Satan’s Three Temptations: Lust Of The Eyes
Second Temptation: Lust Of The Eyes
The second temptation from Satan is ‘Lust of the Eyes’. During this second temptation, Satan shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and promises to give them all to Him if He worships Satan. Jesus responds with Deuteronomy 6:13, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve”.
A lot of what we see the world offering us tempts us because we think those things will make us happy. We fall for this deception because the world presents a false perception of what happiness looks like. Therefore, we set our sights on those things that cause us to pursue a dead end, literally and figuratively. Why do they lead to death? Similar to the first temptation, ‘Lust of the Flesh’, the world seeks to distract us from the things of God. With our eyes, we potentially ignite desires within our hearts to pursue activities and things that no only do not serve us, but may even bring us away from God and eternal life.
But there’s another major implication in this temptation. Satan isn’t just simply trying to get Jesus to commit idolatry by worshipping him. And he wasn’t simply offering kingdoms. He was offering another way than God’s way.
“I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours” (Luke 4:6-7).
In other words, he is telling Jesus, “You don’t have to do it God’s way and suffer to inherit all these kingdoms. Worship me and I’ll give them all to you for free”. He is tempting Jesus to bypass God’s plan, the cross, to gain worldly authority. He offers to Jesus what appears to be a shortcut to glory. But he is actually trying to deceive Jesus into accepting a lesser “counterfeit” deal of ruling earthly kingdoms rather than God’s plan for Jesus to rule heaven and earth. Jesus’ refusal models obedience even when worldly fulfillment is offered or when following God’s way may be more difficult.
The temptation Jesus faced in seeing all the kingdoms of the world can be understood as a temptation of the “lust of the eyes” — a desire to possess what looks attractive or powerful rather than to obey God’s will. We will explore this temptation’s relationship to materialism, and the resulting idolatry and the spiritual blindness that proceeds from succumbing to lusting with our eyes.
Lusting After Worldly Pursuits And Materialism Is Worthless Idolatry
The Old Testament records numerous times where the Israelites succumbed to idolatry. Part of that reason was a desire to be like the nations around them. They lusted with their eyes after what those nations had. A notable verse states that they followed worthless idols and they themselves became worthless as a result (2 Kings 17:15). Consider that when we lust with our eyes for things other than God, we can fall victim to idolizing those things we seek. Chasing after these lifeless worthless idols, causes people to become worthless. How? Idolizing something exalts that thing above yourself. You are essentially saying that this thing is greater than you, so you will serve it.
Therefore, if you place a worthless thing above yourself to serve, then your life is reduced to worthlessness. The Lord alone gives us life and establishes and maintains our worth. Because He created us in His image, He has placed us in a position of worth. He does not want us to debase ourselves by valuing and following a dead thing and live life worthlessly. His purpose and design is that we live life abundantly by fulfilling our destinies according to His will, and we cannot accomplish that unless we follow Him and His plan alone. By following lifeless idols, we follow a vain and worthless path that leads to death rather following the living God that brings us purpose and life. Psalm 115:4-8 states the fate of those who follow idols:
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak;
They have eyes, but they cannot see;
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear;
They have noses, but they cannot smell;
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel;
They have feet, but they cannot walk;
They cannot make a sound with their throat.
8 Those who make them will become like them,
Everyone who trusts in them.
You may think this kind of idolatry does not exist today, because you may not see people bowing in front of statues. Yet, consider the imagery in the verses above in the context of money. Many nations have currencies whether they be metal coins or paper bills. Mostly these currencies contain “faces” upon them, representative of dead rulers or presidents, and they are designed by human hands. Like idols, these same faces can’t speak, see, smell, hear, or feel. They are not only “dead”, but pursuing them leads to death as they cannot give life, physically or spiritually. Yet many place their hope and trust in these dead things, rather than the living God who gives life abundantly in this world and eternally in the afterlife.
Some chase after money their whole lives, even committing outrageous sin to grab hold of it. “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9-10). Let’s clarify that money itself is not evil, nor is it evil to make lots of money when it’s done honestly. It is the ‘love of money’ that causes idolatry because it causes one to prioritize money over God.
The Pointlessness Of Worldly Pursuits And Materialism
Materialism is defined as “a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values” (from the Oxford Languages Dictionary). When we do this, we idolize these things, placing them above God and his values. The world wants to make us believe that obtaining wealth and many material possessions will make us feel fulfilled. Many have spent their lifetimes chasing after those things only to find that they still feel ’empty’. They think they still feel empty because they do not have enough. The typical response to that emptiness is to try to get things to fill the void that they feel. They think if only they have enough money or things, then they’ll be happy.
But once they hit their milestones, nothing changes their emptiness. Then their goal post keeps moving. How? They compare their lives to others in the world who have more than them and ‘appear’ to be happier. So they lust with their eyes for the next thing, continuing to chase the illusion. The Bible states that human desires are like the world of the dead—there is always room for more (Proverbs 27:20). And indeed, the world of the dead is never satisfied. Likewise, unsatisfying human desires will drive people towards sinful lives and death instead of the abundant life God wants for them.
While reflecting on his life, King Solomon states, “Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11). King Solomon was one of the richest, wisest, and most powerful kings that ever reigned in Israel. His fame was renowned abroad and he was credited with many major achievements in his lifetime. He had everything any human being could’ve possibly desired: wealth, fame, women, and power. But in Ecclesiastes, he made the conclusion that he continually lost pleasure from all these things he had and it is all became meaningless in the end. His worldly successes and pleasures were temporary and unsatisfying and could not bring true fulfillment. This led him to wonder about the meaning of life.
Lust Of The Eyes Causes Spiritual Blindness
The Bible often speaks of spiritual blindness. People who are blind can’t see clearly as they only see darkness. Spiritual blindness happens when our eyes gaze on worldly things that draw us away from God. As we lust with our eyes on these things, we are unable to perceive spiritual truths and we lose sight of God’s will for us. In Matthew 6:23, Jesus teaches: “But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”. This emphasizes that a misguided focus on the wrong things can cause spiritual blindness and ultimately darkness. Consistently directing our eyes towards ungodly things causes us to internalize these evils and unwittingly invite more and more darkness into our lives. Our eyes become unhealthy and this results in distorted perspectives about our lives and our world instead of God’s truth. This spiritual blindness turns into spiritual darkness.
Spiritual darkness takes on the form of sinfulness because we cannot perceive God’s will. We instead live according to our distorted and blind perspectives. As we continue to lust with our eyes, our unaddressed sin has a way of gradually pulling us deeper and deeper into its darkness. It grabs hold of us and binds us like the tentacles of an octopus, keeping us away from God. Ephesians 4:18 further explains this phenomenon. “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts”. The darkness in understanding refers to a lack of spiritual insight and inability to comprehend God’s truth and plan, causing us to be separated from God. Ignorance, which is the lack of knowledge of God’s ways, results from resistance to God’s truth and influence (hardening one’s heart).
In John 9, Jesus heals a man who was physically blind from birth. The Pharisees investigated this healing. Rather than believe, they accused Jesus of being a sinful fraud, angry that He healed on the Sabbath. And although the Pharisees were knowledgeable of God’s Word, they prioritized the “letter of the law” over the “spirit of the law”. This means that rather than understanding and applying the intent behind God’s law, the Pharisees punished any little thing they perceived as ‘rule-breaking’, even if no rules were actually violated.
In fact, the Pharisees used God’s law as a tool of oppression to maintain power in their community. They were not trying to help bring the Israelites closer to God, they just pretended to. The Pharisees were motivated by money (Luke 16:14), attention (Matthew 6:1-16), and the praise and deference they received from the people (Matthew 23:5-7). Jesus had detailed their long list of hypocrisies (Matthew 23:13-32). They are so busy examining and criticizing the behavior of others that they have no time at all for examining and criticizing themselves.
So while the Pharisees focused on Jesus’ supposed Sabbath-breaking, they completely missed the point that the miraculous healing was undeniably God at work. It was common knowledge that sinners could not perform miracles, as the blind man had told the Pharisees (John 9:31). This refusal by the Pharisees to acknowledge and believe was not out of ignorance, but by their arrogance and pride, which spiritually blinded them. They instead saw Jesus as a threat to their position and power. Jesus later addresses the Pharisees over their spiritual blindness.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.”
40 Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?”
41 Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."
When Jesus conveyed that His purpose was to grant spiritual sight to those who acknowledged their need and to expose the spiritual blindness of those who considered themselves wise, the Pharisees reacted with typical arrogance. Their response essentially implied, “Surely, you’re not suggesting that we are spiritually blind.”
In verse 41, Jesus confirms their suspicion. This interaction underscores a profound spiritual principle: those who humbly recognize their limitations and seek truth are open to receiving spiritual insight. In contrast, those who are self-assured in their understanding and dismissive of their shortcomings remain entrenched in spiritual darkness. This makes sense because only those with an attitude of humility are more likely to seek God and His correction. Prideful people are rely on their own understanding and abilities rather than God. Proverbs 3:5-6 states, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”. By relying on themselves to live their lives their way, prideful people such as the Pharisees, demonstrated their distrust in God. And by following their own desires instead of God, they continue to sin in their spiritual blindness. This is why God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).
Pride stands as a formidable obstacle to a genuine relationship with God. It often manifests as self-reliance and a refusal to acknowledge God’s sovereignty, as illustrated by the fall of Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12–15) and the construction of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9). The Bible consistently portrays pride as a precursor to downfall and separation from God. We will revisit this discussion on the role of pride in the last part of our temptation series, the Pride of Life.
In addition, God holds individuals accountable only for the knowledge they possess, yet He holds them fully responsible for how they act upon it. Those who consider themselves wise and claim spiritual insight will be judged accordingly (James 3:1). This is particularly true for individuals like the Pharisees, who, despite their knowledge, deliberately choose to disregard it. They had no excuse for their continued sin and disobedience when they’ve studied scripture their whole lives, but failed to apply Proverbs 3:5-6, to trust in the Lord and not in their own understanding. This is why Jesus referred to the Pharisees as “the blind leading the blind” (Matthew 15:14).
Lust Of The Eyes Causes Us To Settle For Less Than What God Intends
When Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, he wasn’t offering something that was intrinsically evil — after all, God in His sovereignty will one day establish Christ’s rule over every nation and tongue. The temptation was not merely to have power, but to claim it apart from God’s way — promising a quicker, easier path that sidesteps the suffering Jesus came to embrace.
But in that moment, Satan was offering a counterfeit reward — a shortcut to power and kingship apart from the Father’s ordained path through suffering and the cross.
Yet even the reward itself was tragically small compared to what the Father had purposed. Satan offered earthly kingdoms — limited, temporary dominions destined to fade. But through obedience to the cross, the Father would exalt the Son to His right hand, granting Him authority over heaven and earth and a kingdom that will never end. What Satan displayed was impressive to the eyes, but it was a diminished substitute for the eternal glory God had already prepared.
This is the essence of lusting with our eyes after what appears attractive: the world presents us with seemingly desirable things — prominence, comfort, control, influence — and tempts us to pursue them outside of God’s plan. Satan’s offer to Jesus was not a genuine gift, but a temptation to grab what God had already promised in God’s time through a way that bypassed God’s will.
The danger is that such allurements can distort our spiritual vision and make us blind to the true nature of what’s being offered. Jesus warned that when our eyes are fixed on worldly value apart from God, “the whole body will be full of darkness.”
We see a parallel later in the Gospel when Peter, in love and fear for Jesus, tries to dissuade Him from going to the cross. Jesus’ response is arresting: “Get behind me, Satan! You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” (Matthew 16:23).
Even well-meaning human desires — to avoid pain, suffering, or loss — can become a form of spiritual blindness if they tempt us to value fleeting earthly comfort above God’s eternal purpose. Just as Jesus was tempted with the kingdoms of the world, Peter was tempted with a vision that felt right but was contrary to God’s perfect plan.
In both cases, what looks appealing to the eyes can deceive the heart and lure us into settling for less than what God intends. The counterfeit may appear impressive, immediate, and satisfying, but it cannot compare to the fullness of God’s perfect will. Satan’s offers are temporary and diminished; God’s blessing is eternal and complete. When we fix our eyes on Him rather than on what dazzles us in the moment, we exchange the counterfeit for the true reward — a kingdom secured through obedience, humility, and trust in Him.
Jesus Is the Light Who Heals Our Spiritual Blindness
In contrast, God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Yet this light is not abstract — it is revealed to us fully in Jesus Christ. Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). He is not only the source of light; He is the way out of darkness.
During His earthly ministry, Jesus physically healed the blind, restoring their sight as a powerful sign of a deeper spiritual reality. Just as He opened blind eyes, He alone can open spiritually blind hearts. The miracles were not merely acts of compassion, but revelations of who He is — the One who gives true sight.
Psalm 119:105 states, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” God’s Word provides guidance and direction in life, illuminating the path forward. Jesus Himself modeled this during His second temptation. The reason He could resist Satan’s offer to lust with His eyes after worldly glory is that His eyes were already fixed on the Father. Like in His first temptation, He responded with Scripture from Deuteronomy. He did not rely on His own reasoning. He demonstrated that the Word of God is the light that guards us from deception and keeps us from walking into spiritual darkness.
And this is why it is vital for believers not to be ignorant of Scripture. We must learn and adhere to God’s Word daily. To maintain spiritual clarity, we must guard our eyes and our hearts. Psalm 119:37 states, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.” Proverbs 4:23 advises, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” By turning our eyes away from worthless worldly temptations and fixing them on Christ, we keep our spiritual vision clear.
The light of the Lord reflects His holiness and righteousness. He shines His light on our sin, leading us to repentance and restoring clarity where there was once blindness. When we set our eyes on Jesus — the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6) — He heals our spiritual sight and fills our souls with His light.
God calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light so that we may discern what pleases Him and walk in His ways (1 Peter 2:9; Ephesians 5:8–11). Only He is eternal, and eternal life is found in Him. Therefore, instead of blindly pursuing the counterfeit rewards of this world, we follow Christ — the true Light — trusting that His path leads not merely to temporary satisfaction, but to everlasting glory.
