How could Satan give earth's kingdoms to Jesus?

[mclaughlinm]

In today’s Gospel Luke 4:6 we find the devil saying to Jesus in the desert during the temptation - “To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them”.

What on earth is this all about. I get the connection to Mosses and Exodus that Scott Hahn explained in his daily reflection but how can the devil assert that they were delivered to him and that he was free to give them to Jesus?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

For starters, we must remember that Satan is a liar (John 8:44) and therefore whatever he says must be never be taken to be wholly true. His name means “obstacle” or “stumbling block” and his name thus sums up his motivations. In the Garden of Eden he used a series of misleading questions to tempt Adam & Eve into sin. So the fact that Satan claims all kingdoms on earth are his to give is highly misleading and not really true. But there is always some truth mixed in with the lies in order to confuse, so what exactly is going on here?

The imagery of Satan as the ruler of this world is found in a few places in the Scriptures:

And even though our gospel is veiled, it is veiled for those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

• 2 Corinthians 4:4

Now is the time of judgment on this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

• John 12:31

We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one.

• 1 John 5:19

The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it…

• Revelation 12:9

When the Scriptures (and especially the New Testament) refer to “the world” they are referring to sin that permeates our choices and actions. So when the Scriptures speak of Satan as the “ruler of the world” this is meant that there are many who follow him and his ways. Satan’s power in this world is only what we give him. Satan is the “ruler” of this world only inasmuch as sin rules in the world. Sin is the result of our free choices to turn against God, therefore through grace and our choice Satan can be robbed of all power.

While Satan did not necessarily know that Jesus was the Second Person of the Trinity, he clearly recognized that Jesus was a special prophet of God. Satan obviously thought that if he could turn Jesus against God that he could further deceive the world and thus would have at least the opportunity to have the kingdoms of the world following him instead of God.

I guess we can say that Satan is the original deceptive marketing campaign using lies and half truths to seduce.