Mt. Olympus, the Devil's Mountain

The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

- Matthew 4:8

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

- Luke 4:5

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+ The Apocalypse of Mt. Olympus +


Many Judeo-Christian believers seem unfamiliar with the fact that Mt. Olympus, the so-called abode of the Greco-Roman gods, is specifically mentioned at least four times in the Gospels. For starters, Jesus Christ refers to it directly in both Matthew and Mark. By a careful analysis of His exact words, it should become more and more obvious that Jesus Christ, like most devout Jews during His time period, looked upon Mt. Olympus as the supernatural adversary of Mt. Sinai, a threat to Jews which, like a vampire, seemed to lurk just beyond the horizon. Because of their extended interaction with Paganism, they knew knew full well about the Greco-Roman legends surrounding this 'Heavenly' mountain. Indeed, since the time the Maccabees revolted against the Greek empire 150 years previously, numerous religious Jews had become somewhat familar with the story behind Mt. Olympus and the 'supernatural' power of their idolatrous Pagan religion. The diametric opposition of Jesus Christ and the Jews to Greco-Roman Paganism can be listed as follows:

A Tale of Two Mountains
MOUNTAIN: Mt. Olympus, Mt. Sinai
NATION: Empire, Kingdom
CAPITAL: Rome, Jerusalem
RELIGION: Paganism, Monotheism
FATHER GOD: Zeus/Jupiter, LORD God of Israel
SON OF GOD: Apollo, Jesus Christ
TWELVE: 12 gods of Rome, 12 Tribes of Israel
MORALITY: Sexual Perversion, Heterosexual Monogamy
ETHICS: Power and Might, Justice and Mercy

One of the times Mt. Olympus is mentioned in the Gospels occurs during Jesus Christ's wandering in the desert when he fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, By doing this, He brought himself closer to the holiness that had been established long ago by Moses. Just like Jesus, Moses too had fasted for 40 days in a row during the Revelation atop Mt. Sinai when God in Heaven had come down to Earth to give the Law to the 12 Tribes of Israel. However, after having fasted for so long, Jesus Christ did not encounter the God of Israel like Mose had done. Instead, He met the Devil, who tempted Him three different times. At one point, the Devil takes him to the highest mountain in the world to show him all the nations on Earth. That mountain was none other than Mt. Olympus and the Devil was none other than the Greco-Roman god Zeus/Jupiter or perhaps his son Apollo. The exact passages mentioning Christ's visit to Mt. Olympus reads as follows: 

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give you,' he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.' Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him alone.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

- Matthew 4:8-11

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, '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.' Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.’”

- Luke 4:5-8

Some may object to this interpretation and contend that the 'very high mountain' was some other mountain and not Mt. Olympus specifically. This may well be true, but remains unlikely for several reasons. First, the only being who could truly offer Jesus Christ the opportunity to rule over all the kingdoms was, in fact, Zeus/Jupiter. Indeed, it was his Pagan followers who actually ruled the Greco-Roman Empire, the largest and most powerful State on Earth at the time. No other individual had the power to offer rule over all the kingdoms except Zeus/Jupiter, king of the Greco-Roman gods of Mt. Olympus. As the Devil himself states:

 'All this I will give you,' he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.'

- Matthew 4:9-10

The devil...said to him, '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 4:5-8

Second, this mountain had a view of all the nations in the world, a view that was, by tradition, unique to Mt. Olympus, home of the most powerful gods in the entire world. No physical mountain could ever have had such a view, thus strongly suggesting that this particular mountain had no ordinary location, but was in reality the celestial Mt. Olympus itself. Third, the Devil managed took Jesus Christ from the desert to the mountain in a miraculous second of time and space. This suggests the Devil was a creature with vast supernatural powers, such as being able to instantly teleport a living Jew like Jesus even to the Heavenly heights of Mt. Olympus.

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.

- Luke 4:5

Fundamental Judeo/Christian Symbolism

In conclusion, the evidence strongly suggest that Jesus Christ visited a very unique kind of mountain which exhibited supernatural qualities, much like that of Mt. Olympus. No other mountain could have had such a view of all the nations. No other mountain could have been travelled to in a split second of time and no other mountain was known to have had that much power over the kingdoms of earth except Mt. Olympus. Thus, the likelihood that the mountain where the Devil tempted Jesus was, in fact, Mt. Olympus is quite high, given everything. It is also quite likely that the Devil, was Zeus/Jupiter himself, the king of the Greco-Roman gods and ruler of Mt. Olympus. Instead of accepting Zeus/Jupiter's continued rule over Him or Israel, Jesus Christ chose to worship the one, true God of the Jews and to die on the cross for his refusal.

Name of the LORD in Hebrew

Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him alone.'" Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

- Matthew 4:10-11

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

- Luke 4:8

One should also remember that the Jews during the time of Jesus were suffering severe oppression at the hands of Roman occupiers, whose gods were that of Mt. Olympus. Because of the current Roman occupation of Israel, which had already proven to be just as cruel and tyrannical as the Greek occupation during the Age of the Maccabees, Jesus Christ had very good reason to look upon Mt. Olympus, and the Greco-Roman gods who resided there, as both the physical enemy of Israel and the spiritual enemy of God.

May the LORD God bless you in the name of St. Judas Maccabaeus.