“And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.”
Matthew 4:9 — Greek Interlinear
Church Fathers on Matthew 4:9
The Devil, left in uncertainty by this second reply, passes to a third temptation. Christ had broken the nets of appetite, had passed over those of ambition, he now spreads for Him those of covetousness; 'He taketh him up into a very high mountain,' such as in going round about the earth he had noticed rising above the rest. The higher the mountain, the wider the view from it.
We are not to suppose that when he shewed him the kingdoms of the world, he presented before Him the kingdom of Persia, for instance, or India; but he shewed his own kingdom, how he reigns in the world, that is, how some are governed by fornication, some by avarice.
By 'their glory,' is meant, their gold and silver, precious stones and temporal goods.