kiss the hand of the “mother of God?” I think that there are a lot more people who worship Satan than just those semi-naked people with incomprehensible languages who bow before ugly stone images.
What is it to worship? Let’s take another thought from Jesus’ reply to Satan. “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou SERVE.” The word “serve” is related to worship according to the Lord’s rebuke. And we aren’t surprised to find that the Greek word is actually translated “worship” on occasions. Paul testified to Felix, “This I confess unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so WORSHIP (serve) I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.” And he said to the Philippians, “For we …WORSHIP (serve) God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” In both cases and in others the word translated “service” is there translated “worship.” Clearly, the Bible ties together, worship and the service we render to the God that we worship.
And just as clearly, this worshipful service can rendered to Satan or his angels. Romans 1 – “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things…. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.”
Robertson in his “Word Pictures” reminds us that a servant is often someone who works for hire. Isn’t that what Satan was enticing our Saviour to do? “Come work for me, serve me, worship me, and I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth. I will reward you handsomely for kissing my hand.” Generally that is the promise which Satan offers to humanity, and he satisfies that promise often enough to continue the deception. And let’s not forget that some people even serve Satan by serving themselves. Human beings are very apt at making themselves into their own idols. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
It seems to me that anything which we might do to honour Satan and to further his cause is, in a sense, to worship him. The liquor salesmen and the drug dealers are worshipping Satan, by helping to keep people from Christ. How many politicians are servants of Satan? Those New York politicians who passed their same-sex legislation Friday, were serving Satan. And what about that priest or preacher, who is denying the truth and ultimately condemning souls to Hell? According to the scriptures, the service of Satan is in some ways the worship of Satan.
Without pushing that point any farther – what was it that Satan wanted from Christ? He want our Holy Saviour to kiss his wicked, filthy hand. And he wanted our Lord to serve him, even if that kiss was the entire extent of His “service.”
Satan is the god and prince of this world, but that is not enough for him. I am not an authority on the emotional nature of spirit beings, whether holy or wicked, but I do know that whatever it is that Satan now enjoys in this world, he wants more. God spoke to him in Isaiah, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” In my reading I noted that someone commented that Satan is “fond of being worshipped.” I think that is rather understated. I can’t say with absolute authority, but it appears to me that Satan longs to be worshipped, as Jehovah is worshipped, more than anything else his imagination can conjure. For Christ to worship Satan, Jesus would have become an agent for Satanic pride.
God’s angels, over and over again, refused to permit men to kneel before them. For example, John was overcome by the words of an angel in Revelation 19 – He said, “And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant……” Would it be a great stretch to suggest that the angel was saying, “I am a fellow-worshipper?” – of Christ. Never do we see angels permitting their hands to be kissed, and never do the children of men serve them. They wouldn’t think of it. But Satan is “fond” of such worship.