The Temptation to Do Good: When the Kingdom Comes with Strings Attached

Whether you're reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, there's a key theme you can't miss: the story is about Christ bringing about his kingdom.

Right from the opening chapter of Luke, we’re introduced to this idea. An angel appears to Mary before Jesus is even born and says:

“He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32-33)

What’s the point of this story? Jesus is coming, and he is going to have a kingdom. He will receive that kingdom from God, and he will rule over it. That’s the goal of everything Jesus is doing. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

This makes it all the more striking that in Luke’s account, the second temptation Jesus faces is a temptation about kingdom. Satan offers Jesus, in a sense, the very thing he came to establish.

Satan says, “I can give you the kingdom you came for.”

So here’s the question we’re wrestling with in this post: What do we do when the devil tempts us to do something good?

That’s not the kind of temptation we usually expect. When Satan shows up in the cartoons—with horns and a pitchfork—we know the script. He tries to tempt us to do something obviously bad. But sometimes temptation looks like the second temptation of Jesus, where Satan doesn't offer something evil, but something good, something desirable, even something aligned with God’s plan.

Here’s how Luke tells it:

“And the devil took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to Him, ‘To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.’” (Luke 4:5-6)

It's a stunning moment. In an instant, Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. “They’re mine,” he says. “I’ll give them to you.” Isn’t that the plan? “The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ.” That’s where the story is going—all authority in heaven and on earth given to Jesus. Every knee bowed. Every tongue confessing.

Satan says, “I’ll make that happen—right now. No suffering. No cross. No waiting.”

But before we rush ahead to Jesus’ answer (you may already know what’s coming), let’s pause. Let’s consider what’s being offered and what it costs.

The Offer: What If Satan Delivers?

Can Satan even give this to Jesus? I’ve heard sermons that say, “Well, Satan couldn’t deliver on that promise anyway.” But I’m not so sure about that. I think Satan is telling the truth—at least to a degree.

Is Satan, at this moment in history, in charge? That’s a tough one. On the one hand, we can correctly say that God is always in control. God is sovereign, and all creation belongs to Him. 

But if you just look around, you know something else is going on too. It often doesn’t feel like God is running the show down here. There’s a corner of this universe that’s in rebellion. Human history is the story of creation pushing back against its Creator. And as long as we’re in rebellion against the rightful King, we’ve effectively handed the reins to someone else.

Satan is in charge in a real and devastating way. His influence in this world is powerful.  We don’t have to deny God’s sovereignty to admit that Satan has serious sway here. In fact, Luke's gospel confirms it over and over again.

In Luke 8, Jesus tells the parable of the sower—the man scattering seed on different types of soil. Some of the seed falls along the path, where the ground is hard and nothing takes root. And what happens? “The devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved” (Luke 8:12). Jesus Himself says that some people never even have an opportunity to believe because the Devil intervenes. That’s real power.

Later in Luke 11, there’s an argument over miracles. Jesus has been casting out demons, and the religious leaders accuse him of doing so by the power of Beelzebul. Jesus responds: “If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?” (Luke 11:18) Wait—whose kingdom? Satan’s kingdom. Jesus acknowledges that there is a domain where Satan’s will is being done. As long as people continue to follow him—knowingly or not—he reigns there.

Then in Luke 13, Jesus is about to heal a woman who’s been suffering for eighteen years. And how does he describe her condition? “...whom Satan bound for eighteen years...” (Luke 13:16). Jesus attributes her suffering to the work of Satan. He sees her pain as the result of demonic bondage.

Does Satan have power? Yes, absolutely.

So when Satan says to Jesus, “I will give you all the kingdoms of the earth,” I don’t think he’s bluffing. I think he can deliver it… at least partially. He has enough sway in this world to make that offer seem very real.

Which leads us to the next question: Wouldn’t it be better if Jesus were in charge instead of Satan?

Now, I won’t spend a ton of time here, because let’s be honest—if you’re reading this, you probably already know the answer. Jesus or Satan? The world run by the liar, the destroyer of life, the enemy of mankind—or the Son of God, perfect and holy? That’s a no-brainer.

So again, I ask, what’s the temptation? Satan comes to Jesus and says, “You came to establish a kingdom? That’s great. Just so happens—I’ve got one. I’ve got all of them. I’ll hand them over to you. No war, no resistance, no cross.” It sounds like a shortcut to exactly what Jesus came to do. No pain. No persecution. Just kingdom come.

The Catch: The Price Satan Demands

Of course, Satan never offers anything without a string attached.

“I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world,” he says, “if you will worship me.”

That’s the price tag.

Satan is offering Jesus a shortcut to accomplish everything he came to do. A way to skip the suffering, bypass the cross, and avoid the conflict. He can have all the kingdoms, all the power,  all the influence.

And all it costs is one thing: worship.

It’s a sharp reminder of how potent the idea of worship is in Scripture. Worship is cosmic. Worship is allegiance. Worship is transformative.

In both the Old and New Testaments, the words for “worship” and “serve” are often the same. To worship someone is to serve them. To serve someone is to worship them. Worship is about loyalty, obedience, and submission. It’s about who or what gets your heart, your will, and your life.

And Satan knows that. He doesn’t just want Jesus to kneel. He wants Jesus to become like him. That’s the nature of worship. You become what you worship.

The Bible makes this point more than once. In Psalm 115:4-8, the psalmist mocks idols as lifeless, senseless, and powerless. Then he drops this bombshell: “Those who make them become like them,  so do all who trust in them.” Idols don’t speak. They don’t see. They don’t feel. And if you give your heart to them, you start to lose those senses, too. Your heart becomes dull. Your vision fades. You stop feeling. Worship transforms you, for better or worse. That’s what Paul says in Romans 1 when he claims that humanity’s downfall started when we traded worship of the living God for created things. Instead of looking up, we looked down. Instead of becoming more like God, we became less.

But it also works the other way. “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). When we worship the living God, when we behold His glory, we start to reflect it. We are drawn upward, shaped into something better.

There’s a worship that corrupts, and there’s a worship that transforms. Which brings us back to the temptation and the crux of this whole episode in Luke 4. Satan offers Jesus what he came for: the kingdoms of the world. But he offers it his way. And if Jesus had taken the deal? If Jesus bowed down to Satan?

Then it wouldn’t matter that Jesus was in charge, because he would have become like Satan.

If you defeat the tyrant but become a tyrant, the tyranny remains. If you fight evil using evil’s tools, the world isn’t saved—it’s just conquered by another face of the same darkness.

And Jesus knows that.

He sees through the lie. He sees that what Satan is offering isn’t really the kingdoms of the world—it’s a trap. A slower, subtler way for Satan to win. Not by overpowering Jesus, but by corrupting him.

And it’s a temptation that still echoes today.

How often are we tempted to go after good things—the right goals, the righteous causes—but in all the wrong ways? When we do that, we’re not resisting Satan. We’re becoming like him.

The Cross & The Kingdom

Jesus shows us that the real victory comes not from shortcuts or compromises, but from fidelity to the Father. Even when it’s hard. Even when it hurts. Even when the cross is still ahead.

Jesus answered the tempter with words rooted in the ancient story of Israel: “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’” The one you serve is the one you worship. The one you worship is the one who shapes you.

There is only One worthy of that worship. Only One who pulls us upward, not downward. Only One whose image transforms us rather than deforms us. That’s why, even at the cost of every kingdom in the world, Jesus refuses to bow.

This isn’t just about personal devotion. This is a principle for life and leadership. You cannot accomplish God's promises through Satan’s means.

Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6, where Moses warned Israel before they entered the Promised Land. They were about to inherit cities they hadn’t built, vineyards they hadn’t planted, cisterns they hadn’t dug. It was a land prepared for blessing. But Moses warned: “Take care, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of Egypt… You shall not go after other gods.”

Why the warning? Because history repeats itself. Satan isn’t very creative—he recycles the same temptations. “Here’s the blessing you’ve been promised,” he whispers. “Let me give it to you. My way.” And every time Israel took the shortcut, the kingdom fell apart. The entire Old Testament testifies to this. God blesses, people get comfortable, and then they reach for the shortcut. 

Jesus is the only one who never forgets. The temptation Satan offers in the wilderness comes back again, later, on the night of Jesus’ arrest. When the mob comes to take him, the disciples reach for swords. “This is it! The time to fight! We’ll win the kingdom the old-fashioned way—by force!”

But Jesus says, “No more of this.” That’s not how his kingdom will be built. He didn’t just know his purpose. He knew his method. We’re often tempted to think that a little subterfuge, a little compromise, a little aggression—just this once—will help us accomplish a greater good. But Jesus never bought into that lie. He shows us something radical: It is better to win a kingdom by a cross than with a sword.

The cross isn’t a symbol of failure—it’s the blueprint of the kingdom. Jesus wins not by conquering others, but by giving himself away. Satan trades in power at others’ expense. Jesus offers healing at his own expense.

You don’t get the kingdom of God by acting like the kingdoms of men. You don’t get God’s results by using the devil’s tools.

The path of the cross is not easy. It never was. But it’s the only path that leads to the kingdom. When you face that crossroads between what’s easy and what’s right, remember Jesus in the wilderness. Remember Jesus in the garden. Remember Jesus on the cross. And know this: You can't follow him unless you carry a cross of your own.

Dr. Benjamin Williams is the Senior Minister at the Central Church of Christ in Ada, Oklahoma and a regular writer at So We Speak. Check out his books The Faith of John’s Gospel and Why We Stayed or follow him on Twitter, @Benpreachin.