Again, the devil taketh Him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.
Once more the tempter attacks; there is no ceasing in his efforts to destroy God's work, 1 Peter 5:8. And he has great power, he controls, to some extent, the forces and the wealth of the earth, as a prince of the power of the air, Ephesians 2:2. See John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11; Ephesians 6:12. A stratagem of magic the devil here employed, to conjure up the wealth and the glories of all earth's kingdoms in an alluring, almost irresistibly appealing picture, all in a moment of time, Luke 4:5. The location of the exceeding high mountain here referred to is immaterial, also the question whether the picture was a physical demonstration or a mental suggestion. The main fact in Matthew's narrative is the refined subtlety, but also the extreme denseness of the tempter: