verses 7-9...
[7] Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
[8] Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
[9] And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
What I want to know is, what was the point of the exceeding high mountain? Couldn't have Jesus or Satan simply used supernatural means to see the kingdoms from the plains?
2006-09-15 05:30:54 · 15 answers · asked by JoeFunSmith 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Okay, but the reason for the high mountain was to gain a vantage point over the kingdoms, right?
2006-09-15 05:43:17 · update #1
So, if they chose to climb a mountain to view these kingdoms, they must have had line-of-sight to all the kingdoms of the world right? So considering the curvature of the earth, even if the mountain stuck up into outer-space, how did they see China and the Mayan Empires as well as all of the Roman Empire?
2006-09-15 05:47:30 · update #2
Anthea H - So God/Jesus is not powerful enough to simply revoke Satan's "ownership" of all the world's governments thus saving his people, whom he supposedly loves so much, the need to combat evil in their lives?
Doesn't it seem much more likely that both God and Satan are ficticious characters created by people trying to explain the conflict of good and evil thoughts within themselves and others?
Doesn't it seem likely that the author who wrote "mountain" meant "mountain" because he had no idea about the existence or nature of those kingdoms outside the knowledge of those in his immediate time and place -- that he didn't know about the Mayan Empire or the Chinese and therefore did not allow for them in his gospel?
If all the governments of the world belonged to Satan, did God allow Satan exclusive dominion over the Chinese and Mayans fo the day? There is absolutely no evidence of a Bible in these worlds that pre-existed immigrants that brought one with them.
2006-09-15 11:00:52 · update #3
Satan wanted to show off his new climbing boots.
2006-09-15 05:33:33 · answer #1 · answered by bonzo the tap dancing chimp 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
In the bible the word word "mountain" often sybolizes rulership. (Compare Revelation 17:9-11 with verse 18). The Devil is not a mere quality of evil, as some people claim, but he is a real, invisible person. The temptation of Jesus also shows that all the world governments are the Devil’s property. For how could the Devil’s offering them to Christ have been a real temptation if they were not really his. Therefore the "taking him up the mountain" was symbolic of him relating to to Jesus his own authority over all the kingdoms of the world, and that he could give them to Jesus for one act of worship. The mountain was not real but sybolizes Satans vast hold over the whole world!
2006-09-15 07:07:17 · answer #2 · answered by hollymichal 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Don't get too caught up in details. The Bible was written in a different culture. For instance, the order is changed in Luke 4. I think the intent is to have increasing temptation with each step. For Matthew the greatest temptation for his eary readers may have been to rule all the kingdoms. In Luke the greatest temptation is to test God and is centered on the Temple.
I believe the Bible is inerrant in what it intends to teach and gives sufficient knowledge for salvation, though knowledge is inadequate alone. I don't think the order of the temptations or the means of transportation up a particular mountain is the issue here. Just a thought.
PS - Maybe I understand your question better after reflection. In order to see all the kingdoms of the earth it would take an EXCEEDING high mountain, and it woulld remain impossible by our commonly accepted physical laws to see all the kingdoms from one mountain as the earth is a sphere. Consequently, mountain experience was entirely supernatural and this is just the way it was communicated to us. There are other examples of the Bible using concrete terms for abstract and supernatural events and circumstances.
2006-09-15 05:45:54 · answer #3 · answered by Nick â? 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
To temp him with complete power and control over the people and lands. Jesus did not do this b/c he knew he already had that control and power. Satan just wanted Jesus to worship him, but Satan was offering only what Jesus already possessed. I think the exceedingly high mountain is more of a play on words. Satan took him to a place, possibly into space, to survey all the earth and all within in it.
2006-09-15 05:33:58 · answer #4 · answered by Ron B. 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Read this whol section again from 1-11. Notice where they go. First they are in the wilderness, then on the highest point of the temple, then on a very high mountain. The elevation goes up as the story climaxes.
2006-09-15 05:34:49 · answer #5 · answered by cnm 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
When Jesus spoke of a mustard seed He used a mountain to represent the trials in our lives. "If you have faith you can speak to the mountain and it shall be moved"
Maybe the mountain represented the test that Jesus overcame when Satan tempted Him. He stood atop the mountain therefore had the victory.
Just a thought.
2006-09-15 05:38:43 · answer #6 · answered by oaluvslife29 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Have you ever noticed how much you can see from a mountain?
I assume that Jesus was just playing stupid, and Satan thought it would be more dramatic this way.
Kidding.
What happened during this time, was that Jesus considered using his power for personal gain. He knew he could have all this, but he traded the ability to save the world for the ability to die for us... to save the world.
I guess.
2006-09-15 05:35:40 · answer #7 · answered by Zachary J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm pretty sure Satan did use supernatural powers. You don't think Jesus hiked all the way up a really tall mountain alongside Satan, do you? I'm pretty sure they were just suddenly up there and didn't take the long road.
2006-09-15 05:34:45 · answer #8 · answered by Amanda 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
He wanted to show Jesus the vast kindom, the world in which he would turn over to him if he would bow down and worship him as God.
That is satan's mission to have people bow down to him and turn from God.
2006-09-15 05:37:34 · answer #9 · answered by darlndanna 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes but he had to truly test Jesus and the mountain is so tall and the highest point on earth.
2006-09-15 05:51:27 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's the stage magician thing: sure, you *can* just make it look like the ball passes through the cup, but it looks cooler if you put magic words to it.
Sure they *could* have just looked at it through some kind of supernatural TV screen, but it was cooler to take him up to the high mountain.
2006-09-15 05:33:56 · answer #11 · answered by Sifu Shaun 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋