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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 4:1

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And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Ch. Luk 4:1-13. The Temptation

1. being full of the Holy Ghost ] Omit ‘being.’ St Luke often calls special attention to the work of the Spirit, Luk 3:22, Luk 4:14; Act 6:3; Act 7:55; Act 11:24. The expression alludes to the outpouring of the Spirit upon Jesus at His baptism, Joh 3:34. The narrative should be compared with Mat 4:1-11; Mar 1:12-13. St John, who narrates mainly what he had himself seen, omits the temptation.

returned ] Rather, went away.

was led ] A divine impulse led him to face the hour of peril alone. St Mark uses the more intense expression, “immediately the Spirit driveth Him forth.” He only devotes two verses (Mar 1:12-13) to the Temptation, but adds the graphic touch that “He was with the wild beasts” (comp. Psa 91:13), and implies the continuous ministration of angels ( diekonoun) to Him.

by the Spirit ] Rather, in the Spirit, comp. Luk 2:27. The phrase emphasizes the “full of the Holy Ghost,” and has the same meaning as “in the power of the Spirit,” Luk 4:14,

“Thou Spirit, who ledd’st this glorious eremite

Into the desert, his victorious field

Against the spiritual foe, and brought’st Him thence

By proof the undoubted Son of God.”

Milton, Par. Reg. i.

into the wilderness ] Rather, in. He was ‘in the Spirit’ during the whole period. The scene of the temptation is supposed to be the mountain near Jericho, thence called Quarantania. The tradition is not ancient, but the site is very probable, being rocky, bleak, and repellent

“A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades.”

Milton.

Scripture everywhere recognises the need of solitude and meditation on the eve of great work for God ( Exo 24:2 ; 1Ki 19:4; Gal 1:17), and this would be necessary to the human nature of our Lord also.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

On the temptation of Jesus, see the notes at Mat 4:1-11.

Luk 4:2

Being forty days tempted – That is, through forty days he was tried in various ways by the devil. The temptations, however, which are recorded by Matthew and Luke did not take place until the forty days were finished. See Mat 4:2-3.

He did eat nothing – He was sustained by the power of God during this season of extraordinary fasting.

Luk 4:13

Departed for a season – For a time. From this it appears that our Saviour was afterward subjected to temptations by Satan, but no particular temptations are recorded after this. From Joh 14:30, it seems that the devil tried or tempted him in the agony in Gethsemane. Compare the notes at Heb 12:4. It is more than probable, also, that Satan did much to excite the Pharisees and Sadducees to endeavor to entangle him, and the priests and rulers to oppose him; yet out of all his temptations God delivered him; and so he will make a way to escape for all that are tempted, and will not suffer them to be tempted above that which they are able to bear, 1Co 10:13.

Luk 4:14

In the power of the Spirit – By the influence or direction of the Spirit.

A fame – A report. See Mat 4:24.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Luk 4:1

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

The temptation of Christ

How is the temptation of Christ to be understood?

As a history, a parable, a myth, or an undesigned, though not accidental, compound of the three? Let us begin–

1. With what ought to be a self-evident proposition. As Jesus was a moral being, whose nature had to develop under the limitations necessary to humanity, we must conceive Him as a subject of moral probation. He could not escape exposure to its perils. But again–

2. We must here conceive the temptable as the tempted. In the person and life of Jesus there was no seeming, A real humanity cannot escape with a fictitious temptation. Though our narrative may be termed by pre-eminence The Temptation, it was not simply then, but always, that Jesus was tempted. The devil left Him only for a season; returned personified now as Peter, now as Judas, and again as the Jews; met Him amid the solitude and agony of Gethsemane, in the clamour, mockery, and desertion of the cross. But–

3. How could Jesus be tempted in all things, like as we are, yet without sin? Is not temptation evil? We must consider–

I. HOW THE TEMPTED COULD DE THE SINLESS CHRIST. And–

1. What is temptation? Seduction to evil. It stands distinguished from trial thus: trial tests, seeks to discover the mans moral qualities or character; temptation persuades to evil, deludes, that it may ruin. God tries; Satan tempts.

2. The forms of temptation. It may be either sensuous, imaginative, or rational; perhaps it is never so powerful as when its forces approach the mind together, and at once through the senses, the imagination, and the reason.

3. The sources of temptation. It may proceed either

(1) from self, or

(2) from without self.

If the first, the nature must be bad, but not of necessity radically bad; if the second it may be innocent, but must be capable of sinning. If now the temptation comes from without, three things are possible–it may speak either–

1. To still fluid evil desires and make them crystallize into evil action; or–

2. To innocence, and change it into guilt; or–

3. Supply it with the opportunity of rising into holiness. Illustrations: of

(1) Macbeth; of

(2) Hubert, in King John; of

(3) Isabella, in Measure for Measure, the play that so well expounds its own saying–

Tis one thing to be tempted, Esealus,

Another thing to fall.

Isabella, lovely as pure, most womanly in her unconscious strength, stainless among the stained, loving her doomed brother too well to sin for him, triumphs over his tears and entreaties, the wiles and threats of the Deputy, and emerges from her great temptation chaster, more beautiful in the blossom of her perfect womanhood, than she had been before.

4. We are now in a position to consider the temptation of Christ in relation to His sinlessness. Temptation implies

(1) ability in the tempted to sin or not sin. Jesus had, to speak with the schoolmen, the posse non peccare, not the non posse peccare. Had He possessed the latter, He had been intemptable.

(2) Evil must be presented to the tempted in a manner disguised, plausible, attractive.

(3) The tempter must be sinful, the tempted may be innocent. Our discussion conducts, then, to but one conclusion; temptation was not only possible to the sinlessness, but necessary to the holiness, of Christ.

II. THE PLACE WHERE THE TEMPTATION HAPPENED IS NOT WITHOUT SIGNIFICANCE. Into which wilderness Jesus was led we do not know–whether the wild and lonely solitudes watched by the mountains where Moses and Elijah struggled in prayer and conquered in faith, or the steep rock by the side of the Jordan overlooking the Dead Sea, which later tradition has made the arena of this fell conflict. Enough, the place was a desert, waste, barren, shelterless, overhead the hot sun, underfoot the burning sand or blistering rock. No outbranching trees made a cool restful shade; no spring upbursting with a song of gladness came to relieve the thirst; no flowers bloomed, pleasing the eye with colour, and the nostril with fragrance; all was drear desert. Two things may be here noted–the desolation, and the solitude. The desolation must have deepened the shadows on His spirit, increased the burden that made Him almost faint at the opening of His way. And He was in solitude–alone there, without the comfort of a human presence, the fellowship of a kindred soul. Yet the loneliness was a sublime necessity. In His supreme moments society was impossible to Him. Out of loneliness He issued to begin His work; into loneliness tie passed to end it. The moments that made His work Divinest were His own and His Fathers.

III. BUT MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT THAN THE SCENE OF THE TEMPTATION IS THE PLACE WHERE IT STANDS IN THE HISTORY OF THE LIFE AND MIND OF JESUS. Just after the baptism and before the ministry; just after the long silence and before the brief yet eternal speech; just after the years of privacy, and before the few but glorious months of publicity. We must study the temptation through the consciousness of Jesus. The temptation and the assumption by Jesus of the Messianic character and office are essentially relented. The one supplies the other with the condition and occasion of its existence. When He was driven into the wilderness three points must have stood out from the tumult of thought and feeling preeminent.

1. The relation of the supernatural to the natural in Himself; or, on the other side, His relation to God as His ideal human Son.

2. The relation of God to the supernatural in His person, and the official in His mission; and

3. The nature of the kingdom He had come to found, and the agencies by which it was to live and extend. And these precisely were the issues that emerged in His several temptations. They thus stood rooted in the then consciousness of Christ, and related in the most essential way to His spirit. (A. M.Fairbairn, D. D.)

The temptation of the King

You may expect me to begin with warning you not to think of the temptation as Dante and the men in the Middle Ages thought of it, or as Luther and the men at the time of the Reformation thought of it, or as Milton and the Puritans thought of it. I shall do no such thing. I believe they all thought of it imperfectly; that they impaired the beauty of the clear, sharply-chiselled marble, by colouring born from their own fancy and the fancy of their times. But they have shown with what intense reality this record has come to them in the most terrible moments of their existence. If they have seen it through a mist, it has not created the mist; it has done more than all other lights to dispel the mist. We may learn something from each teacher which the other could not tell us. Their mistakes may warn us of those into which we are likely to fall. If God gives us grace to enter heart and hand into the conflict which He has appointed for us and our time, we shall read this passage of St. Luke more simply than those read it who have gone before us.

1. He was led by the SPIRIT. That is the characteristic of the acts of the Son in all we read from this time onwards. He has been baptized with His Fathers Spirit. He is guided by that Spirit whithersoever He goes. He does not choose for Himself whether He shall be in the city or the wilderness. Here is the secret of His power.

2. The wilderness into which He went, says Renan [Life of Jesus ], was HAUNTED, ACCORDING TO POPULAR BELIEF, BY DEMONS. We surely do not want the authority of a learned man to endorse so very probable a statement. No doubt popular belief filled Jewish deserts, as it fills all deserts, with demons. The curious fact is, that this being the case, the evangelists, who are supposed to have been the victims of all popular beliefs, do not suggest the thought of demons in this desert. They say much of demons elsewhere. That which they speak of here is far more serious and awful.

3. Being forty days tempted of THE DEVIL. The difference is all-important. We are not in the region of dark forms which haunt particular spots. We have been brought into the spiritual region.

4. IN THOSE DAYS HE DID EAT NOTHING, &c.

Another exhaustion of outward circumstances. Hunger may be the tempters instrument quite as much as food. Is there no gospel in the announcement that the anguish of hungry men has been felt by the Son of Man–the King of Men?

5. And the devil said unto Him, IF THOU BE THE SON OF GOD, &c. Now we begin to perceive the principle of the temptation, its real force. A stone may serve as the instrument of solicitation; the natural craving for food may be all that is spoken to; but this is the speech: If Thou be the Son of God. The words at Thy baptism cannot be true, if Thou art not able to exercise this power for the relief of Thy own necessities. He must do something of Himself and for Himself. What is His name worth otherwise?

6. His name is worth this: IT IS WRITTEN, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, &c., i.e., I claim the words because they are written of man. He can depend upon the Word of God.

7. A KING IDEALLY PERHAPS. But actually is the world His? Is it His Fathers? And the devil taketh Him up into an high mountain, &c. How was He taken to the mountain? Did He see with His eyes or only with His mind? I know these questions occur to us all. They have occurred to me. And I can only find this answer to them: I am reading of a temptation presented by a spirit to a spirit. If Christ saw all those kingdoms with His bodily eye, still it must have been his spirit which took in the prospect. The devil is reported to have said something which seems most plausible. All appearances in that time confirmed his words. The most religious men in times since have thought that he spoke truly. They have said that the kingdoms of this world and all the glory of them are his. I want to know if there is One whom I can trust who declared that they were not his, who would not do him service. I read these word:

8. GET THEE BEHIND ME, SATAN, &c. Did One in human flesh indeed say, Adversary, get thee behind Me. All these things are the Creators, not thine. Then is not this a gospel to us all?

9. AND HE BROUGHT HIM TO JERUSALEM, AND SET HIM ON A PINNACLE OF THE TEMPLE, &c. I need not discuss the question how He was brought to Jerusalem, how He was set on a pinnacle of the temple. I should say the temptation was the most real that could be. He was actually tempted to try whether God would bear Him up, if He cast Himself down. He was actually tempted by a text of Scripture to give that proof of His Sonship and of His Fathers faithfulness. Whatever were His circumstances, that thought was presented to His spirit by the evil spirit. And so we know that He was tempted like as we are. Every man hears, at some time or other, a voice whispering to him, Go out of the place in which you are put. Do something extraordinary. Do something wrong. See whether God will not help you. Can you not depend upon His promise that He will? Is Scripture false? I accept this story. I believe that voice is the voice of the tempter. And therefore I want to know if the argument from Scripture has been answered, and how we may treat that and like arguments.

10. Hear and consider this: AND JESUS ANSWERING, SAID, THOU SHALT NOT TEMPT THE LORD THY GOD. The Son of God once more claims the right to obey a commandment–the right to trust and to depend. Once more He claims that right for us. We may abide where we are placed, for our Father has placed us there. If He were not the Lord our God we might make experiments on that which He would do for us supposing we broke His law. Because He is we may submit to it and rejoice in it.

11. We are told that THE DEVIL DEPARTED FROM HIM FOR A SEASON. Such seasons of rest, of freedom from doubt, of joyful confidence, are, I suppose, vouchsafed to the soldiers of Christ after periods of terrible conflict, as they were to the chief Captain. But the inward battle was to prepare Him, as well as them, for battles in the world. The enemy in the wilderness must be encountered there. (F. D. Maurice, M. A.)

The temptation of Christ

If we would understand this narrative, and profit by it, we must accept it as the record of a spiritual conflict of the most intense severity. The baptism, with its accompanying sign, brings Jesus for the first time under the full burden of His lifes work, as the Messiah. This is the key to the temptation. The question is, How did Jesus Himself understand His Messiahship at the time of the temptation and afterwards? Evidently, in His view, it involved these two things at least–Power, and suffering. Here, in the wilderness, there is opened out to Him, for the first time, in full perspective, the thorny path of suffering, closed by the ignominious death of the cross; and, along with this, the consciousness of power infinitely vaster than was ever wielded by mortal man either before Him or since. The ideal of Messiahship is set before Him; will He shrink from it, or will He embrace it? Will He try to pare it down to something easier and less exacting, or will He accept and embrace it in all its rugged severity; never employing the superhuman power which is involved in it, to smooth His path, to mitigate a single pang, or to diminish by one atom the load of suffering imposed upon Him? Yes; the ideal of Messiahship, the perfect pattern of Messiahship, how to realize it? how to embody it in noble action, and yet more noble suffering?–that is the question of the wilderness; that is the key to the temptation; that has to be debated and resolved upon there, and then pursued, firmly and fixedly, in spite of all the tempters assaults, until He can say upon the cross, It is finished; Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit. (D. J.Vaughan, M. A.)

Temptation assails even the holiest

Temptation does not cease as we rise in She scale of moral elevation. Even Jesus, the highest, the holiest, the Messiah, was tempted; as truly as the vilest drunkard or profligate amongst ourselves is tempted, though in a very different way. Temptation never ceases, but it alters its form. As we rise in the moral scale by victory over it, it rises also, becomes more refined, takes a subtler and (if we may say so)a nobler form; so that to know what a mans temptations are, is to know what the man himself is. We may be known by our wishes, our hopes, our fears; and we may be known also by our temptations. To fall short of the ideal of the Messiahship was the Messiahs temptation. It was sin in its most refined and subtle form of shortcoming, failure, missing the mark. With Him it was no question of transgression; He was far above that; it was missing the ideal, nothing more, nothing worse, a mere trifle, we might think; yet to Jesus Himself this to us seeming trifle was agony. And is there not an ideal for every one of us? Is it not in us to be something, which we are not yet; to fill our place in the world, however small it be, in a higher, better, nobler way than we have yet learned to fill it? (D. J. Vaughan, M. A. )

Lessons from the temptation

I. THE HOLIEST NATURES ARE NOT EXEMPT FROM TEMPTATION.

II. TIMES OF GLADNESS AND SPIRITUAL ELEVATION MAY BE FOLLOWED IMMEDIATELY BY SEASONS OF CONFLICT AND TRIAL.

III. OUR RELATION TO GOD DOES NOT DEPEND UPON THE CHANGES OF OUR SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCES.

IV. SOLITUDE IS NO SAFEGUARD AGAINST TEMPTATION. (Homiletic Magazine.)

Our Saviours temptation

I. The first reflection which this great fact excites in my mind is, that I HAVE A SAVIOUR WHOSE LIFE IS SOUND TO MINE BY SYMPATHY IN TEMPTATION, as well as in sorrow, and all the kind affections of the heart.

Even His holiness did not escape trial. It attained its perfection through trial. The path of human virtue must always lie through many temptations; and even then it is not left without its great Exemplar and Guide. In the desert I have a Companion, and it is my Master. His example could not instruct me how to overcome temptation, unless He also had struggled with it; for the conquest necessarily supposes the struggle. There is no victory without warfare.

II. I am next led to inquire BY WHAT MEANS OUR SAVIOUR TRIUMPHED OVER HIS TEMPTATION, that so I may learn how to triumph also, in the evil time, over the evil one. I find that He triumphed by the power of religious principle, by the force of piety, by bringing the most holy of all holy thoughts, that of obedience to God, in direct opposition to every solicitation of sense, and every suggestion of self-interest. On every side from which He was assailed, this was His ready and sure defence. Then temptation took another shape. Jesus was placed on a pinnacle of the temple, and was urged to cast Himself down, on the specious plea, perverted from Scripture, that God would send angelic aid to His own Son, to prevent His suffering any harm. Thy duty is obedience, and not display. The trials which God appoints, He will give thee His aid to bear, and His grace will be sufficient for thee; but how canst thou look for His aid in trials which thou hast rashly invited, and the issue of which thou hast dared, not for His glory but for thine own? One earnest, trusting, patient thought of God, would have saved many s man from destruction, who once thought himself quite safe, and was thought so, too, by the world, and yet, in the encounter with temptation, has miserably perished. Why was he not safe? Because he placed his safety in himself, and not in God, and only discovered his mistake when it was too late–perhaps not even then, but went down to ruin darkly. Why does not the thought of God come in the straits of temptation? Because it is not a familiar thought; because we do not make God our friend, and admit Him into the daily counsels of our bosom. (F. W. P. Greenwood.)

From heights to depths

From the Jordan of glorification to the wilderness of temptation. This is the way of God; as with Christ, so with the Christian; and moreover–

1. An old, and yet an ever new way.

2. A hard, and yet a good way.

3. A dark, and yet a light way.

4. A lonesome, and yet a blessed way. (J. J. Van Oosterzee, D. D.)

Christ an example in temptation

For, as commentators on Aristotle observe that his rule many times lies hid and is wrapped up in the example which he gives, so we need scarce any other rules for behaviour when we are tempted, than those which we may find in this story of our Saviours combat with our enemy. And our Saviour may seem to bespeak His brethren, even all Christians, as Abimelech doth his soldiers: What you have seen me do, make haste, and do likewise (Jdg 9:48). (A. Farindon, D. D,)

Temptation renders virtue possible

Take away this combat with our spiritual enemy, and virtue is but a bare naked name, is nothing. If there were no possibility of being evil, we could not be good. What were my faith, if there were no doubt to assault it? What were my hope, if there were no scruple to stagger it? What were my charity, if there were no injuries to dull it? Then goodness is fairest when it shines through a cloud; and it is difficulty which sets the crown upon virtues head. Our Saviour was made glorious by His temptations and sufferings; so must we [be] by ours. (A. Farindon, D. D.)

The temptation of Christ in the wilderness

The first thing that strikes us here is that Jesus was not master of His own movements. An unerring voice, which He knew to be from heaven, sent Him into the lonely wilderness–the place where no society or communion could disturb the law of development of t/is character–in order to be tempted in that solitude. He could not have gone thither Himself, aware of the trial before Him, without tempting God. The next thing which arrests our attention and, at first, our wonder, is that He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. What a fearful and solemn glimpse is here given to us of the moral agencies of the universe. Good and evil, infinite good and absolute evil, good and evil in personal substance, with that intense antipathy to one another that souls of the largest grasp and depth must feel, are in restless action around a human soul. And if such parties were concerned in the temptation something of importance must have depended on the result. But in what form, it may be asked, did this tempter place himself in the way of Jesus? Did he keep to his spiritual incorporeal nature, or take a body, and become visible to eyes of flesh? Was the temptation transacted before the mind of Christ, or was its sphere more outward, concerned with bodily phenomena and human language? In the first place, the agency of Satan elsewhere, in the New Testament, is that of a spiritual being, and, so far as I am aware, corporeal form is never ascribed to him. In the second place, suppose the Saviour to be carried to an exceeding high mountain, yet the spherical form of the earth would allow the eye to take in but a very minute portion of the kingdoms of the world and of their glory. We must, then, either dilute the narrative, as many do, by understanding these expressions in a hyperbolical sense of the little tract of country around Palestine, or must resort to a second miracle, in order to conceive of the broad earth spread outward and upward before our Lords eye. What need, then, of the high mountain, and why might not the same sight be obtained without leaving the wilderness? In the third place, it is noteworthy that the narrative makes no mention of the return of Jesus from the temple and from the mountain, just as if, in some sense, He had gone there while He remained in the desert in another. And, in the fourth place, if the temptation was addressed to the bodily senses of the Lord, it loses its insidious character, and becomes easier to be resisted. I am constrained, therefore, to believe that the transaction was a spiritual one, a conflict between light and darkness in the region of the mind, in which a real tempter assailed Christ, not through His eyes and ears, but directly through His feelings, and imagination. After the same manner, the prophets of the Old Testament passed through events in vision, of which they speak as we should speak of realities. Thus Jeremiah must have been in prophetic vision when he took the linen girdle to Euphrates to hide it there and went again in quest of it, as also when he took the cup of wrath from Gods hand and gave it to the nations to drink. So, too, Ezekiel was transported from Chaldea to Jerusalem in that remarkable vision, the narrative of which occupies the chapters of his prophecies from the eighth to the eleventh. Hoses, again, it is commonly believed, narrates only a symbolical vision, where he speaks of himself as marrying an adulteress at the command of God. The martyr Stephen, also full of the Holy Ghost, saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God, not in bodily shape, but in a form presented to the minds eye, and yet expressive of a great reality. If, now, the Scriptures allow us to interpret the events of the temptation in this way, we can see that greater strength is thereby given to the suggestions of Satan than if they had been addressed to the bodily organs. The power over the mind of a highly endowed being through the imagination, may indefinitely exceed that which is exerted through the sight. Multitudes have been seduced by that faculty, which paints absent or distant objects in colours of its own, whom no beauty or pleasantness lying in objects of sight could have led into sin. The world of imagination is more fascinating to their elevated mind than this outward world with all its shows and riches. The phantom, which has something heavenly in it, cheats and betrays them, while they turn aside from the obvious snares of visible things. But we pass on from this point, to a more important and indeed to an essential remark, that the temptations were intended not for Jesus in His nature as a man, but for Jesus in His official station as the Messiah. God was not putting it to the test, whether a certain good man or good prophet would yield to evil or conquer it, but whether Jesus was qualified for His office–whether He would remain true to the spiritual idea of the Messiah, or would fall below it under temptation. Nor was the tempter in this case anxious simply to lead a good man into sin, but he was striking at the root of salvation; his aim was to undermine the principles of the kingdom of heaven. This thought is the key to the story of the temptation. It explains why the temptation occurred when it did, at the commencement of Christs public work, and shows the greatness of the crisis. The question whether Jesus would be made to adopt the worldly idea of the Messiahs kingdom was one of life and death for mankind. And again, had Christ followed the suggestions of the tempter, He could not have taken on Him the work of our salvation. The form of a servant, which He freely assumed, involved subjection to all the physical laws which control our race, and the endurance of all sufferings which the Father should lay upon Him. But if, by His inherent power, He had now relieved His own hunger, He would have escaped from the form of a servant, and even from subjection to the Divine will; and, on the same principle, He never could have been obedient to death–even the death of the cross. But to the sophistry of the tempter Christ had a ready reply. It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, that is, I may not, because entitled to His protection, appeal to it against the laws of His providence, to rescue me from dangers into which I have entered unbidden. As thus viewed, our Lords reply is given in the same spirit with His former one during the first temptation. He subjected Himself freely to physical law, and His Messiahship depended on His self-chosen humiliation. His choice of means, however, for securing His kingdom would in the end amount to a choice between two kingdoms, the one, severely spiritual, introduced by moral and religious forces only, the other becoming worldly by its alliance with the world of outward influence and temporal glory. The instinctive shrinking from harm and difficulty, which belongs to us all, would lead Him to choose the worldly way of doing good, would prejudice His mind in favour of the easier and quicker method. But He held on to His spiritual conception of His office, kept His obedience, and triumphed. Satan approached Christ in the belief that He was capable of taking false views of His office, through which He might be led into sin. Another remark which we desire to make is, that the narrative, as interpreted, shows the subtlety and insinuating character of the temptation. The acts to which Christ was solicited were not sins, so much as misjudgments in regard to the means to be used for gaining the highest and noblest ends. And these misjudgments would consist, not in the use of means plainly and boldly sinful, but of such as involved a departure from the true idea of the Messiahs earthly mission. But it is more important to remark, that the narrative is too refined and too full of a somewhat hidden, but consummate wisdom, to grow out of the imaginings of the early Church. It is no rude picture of assaults which might befall a holy man in solitude, but an intellectual and moral struggle, which put it to the proof whether Christ would be true to the spiritual idea of the Messiah. It involves a conception of the Messiahs kingdom which the early Church did not entertain until some time after the death of our Lord; how then could it be elaborated by crude Galilean disciples of Christ, whose views were full of that earthly mixture which the narrative condemns? (T. D.Woolsey, D. D.)

Christs temptation a help to us

For as He hath taught us both by His word and ensample to prepare ourselves to the battle, and bestir ourselves like those who fight under His colours; so, in the next place, there is a kind of influence and virtue derived from His combat, which falls as oil upon us, to supple our joints, and strengthen our sinews, and make each faculty of our souls active and cheerful in this exercise. (A. Farindon, D. D.)

Full of the Holy Ghost

The back strengthened for the load

It was in the prospect of His temptation that the Lord Jesus received this fulness of the Holy Spirit. This presents a new aspect of the bestowment of the Spirit. He was not only filled with the Holy Ghost, but it was in the very crisis of need He was so anointed. The back will be strengthened for the load, the heart nerved for the blow. I fear we all deplorably fail to realize this, and so impoverish ourselves of the Spirit. It was upon the Lord Jesus being thus filled with the Holy Spirit that He was tempted. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my fellow-believers, from that. It is when a child of God is fullest of grace; when he has been declared to be a son, even a beloved son of God; when he has made a public profession of Christianity, that he is most of all exposed to temptation. (A. B. Grosart, D. D.)

Returned from Jordan

Baptism does not exempt from temptation

The temptation of the Lord having followed His baptism, tells us not to trust to baptism for escape from temptation. (A. B. Grosart, D. D.)

Spiritual favour a time of trial

That our entering upon a special service for God or receiving a special favour from God, are two solemn seasons which Satan makes use of for temptation. Though this may seem strange, yet the harshness of such a providence on Gods part, and the boldness of the attempt on Satans part, may be much taken off by the consideration of the reasons hereof.

1. On Satans part. It is no great wonder to see such an undertaking, when we consider his fury and malice. The more we receive from God, and the more we are to do for Him, the more doth he malign us. So much the more as God is good, by so much is his eye evil.

2. There are in such cases as these several advantages, which, through our weakness and imperfection, we are too apt to give him; and for these he lieth at the catch.

(1) Security. We are apt to grow proud, careless, and confident, after or upon such employments and favours; even as men are apt to sleep or surfeit upon a full meal, or to forget themselves when they are advanced to honour. Enjoyments beget confidence; confidence brings forth carelessness; carelessness makes God withdraw, and gives opportunity to Satan to work unseen. And thus, as armies after victory, growing secure, are oft surprised; so are we oft after our spiritual advancements thrown down.

(2) Discouragement and tergiversation is another thing the devil watcheth for. By his assaults he represents the duty difficult, tedious, dangerous, or impossible, on purpose to discourage us, and to make us fall back.

(3) The fall or miscarriage of the saints at such times is of more than ordinary disadvantage, not only to others–for if they can be prevailed with to lay aside their work, or to neglect the improvement of their favours, others are deprived of the benefit and help that might be expected from them–but also to themselves. A prevailing temptation doth more than ordinarily prejudice them at such times.

3. As we have seen the reason of Satans keenness in taking those opportunities, so may we consider the reasons of Gods permission, which are these:–

(1) Temptations at such seasons are permitted for more eminent trial of the upright.

(2) For an increase of diligence, humility, and watchfulness.

(3) For a plentiful furniture of experience. Temptation is the shop of experience. (R. Gilpin.)

Temptation after privilege

After high favours showed to Gods children, come shrewd pinches, as after warm, growing, comfortable weather in the spring come many cold pinching frosts: what a sudden change is this I Is this He, of whom erewhile the Lord said, This is My Son, and doth He now send, and set his slave upon Him to vex and bait Him? (D. Dyke.)

Temptation after baptism

The history of our Lords temptation ought never to be contemplated apart from that of His baptism. We shall miss much of its significance, if we dissociate it, even in thought, from the solemn recognition of the Son by the Father, the salutation of Him from heaven, and the full consciousness of His Divine nature into which He was thus brought. The Church of old did not shrink from calling her Lords baptism His second nativity. In that baptism He received His heavenly armour, and now He goes forth to prove it, and try of what temper it is. Having been baptized with water and the Holy Ghost, He shall now be baptized with the fire of temptation; even as there is another baptism, the baptism of blood, in store for Him: for the gifts of God are not for the Captain of our salvation, any more than for His followers, the pledge of exemption from a conflict, but rather powers with which He is furnished, and, as it were, inaugurated thereunto. With regard to the temptation: it is quite impossible to exaggerate the importance of the victory then gained by the second Adam, or the bearing which it had, and still has, on the work of our redemption. The entire history, moral and spiritual, of the world revolves around two persons, Adam and Christ. To Adam was given a position to maintain; he did not maintain it, and the lot of the world for ages was decided. All is again at issue. Again we are represented by a Champion, by One who is in the place of all, whose standing shall be the standing of many, and whose fall, if that fall had been conceivable, would have been the fall of many, yea of all. Once already Satan had thought to nip the kingdom of heaven in the bud, and had nearly succeeded. If it had not been for a new and unlooked-for interposition of God, for the promise of the Seed of the woman, he would have done it. He will now prove if he cannot more effectually crush it, and for ever; for, should Christ fail, there was none behind, the last stake would have been played–and lost. (Archbishop Trench.)

Washed and not soiled

Then, when He was washed, did the devil attempt to soil Him. (A. Farindon, D. D.)

Satans malice

His malice is so great that he is never at rest. He watcheth every good thing in its bud, to nip it; in its blossom, to blast it; in its fruit, to spoil it. (A. Farindon, D. D.)

The power of habit to resist temptation

What we are surely possessed of, we can hardly lose. And such a possession, such an inheritance, is true piety, when we are once rooted and built up, and established in it. It is a treasure which no chance can rob us of, no thief take from us. A habit well confirmed is an object the devil is afraid of. Oh, the power of an uninterrupted obedience, of a continued course in the duties of holiness! It is able to puzzle the great sophister, the great god of this world. (A. Farindon, D. D.)

Was led by the Spirit

Led by the Spirit

We are to consider the leader. He was led by the Spirit.

1. That the state of a man regenerate by baptism is not a standing still. We must not only have a mortifying and reviving, but a quickening and stirring spirit (1Co 15:45).

2. As there must be a stirring, so this stirring must not be such, as when a man is left to his own voluntary or natural motion; we must go according as we are led. For having given ourselves to God, we are no longer to be at our own disposition or direction. (Bishop Andrewes.)

The Divine leading a security in temptation

The Children of Israel made no scruple to pitch their tents within the borders of their enemies if the pillar of cloud did remove before them; so wheresoever the grace of God doth carry a man, Gods glory being his undoubted end (without all vain delusions, and carnal reservations) he may be bold to venture. (Bishop Hacket.)

Tempting the Tempter

Have you seen little children dare one another which should go deepest into the mire? But he is more childish that ventures further and further, even to the brim of transgression, and bids the devil catch him if he can. I will but look and like, says the wanton, where the object pleaseth me; I keep company with some licentious persons, says an easy nature, but for no hurt, because I would not offend our friendship. I will but bend my body in the house of Rimmon, when my master bends his, says Naaman; I will but peep in to see the fashion of the mass, holding fast the former profession of my faith. Beloved, I do not like it when a mans conscience takes in these small leaks; it is odds you will fill faster and faster, and sink to the bottom of iniquity. (Bishop Hacket.)

Led by the Divine Spirit

The grounds upon which I will insist are these.

1. We must be led by the Spirit before we can work anything which is good.

2. I will unfold how we are led by initiating or preventing grace, when we arc first made partakers to taste of the hopes of a better life.

3. I will show how we are led by preparatory grace, which goes before the complete act of our regeneration.

4. With what great and mighty power the Spirit doth lead us in converting grace.

5. How we are led by subsequent grace and sanctification, which cooperates and assists us after our conversion. (Bishop Hacket.)

Temptations not to be sought

In that the evangelists do not say that Christ cast Himself upon a temptation, neither did go to undertake it till He was led to it, we note, that whatever may be the advantage of a temptation by the Spirits ordering of it, or what security from danger we may promise to ourselves upon that account, yet must we not run upon temptations; though we must submit when we are fairly led into them. The reasons of this truth are these:–

1. There is so much of the nature of evil in temptations that they are to be avoided if possible.

2. To run upon them would be a dangerous tempting of God; that is, making a bold and presumptuous trial, without call, whether He will put forth His power to rescue us or not. When do men run uncalled and unwarrantably upon temptation?

(1) When men engage themselves in sin and apparent wickedness, in the works of the flesh. For it can never be imagined that the holy God should ever by His Spirit call any to such things as His soul abhors.

(2) When men run upon the visible and apparent occasions and causes of sin. This is like a mans going to the pest-house.

(3) When men unnecessarily, without the conduct either of command or urging an unavoidable providence, do put themselves, though not upon visible and certain opportunities, yet upon dangerous and hazardous occasions and snares.

(4) Those run upon temptation, that adventure apparently beyond their strength, and put themselves upon actions good or harmless, disproportionably to their abilities.

(5) They are also guilty that design an adventure unto the utmost bounds of lawful liberty.

(6) Those also may be reckoned in the number of such as rush upon their danger, who go abroad without their weapons, and forget in the midst of daily dangers the means of preservation. (R. Gilpin.)

Led by the Spirit

The devil was the instrument of the temptation, but God ordained it. (G. S. Barrett.)

The Divine purpose in the temptation

It was the last act of His moral education; it gave Him an insight into all the ways in which His Messianic work could possibly be marred. If, from the very first step in His arduous career, Jesus kept the path marked out for Him by Gods will without deviation, change, or hesitancy, this bold front and steadfast perseverance are certainly due to His experience of the temptation. All the wrong courses possible to Him were thenceforth known; all the rocks had been observed; and it was the enemy himself who had rendered Him this service. It was for this reason that God apparently delivered Him for a brief time into his power. This is just what Matthews narrative expresses so forcibly: He was led up by the Spirit to be tempted. When He left this school, Jesus distinctly understood that, as respects His person, no act of His ministry was to have any tendency to lift it out of His human condition; that, as to His work, it was to be in no way assimilated to the action of the powers of this world; and that, in the employment of Divine power, filial liberty was never to become caprice, not even under a pretext of blind trust in the help of God. And this programme was carried out. His material

wants were supplied by the gifts of charity (Luk 8:3), not by miracles; His mode of life was nothing else than a perpetual humiliation–a prolongation, so to speak, of His Incarnation. When labouring to establish His kingdom, He unhesitatingly refused the aid of human power–as, e.g., when the multitude wished to make Him a King (Joh 6:15); and His ministry assumed the character of an exclusively spiritual conquest, tie abstained, lastly, from every miracle which had not for its immediate design the revelation of moral perfection, that is to say, of the glory of His Father Luk 11:29). These supreme rules of the Messianic activity were all learned in that school of trial through which God caused Him to pass in the desert. (F. Godet,D. D.)

Into the wilderness

The danger of solitude

As a deer that is struck knows by instinct what a danger it is to be single, and therefore will herd himself if he can; so do not separate yourself from the face of men upon temptation, that is the way to betray your soul, but unite your force against the tempter by mixing yourself with good men. (Bishop Hacket.)

Christs a lonely life

But I reduce all to this head. The solitude of the wilderness did best befit Him in this work, because He began, continued, and ended the work of the Mediatorship by Himself, and by no other assistance. (Bishop Hacket.)

Humility

Much better it is to be humble with Christ in a barren desert, than to be proud with Adam in a delicious paradise. (Bishop Hacket.)

Man sociable

God hath made man a sociable creature, if the contagion of the world doth not make him unsociable. (Bishop Hacket.)

Solitude favourable to temptation

Solitude affords a great advantage to Satan in the matter of temptation. This advantage ariseth from solitude two ways:

1. First, As it doth deprive us of help. They can mutually help one another when they fall; they can mutually heat and warm one another; they can also strengthen one anothers hands to prevail against an adversary.

2. Secondly, Solitude increaseth melancholy, fills the soul with dismal apprehensions; and withal doth so spoil and alter the temper of it that it is not only ready to take any disadvantageous impression, but it doth also dispose it to leaven and sour those very considerations that should support, and to put a bad construction on things that never were intended for its hurt. (R. Gilpin.)

Spiritual victory in spite of disadvantage

Here we have an image of the conflicts betwixt Ishmael and Amalek, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. God, to gain the greater glory to Himself, gives all the advantages that may be to the enemies of His Church. How unequal was the combat and contention betwixt Luther a poor monk, and the Pope, and so many legions of his creatures? They had the sword of most magistrates to sway at their pleasure, great power, and great authority, yet Luther took the prey out of their teeth, as poor David overthrew the great Goliath. (D. Dyke.)

Christ in the wilderness

What a contrast between that gracious, noble Form and the scene in which it is set! The Bible delights in contrasts. On Calvary, e.g., it shows us the cross, and One hanging on it, the very incarnation of beauty and patient love and gentleness–the perfect Man, the perfect God–and there all around Him surge the angry crowds full of hale and wickedness and every corruption. So here we behold that same Holy Being standing in the midst of the picture of desolation–oh, how desolate that desert even in the light of the noonday!–how much more desolate at night, when the imagination filled it with its own fears and mysteries and terrors! But more horrid than the darkness, more terrible than wild beasts, than any earthly terror, is the dark presence of Satan. There they stand alone together, the Son of God and the spirit of evil; and we know that they are to be the figures in some great transaction. What was the mighty event? It was the greatest event that has ever occurred on earth except the Incarnation, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of our Lord. It was to be the greatest battle ever fought on the earth–the battle between Satan, the personification of hate and vileness and all that is repulsive, and the incarnation of purity and holiness. (F. C. Ewer, D. D.)

Retirement preparatory to action

It has been said that Christ by His example sanctioned the eremitical life, the retirement into the deserts of the old hermits, to spend their lives in contemplation. To some extent only is this true. Christ sanctioned retirement, but He made retirement from the world preparatory to active mission work in the world. Where the old hermits misread His teaching was in this, that they retired to the deserts and did not leave the deserts again–they made that a cul-de-sac which should have been a passage. The example of our Lord seems to us in this age of high pressure to be of special importance. We look too much to the amount of work done, rather than to the quality of the work. This is the case in every branch of life, in every industry, in every profession; and it cannot be denied that in the present day the hurry of life is so great that men have not the patience to study and to appreciate good work; so long as it has a specious appearance of being good, it is sufficient. But in spiritual work, we must consider that the eye of God is on us, and that we are labouring for Him, not for men, and, by His retirement for prayer and fasting into the solitude of the desert, Christ puts into our hands the key to the door of all thorough and efficacious work in the spiritual sphere,–it must be well considered, well prayed over, and well prepared for. Every plant has its hidden life that precedes its visible and manifested life; the seed, or bulb, or tuber spends a time in accumulating to itself vital force or energy, during which period it appears to be dormant. Then, when it has taken the requisite time, it begins to grow, it throws up its leaves and flowers. The leaves and flowers are no spontaneous development out of the root, they have been long prepared for in the hidden life and apparent sleep of the seed or root underground. All life is initiated by a hidden period of incubation. And all healthy human activity has also its still unperceived phase of existence. Christ shows us that it is the same in the spiritual life. The forty days and nights–I may say the whole of the hidden life at Nazareth–was the seed germinating, and the three years ministry was the manifestation of the life. (S. Baring-Gould, M. A.)

Scene of the temptation

The scene of the temptation was the wilderness. What wilderness we are not told; and all which it imports us to note is that it was a wilderness, in which this encounter of the good and the evil, each in its highest representative, took place. There could have been no fitter scene, none indeed so fit. The waste and desert places of the earth are, so to speak, the characters which sin has visibly impressed on the outward creation; its signs and its symbols there; the echoes in the outward world of the desolation and wasteness which sin has wrought in the inner life of man. Out of a true feeling of this, men have ever conceived of the wilderness as the haunt of evil spirits. In the old Persian religion, Ahriman and his evil spirits inhabit the steppes and wastes of Turan, to the north of the happy Iran, which stands under the dominion of Ormuzd; exactly as with the Egyptians, the evil Typhon is the lord of the Libyan sand-wastes, and Osiris of the fertile Egypt. This sense of the wilderness as the haunt of evil spirits, one which the Scripture more or less allows (Isa 13:21; Isa 34:14; Mat 12:43; Rev 18:2), would of itself give a certain fitness to that as the place of the Lords encounter with Satan; but only in its antagonism to paradise do we recognize a still higher fitness in the appointment of the place. The garden and the desert are the two most opposite poles of natural life; in them we have the highest harmonies and the deepest discords of nature. Adam, when worsted in the conflict, was expelled from the garden, and the ground became cursed for his sake. Its desert places represent to us what the whole of it might justly have been on account of sin. Christ takes up the conflict exactly where Adam left it, and, inheriting all the consequences of his defeat, in the desert does battle with the foe; and, conquering him there, wins back the garden for that whole race, whose champion and representative He was.(Archbishop Trench.)

The world a wilderness

The earth a wilderness! you will say. Oh, but it is full of scenes of beauty; has it not its running streams, and flowery leas, and wooded slopes, and leaning lawns? How glorious its sunsets! How fair its gardens, all filled with fragrant flowers! Yes, the earth has its beauties, but they are not the true, the essential beauties. Go you to Quarantania: there you shall find also a certain beauty–the beauty of wild sublimity–the mountain peak, the trenchant rock, the dark ravine with its rugged sides; yet it is a howling wilderness. Quarantania has a certain beauty, and so has earth. But compare the desert, stern, barren, desolate, with the fair gardens of Italy, and great as is the gulf between these, it is not so vast as the gulf between this world that we call so fair and the Golden Jerusalem, of which we are citizens. All that is most bright and glorious here is dull and harsh and pale compared with what God is keeping for us there. Is not the earth filled with mountains of disappointments? with snares, sufferings, griefs, ingratitudes? Oh! the wilderness of this world. What a contrast with the paradise of God! (F. G. Ewer, D. D.)

The forty days in the wilderness

We make a mistake when we think that those forty days were all days of temptation and sorrow. They must have been, on the contrary, days, at first, of peaceful rest, of intense joy. Alone with God, driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, the Saviour dwelt in the peaceful thought of His union with His Father. The words spoken at the baptism, the fulness of the Spirits power within Him had filled His human heart with serene ecstasy. He went into the wilderness to realize it all more fully. It was then in this spiritual rest and joy that we may reverently conceive the beginning of the wilderness life was passed. As such, it was the first pure poetry of the perfect union which was to arise between the heart of man and the Spirit of God; the springtime of the new life; the first clear music which ever flowed from the harmony of a human spirit with the life of the universe. But now we meet the question, How did this become test, temptation? To understand this we must recall the two grand ideas in His mind:

1. That He was at one with the Father–that gave Him His perfect joy.

2. That He was the destined Redeemer of the race. To the first peaceful days had now succeeded days when desire to begin His redemptive work filled His soul. And the voice in His own soul was echoed by the cry of the Jewish people for their Messiah. He was urged, then, by two calls, one within, and one without. But–and here is the point at which suffering and test entered–these two voices directly contradicted one another. As soon as Christ turned to the world with the greeting of His love, He heard coming from the world an answering greeting of welcome, but the ideas which lay beneath it were in radical opposition to His own. The vision of an omnipotent king and an external kingdom was presented to His Spirit as the ideal of the Jewish people. It came rudely into contact with the vision in His own heart of a king made perfect by suffering, of a kingdom hidden at first in the hearts of men. It is not difficult to see the depth and manifoldness of the tests which arose from the clashing of these two opposed conceptions. (Stepford A. Brooke, M. A.)

The solitary place

No: we must be led into some secret and solitary place, there to fast and pray, to fit and prepare ourselves for the work which we have to do, there to taste how sweet the Word of God is, to ruminate and chaw upon it as it were and digest it, to fasten it to our very soul and make it a part of us, and by daily meditation so to profit that all the mysteries of faith and precepts of holiness may be, as vessels are in a well-ordered family, ready at hand to be used upon any occasion, (A. Farindon, D. D.)

Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell

CHAPTER IV.

Christ’s temptation, 1-13.

Teaches in the synagogues of Galilee, 14, 15.

He preaches tn a synagogue at Nazareth, 16-28.

They attempt to kill him, 29, 30.

He preaches in Capernaum, 31, 32,

and casts out a demon, 33-37.

Heals Peter’s mother-in-law, and various others, 38-41.

He goes to the desert, and preaches afterwards in the synagogues

of Galilee, 42-44.

NOTES ON CHAP. IV.

Verse 1. Was led by the Spirit] Or, And was carried about, . Matthew says, , he was brought up. Mark says, the Spirit driveth him – putteth him forth. But each of the evangelists attributes this to the Holy Ghost, not to Satan.

It may be useful to remark here, that, during the forty days and forty nights in which he is said to have been tempted by the devil, he is carried about, continually sustained and supported, by the Holy Ghost. Let those who are tempted by Satan look for, and, in virtue of the power and intercession of Christ, claim, the same support; and it matters little how many days they may be assaulted by the devil, while they are carried about by the Spirit of God.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

By the Holy Ghost here is to be understood the gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to the prophecy of him, Isa 11:1,2. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are often in holy writ called the Spirit, Act 2:4; 8:18; 10:44; and not only those that are influenced with the saving gifts and graces of the Spirit, are said to have the Spirit, and be filled; but those who received the more extraordinary powers of it, such as the gifts of prophecy, healing, &c. Others besides Christ are in Scripture said to be filled with the Spirit, Act 6:5; and it was so prophesied concerning John, Luk 1:15. But they had but their measure; to Christ the Spirit was given not by measure, Joh 3:34.

He returned from Jordan: there John baptized, there Christ was baptized by him.

And was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. saith Luke. A saith Matthew. Mark expresses it by the word . The words do not signify a violent motion, (for without doubt Christ went willingly), but a potent and efficacious motion.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost,…. The Spirit of God having descended on him at his baptism, and afresh anointed, and filled his human nature with his gifts, whereby, as man, he was abundantly furnished for the great work of the public ministry, he was just about to enter upon; yet must first go through a series of temptations, and which, through the fulness of the Holy Spirit in him, he was sufficiently fortified against.

Returned from Jordan; where he came, and had been with John, and was baptized by him; which, when over, he went back from the same side of Jordan, to which he came:

and was led by the Spirit; the same Spirit, or Holy Ghost he was full of; [See comments on Mt 4:1]

into the wilderness; of Judea, which lay near Jordan, and where John had been preaching and baptizing, namely, in the habitable: part of it: but this was that part, which was uninhabited by men, and was infested with wild beasts, and where Christ could neither have the comfort and benefit of human society, nor any thing for the sustenance of life, and where he was exposed to the utmost danger; and so in circumstances very opportune and favourable for Satan to ply him with his temptations, for which purpose he was led thither.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Temptation in the Wilderness.

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5 And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

The last words of the foregoing chapter, that Jesus was the Son of Adam, bespeak him to be the seed of the woman; being so, we have here, according to the promise, breaking the serpent’s head, baffling and foiling the devil in all his temptations, who by one temptation had baffled and foiled our first parents. Thus, in the beginning of the war, he made reprisals upon him, and conquered the conqueror.

In this story of Christ’s temptation, observe,

I. How he was prepared and fitted for it. He that designed him the trial furnished him accordingly; for though we know not what exercises may be before us, nor what encounters we may be reserved for, Christ did, and was provided accordingly; and God doth for us, and we hope will provide accordingly.

1. He was full of the Holy Ghost, who had descended on him like a dove. He had now greater measures of the gifts, graces, and comforts, of the Holy Ghost than ever before. Note, Those are well armed against the strongest temptations that are full of the Holy Ghost.

2. He was newly returned from Jordan, where he was baptized, and owned by a voice from heaven to be the beloved Son of God; and thus he was prepared for this combat. Note, When we have had the most comfortable communion with God, and the clearest discoveries of his favour to us, we may expect that Satan will set upon us (the richest ship is the pirate’s prize), and that God will suffer him to do so, that the power of his grace may be manifested and magnified.

3. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, by the good Spirit, who led him as a champion into the field, to fight the enemy that he was sure to conquer. His being led into the wilderness, (1.) Gave some advantage to the tempter; for there he had him alone, no friend with him, by whose prayers and advice he might be assisted in the hour of temptation. Woe to him that is alone! He might give Satan advantage, who knew his own strength; we may not, who know our own weakness. (2.) He gained some advantage to himself, during his forty days’ fasting in the wilderness. We may suppose that he was wholly taken up in proper meditation, and in consideration of his own undertaking, and the work he had before him; that he spent all his time in immediate, intimate, converse with his Father, as Moses in the mount, without any diversion, distraction, or interruption. Of all the days of Christ’s life in the flesh, these seem to come nearest to the angelic perfection and the heavenly life, and this prepared him for Satan’s assaults, and hereby he was fortified against them.

4. He continued fasting (v. 2): In those days he did eat nothing. This fast was altogether miraculous, like those of Moses and Elijah, and shows him to be, like them, a prophet sent of God. It is probable that it was in the wilderness of Horeb, the same wilderness in which Moses and Elijah fasted. As by retiring into the wilderness he showed himself perfectly indifferent to the world, so by his fasting he showed himself perfectly indifferent to the body; and Satan cannot easily take hold of those who are thus loosened from, and dead to, the world and the flesh. The more we keep under the body, and bring it into subjection, the less advantage Satan has against us.

II. How he was assaulted by one temptation after another, and how he defeated the design of the tempter in every assault, and became more than a conqueror. During the forty days, he was tempted of the devil (v. 2), not by an inward suggestion, for the prince of this world had nothing in Christ by which to inject any such, but by outward solicitations, perhaps in the likeness of a serpent, as he tempted our first parents. But at the end of the forty days he came nearer to him, and did as it were close with him, when he perceived that he was hungry, v. 2. Probably, our Lord Jesus then began to look about among the trees, to see if he could find any thing that was eatable, whence the devil took occasion to make the following proposal to him.

1. He tempted him to distrust his Father’s care of him, and to set up for himself, and shift for provision for himself in such a way as his Father had not appointed for him (v. 3): If thou be the Son of God, as the voice from heaven declared, command this stone to be made bread. (1.) “I counsel thee to do it; for God, if he be thy Father, has forgotten thee, and it will be long enough ere he sends either ravens or angels to feed thee.” If we begin to think of being our own carvers, and of living by our own forecast, without depending upon divine providence, of getting wealth by our might and the power of our hands, we must look upon it as a temptation of Satan’s, and reject it accordingly; it is Satan’s counsel to think of an independence upon God. (2.) “I challenge thee to do it, if thou canst; if thou dost not do it, I will say thou art not the Son of God; for John Baptist said lately, God is able of stones to raise up children to Abraham, which is the greater; thou therefore hast not the power of the Son of God, if thou dost not of stones make bread for thyself, when thou needest it, which is the less.” Thus was God himself tempted in the wilderness: Can he furnish a table? Can he give bread?Psa 78:19; Psa 78:20.

Now, [1.] Christ yielded not to the temptation; he would not turn that stone into bread; no, though he was hungry; First, Because he would not do what Satan bade him do, for that would have looked as if there had been indeed a compact between him and the prince of the devils. Note, We must not do any thing that looks like giving place to the devil. Miracles were wrought for the confirming of faith, and the devil had no faith to be confirmed, and therefore he would not do it for him. He did his signs in the presence of his disciples (John xx. 30), and particularly the beginning of his miracles, turning water into wine, which he did, that his disciples might believe on him (John ii. 11); but here in the wilderness he had no disciples with him. Secondly, He wrought miracles for the ratification of his doctrine, and therefore till he began to preach he would not begin to work miracles. Thirdly, He would not work miracles for himself and his own supply, lest he should seem impatient of hunger, whereas he came not to please himself, but to suffer grief, and that grief among others; and because he would show that he pleased not himself, he would rather turn water into wine, for the credit and convenience of his friends, than stones into bread, for his own necessary supply. Fourthly, He would reserve the proof of his being the Son of God for hereafter, and would rather be upbraided by Satan with being weak, and not able to do it, than be persuaded by Satan to do that which it was fit for him to do; thus he was upbraided by his enemies as if he could not save himself, and come down from the cross, when he could have come down, but would not, because it was not fit that he should. Fifthly, He would not do any thing that looked like distrust of his Father, or acting separately from him, or any thing disagreeable to his present state. Being in all things made like unto his brethren, he would, like the other children of God, live in a dependence upon the divine Providence and promise, and trust him either to send him a supply into the wilderness or to lead him to a city of habitation where there was a supply, as he used to do (Ps. cvii. 5-7), and in the mean time would support him, though he was hungry, as he had done these forty days past.

[2.] He returned a scripture-answer to it (v. 4): It is written. This is the first word recorded as spoken by Christ after his instalment in his prophetical office; and it is a quotation out of the Old Testament, to show that he came to assert and maintain the authority of the scripture as uncontrollable, even by Satan himself. And though he had the Spirit without measure, and had a doctrine of his own to preach and a religion to found, yet it agreed with Moses and the prophets, whose writings he therefore lays down as a rule to himself, and recommends to us as a reply to Satan and his temptations. The word of God is our sword, and faith in that word is our shield; we should therefore be mighty in the scriptures, and go in that might, go forth, and go on, in our spiritual warfare, know what is written, for it is for our learning, for our use. The text of scripture he makes use of is quoted from Deut. viii. 3: “Man shall not live by bread alone. I need not turn the stone into bread, for God can send manna for my nourishment, as he did for Israel; man can live by every word of God, by whatever God will appoint that he shall live by.” How had Christ lived, lived comfortably, these last forty days? Not by bread, but by the word of God, by meditation upon that word, and communion with it, and with God in and by it; and in like manner he could live yet, though now he began to be hungry. God has many ways of providing for his people, without the ordinary means of subsistence; and therefore he is not at any time to be distrusted, but at all times to be depended upon, in the way of duty. If meat be wanting, God can take away the appetite, or give such degrees of patience as will enable a man even to laugh at destruction and famine (Job v. 22), or make pulse and water more nourishing than all the portion of the king’s meat (Dan 1:12; Dan 1:13), and enable his people to rejoice in the Lord, when the fig-tree doth not blossom, Hab. iii. 17. She was an active believer who said that she had made many a meal’s meat of the promises when she wanted bread.

2. He tempted him to accept from him the kingdom, which, as the Son of God, he expected to receive from his Father, and to do him homage for, v. 5-7. This evangelist puts this temptation second, which Matthew had put last, and which, it should seem, was really the last; but Luke was full of it, as the blackest and most violent, and therefore hastened to it. In the devil’s tempting of our first parents, he presented to them the forbidden fruit, first as good for food, and then as pleasant to the eyes; and they were overpowered by both these charms. Satan here first tempted Christ to turn the stones into bread, which would be good for food, and then showed him the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, which were pleasant to the eyes; but in both these he overpowered Satan, and perhaps with an eye to that, Luke changes the order. Now observe,

(1.) How Satan managed this temptation, to prevail with Christ to become a tributary to him, and to receive his kingdom by delegation from him.

[1.] He gave him a prospect of all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, an airy representation of them, such as he thought most likely to strike the fancy, and seem a real prospect. To succeed the better, he took him up for this purpose into a high mountain; and, because we next after the temptation find Christ on the other side Jordan, some think it probable that it was to the top of Pisgah that the devil took him, whence Moses has a sight of Canaan. That it was but a phantasm that the devil here presented our Saviour with, as the prince of the power of the air, is confirmed by that circumstance which Luke here takes notice of, that it was done in a moment of time; whereas, if a man take a prospect of but one country, he must do it successively, must turn himself round, and take a view first of one part and then of another. Thus the devil thought to impose upon our Saviour with a fallacy–a deceptio visus; and, by making him believe that he could show him all the kingdoms of the world, would draw him into an opinion that he could give him all those kingdoms.

[2.] He boldly alleged that these kingdoms were all delivered to him that he had power to dispose of them and all their glory, and to give them to whomsoever he would, v. 6. Some think that herein he pretended to be an angel of light, and that, as one of the angels that was set over the kingdoms, he had out-bought, or out-fought, all the rest, and so was entrusted with the disposal of them all, and, in God’s name, would give them to him, knowing they were designed for him; but clogged with this condition, that he should fall down and worship him, which a good angel would have been so far from demanding that he would not have admitted it, no, not upon showing much greater things than these, as appears, Rev 19:10; Rev 22:9. But I rather take it that he claimed this power as Satan, and as delivered to him not by the Lord, but by the kings and people of these kingdoms, who gave their power and honour to the devil, Eph. ii. 2. Hence he is called the god of this world, and the prince of this world. It was promised to the Son of God that he should have the heathen for his inheritance, Ps. ii. 8. “Why,” saith the devil, “the heathen are mine, are my subjects and votaries; but, however, they shall be thine, I will give them thee, upon condition that thou worship me for them, and say that they are the rewards which I have given thee, as others have done before thee (Hos. ii. 12), and consent to have and hold them by, from, and under, me.“

[3.] He demanded of him homage and adoration: If thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine, v. 7. First, He would have him worship him himself. Perhaps he does not mean so as never to worship God, but let him worship him in conjunction with God; for the devil knows, if he can but once come in a partner, he shall soon be sole proprietor. Secondly, He would indent with him, that when, according to the promise made to him, he had got possession of the kingdoms of this world, he should make no alteration of religions in them, but permit and suffer the nations, as they had done hitherto, to sacrifice to devils (1 Cor. x. 20); that he should still keep up demon-worship in the world, and then let him take all the power and glory of the kingdoms if he pleased. Let who will take the wealth and grandeur of this earth, Satan has all he would have if he can but have men’s hearts, and affections, and adorations, can but work in the children of disobedience; for then he effectually devours them.

(2.) How our Lord Jesus triumphed over this temptation. He gave it a peremptory repulse, rejected it with abhorrence (v. 8): “Get thee behind me, Satan, I cannot bear the mention of it. What! worship the enemy of God whom I came to serve? and of man whom I came to save? No, I will never do it.” Such a temptation as this was not to be reasoned with, but immediately refused; it was presently knocked on the head with one word, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God; and not only so, but him only, him and no other. And therefore Christ will not worship Satan, nor, when he has the kingdoms of the world delivered to him by his Father, as he expects shortly to have, will he suffer any remains of the worship of the devil to continue in them. No, it shall be perfectly rooted out and abolished, wherever his gospel comes. He will make no composition with him. Polytheism and idolatry must go down, as Christ’s kingdom gets up. Men must be turned from the power of Satan unto God, from the worship of devils to the worship of the only living and true God. This is the great divine law that Christ will re-establish among men, and by his holy religion reduce men to the obedience of, That God only is to be served and worshipped; and therefore whoever set up any creature as the object of religious worship, though it were a saint or an angel, or the virgin Mary herself, they directly thwart Christ’s design, and relapse into heathenism.

3. He tempted him to be his own murderer, in a presumptuous confidence of his Father’s protection, such as he had no warrant for. Observe,

(1.) What he designed in this temptation: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down, v. 9. [1.] He would have him seek for a new proof of his being the Son of God, as if that which his Father had given him by the voice from heaven, and the descent of the Spirit upon him, were not sufficient, which would have been a dishonour to God, as if he had not chosen the most proper way of giving him the assurance of it; and it would have argued a distrust of the Spirit’s dwelling in him, which was the great and most convincing proof to himself of his being the Son of God,Heb 1:8; Heb 1:9. [2.] He would have him seek a new method of proclaiming and publishing this to the world. The devil, in effect, suggests that it was in an obscure corner that he was attested to be the Son of God, among a company of ordinary people, who attended John’s baptism, that his honours were proclaimed; but if he would now declare from the pinnacle of the temple, among all the great people who attend the temple-service, that he was the Son of God, and then, for proof of it, throw himself down unhurt, he would presently be received by every body as a messenger sent from heaven. Thus Satan would have him seek honours of his devising (in contempt of those which God had put on him), and manifest himself in the temple at Jerusalem; whereas God designed he should be more manifest among John’s penitents, to whom his doctrine would be more welcome than to the priests. [3.] It is probable he had some hopes that, though he could not throw him down, to do him the least mischief, yet, if he would but throw himself down, the fall might be his death, and then he should have got him finely out of the way.

(2.) How he backed and enforced this temptation. He suggested, It is written, v. 10. Christ had quoted scripture against him; and he thought he would be quits with him, and would show that he could quote scripture as well as he. It has been usual with heretics and seducers to pervert scripture, and to press the sacred writings into the service of the worst of wickednesses. He shall give his angels charge over thee, if thou be his Son, and in their hands they shall bear thee up. And now that he was upon the pinnacle of the temple he might especially expect this ministration of angels; for, if he was the Son of God, the temple was the proper place for him to be in (ch. ii. 46); and, if any place under the sun had a guard of angels constantly, it must needs be that, Ps. lxviii. 17. It is true, God has promised the protection of angels, to encourage us to trust him, not to tempt him; as far as the promise of God’s presence with us, so far the promise of the angels’ ministration goes, but no further: “They shall keep thee when thou goest on the ground, where thy way lies, but not if thou wilt presume to fly in the air.”

(3.) How he was baffled and defeated in the temptation, v. 12. Christ quoted Deut. vi. 16, where it is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, by desiring a sign for the proof of divine revelation, when he has already given that which is sufficient; for so Israel did, when they tempted God in the wilderness, saying, He gave us water out of the rock; but can he give flesh also? This Christ would be guilty of if he should say, “He did indeed prove me to be the Son of God, by sending the Spirit upon me, which is the greater; but can he also give his angels a charge concerning me, which is the less?“

III. What was the result and issue of this combat, v. 13. Our victorious Redeemer kept his ground, and came off a conqueror, not for himself only, but for us also.

1. The devil emptied his quiver: He ended all the temptation. Christ gave him opportunity to say and do all he could against him; he let him try all his force, and yet defeated him. Did Christ suffer, being tempted, till all the temptation was ended? And must not we expect also to pass all our trials, to go through the hour of temptation assigned us?

2. He then quitted the field: He departed from him. He saw it was to no purpose to attack him; he had nothing in him for his fiery darts to fasten upon; he had no blind side, no weak or unguarded part in his wall, and therefore Satan gave up the cause. Note, If we resist the devil, he will flee from us.

3. Yet he continued his malice against him, and departed with a resolution to attack him again; he departed but for a season, achri kairou—till a season, or till the season when he was again to be let loose upon him, not as a tempter, to draw him to sin, and so to strike at his head, which was what he now aimed at and was wholly defeated in; but as a persecutor, to bring him to suffer by Judas and the other wicked instruments whom he employed, and so to bruise his heel, which it was told him (Gen. iii. 15) he should have to do, and would do, though it would be the breaking of his own head. He departed now till that season came which Christ calls the power of darkness (ch. xxii. 53), and when the prince of this world would again come, John xiv. 30.

Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary

Full of the Holy Spirit ( ). An evident allusion to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Jesus at his baptism (Lu 3:21f.). The distinctness of the Persons in the Trinity is shown there, but with evident unity. One recalls also Luke’s account of the overshadowing of Mary by the Holy Spirit (1:35). Mt 4:1 says that “Jesus was led of the Spirit” while Mr 1:12 states that “the Spirit driveth him forth” which see for discussion. “Jesus had been endowed with supernatural power; and He was tempted to make use of it in furthering his own interests without regard to the Father’s will” (Plummer).

Was led by the Spirit ( ). Imperfect passive, continuously led. may be the instrumental use as often, for Mt 4:1 has here of direct agency. But Matthew has the aorist passive which may be ingressive as he has (into the wilderness) while Luke has (in the wilderness). At any rate Luke affirms that Jesus was now continuously under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Hence in this same sentence he mentions the Spirit twice.

During the forty days ( ). Accusative of duration of time, to be connected with “led” not with “tempted.” He was led in the Spirit during these forty days (cf. De 8:2, forty years). The words are amphibolous also in Mr 1:13. Mt 4:2 seems to imply that the three recorded temptations came at the close of the fasting for forty days. That can be true and yet what Luke states be true also. These three may be merely specimens and so “representative of the struggle which continued throughout the whole period” (Plummer).

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Was led. So Matthew. Mark says, ” The Spirit driveth, [] or thrusteth him forth.

By the Spirit [ ] . The American Revisers render in the spirit, indicating the sphere rather than the impulse of his action. Into the wilderness. The A. V. has followed the reading eijv, into. The proper reading is ejn, in. He was not only impelled into the wilderness, but guided in the wilderness by the Spirit.

Forty days. This should be joined with the preceding words, indicating the duration of his stay in the wilderness, not of his temptation, as A. V., being forty days tempted. Read as Rev., in the wilderness during forty days. The devil. See on Mt 4:1.

He did eat nothing. Mark does not mention the fast. Matthew uses the word nhsteusav, having fasted, which, throughout the New Testament, is used of abstinence for religious purposes; a ritual act accompanying seasons of prayer.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST V. 1-13

1) “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost,” (iesous de pleres neumatos hagiou) “Then Jesus, full of, dominated or controlled by the Holy Spirit,” which had come down in full upon Him, at His baptism, Mat 3:13-17; Mar 1:9-10; Joh 1:28-34; Joh 3:34.

2) “Returned from Jordan,” (hupestrepsen apo tou lordanou) “Returned or turned away from the Jordan river and valley area,” to a mountain nearby. For He was baptizing in the Jordan river, near the Dead Sea.

3) “And was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,” (kai egeto en to pneumati en te eremo) “And he was led by the Spirit into the desert, wilderness,” or uninhabited area of Judea, a mountain near Jericho, Luk 2:27; Mat 4:1; Mat 4:12.

These Scriptures indicate that Jesus voluntarily, led by the Spirit, chose to travel from Nazareth in Galilee sixty miles Southeast, to the place John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River, some five miles east of Jericho, in Judea, to be baptized of John; Immediately thereafter the Spirit led Him to retreat into a mountain believed to be just West of Jericho, known as the Mountain of Temptation, in view of the city of Jerusalem, still to the West.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

CRITICAL NOTES

Luk. 4:1. Full of the Holy Ghost.Which had descended upon Him in full measure at His baptism. Led by the SpiritOr, in the Spirit (cf. Luk. 2:27); abiding in the Spirit as the element of His life. Into the wilderness.A better reading is in the wilderness (R.V.), and to connect the next clause with it: the leading of the Spirit continued there during forty days. The scene of the Temptation according to a not very ancient tradition is the mountainous region near Jerichocalled from this identification Quarantania. There is some probability that the legend is true.

Luk. 4:2. Tempted.The present participle implies that the temptations lasted daring the forty days, though they culminated in the three specific attempts recorded in this and in the first Gospel.

Luk. 4:3. And the devil said.It is impossible to say whether the narrative before us, which Christ Himself must have communicated to His disciples, is literal history, or a symbolical description of an inward struggle. The phrase in the fifth verse, in a moment of time, would seem to indicate that the prospect was presented to the spiritual sense and not to the bodily eye; and this would favour the second of the two modes of interpretation above suggested. The phrase used in the Epistle to the Hebrews, in all points tempted like as we are (Luk. 4:15), inclines the same way. If Thou be the Son of God.An allusion doubtless to the words spoken from heaven at the time of His baptism. This stone.Notice the graphic touch. Bread.Or, a loaf (R.V. margin).

Luk. 4:4. It is written.It is somewhat remarkable that the three quotations from the Old Testament which Christ here makes are all from the Book of Deuteronomy (Luk. 8:3; Luk. 6:13; Luk. 6:16). But by every word of God.Omit these words; omitted in R.V.; probably taken from Mat. 4:4.

Luk. 4:5. And the devil.St. Matthew describes the temptation in Jerusalem as coming before that on the mountain; he evidently follows the order of time, as he indicates in the use of the word then (Mat. 4:5; Mat. 4:11). St. Luke may have had the idea in his mind of recording the temptations in the order of their varying degrees of intensity, as addressed respectively to natural appetite, ambition, and spiritual pride. It may be, however, that he simply narrates the two temptations, the scene of which was laid in the wilderness, before passing on to that which took place on the summit of the Temple. The words the devil and into an high mountain are possibly added from St. Matthews Gospel; they are omitted in the R.V. See note on Luk. 4:3.

Luk. 4:7. Worship.I.e. do homage. All shall be Thine.Rather, it [the world] shall all be thine (R.V.).

Luk. 4:8. Get thee, etc.The first sentence in this verse is omitted in the R.V.; it was probably taken from St. Matthews Gospel.

Luk. 4:9. A pinnacle.Rather, the pinnacle; some well-known part of the building. Josephus tells of one called the Royal Porch which overlooked the valley of Hinnom at a dizzy height. There is nothing to indicate that Satan desired Jesus to perform a miracle in the sight of the people by casting Himself down and being preserved from injury.

Luk. 4:10. For it is written, etc.The quotation is from Psa. 91:11, but the words in all Thy ways are omitted; these words give the condition on which protection is promiseda condition which Satan would have Christ ignore.

Luk. 4:11. In their hands.Rather, on their hands (R.V.).

Luk. 4:13. All the temptation.Rather, every temptation (R.V.), i.e. every kind of temptation. For a season.Or, until a season (R.V. margin); though the two renderings are virtually identical in meaning. Temptation was now abandoned, but was to be resumed again on a fitting opportunity. The reference is probably to the closing scenes of our Lords life, when the devil would assail Jesus through the treachery of Judas (Luk. 22:3; Luk. 22:53; Joh. 14:30), and through the malignant opposition of the Jews (Joh. 8:44).

MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Luk. 4:1-13

Temptation and Victory over it.At first sight one might be inclined to think that He who was Son of God as well as Son of man could not be an example to us in the matter of resistance to evil. We find it hard to believe that He could really feel the pressure of temptation, and we take it almost for granted that He won the victory over evil in virtue of a Divine strength specially His own. Hence this episode in the life of the Saviour is usually regarded as mysterious and inexplicable, and is probably but seldom chosen by Christian preachers for purposes of exhortation. The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, however, speaks of the temptation of Christ in terms which bring it near to our experiences: he says, We have an High Priest, who was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. A reverent study, therefore, of this incident in the history of our Lord should teach us many lessons of great value, both as to the nature of temptation and as to the way in which to overcome it. From it we learn, e.g.

I. That the holiness which God approves is that which can stand the test which temptation applies.It was the will of God that Jesus should be subjected to temptation. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (cf. Mat. 4:1). It was in accordance with what the word of God tells us of the Divine procedure that He who took upon Him our nature should be put to the test. And the process, painful as it is, is one through which all intelligent, moral beings must pass. Innocence, which is so attractive to us, may be largely ignorance of evil, and therefore be devoid of moral value; and accordingly we can see the wisdom of subjecting it to the process by which alone it can rise into holiness. The angels were put to the test, and some of them fell from their first estate. Our first parents, in like manner, were called to make the choice between obedience and disobedience to a Divine commandment; and every one of their descendants has had to suffer from the consequences of their evil choice. And in the Scriptures we read of the trial to which the faith of some of Gods most eminent servants was specially subjected in the cases of Abraham, Job, David, and Peter. It is of course highly dangerous and presumptuous for us to cast ourselves in the way of temptation, and Christ has taught us to pray to be spared temptation. But that virtue or holiness is alone worthy of the name which has endured and can endure trial; and God is able and willing to impart special grace to us, when in His providence we are placed in circumstances of special danger.

II. That we have to contend against a vigilant and wily spiritual foe.The doctrine of an evil spirit is unwelcome to many; but both the word of God and the facts of human life attest the existence of a personal tempter. Assuredly, says Trench, this doctrine of an evil spirit, tempting, seducing, deceiving, prompting to rebellion and revolt, so far from casting a deeper gloom on the mysterious destinies of our fallen humanity, is full of consolation, and lights up with a gleam and glimpse of hope regions which would seem utterly dark without it. How should one not despair of oneself, having no choice but to believe that all the strange suggestions of evil which have risen up before ones own heart had been born there! One might well despair of ones kind, having no choice but to believe that all its hideous sins and all its monstrous crimes had been self-conceived, bred within its own bosom with no suggester from without. But there is hope, if an enemy have done this; if, however, the soil in which all these wicked thoughts and wicked works have sprung up has been the heart of man, yet the seed from which they sprang had been there sown by the hand of another. It lay in the necessity of things that he should come into direct and immediate collision with Him who had one mission in the world, that is to destroy the works of the devil.

III. That temptations are manifold in form.Some, as this history reveals to us, spring from bodily necessities and weaknesses, others from a love of those things that are earthly and transitory, others from spiritual pride; for under these three heads may the temptations which assailed Christ be classified. They appeal to every side of the being, and no one is in circumstances which place him above the reach of some one or other of them. The poor are tempted by their poverty to distrust God, the rich and successful are tempted to use unlawful means for securing greater wealth and power or to apply what they possess to selfish ends, while those who enjoy Gods favour are tempted to presume upon it. The weakness of the weak, the strength of the strong, and attainments in holiness are made by the tempter the occasion for suggesting evil counsels.

IV. All the forms of sin suggested are found to spring from one rootself-will.At His incarnation Christ had merged His lot with the lot of His race. The first temptation is that He should separate Himself from them and use the power which had been intrusted to Him for providing a way of escape from the hardship in which He found Himself. The second temptation was that He should refuse to accept the humiliation and suffering by which it was Gods will that He should win His kingdom, and that He should found a kingdom like those of this worldfounded on force and policy and surrounded by the pomp and display which the world loves. The third temptation was that He should put the love of His Father to the proof in a way of His own choosing and not of Gods appointing. In all of them the attempt was made to excite self-will, and to urge Christ to depart from what He knew to be the course His Father would have Him follow. This was an attempt of the kind only too successfully employed against our first parents. They, too, were urged to distrust Gods love, and to seize upon that which was attractive in their eyes, even although, in order to do so, they had to transgress a Divine commandment.

V. Victory over temptation is won by steadfast trust in God and obedience to His will.Christs hunger and isolation at this time did not shake His belief in Gods power and willingness to sustain Him. Worldly wealth, and power, and honour which could only be secured by disloyalty to holiness and truth had no charms for Him; and He did not shrink from the toil, and pain, and suffering by which He knew it had been appointed that He should gain His throne. Nor would He abandon that life of faith which He intended to live by tempting God, or putting His loving-kindness and fidelity to the proof. All through He subordinated every feeling and desire to the will of God. In this, then, He affords us the great example of resistance to evil. No temptation can prevail against us if we calmly and fairly consider what God would have us to do, or what commandment He has given us for our guidance in the special circumstances in which we find ourselves, and if we resolutely determine to subject our wills to His will. We can never be at a loss to discover what Gods will is. If we are in the habit of consulting conscience, and if we, like Christ, have our minds stored with the holy precepts of Gods word, we can in an instant decide what is the path of duty, and no tempter can force us against our will to depart from that path. Our danger lies in a conspiracy between our wavering wills, our strong passions, and the counsels of the evil one.

SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON Luk. 4:1-13

Luk. 4:1-13. The Temptation in Relation to the Baptism.The temptation followed, and must be viewed in connection with, Christs baptism. When God gives armour, He soon puts it to the proof, and so the strength given at the baptism was soon tested in the wilderness.Nicoll.

A Strange Passage in the Life of Christ.Jesus had been baptized of John. One would have thought that without further delay He would now have begun His public work. But we are mistaken. The thirty years must have a parallel in the forty days. The Spirit leads not to the battle-field, but to the wilderness. He leads Him out not to attack the enemy, but to sustain the enemys attacks on Him. What mythical theory could find a motive for so strange a passage in the life of Christ? The temptations of the devil were all skilfully directed to try the question whether Jesus was so thoroughly one with the Father as He professed to be and as it was necessary He should bewhether His Fathers business was really the one interest of His heart and the great business of His lifewhether His delight in doing Gods will was so strong that it could not be overcome by any intenser feelingwhether, under high pressure, some discord might not be revealed between Him and His father.Blaikie.

The Account of the Temptation given by Christ Himself.The account of the Temptation can only have come from our Lord Himself. This is the only instance in which our Lord breaks through His reticence as to His personal history on earth. Here, and here only, does He give us a glimpse of what had befallen Him, or of what had passed within His breast.Latham.

A Solemn Pause.He who is ever the God, not of haste, but of order, prescribes a solemn pause, memorable in itself, monitory in its doctrine, between the Baptism and the Ministry.Vaughan.

The Temptations in the Wilderness.Of this mysterious conflict we see but little, and that dimly. The agony in the wilderness, like the final agony in the garden, is shrouded in darkness. But we see an absolute victory, and a Deliverer proved at the outset mighty to save.

I. The preparation, the process, and the issues of our Lords temptation exhibit it to us as a necessary element in His redeeming work.

II. In His temptation our Lord is to be regarded as a type and pattern to ourselves.Pope.

The Purpose of the Temptation in Relation to Christ.

I. That He might bid defiance to Satan, and in His person conquer at the outset the power of sin.

II. That He might approve, in uttermost trial, the spotlessness and perfection of the sacrifice He carried forward to the cross.

III. That He might acquire, by a mystery of experience which we cannot fathom, a perfect sympathy with the infirmities of the nature He came to sanctify and save.Ibid.

Luk. 4:1. Led by the Spirit.It was necessary that Christ who had assumed our nature should be put to the proofshould be subjected to the trial of having to choose between using His gifts and faculties for gratification of self or using them in the service of God. This probation is required in the case of all free and intelligent beings; some angels passed through it successfully, man fell before it. It is noticeable that Jesus did not seek temptation, but was led towards it by a higher will than His own. The fact that temptation came immediately after the baptism in the Jordan, with all its wonderful and supernatural circumstances, is very significant. The time of spiritual exaltation is the time of spiritual danger. Thus shalt thou be sure to be assaulted, when thou hast received the greatest enlargements from Heaven, either at the sacrament, or in prayer, or in any other way. Then look for an onset. This arch-pirate lets the empty ships pass, but lays wait for them when they return richest laden (Leighton). Satan knows how to take advantage of the peculiarities of our situation.

Wilderness.The contrast between the temptation of Adam and that of Jesus, the second Adam, both in the scenes in which they were laid and the results which followed from them, has often been drawn.

1. Adam was tempted in a garden, Jesus in the wilderness.
2. Adam fell, Jesus was victorious.

3. Adams disobedience brought death, the obedience of Jesus brought life. Adam fell in paradise, and made it a wilderness; Christ conquered in the wilderness, and made it a paradise, where the beasts lost their savageness (Mar. 1:13) and the angels abode (Olshausen).

Luk. 4:2. Did eat nothing.The forty days fast seems rather an indication of deep absorption in reverie, during which not even the stings of hunger were felt, than as a religious exercise of the kind the Jews were accustomed to observe in connection with prayer. It scarcely seems to afford ground for the custom of observing an ecclesiastical fast of like duration. For

(1) Christ literally abstained from every kind of food;
(2) He did not deliberately inflict the pain of hunger upon Himselfindeed, He did not feel hunger until the forty days were past; and
(3) He did not periodically observe a like abstinencethis was a unique experience in His life, and His state of ecstasy (like that of Moses and Elijah) is not one into which we can bring ourselves.

Hungered.Christ hungered as man, and fed the hungry as God. He was hungry as man, and yet He is the Bread of Life. He was athirst as man, and yet He says, Let him that is athirst come to Me and drink (Rev. 22:17). He was weary, and is our rest. He pays tribute, and is a King; He is called a devil, and casts out devils; prays, and hears prayer; weeps, and dries our tears; is sold for thirty pieces of silver, and redeems the world; is led as a sheep to the slaughter, and is the Good Shepherd; is mute like a sheep, and is the everlasting Word; is the Man of sorrows, and heals our pains; is nailed to a tree and dies upon it, and by the tree restores us to life; has vinegar to drink, and changes water to wine; lays down His life, and takes it again; dies and gives life, and by dying destroys death.Greg. Naz.

Luk. 4:3-4. The First Temptation.During the forty days Jesus had been sustained, not by the power of His Divine nature, but by the great rapture of spiritual gladness which upbore Him. When these had passed, He was torn with the pangs of hunger, and here the temptation of Satan comes in.

I. After the manner of the tempter, he makes the truth problematicalIf Thou be. The stones to the sick eyes of a hungry man had the shape of loaves, and one word from Him would have turned them to food. Why was the word not spoken? Because, if He had spoken it, He would have undone His incarnation, by drawing back from the lot of the race with which He had identified Himself. He would also have shown

II. A want of trust in the Divine providence that was able to feed Him without using any miraculous energy. Man shall not live, etc. He did not care to assert His Godship then. If God pleased, He might make the bare wind of the desert a banquet. Jesus has meat to eat that the tempter knows not of. This first temptation

III. Is presented to us by the tempter in our own lives.I must live. The answer isThere is no need that a man should live, but there is need that he should be righteous. He will not die if he trusts in God. Man lives by everything that proceeds from Gods mouth.Nicoll.

The Danger of Starving the Soul.Man wants no reminding that he lives by bread. There is no fear of his not giving care enough to the needs of his body; but there is danger lest he should think of nothing but these needs, and starve his soul, and become such that eternal life, without a body to care for, would only be a condition of aimless weariness. Jesus resolved therefore to keep His powers apart for spiritual ends. He will not use this power to provide what others win by toil, or to preserve Himself or His followers from the common ills of human life.Latham.

Luk. 4:3. If Thou be the Son of God.Satan contrasts the Divine greatness of Jesus as the Son of God, of which He had been assured at His baptism, with His present condition of destitution and hunger, and urges Him to depart from the condition of humiliation which He had accepted on becoming incarnate. Self-sufficiency and independence of God is the state of spirit Satan would fain excite in Christ. The temptation is a subtle one; for he does not suggest a miraculous provision of luxurious food, but of mere bread to stave off death by hunger. But Christ did not work a miracle for the sake of delivering Himself from that state of dependence upon God which all men should occupy.

Command this stone.This gift of miracles in Christ was in many respects a talent; and it was necessary that He should employ this talent wholly for the purposes for which it was intrusted to Him, viz. to confirm His mission and doctrine, to honour the Father, and to do good to men, and not at all to accommodate and relieve Himself.Scott.

Luk. 4:4. Written.It is not by inward illumination, but by the written word of God, that Christ as man professes to find guidance. His words are a rebuke to those who claim greater honour for what they imagine is inward illumination than they are willing to pay to Gods word.

Not live by bread alone.The passage quoted is a strikingly appropriate answer: Jehovah suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee to know that man doth not live, etc. (Deu. 8:3). The whole nation of Israel was fed for forty years in the wilderness: with what confidence may Christ therefore look to God for sustenance during the few days of His sojourn in the desert! God by the ordinary operation of His providence brings forth food for man out of the earth; but He is able to give sustenance in other ways, if He sees fit so to do. Manna and quails were miraculously provided for the Israelites in the wilderness; Elijah was fed by the ravens and by an angel; the multiplication of the loaves of bread and of the fishes by Christs power (cf. also the miracle wrought by Elisha, 2Ki. 4:42-44) illustrates this principle. It is right to look to God for extraordinary help in extraordinary circumstance. The fact that we are dependent upon God for food is also implied in the Lords Prayer: Give us this day our daily bread.

Christs Use of Scripture.

I. For defence.This is the very first use we find Him making of the word. He answered every suggestion of Satan with, It is written. The word was in His hands the sword of the Spirit, and He turned with its edge the onsets of the enemy.

II. For this use of Scripture the practice of committing it to memory is essential.Often, when temptation comes, there is no time to search for the word to meet it; everything depends on being armed, with sword in hand. This shows how necessary it is to fill the memory while it is plastic with stores of texts.Stalker.

Christ is our Example in all Things.Here we see how He met the tempter so as to conquer him. He used His Bible as a quiver, and He drew from it the sharp arrows which He hurled so successfully against His opponent. He drew them from memory. He had used the quiet days at Nazareth to store His mind with the precious words. The lesson lies for us on the surface.Miller.

Not by bread alone.It was the Saviours purpose to give a signal proof, at the very outset of His public career, both of the weakness of His body as man and the perfect control exercised over it by the joint action of His human and Divine will. The appetite for bread was lawful; not so the abuse of His high powers to satisfy His own personal need. Therefore His answer was ready. His heart overflowing with love and confidence in His heavenly Father, and pure from all unclean desires, prompted the reply He clothed in the words of Scripture. There lay the force of His word, strong to baffle the tempter and drive him to another ground of attack. The Lords rebuff was no mere quotation got by heart and ready; the thought rose spontaneously out of the pure springs within, and found its readiest expression in the well-studied language of Holy Writ.Markby.

Our First Duty.It is never right for us to starve our spiritual nature to get bread for our bodies. It is our first duty to keep Gods commandments, and in obedience is the highest good that we can attain in this world. Sometimes the best thing we can do for our life is to lose it; we had better any day starve to death than commit the smallest sin to get bread. Getting bread should not be our first object in life, and is really not our business at all.Miller.

Higher Aims than Gratification of Appetite.It is one of the grandest texts I know. Man has appetite, but appetite is not man. The gratification of appetite is not the main object of mans existence. Too many live as if they thought it was so. To make bread is the one object for which many live. Jesus Christ protests against this degradation of our nature, and says, A man has higher aims than to gratify his appetite. He has a soul. Bread-making is not a sufficient object for a redeemed soul.Meyer.

Luk. 4:5-8. The Second Temptation.

I. The tempter tried Jesus through the mind.Human nature is ambitious, loves power, thirsts for greatness. To such dispositions did Satan now address himself in Christ. He offered Him universal empire; without delay and without a struggle He proposes, as it were, a short road to redemption. On one condition. He must do homage for His throne to Satan; He must hold His crown, as it were, from him. In short, it was the offer of a great good through a little evilto save Himself and to save mankind a deluge of blood and tears, by one brief acknowledgment of an enemys right, and by one passing homage to a usurpers crown.

II. Christ discerned the snare and foiled the stratagem.The gospel so brought in would have been a curse and not a blessing. Never for one moment did His will waver. He seized upon the compromise, and crushed it to atoms in the right hand of obedience. Henceforth there must be war, war to the knife, between the Tempted and the tempter. In that decision lay ten thousand others. Christ will not have Satan lulled. He will have him bound. The lesson, the edict, the declaration of war are for all time.

III. It has a voice for Christian men.Whenever we do evil that good may come we bend the knee to Satan.Vaughan.

Luk. 4:5. All the kingdoms of the world.Hunger had not terrified, neither does plenty allure, the Saviour from the path of duty. The scourge of poverty is followed by the vision of plenty; but the one is as powerless as the other to overcome His holy will. This teaches us the great lesson that our liability to sin does not depend upon the circumstances in which we are placed so much as upon the disposition or frame of spirit which characterises us. We are apt to think that if the cross were removed or the burden lightened we should find it easier to be holythat the sin that besets us would lose its power to ensnare us if we were placed in happier circumstances. Yet circumstances only afford us an opportunity of manifesting what is in us. Jesus was superior to all circumstances simply because He was superior to all sin. The sinful heart will betray itself even if the outward conditions on which it lays the blame were all changed; it will be as faithless in prosperity as it was in adversity. The sinless heart is free from danger everywhere; it is not depressed by humiliation, it is not seduced from its allegiance to God by exaltation.

In a moment of time.Perhaps in this phrase we have the clue to the solution of the question as to whether the history of the Temptation is a narrative of external facts or a parabolical description of mental and spiritual experiences. Apart from the consideration that from no mountain on earth could all the kingdoms of the world be seen, the phrase in a moment of time seems to describe something presented to the minds eye rather than to the bodily sense. And if this is the case with one of the temptations, why may it not be so in the case of all of them? In Heb. 4:15 we read that Christ was tempted in all points like as we are. Does not this imply manner of temptation as well as actual fact of temptation? The momentary glimpse of the worlds kingdoms and their glory suggests temptation of a very intense kind. For those temptations are most acute which are presented to us suddenly and unexpectedly. Another thought is suggested by an ancient writer: It is fitting that all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, should be displayed in a moment of time. For here it is not so much the rapid glance of sight which is signified as the frailty of mortal power which is declared. For in a moment all this passes away; and oftentimes the glory of this world has vanished before it has arrived.

Luk. 4:6. A Great Bribe offered to Christ.The greatness of Christ is implied in the greatness of the bribe here offered to Him. Satan is not accustomed to offer all to those whom he tempts, but gives by little and little. There be some that will sayThey were never tempted with kingdoms. It may well be; for it needs not, when less will serve. It was Christ only who was thus tempted; in Him lay a heroical mind that could not be allured with small matters. But with us it is nothing so, for we esteem far more basely of ourselves. We set our wares at a very easy price; he may buy us even dagger-cheap, as we say. He need never carry us so high as the mount. The pinnacle is high enough; yea, the lowest steeple in all the town would serve the turn. Or let him but carry us to the leads and gutters of our own houses, nay, let us but stand in our windows or our doors, if he will give us but so much as we can there see, he will tempt us throughly; we will accept it, and thank him too. He shall not need to come to us with kingdoms. A matter of half a crown, or ten groats, a pair of shoes, or some such trifle will bring us on our knees to the devil (Andrewes).

Delivered unto me.We cannot say this statement is absolutely false. Satan has a certain limited power assigned to him; the world is under his power, not absolutely or permanently, but actually. Hence he is called the prince of this world by Christ Himself (Joh. 12:31). Worldly glory is within his power, since he may use it for tempting and ensnaring men. The description of a delegated power possessed by the evil one was calculated to correct the erroneous ideas of many of St. Lukes Gentile readers. They were accustomed to the dualistic idea of a kingdom of evil, not simply permitted to exist, but independent of the Divine will.

The Tempters Promise.High on the desert mountain, full descried, sits throned the tempter with his old promisethe kingdoms of this world and the glory of them. He still calls you to your labour, as Christ to your rest,labour and sorrow, base desire and cruel hope. So far as you desire to possess rather than to give; so far as you look for power to command instead of to bless; so far as your own prosperity seems to you to issue out of contest or rivalry of any kind with other men, or other nations; so long as the hope before you is for supremacy instead of love, and your desire is to be greatest instead of leastfirst instead of lastso long you are serving the lord of all that is last and leastDeathand you shall have deaths crown with the worm coiled in it, and deaths wages with the worm feeding on them; kindred of the earth shall you yourself become; saying to the grave, Thou art my father, and to the worm, Thou art my mother and sister. I leave you to judge and to choose between this labour and the bequeathed peace; these wages and the gift of the Morning Star; this obedience and the doing of the will which shall enable you to claim another kindred than that of earth, and to hear another voice than that of the grave, saying, My brother, and sister, and mother.Ruskin.

Luk. 4:7. If Thou therefore wilt worship me.Worship of Satan means that Christ should acknowledge his delegated power, and make the Messianic kingdom like those of the kingdoms of this world, in accordance with the general expectation and desire of the Jewish people. The word therefore shows that this is the sense in which the passage is to be understood. Not by material means or by physical force did Christ intend to found His kingdom, but by spiritual operations. His kingdom was not to be in continuation of anything previously existing, but a new beginning.

Luk. 4:8. Him only shalt thou serve.Satan has recourse to that passion whereof men in stricken folly are prone to be proud, and to make silly boast of their own weaknessto ambition, the last infirmity of noble minds. But the allegiance of the Son of man was not to be so shaken. Sinless, therefore, was the soul of the Lord as well as His body.Markby.

Worship due to God alone.Christ here asserts that worship is due to God and to Him alone. Yet in Heb. 1:6 we read that worship is to be paid to Christ Himself. What way is there by which to reconcile these two assertions, except by recognition of the Divine nature of Christ? How can Arians and Socinians reconcile them?

Luk. 4:9-12. The Third Temptation.

I. Satan prompts Jesus to display His supremacy and confound His adversary by challenging the celestial powers to do Him the homage of their protection.

II. The sublime reliance of Christs answer is in His profound submission of obedient humility.These simple words confounded the assailant, and go to the root of the temptation. Where is the child of God upon earth who is not daily thus tempted to tempt his God? This temptation finds its best and worst comment in the sins which dishonour God in His people; in the spiritual pride which tempts the Lord to withdraw His gifts; in the presumption that trifles with danger, trusting in an unpledged protection; in the spirit, conduct, and lives of those who forget that the privileges of grace belong to the lowly in heart, and are to be maintained only by humble walking with God.Pope.

Luk. 4:9. How to distinguish Faith from Presumption.The moment trust in God presumes to break any one, even the least of the laws of God, and then expects God to save it from the consequences of its disobedience, it is not trust, but unbelief; it is not faith, but presumption; it is not honouring, it is tempting God.Barrett.

Cast Thyself down.Experiments upon the Lord our God, whether upon His forbearance, His protection, or His power, are forbidden once and for ever in the sure word of revelation. Thou shalt not put to wilful trial the preserving and protecting Hand. God will keep His servants in lawful paths; but thou shalt neither trifle with danger, and say, God will preserve, nor with sin, and say, God will protect!Vaughan.

Use of Supernatural Power.Though Christ did not intend to have recourse to material means and to the methods and resources of worldly power in founding His kingdom, He yet purposed to make use of the gift of working miracles in accordance with the will of God. He is now urged to use this power capriciously, or in other words to infringe the relationship that existed between Him and the Father.

Cast Thyself down.Observe, Satan may tempt us to fall, but he cannot make us fall. He may persuade us to cast ourselves down, but he cannot cast us down,Wordsworth.

Luk. 4:10-11. He shall give His angels charge.The quotation from Scripture gives additional keenness to this temptation; and it is valuable to notice the nature of the error which underlies the use made of the sacred text. The error consists in ignoring or in keeping out of sight the fact that Gods promises are conditional, while His precepts are absolute. By voluntarily creating a danger for ourselves, we deprive ourselves of the promises of help and deliverance which God will fulfil to those who are in danger while they are pursuing the path of duty. There is nothing in the narrative to imply that Christ was tempted to make an impression upon priests and worshippers in the Temple by miraculously appearing among them, and thus to induce them to accept Him as the Messiah. This idea of theatrical display and wonder-working power would be more in harmony with the second temptation of Luk. 4:6, i.e. to use carnal and not spiritual means for founding His kingdom.

Luk. 4:12. Temptation to Spiritual Pride.Finding Jesus to be a man of God, and His body proof against His weapons, Satan turns to a more formidable mode of attack. He tries Him on the quarter of spiritual pride. Doubtless he knew well that this was the most vulnerable point in the armour of the servants of God. Perhaps he had never met with one before who had escaped being wounded there; even Elijah hardly came off scatheless from that assault. Here, however, he was foiled again, and driven off by a like impulse of the pure human heart of Christ, quenching Scripture ill used with Scripture well used.Markly.

Thou shalt not tempt.In Deu. 6:16 the words are, Ye shall not tempt. Perhaps by the change to thou Christ implies His own Divine majesty, and forbids Satan to assail Him further. Thou shalt not tempt Me who am the Lord thy God. To tempt God is to seek to put Him in the dilemma of either violating His own word, or of doing what we wish Him to do, even though we are conscious that our wish is not in accordance with His will. It is a kind of sin which is often prompted by religious fanaticism.

It is said.Christ does not refute the use made by Satan of Scripture, but, as said above, sets the absolute precept over against the conditional promise. This is more emphatically indicated by St. Matthew (Mat. 4:7).

It is written again.The addition of a second scripture qualifies and interprets the first, but does not contradict it.Alford.

Clear Guidance in Scripture.So though thou canst not clear the sense of an obscure scripture, thou shalt always find a sufficient guard in another that is clearer.Leighton.

Luk. 4:13. All the temptation.I.e. every kind of temptation. The Christian may recognise temptations and learn the proper mode of resisting them by studying this narrative of Christs experience in the wilderness. On every occasion of danger we may draw help from His example, for few forms of temptation will be found which may not be referred

(1) to distrust of God, or
(2) the desire of perishing things, or
(3) vain ostentation.

For a season.What is the force of these words? It is in accordance with the facts of His life to read them as referring to the continual battle of His life. My temptations. That is His own description of His life. There was not a temptation at the beginning (in the wilderness) and at the end (in the garden) with a clear space between, but the battle was fought all through His life. If proof, or rather record, of it be a wanting, that does not make it less terrible, for mortal struggles are often waged in grim silence.Nicoll.

A Short Lull.It is a mistake to suppose that He was only tempted during the forty days in the wilderness. Those forty days were a fierce and typical outbreak of new temptations such as He had been incapable of before His baptism; but we are significantly told that, at the close of them, the devil departed from Him for a season. It was a short lull, and the storm was but gathering strength to burst on Him again.Mason.

Enticements and Threats.As, in the wilderness, by every allurement of pleasure, so in the garden and on the cross, by every avenue of pain, did the devil seek to shake the second Adam from His steadfastness. And this also may teach us what we have to expect; at one time the seductions, at another the threats, of an evil world. And who is sufficient for these things?Burgon.

Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell

Appleburys Comments

Victory of Jesus Over Temptation
Scripture

Luk. 4:1-13 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness 2 during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered. 3 And the devil said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread. 4 And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, 5 And he led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7 If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine. 8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9 And he led him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 for it is written,

He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, to guard thee:

and,

On their hands they shall bear thee up,
Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone.

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.

13 And when the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Comments

full of the Holy Spirit.John was also said to be full of the Holy Spirit, meaning dedication to the service of the Lord. See Luk. 1:15. It probably means the same when referring to Jesus, for He was also dedicated to His Fathers business. John as a prophet was also inspired by the Holy Spirit (Joh. 3:34). Jesus was the Prophet; what He said and did were by the power of the Holy Spirit. Act. 1:2 ; Mat. 12:28.

led in the Spirit.God through the Holy Spirit led Him from the baptism where He acknowledged Him as Son to the wilderness where the devil tempted Him because He was also Son of Man.

tempted of the devil.He was tempted by the devil. Temptation is a trial that presents an opportunity to choose between good and evil, between God and the devil. Man was tempted in the Garden because God said he was not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but the devil said that it was good and would make man wise. To do what the devil says is to break the law of God, and that is sin. The temptation in itself is not sin; it is the submission to the devils proposition that is sin. The submission need not go as far as the actual committing of the act; the longing desire for the evil thing is also sin. James says, Each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lustlonging desire for eviland enticed. Jas. 1:14. Jesus said the same thing. Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you, that every one that looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Mat. 5:27-28).

When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He did not hesitate one fleeting moment to reject the evil suggestion.

he hungered.He had been without food for forty days; He was really hungry; thought of food presented a challenge. The devil wouldnt try to tempt a man with the thought of food just after he had eaten. He always strikes at the weakest place. Judas love for money made the thought of thirty pieces of silver a real temptation and it became his downfall.

Paul said, Let him who thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall (1Co. 10:12). Remember that Peter denied His Lord in a few short hours after boasting that he would be true even if all the other disciples should fail.

If you are the Son of God.Jesus was tempted as man; He could not be tempted as God, for God cannot be tempted of evil (Jas. 1:13). He also met temptation as man and overcame it as a man. He said, Man shall not live by bread alone, quoting what God had caused to be written for mans direction (Deu. 8:3).

Why then did the devil say, If you are the Son of God? He knew He was; God had just acknowledged Him from heaven saying, You are my beloved Son; in you I am well pleased. The devils proposition to change a stone into bread that a hungry man might eat was real because as Son of God He could have done it. Otherwise there would have been no temptation at all. Then why didnt He do it? Because it would have violated what God had said, and that would have been sin!

The writer of Hebrews says that He was tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin. Heb. 4:15. Then let no one when he is tempted say that he must submit because he is just human; rather, let him use the same weapon that Jesus used, the Word of God, and with it overcome the devil.

command this stone that it become bread.The devil presented three temptations in the Garden: (1) The tree was good for food; (2) it was a delight to the eyes; (3) it was to be desired to make one wise, like God. The same three temptations are seen in the propositions which the devil presented to Jesus: (1) food; (2) the sight of the worlds with their glory and authority; (3) be like God and defy Gods law for man. John mentions the same three issues when he writes about all that is in the world of sin: (1) the lust of the flesh; (2) the lust of the eyes; (3) and the vainglory of lifemans reckless disregard for God. See 1Jn. 2:15-16.

The devils ability to tempt man is limited. Mans ability to withstand temptation depends on doing what God had commanded (1Co. 10:13). The victory of Jesus proves it, Paul said to put on the whole armor of God in order to withstand the devil. Take the shield of faith, for with it you can quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. Eph. 6:10-18.

To thee I will give all this authority.The devil said it had been given to him to give to whomsoever he would. But he lied in the Garden, and Jesus said he is a liar and the father of liars (Joh. 8:44). Why should anyone believe him? Jesus certainly didnt for He answered, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.

the pinnacle of the temple.Some high point on the temple in Jerusalem. The devil suggested that Jesus use His divine power for self-glory and disregard Gods law for man. He even attempted to use Scripture to support his evil suggestion. He seems to say, Just jump off; you wont fall. God will take care of you. How many foolish things men have attempted to do because they have not considered all that God has said! But Jesus was not caught unawares, for He knew the whole Word of God. He said, It is written, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.

when the devil had completed every temptation.This may refer to the three temptations which he had just presented to Jesus, or it may mean that every temptation of the devil can be put into these three categories.

he departed from him for a season.The devil had been defeated in in each attempt to lead Jesus to sin. He left Him for a season, but returned again and again in many situations that presented temptations.

Matthew says that when the devil left Jesus, angels came and ministered unto him (Mat. 4:11).

The Beginning of Jesus Ministry in Galilee

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

IV.

(1-13) Being full of the Holy Ghost.See Notes on Mat. 4:1-11. The words used by St. Luke describe the same fact as those used by St. Matthew and St. Mark, and agree with the Spirit given not by measure of Joh. 3:34

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 4

THE BATTLE WITH TEMPTATION ( Luk 4:1-13 )

4:1-13 Jesus came back from the Jordan full of the Holy Spirit. He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and for forty days he was tempted by the devil; and in those days he ate nothing, and when they were completed he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you really are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” Jesus answered him, “It stands written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.'” He took him up and showed him in an instant of time all the kingdoms of the inhabited world. The devil said to him, “I will give you all this power and the glory of them, because it has been handed over to me, and I can give it to whomsoever I wish. If then you worship me all of it will be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It stands written, ‘You must worship the Lord God and him only must you serve.'” He brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the Temple, and said to him, “If you really are the Son of God throw yourself down from here, for it stands written, ‘He has given his angels instructions concerning you, to take care of you, and they will bear you up in their hands lest you dash your foot against a stone.'” Jesus answered him, “It has been said, ‘You must not try to test the Lord your God.'” So when he had gone through the whole gamut of temptation, the devil left him for a time.

We have already seen how there were certain great milestones in the life of Jesus and here is one of the greatest. In the Temple when he was twelve there had come the realization that God was his Father in a unique way. In the emergence of John, the hour had struck and in his baptism God’s approval had come. At this time Jesus was just about to begin his campaign. Before a man begins a campaign he must choose his methods. The temptation story shows us Jesus choosing once and for all the method by which he proposed to win men to God. It shows him rejecting the way of power and glory and accepting the way of suffering and the cross.

Before we go on to think of this story in detail there are two general points we must note.

(i) This is the most sacred of stories, for it can have come from no other source than his own lips. At some time he must have himself told his disciples about this most intimate experience of his soul.

(ii) Even at this time Jesus must have been conscious of quite exceptional powers. The whole point of the temptations is that they could have come only to a man who could do astonishing things. It is no temptation to us to turn stones into bread or leap from a Temple pinnacle, for the simple reason that it is impossible for us to do such things. These are temptations which could have come only to a man whose powers were unique and who had to decide how to use them.

First of all let us think of the scene, namely, the wilderness. The inhabited part of Judaea stood on the central plateau which was the backbone of Southern Palestine. Between it and the Dead Sea stretched a terrible wilderness, thirty-five by fifteen miles. It was called Jeshimmon, which means “The Devastation.” The hills were like dust heaps; the limestone looked blistered and peeling; the rocks were bare and jagged; the ground sounded hollow to the horses’ hooves; it glowed with heat like a vast furnace and ran out to the precipices, 1,200 feet high, which swooped down to the Dead Sea. It was in that awesome devastation that Jesus was tempted.

We must not think that the three temptations came and went like scenes in a play. We must rather think of Jesus deliberately retiring to this lonely place and for forty days wrestling with the problem of how he could win men. It was a long battle which never ceased until the cross and the story ends by saying that the tempter left Jesus–for a season.

(i) The first temptation was to turn stones into bread. This wilderness was not a wilderness of sand. It was covered by little bits of limestone exactly like loaves. The tempter said to Jesus, “If you want people to follow you, use your wonderful powers to give them material things.” He was suggesting that Jesus should bribe people into following him. Back came Jesus’ answer in a quotation of Deu 8:3. “A man,” he said, “will never find life in material things.”

The task of Christianity is not to produce new conditions, although the weight and voice of the church must be behind all efforts to make life better for men. Its real task is to produce new men; and given the new men, the new conditions will follow.

(ii) In the second temptation Jesus in imagination stood upon a mountain from which the whole civilized world could be seen. The tempter said, “Worship me, and all will be yours.” This is the temptation to compromise. The devil said, “I have got people in my grip. Don’t set your standards so high. Strike a bargain with me. Just compromise a little with evil and men will follow you.” Back came Jesus’ answer, “God is God, right is right and wrong is wrong. There can be no compromise in the war on evil.” Once again Jesus quotes scripture ( Deu 6:13; Deu 10:1-22; Deu 20:1-20).

It is a constant temptation to seek to win men by compromising with the standards of the world. G. K. Chesterton said that the tendency of the world is to see things in terms of an indeterminate grey; but the duty of the Christian is to see things in terms of black and white. As Carlyle said, “The Christian must be consumed by the conviction of the infinite beauty of holiness and the infinite damnability of sin.”

(iii) In the third temptation Jesus in imagination saw himself on the pinnacle of the Temple where Solomon’s Porch and the Royal Porch met. There was a sheer drop of 450 feet down into the Kedron Valley below. This was the temptation to give the people sensations. “No,” said Jesus, “you must not make senseless experiments with the power of God” ( Deu 6:16). Jesus saw quite clearly that if he produced sensations he could be a nine days’ wonder: but he also saw that sensationalism would never last.

The hard way of service and of suffering leads to the cross, but after the cross to the crown.

THE GALILAEAN SPRINGTIME ( Luk 4:14-15 )

4:14-15 So Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee; and the story of him spread throughout the whole countryside. He kept on teaching in their synagogues; and he was held in high reputation by all.

No sooner had Jesus left the wilderness than he was faced with another decision. He knew that for him the hour had struck; he had settled once and for all the method he was going to take. Now he had to decide where he would start.

(i) He began in Galilee. Galilee was an area in the north of Palestine about fifty miles from north to south and twenty-five miles from east to west. The name itself means a circle and comes from the Hebrew word galiyl ( H1551) . It was so called because it was encircled by non-Jewish nations. Because of that, new influences had always played upon Galilee and it was the most forward-looking and least conservative part of Palestine. It was extraordinarily densely populated. Josephus, who was himself at one time governor of the area, says that it had 204 villages or towns, none with a population less than 15,000. It seems incredible that there could be some 3,000,000 people congregated in Galilee.

It was a land of extraordinary fertility. There was a proverb which said that, “It is easier to raise a legion of olive trees in Galilee than to bring up one child in Judaea.” The wonderful climate and the superb water supply made it the garden of Palestine. The very list of trees which grew there shows how amazingly fertile it was–the vine, the olive, the fig, the oak, the walnut, the terebinth, the palm, the cedar, the cypress, the balsam, the firtree, the pine, the sycamore, the baytree, the myrtle. the almond, the pomegranate, the citron and the oleander.

The Galilaeans themselves were the Highlanders of Palestine. Josephus says of them, “They were ever fond of innovations and by nature disposed to changes, and delighted in seditions. They were ever ready to follow a leader who would begin an insurrection. They were quick in temper and given to quarrelling.” “The Galilaeans,” it was said, “have never been destitute of courage.” “They were ever more anxious for honour than for gain.”

That is the land in which Jesus began. It was his own land; and it would give him, at least at the beginning, an audience who would listen and kindle at his message.

(ii) He began in the synagogue. The synagogue was the real centre of religious life in Palestine. There was only one Temple; but the law said that wherever there were ten Jewish families there must be a synagogue; and so in every town and village it was in the synagogue that the people met to worship. There were no sacrifices in the synagogue. The Temple was designed for sacrifice; the synagogue for teaching. But how could Jesus gain an entry into the synagogue and how could he, a layman, the carpenter from Nazareth, deliver his message there?

In the synagogue service there were three parts.

(a) The worship part in which prayer was offered.

(b) The reading of the scriptures. Seven people from the congregation read. As they read, the ancient Hebrew, which was no longer widely understood, was translated by the Targumist into Aramaic or Greek, in the case of the Law, one verse at a time, in the case of the prophets, three verses at a time.

(c) The teaching part. In the synagogue there was no professional ministry nor any one person to give the address; the president would invite any distinguished person present to speak and discussion and talk would follow. That is how Jesus got his chance. The synagogue and its platform were open to him at this stage.

(iii) The passage ends by saying that he was held in high reputation by all. This period of Jesus’ ministry has been called the Galilaean springtime. He had come like a breath of the very wind of God. The opposition had not yet crystallized. Men’s hearts were hungry for the word of life, and they had not yet realized what a blow he was to strike at the orthodoxy of his time. A man with a message will always command an audience.

WITHOUT HONOUR IN HIS OWN COUNTRY ( Luk 4:16-30 )

4:16-30 So Jesus came to Nazareth where he had been brought up; and, as was his habit, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read the lesson. The roll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He opened the roll and found the passage where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring the Good News to the poor. He has sent me to announce release to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who have been bruised, to proclaim that the year which everyone is waiting for has come.” And he folded up the roll and handed it back to the officer and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed intently on him. He began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your ears.” And all witnessed to him and were amazed at the words of grace that came from his mouth. And they said, “Is this not the son of Joseph?” He said to them, “You are bound to quote the proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself; we have heard about all that happened in Capernaum; do the same kind of things in your own home country.'” He said, “This is the truth that I tell you. No prophet is accepted in his own home country. In truth I tell you there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months and when there was a great famine all over the earth. And to none of them was Elijah sent but he was sent to Zarephath, to a widow of Sidon. There were many lepers in Israel in the times of Elisha the prophet; and none of them was healed; but Naaman the Syrian was.” And the people in the synagogue were filled with anger as they listened to these things; and they rose up and hustled him out of the town. They took him to the brow of the hill on which their town is built, to throw him down; but he passed through the midst of them and went upon his way.

One of Jesus’ very early visits was to Nazareth, his home town. Nazareth was not a village. It is called a polis ( G4172) which means a town or city; and it may well have had as many as 20,000 inhabitants. It stood in a little hollow in the hills on the lower slopes of Galilee near the Plain of Jezreel. But a boy had only to climb to the hilltop above the town and he could see an amazing panorama for miles around.

Sir George Adam Smith described the scene from the hilltop. The history of Israel stretched out before the watcher’s eye. There was the plain of Esdraelon where Deborah and Barak had fought; where Gideon had won his victories; where Saul had crashed to disaster and Josiah had been killed in battle; there was Naboth’s vineyard and the place where Jehu slaughtered Jezebel; there was Shunem where Elisha had lived; there was Carmel where Elijah had fought his epic battle with the prophets of Baal; and, blue in the distance, there was the Mediterranean and the isles of the sea.

Not only the history of Israel was there; the world unfolded itself from the hilltop above Nazareth. Three great roads skirted it. There was the road from the south carrying pilgrims to Jerusalem. There was the great Way of the Sea which led from Egypt to Damascus with laden caravans moving along it. There was the great road to the east bearing caravans from Arabia and Roman legions marching out to the eastern frontiers of the Empire. It is wrong to think of Jesus as being brought up in a backwater; he was brought up in a town in sight of history and with the traffic of the world almost at its doors.

We have already described the synagogue service and this passage gives us a vivid picture of it in action. It was not a book which Jesus took, for at this time everything was written on rolls. It was from Isa 61:1-11 that he read. In Luk 4:20 the King James Version speaks misleadingly of the minister. The official in question was the Chazzan. He had many duties. He had to take out and put back the sacred rolls of scripture; he had to keep the synagogue clean; he had to announce the coming of the Sabbath with three blasts of the silver trumpet from the synagogue roof; and he was also the teacher in the village school. Luk 4:20 says that Jesus sat down. That gives us the impression that he was finished. In point of fact it means that he was about to start, because the speaker gave the address seated and Rabbis taught sitting down. (compare our own phrase, a professor’s chair).

What angered the people was the apparent compliment that Jesus paid to gentiles. The Jews were so sure that they were God’s people that they utterly despised all others. They believed that “God had created the gentiles to be fuel for the fires of hell.” And here was this young Jesus, whom they all knew, preaching as if the gentiles were specially favoured by God. It was beginning to dawn upon them that there were things in this new message the like of which they had never dreamed.

We must note two other things.

(i) It was Jesus’ habit to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. There must have been many things with which he radically disagreed and which grated on him–yet he went. The worship of the synagogue might be far from perfect; yet Jesus never omitted to join himself to God’s worshipping people on God’s day.

(ii) We have only to read the passage of Isaiah that Jesus read to see the difference between Jesus and John the Baptist. John was the preacher of doom and at his message men must have shuddered with terror. It was a gospel–Good News–which Jesus brought. Jesus, too, knew the wrath of God but it was always the wrath of love.

THE SPIRIT OF AN UNCLEAN DEVIL ( Luk 4:31-37 )

4:31-37 Jesus came down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and he was teaching them on the Sabbath day; and they were astonished at his teaching because his speech was with authority. There was in the synagogue a man who had a spirit of an unclean demon and he cried out with a loud voice, “What have we to do with you, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God.” So Jesus rebuked it. “Be muzzled,” he said, “and come out of him.” And after the demon had thrown him into the midst of them, it came out of him and it did him no harm. Astonishment fell on them all and they kept saying to each other, “What word is this? because he gives orders to unclean spirits with authority and with power and they come out.” And the story of him went out to every place in the surrounding district.

We would have liked to know as much about Capernaum as we do about Nazareth, but the strange fact is that there is even doubt as to the site of this lake-side town where so much of Jesus’ mighty work was done.

This passage is specially interesting because it is the first in Luke where we encounter demon possession. The ancient world believed that the air was thickly populated with evil spirits which sought entry into men. Often they did enter a man through food or drink. All illness was caused by them. The Egyptians believed there were thirty-six different parts of the human body and any of them could be entered and controlled by one of these evil spirits. There were spirits of deafness, of dumbness, of fever; spirits which took a man’s sanity and wits away; spirits of lying and of deceit and of uncleanness. It was such a spirit that Jesus exorcised here.

To many people this is a problem. On the whole, modern thought regards belief in spirits as something primitive and superstitious which men have outgrown. Yet Jesus seemed to believe in them. There are three possibilities.

(i) Jesus actually did believe in them. If that is so, as far as scientific knowledge went he was not in advance of his own age but under all the limitations of contemporary medical thought. There is no need to refuse such a conclusion for, if Jesus was really a man, in scientific things he must have had the knowledge then open to men.

(ii) Jesus did not believe in them. But the sufferer did believe intensely and Jesus could cure people only by assuming their beliefs about themselves to be true. If a person is ill and someone says to him, “There’s nothing wrong with you,” that is no help. The reality of the pain has to be admitted before a cure can follow. The people believed they were possessed of devils and Jesus, like a wise doctor, knew he could not heal them unless he assumed that their view of their trouble was real.

(iii) Modern thought has been swinging round to the admission that perhaps there is something in demons after all. There are certain troubles which have no bodily cause as far as can be discovered. There is no reason why the man is ill, but he is ill. Since there is no physical explanation some now think there must be a spiritual one and that demons may not be so unreal after all.

The people were astonished at Jesus’ power–and no wonder. The east was full of people who could exorcise demons. But their methods were weird and wonderful. An exorcist would put a ring under the afflicted person’s nose; he would recite a long spell; and then all of a sudden there would be a splash in a basin of water which he had put near to hand–and the demon was out! A magical root called Baaras was specially effective. When a man approached it, it shrank into the ground unless gripped, and to grip it was certain death. So the ground round it was dug away; a dog was tied to it; the struggles of the dog tore up the root; and when the root was torn up the dog died, as a substitute for a man. What a difference between all this hysterical paraphernalia and the calm single word of command of Jesus! It was his sheer authority which staggered them.

Jesus’ authority was something quite new. When the Rabbis taught they supported every statement with quotations. They always said, “There is a saying that . . .” “Rabbi so and so said that …” They always appealed to authority. When the prophets spoke, they said, “Thus saith the Lord.” Theirs was a delegated authority. When Jesus spoke, he said, “I say to you.” He needed no authorities to buttress him; his was not a delegated authority; he was authority incarnate. Here was a man who spoke as one who knew.

In every sphere of life the expert bears an air of authority. A musician tells how when Toscanini mounted the rostrum authority flowed from him and the orchestra felt it. When we need technical advice we call in the expert. Jesus is the expert in life. He speaks and men know that this is beyond human argument–this is God.

A MIRACLE IN A COTTAGE ( Luk 4:38-39 )

4:38-39 Jesus left the synagogue and came into Simon’s house; and Simon’s mother-in-law was in the grip of a major fever. They asked him to do something for her. He stood over her and rebuked the fever and it left her. Immediately she got up and began to serve them.

Here Luke the doctor writes. In the grip of a major fever–every word is a medical term. In the grip of is the medical Greek for someone definitely laid up with an illness. The Greek medical writers divided fevers into two classes–major and minor. Luke knew just how to describe this illness.

There are three great truths in this short incident.

(i) Jesus was always ready to serve. He had just left the synagogue. Every preacher knows what it is like after a service. Virtue is gone out of him; he has need of rest. The last thing he wants is a crowd of people and a fresh call upon him. But no sooner had Jesus left the synagogue and entered Peter’s house than the insistent cry of human need was at him. He did not claim that he was tired and must rest; he answered it without complaint.

The Salvation Army people tell of a Mrs. Berwick in the days of the London blitzes. She had been in charge of the Salvation Army’s social work in Liverpool and had retired to London. People had strange ideas during the blitzes and they had the idea that somehow Mrs Berwick’s house was safe; and so they gathered there. Though she had retired, the instinct to help was still with her. She got together a simple first-aid box and then put a notice in her window, “If you need help, knock here.” Always Jesus was ready to help; his followers must be the same.

(ii) Jesus did not need a crowd to work a miracle. Many a man will put out an effort in a crowd that he will not make among his own private circle. Many a man is at his best in society and at his worst at home. All too commonly we are gracious, courteous, obliging to strangers and the very opposite when there is no one but our own folk to see. But Jesus was prepared to put out all his power in a village cottage in Capernaum when the crowds were gone.

(iii) When Peter’s mother-in-law was cured immediately she began to serve them. She realized that she had been given back her health to spend it in the service of others. She wanted no fussing and no petting; she wanted to get on with cooking and serving her own folk and Jesus. Mothers are always like that. We would do well to remember that if God gave us the priceless gift of health and strength, he gave it that we might use it always in the service of others.

THE INSISTENT CROWDS ( Luk 4:40-44 )

4:40-44 When the sun was setting all who had friends who were ill with all kinds of sicknesses brought them to Jesus; and he laid his hands upon each one of them and cured them. Out of many there came demons, shouting out and saying, “You are the Son of God.” And he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak, because they knew that he was the Anointed One. When day came, he went out and went to a desert place; and the crowds kept looking for him and they tried to restrain him so that he would not go away from them; but he said to them, “I must tell the Good News of the Kingdom of God to other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.”

(i) Early in the morning Jesus went out to be alone. He was able to meet the insistent needs of men only because he first companied with God. Once, in the 1914-18 war, a staff conference was due to begin. All were present except Marshal Foch, the commander-in-chief. An officer who knew him well said, “I think I know where we may find him.” He led them round to a ruined chapel close beside General Headquarters and there, before the shattered altar, the great soldier was kneeling in prayer. Before he met men he must first meet God.

(ii) There is no word of complaint or resentment when Jesus’ privacy was invaded by the crowds. Prayer is great but in the last analysis human need is greater. Florence Allshorn, the great missionary teacher, used to run a training college for missionaries. She knew human nature and she had little time for people who suddenly discovered that their quiet hour was due just when the dishes were to be washed! Pray we must; but prayer must never be an escape from reality. Prayer cannot preserve a man from the insistent cry of human need. It must prepare him for it; and sometimes he will need to rise from his knees too soon and get to work–even when he does not want to.

(iii) Jesus would not let the demons speak. Over and over again we get on Jesus’ lips this injunction to silence. Why? For this very good reason–the Jews had their own popular ideas of the Messiah. To them the Messiah was to be a conquering king who would set his foot upon the eagle’s neck and sweep the Romans from Palestine. Palestine was in an inflammable condition. Rebellion was always just below the surface and often broke out. Jesus knew that if the report went out that he was the Messiah the revolutionaries would be ready to flare up. Before men could call him Messiah, he had to teach them that Messiah meant not a conquering king but a suffering servant. His injunctions to silence were given because people did not yet know what Messiahship meant, and if they started out with the wrong ideas death and destruction would surely follow.

(iv) Here is the first mention of the kingdom of God in Luke’s gospel. Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God ( Mar 1:15). That was the essence of his message. What did he mean by the kingdom of God? For Jesus the kingdom was three things at the same time.

(a) It was past. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were in the kingdom and they had lived centuries ago ( Luk 13:28).

(b) It was present. “The kingdom,” he said, “is within you, or among you” ( Luk 17:21).

How can the kingdom be all these things at the same time? Turn to the Lord’s Prayer. There are two petitions in it side by side. Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven ( Mat 6:10). Now the Hebrews, as any verse of the psalms will show, had a way of saying things twice; and always the second way explained, or developed, or amplified the first way. Put these two phrases together–Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The second explains the first; therefore, the kingdom of God is a society upon earth where Gods will is as perfectly done as it is in heaven. If any man in the past has perfectly done God’s will, he is in the kingdom; if any man does it now, he is in the kingdom; but the day when all men will do that will is still far distant, therefore the consummation is still to come; and so the kingdom is past and present and future all at the same time.

Other men do that will spasmodically, sometimes obeying, sometimes disobeying. Only Jesus always did it perfectly. That is why he is the foundation and the incarnation of the kingdom. He came to enable all men to do the same. To do God’s will is to be a citizen of the kingdom of God. We may well pray– “Lord, bring in thy kingdom, beginning with me.”

-Barclay’s Daily Study Bible (NT)

Fuente: Barclay Daily Study Bible

17. TEMPTATION OF JESUS, Luk 4:1-13 .

Mat 4:1-11; Mar 1:12-13.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

1. Full of the Holy Ghost Bestowed in full measure at his baptism.

Returned from Jordan Towards Jerusalem, probably, and thence to Nazareth. This is an important point. It has been objected, How could he be led into the wilderness, when at his baptism he was already in the wilderness? Jesus’s back was towards the wilderness, we reply, and his face and movements toward Jerusalem, or Nazareth, when, as Mark says, “immediately the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness.”

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted of the Devil. And he ate nothing in those days, and when they were completed, he was hungry.’

Now full of the Holy Spirit Jesus departs from the Jordan and led in the Spirit enters the wilderness for forty days without food. This follows the pattern of Moses who twice went into the mountain to meet with God and went without food in order to receive the Law (Exo 34:28; Deu 9:9). Possibly we are to see in this that Jesus was here receiving a new Law. Compare also how Elijah endured without food for forty days after being provided with food by an angel twice (1Ki 19:5-8), resulting in his receiving a revelation of God and instructions for his future, and how it was in the wilderness that John received ‘the word of God’ (Luk 3:2). So Jesus is following in the path of the three greatest of the prophets as He too prepares for His future. He has not entered the wilderness in order to be tempted. He has entered it in order to receive the word of the Lord, and guidance as to His future.

We may also see here that Jesus entered into the experience of Israel in the wilderness where God tested them for forty years (Deu 8:2; Deu 13:3-4). Here too was a test as to whether love for God would triumph over personal self-seeking and aggrandisement, and where Israel failed, Jesus, representing the new Israel, would succeed. In point of fact it can be noted that all Jesus’ replies to the Devil’s temptations are taken from a passage that reflects this time in the wilderness ((Deu 6:13 to Deu 8:3).

But we must not make the purpose of being tested the reason for entering the wilderness. The leading by the Spirit was primarily in order to consider His future and to receive the word of God, as John had before Him, not in order to be tempted. For in Luk 11:4 Jesus teaches His disciple to pray that they might not be led into temptation. The temptations that He faced rather revealed what subjects His mind was on while in the wilderness, how to win the world, and how to reveal His Messiahship. Yet when anyone seeks to hear the word of God inevitably temptation will come, for the Devil, the great deceiver, will seek to turn them from God’s path. And thus was He tempted of the Devil as He considered His future before God, temptation brought in order to lead Him to go about His future work in the wrong way. How the Devil did that comes out especially in the other two temptations, but it is reflected here also.

Having been without food for nearly forty days Jesus began to feel hungry, and it was then that the Devil seized what he thought was his opportunity. We should note from this, and from what happens later, that the Devil is not seen as omniscient. Indeed with regard both to Jesus and the early church in Acts he constantly made errors which instead of achieving his purpose helped to bring about God’s purposes.

It is clear that the disciples learned of His experiences from Jesus Himself. Thus is it made quite clear that Jesus did believe in a personal Devil, or Satan as he is described elsewhere. Had He merely been pandering to innocence He would not have introduced him where it was not necessary. It was only necessary here because it was true, and in order to be a warning to them of something that would be real for them too.

It should be noted that the temptation comes from without. (That is true even if it came into the mind rather than from a physical presence). He could not be tempted from within, for He was without sin. But He was as much open to temptation from without as we are. And He had the same physical feelings and desires, although in His case not intermingled with sinfulness. They were untainted. But He still knew hunger. He was in essence, as Man, in the same position as Adam before the Fall.

‘He was hungry.’ Here we have the reminder that Jesus was true man. While He was the Son of God in an exalted sense, He was also a son of Adam. Thus it was not only the Son of God of chapter 1 Who faced this temptation, it was very much the son of Mary.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Jesus Goes Into The Wilderness To Prepare For His Life’s Work and Is Tempted by the Devil (4:1-12).

So as He contemplates His future ministry Jesus has to consider the way in which He will go about it, and for that purpose He goes into the wilderness as John had done previously. (Mark says that the Holy Spirit ‘drove’ Him there). There as He considers the way ahead He has to face the Tempter. Whether this was just in His thoughts (spirit to spirit – consider ‘led in the Spirit in the wilderness’), or whether He actually saw the Devil (diabolos = ‘slanderer’) we do not know. If the latter we can be sure he came, not in any grotesque form, but disguised as an angel of light (2Co 11:14). It may well be that towards the end of His lonely vigil Jesus met an attractive stranger in the wilderness through whom the Devil spoke with the subtlety of the serpent, as later he would take Judas and speak through him. We certainly come across such evil possessed men later (e.g. Act 13:6). (Compare how Jesus can even address Peter as ‘Satan’ (Mar 8:33).

The story of the temptations of Jesus is paralleled in Matthew, but not in Mark where it is only referred to in summary. There is, however, a difference in the order of the temptations from Matthew. Both Matthew and Luke saw the story as a whole and presented it in that way, drawing out three examples, the threeness indicating the completeness of His temptation and His victory over it, and putting them in the order that suited their purpose. Indeed over the period of forty days the same temptations no doubt came again and again in differing orders and in different ways, as Jesus wrestled with how he should approach the future. Both Mark and Luke certainly seem to suggest that they covered most of the forty days (Mar 1:13, and see Luk 4:2; Luk 4:13 which agrees), for there Jesus was facing up to His future, and how He was to use the awesome powers over which He now had control. There can therefore be no question of a specific order for them, and to speak of one order being more correct than the other is to simplify a complex situation. What is described here is the culmination of His being tempted over the whole forty days on how to conduct His ministry, illustrating the essentials of what was involved, not a stage managed three part drama. (We may also note that it is only the leading temptation that is actually said to be after the forty days were almost up. It is we who assume a chronological order. The ‘then’ (tote) in Mat 4:5 can mean ‘at that time’ and need not be specific). What is not mentioned is that at the same time He worked His way through to what His paths should be. That will be unfolded in what follows.

But what is significant in Luke is that He is depicted as ending up with the temptation in Jerusalem as the climax of the temptations. The order is not chronological but thematic. The idea of Jerusalem is central in Luke’s Gospel. In this Gospel Jesus makes a set path for Jerusalem (Luk 9:31; Luk 9:51; Luk 9:53; Luk 13:22; Luk 13:33; Luk 17:11; Luk 18:31; Luk 19:11; Luk 19:28) even in childhood (Luk 2:22-38; Luk 2:41-50) and when it comes to His resurrection appearances we are only told about those that occurred in Jerusalem. To Luke, as a Greek writing to Greeks, Jerusalem symbolised Judaism and Israel. All therefore to do with the Messiah centres around Jerusalem. Thus to manifest Himself in Jerusalem is the climax of His temptations, and foreshadows His final victory in Jerusalem. There He will reveal Himself in His resurrection, a far greater ‘sign’ than is suggested here, but a sign with a purpose. In Matthew, where the Kingship of Jesus is emphasised, it is the expression of world Kingship that is the ultimate temptation on which to end. Here it is the temptation to perform a spectacular sign in Jerusalem. Both were temptations He probably faced again and again as he prayed in the wilderness.

The temptations of Jesus illustrate 1Jn 2:15-16. The desires of the flesh are prominent in the temptation after bread when He was hungry, the desires of the eyes in terms of seeing all the kingdoms of the world as possibly belonging to Him, and the pride of life in the temptation to demonstrate to all in the wrong way His supreme power and authority and importance to God. But as John points out concerning such temptations, ‘these are not of the Father but are of the world’, and in each reply Jesus makes, this is made clear.

We will deal further with the significance of the temptations as we go through the text, but it is important to recognise that throughout the temptations, which occur while He is meditating on His approach to His new ministry, loyalty to God is what is central. How He will approach His mission in that light is what is in question, together with what His attitude towards concerning His God-given gifts will be. This comes out in each reply. ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’, ‘you shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’, ‘you shall not put the Lord your God to the test’. His reply is thus that He will succeed only by being God-centred, and seeking to do only His will, and it is then revealed as not His will to use His powers for selfish ends, or in seeking glory and power, or in performing extravagant signs. His purpose must be to let God shine through. It is a mission therefore that to some extent, whether high or low, we can all participate in (Mat 5:16).

One last word may be said about the temptations, and that is that they place Jesus firmly in the line of those who had gone before. Adam, the first man, was tempted in Eden (Genesis 3). Abraham was tested with regard to Isaac his son (Gen 22:1). David was tested with regard to his kingship (2Sa 24:1 /2Ch 21:1). And so also was Job, the man with whom God had said that He was well pleased (Job 1-2). Now here was the new Adam, the Fulfiller of the Abrahamic promises, the Greater David, the One in Whom God has declared Himself well pleased. He was a sitting target for the Devil.

But what did the Devil see? He saw the kind of man he hated, one of those who sucked up to God. He saw one Who had come to fulfil the prophecies which were bad news for him. He had seen the details of His birth, and what had been said about Him, He had seen His attendance at ‘His Father’s House’. He had even seen what had occurred at His baptism. It was not good. But he remembered back to Eden. There too there had been a ‘son of God’. There too everything had been against him. But with extreme cunning, a little deceit, and a knowledge of human nature he had won. And now he could win again. For with all his knowledge and perception he saw One Who was only a man. How could he have dreamed that God would humiliate Himself to such an extent as to become man? It was beyond His distorted perception to appreciate. So while he recognised that God had fortified this Man with huge powers, and had set Him apart as His ‘Holy One’, every man had his weak spot. It was simply a matter of probing until he found the weak spot of Jesus.

The passage may be analysed as follows following the pattern which occurs a number of times in the Pentateuch where there is a threefold pattern:

a Jesus goes into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit (Luk 4:1 a).

b There He was led in the Spirit for forty days being tempted by the Devil (in Matthew by the Tempter) (Luk 4:1 b-2).

c Temptation 1. Command that this stone become bread (Luk 4:3)

d Answer. It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone’ (Luk 4:4).

c Temptation 2. All the kingdoms of the world to be given to Him if He will bow down and worship the Devil (Luk 4:5-7).

d Answer. It is written ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve’ (Luk 4:8).

c Temptation 3. Throw yourself from the pinnacle of your Father’s House, for has He not promised to protect you (Luk 4:9-11).

d Answer. It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord you God to the test’ (Luk 4:12).

b And when the Devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him for a season (Luk 4:14).

a And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and fame went out concerning him through all the region round about, and He taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all (Luk 4:15).

Note that in ‘a’ Jesus goes into the wilderness full of the Holy Spirit and in the parallel returns in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. In ‘b’ He is tempted by the Devil, and in the parallel the Devil ceases his temptation. The three temptations and the answers are the central part of the chiasmus, centring on what is important. (This threefoldness occurs in chiasmi a number of times in the Pentateuch. See for example our treatment of the Balaam narratives in Numbers).

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

The Witness of Jesus Christ as the Son of God who is Without Sin ( Mat 4:1-11 , Mar 1:12-13 ) Luk 4:1-13 contains the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness by Satan prior to His entrance into His public ministry. Although the Synoptic Gospels give parallel accounts of Jesus’ wilderness temptation, Luke’s Gospel places emphasis upon His empowerment by the Spirit (Luk 4:14-15). This empowerment was a prerequisite to the prophetic office, which is emphasized throughout Luke. For example, the opening narrative material in Luk 1:5 to Luk 3:38 clearly provides testimonies of Jesus’ deity by those who were filled with the Spirit and prophesied.

The Gospel of Luke narrates the temptation story of Jesus Christ in order to offer the third of three testimonies that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who is without sin. The Scriptures tell us that the Holy Spirit led Jesus Christ into the wilderness to face this temptation (Luk 4:1). As God allowed Satan to tempt Job, so did God the Father allow His Son to face temptations by Satan as well. The purpose of Jesus experiencing this temptation was to prove His sinless nature, serving as a testimony to justify our Lord as a worthy sacrifice for the sins of mankind. He was tempted by the devil on three occasions during His 40-day trial in the wilderness, in His flesh, His spirit, and His soul.

When rebuking Satan, Jesus gives three prophetic statements from three Old Testament passages. Specifically, He quoted all three times from a popular passage in Deu 8:3; Deu 6:13; Deu 6:16. It is in this same discourse of Moses in Deuteronomy that the famous “Shema” is found:

Deu 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

In this Old Testament passage of Scripture, God commands Israel to keep the Law with their heart, mind and strength; thus, fulfilling the Law. However, the children of Israel failed to fulfill the Law throughout their history. The story of the temptation of Jesus Christ in the wilderness will serve as valid testimony that Jesus Christ fulfilled the entire Law of Moses by living without sin, thus justifying Him as sinless. The first century Jews would understand that Jesus Christ alone fulfilled the Shema, perhaps the most important passage in the Old Testament.

In this context, we can clearly see how Satan tempted Jesus in all three realms of His life: physically, mentally and spiritually. Satan tempted Him in the physical (Luk 4:3-4) by asking Him to turn the stones into bread. He was attempting to get Jesus to yield to His physical desires rather than the commandments of God. Satan then tempted Jesus in the spiritual realm (Luk 4:5-8) by asking Him to bow down and give His heart to Satan in worship. Satan then tempted Jesus in his mental realm (Luk 4:9-12) by asking Him to jump off the pinnacle of the Temple. He was asking Jesus to make a foolish decision that was not in God’s plan for His life. For you or I to jump off a tall building would be the dumbest decision of our lives.

A Comparison of the Temptations of Adam and Jesus Christ – Note that both Adam and Jesus Christ faced three aspects of temptation from Satan:

1. The Lust of the Flesh: Adam – The tree was good for food.

Jesus – Command this stone to become bread.

2. The Lust of the Eyes: Adam – The tree was pleasant to the eyes.

Jesus – The devil…showed Him all the kingdoms.

3. The Pride of Life: Adam – A tree to be desired to make one wise.

Jesus – Throw yourself down from here.

The Temptations of Jesus Christ – Jesus experienced several times of testing, when God the Father tested Him to demonstrate His love and devotion to God. The most obvious time was Jesus’ forty days of temptation in the wilderness preceding His public ministry (Luk 4:1-13). However, Jesus’ decision to stay in Jerusalem and dialogue with the priests was perhaps His first tests (Luk 2:49), when He chose to pursue His love for God’s Word instead of following His parent’s home to Nazareth. The next time when Jesus faced a difficult decision was when His set His face towards Jerusalem, where Calvary awaited (Luk 9:51). Another time of testing came in the Garden of Gethsemane when His prayed, “Not my will, but thine.” (Luk 22:41-42) Reflecting upon these four periods of testing, we see how they each preceded Jesus’ move from one phase of ministry into a higher phase, leading Him from justification, indoctrination, divine service, perseverance, to glorification with the Father. For example, His decision to stay with the teachers of the Law in the temple as the age of twelve indicated that He was moving from a time of justification as a child to indoctrination and training in God’s Word. His forty days of tempting in the wilderness preceded His phase of divine service. His decision to set His face towards Jerusalem preceded a period of perseverance, and His decision in the Garden to go to the Cross preceded His glorification with the Father. We, too, will face similar seasons of testing, where our Heavenly Father wants us to demonstrate our love and devotion to Him.

:1 “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost” Comments – Of the parallel passages in the Synoptic Gospels, only Luke’s Gospels testifies to Jesus’ anointing by the Holy Ghost as He returned from the Jordan to be tempted in the wilderness. This statement is important in that it reflects the underlying secondary theme of Luke-Acts, which states that those who were eye-witnesses testified of the anointing and authority by which He taught and ministered the Gospel. This fullness of the Holy Spirit will be the empowerment needed by the apostles and Church in the book of Acts to establish the Kingdom of God to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Luk 4:2 “Being forty days tempted” – Comments – This is the Greek adverbial or genitive of time. Thus, it literally reads, “a 40-day temptation.”

Luk 4:4 Comments – In Luk 4:4 Jesus is quoting from Deu 8:3, “And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live .”

Why does man need to know the Word of God? The Word of God brings faith into the heart of man (Rom 10:17). This faith in the heart of man is the reason that man can then walk by the Word of God.

Rom 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

In the time of temptation, knowing the Word of God and living by this Word is the victory that overcomes Satan.

Luk 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Luk 4:6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

Luk 4:6 Comments – In Luk 4:6 Satan mentions the power, or dominion, that he has here on planet earth. He says that such was “delivered unto him,” or “handed over to him.” When did this hand-over take place? It took place at the time of the Fall in the Garden of Eden. Man was originally given dominion over this earth. Satan tricked Adam and Eve into giving up this dominion to him, and like Eph 4:27 says, they gave place to the devil. Satan takes things by force or violence (Mat 11:12). So he leads men and guides them to do his own will in blindness (1 Tim 2:26, Eph 2:2, 2Co 4:4). Thus, Satan is commanding and controlling on earth whatever man allows him to control.

Eph 4:27, “Neither give place to the devil.”

Mat 11:12, “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

2Co 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Eph 2:2, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

2Ti 2:26, “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

Note also Joh 8:44. The lost man is now serving Satan. He is no longer taking his own dominion on this earth.

Joh 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”

Satan does have power to wield on this earth. The Scriptures call him “the god of this world” and “the prince of the power of the air.”

2Co 4:4, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”

Eph 2:2, “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air , the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:”

Luk 4:5-8 Comments – Satan chose not to worship the Lord. Instead, he rebelled in the pride of his heart.

Isa 14:13, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Luk 4:9 Comments – According to Eusebius, James the Lord’s brother stood upon the high pinnacle of the Temple in order to address the crowd, from where he was cast down and killed. Evidently, this was an accessible place where people sometimes stood.

“Do thou therefore persuade the multitude not to be led astray concerning Jesus. For the whole people, and all of us also, have confidence in thee. Stand therefore upon the pinnacle of the temple, that from that high position thou mayest be clearly seen, and that thy words may be readily heard by all the people. For all the tribes, with the Gentiles also, are come together on account of the Passover.” ( Ecclesiastical History 2.23.11)

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

Witnesses of Jesus’ Justification as the Saviour of the World (God the Father’s Calling of Jesus) In Luk 3:1 to Luk 4:30 the narrative story jumps ahead about eighteen years in the life of Jesus Christ to the time of His public appearance. This passage of Scripture testifies of how God the Father called His Son Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the World using four testimonies: the testimony of John the Baptist, of God the Father, of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit (Luk 3:1 to Luk 4:15). This passage is followed by a discourse in which Jesus Christ teaches on His calling as the Saviour of the World (Luk 4:16-30).

Outline – Here is an outline:

A. Narrative: Three Witnesses of Jesus’ Calling Luk 3:1 to Luk 4:15

B. Discourse: Jesus Declares His Calling as Saviour Luk 4:16-30

Luk 3:1 to Luk 4:15 Narrative: Four Witnesses of Jesus’ Justification Luk 3:1 to Luk 4:15 offers four witnesses of Jesus Christ’s justification: John the Baptist, God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.

Outline Here is a proposed outline:

1. The Witness of John the Baptist Luk 3:1-20

2. The Witness of the Father in Baptism and Genealogy Luk 3:21-38

3. The Witness of Jesus Christ being without Sin Luk 4:1-13

4. The Witness of the Holy Spirit thru His Anointing Luk 4:14-15

Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures

The Temptation of Christ. Luk 4:1-13

The first temptation:

v. 1. And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

v. 2. being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did eat nothing; and when they were ended, He afterward hungered.

v. 3. And the devil said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

v. 4. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

Jesus had received the gift of the Holy Ghost at His baptism in extraordinary measure, Heb 1:9. He was not merely enlightened by Him, but, like a vessel, He was full of the Spirit; also according to His human nature, all His thoughts and actions were directed by the Spirit’s wonderful power. Not that Christ lost His identity and became a mere puppet, but that He worked with the Spirit that filled Him in full harmony in the work of redemption. It was this Spirit who also led Him, with somewhat urgent insistence, into the wilderness, Mar 1:12. His human nature faltered often in the days of His flesh, He felt constrained at frequent intervals to seek the strength and comfort of His heavenly Father in prayer. And there is every reason for believing that the temptations of the wilderness were of the nature, if not of the severity, of the Passion in Gethsemane. Out there in the wilderness, without human companionship of any kind, Jesus was subjected to the temptations of Satan, for our sakes. He must meet the champion of the powers of darkness at the very outset of His ministry in order to overcome his cunning and powerful attacks. For forty days Christ was exposed to the onsets of the devil. The three temptations which are narrated here were therefore not the only ones which tended to hinder the work of redemption. What He endured during these forty days is beyond all human conception, for which reason He did not speak to His disciples about those days. Had the devil succeeded in his design, then the human race would have remained in his power in all eternity. But Christ did not suffer Himself to be led away from the path of duty and obedience which He had entered. During these forty days the Lord had had nothing to eat, and therefore He was hungry when they came to an end. He had a true human nature and was subject to the same affections as all men; He felt the need of food keenly. Of this fact the devil tried to take advantage. Putting his question in such a form that he implied doubt in the Lord’s ability to help Himself, he pointed to the stones (collective) and asked Him to change them into bread. The temptation is very subtle; Satan does not want to urge the Lord to doubt the providence of the heavenly Father, but desired Christ, without need or authority, to abuse the power which He possessed as the Son of God for the gratification of the desires of the body. But Satan’s cunning was lost upon Jesus, who immediately saw the challenge of the words and countered with a word of Scripture which effectually threw back the attack. He quoted Deu 8:3 to him, thus reminding him of a fact which the devil should know very well, which had been demonstrated to him during these forty days, namely, that God is not bound by the ordinary means for establishing and maintaining life. Had His heavenly Father been able to keep Him alive during these forty days, He would also find ways and means to do so for a few more days without any directions from the devil. Note: This should be remembered whenever the care of this life rears its head in a Christian home; God’s providence and goodness has never failed yet, nor will it in the future, Psa 37:25.

Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann

EXPOSITION

Luk 4:1-13

THE TEMPTATION.

The consecration of our Lord in his baptism was immediately followed by what is known as his temptation. It is, perhaps, the most mysterious and least understood of any of the scenes of the public ministry related by the evangelists.
It is related at some length by SS. Matthew and Luke, with very slight difference of detail, the principal one being the order in which the three great temptations occurred. In St. Mark the notice of this strange episode in the life is very short, but harmonizes perfectly with the longer accounts of SS. Matthew and Luke. St John omits it altogether; first, because, with the earlier written Gospels before him, he was aware that the Church of his Master already possessed ample details of the occurrence; and secondly, the story and lessons of the temptation did not enter into the plan which St. John had before him when he composed his history of his Lord’s teaching.

What, now, was the temptation? Did the evil one appear to Jesus actually in a bodily form? Did his feet really press some elevation, such as the summit of snowy Hermon, or the still more inaccessible peak of Ararat? and did the far-reaching prospect of sea and land, mountain and valley, bathed in the noonday glory of an Eastern sun, represent to him the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them? Did be in very truth stand on the summit of the great temple-roof, and from that dizzy height gaze on the crowds below, crawling like ants across the sacred court, or toiling along the Jerusalem streets?

So generally thought the ancients, and so it would appear, on first thoughts, from St. Matthew’s account, where we read (Mat 4:3), “The tempter came to him.;” and the vivid realistic imagery of St. Mark would rather help us to the same conclusion. Some expositors and students of the Word have imaginedfor it comes to little morethat the devil manifested himself to Jesus under the guise of an angel of light; others prove supposed the tempter came to him as a wayfaring man; others, as a priest, as one of the Sanhedrin council.

But on further consideration all this seems highly improbable. No appearance of the devil, or of any evil angel, is ever related in the Bible records. The mountain whence the view of the world’s kingdoms was obtained after all is fanciful, and any realistic interpretation is thoroughly unsatisfactory and improbable. The greater of the modern scholars of different countriesthe Germans Olshausen and Neander, the Dutch Van Oosterzee, the Frenchman Pressense, the Swiss Godet, Farrar and Plumptre in our own landreject altogether the idea of a presence of the tempter visible to the eye of sense. The whole transaction lay in the spiritual region of the life of Christ, but on that account it was not the less real and true.

Nor is it by any means a solitary experience, this living, beholding, listening, and even speaking in the Spirit, narrated by the evangelist in this place as a circumstance in the Lord’s life. Centuries before, Ezekiel, when in his exile by the banks of Chebar in Chaldea, was lifted up and borne by the Spirit to far-distant Jerusalem, that he might see the secret sins done in the temple of the Lord (Eze 8:3). Isaiah again, in the year that King Uzziah died, saw the Lord on his throne, surrounded by seraphim; in this vision the prophet speaks, and hears the Lord speak, and a burning coal from off the altar is laid on his mouth (Isa 6:1-11). To pass over the several visions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others, in which the transactions lay altogether in the spiritual region of their lives, we would instance from the New Testament St. Paul’s account of himself caught up into paradise, “whether in the body or out of the body” he could not tell (2Co 12:1-4). And still more to the point, St. John’s words prefacing his Revelation, how he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” when he heard the voice behind him, and saw his glorified Master. On that day and in that hour he heard and saw what he relates in his twenty-two chapters of the Revelation.

In language very slightly different, the temptation of the blessed Son of God is related by the evangelists, when they preface the history of the event with the words, “Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost was led by the Spirit into the wilderness” (see, too, Mat 4:1).

We conclude, then, with some confidence, that the devil did not appear to Jesus in a bodily form, but that, in a higher sphere than that of matter, the Redeemer met and encounteredwith the result we know so wellthat spiritual being of superhuman but yet of limited power, who tempts men to evil, and accuses them before the throne of God when they have yielded to the temptation. “We believe”to use Godet’s words here”that had he been observed by any spectator whilst the temptation was going on, he would have appeared all through it motionless upon the soil of the desert. But though the conflict did not pass out of the spiritual sphere, it was none the less real, and the value of the victory was none the less incalculable and decisive.”

Luk 4:1

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness; more accurately translated, in the Spirit. The question of the nature of the temptation has been discussed in the above note. The words, “full of the Holy Ghost,” and “was led by the Spirit,” lead us irresistibly to the conclusion that the Lord, during this strange solemn timelike Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, and, later, Paul and John the beloved apostlewas especially under the influence of the Holy Spirit; that his eyes were open to see visions and sights not usually visible to mortal eye; and that his ears were unlocked to hear voices not audible to ordinary mortal ears. Tradition has fixed upon a hill district bordering on the road which leads up from Jericho to Jerusalem, as the scene of the temptation. The hill itself, from being the supposed spot where the Lord spent these forty days, is named Quarantania. The rocks in this neighborhood contain many caves.

Luk 4:2

Being forty days tempted of the devil. For some reason unknown to us, the number forty seems to possess some mystic significance. Moses was forty days alone with the Divine Presence on Horeb. Elijah fasted forty days in the wilderness before the vision and the voice came to him. Forty years was the period, too, of the wanderings of the chosen people. The existence of an evil power has been a favorite subject of discussion in those schools of thought who more or less question the authoritative teaching of the canonical books of the two Testaments. Keim, quoted by Godet, well and fairly sums up the present state of opinion of the more moderate and thoughtful schools of free-thought: “We regard the question of an existence of an evil power as altogether an open question for science.” Those, however, who recognize the Gospel narratives as the faithful expression of Jesus Christ’s teaching, must accept the repeated declarations of the Master that an evil being of superhuman power does exist, and has a great, though a limited, influence over the thoughts and works of men. Whatever men may feel with regard to the famous clause in the Lord’s Prayer, which the Revisers of the Authorized Version render, “deliver us from the evil one,” they must agree at least with the conclusion of the Revisers, that, in the Christian Church, a large majority of the ancients understood the Master’s words in his great prayer as asking deliverance, not from “evil” in the abstract, as the English Authorized Version seems to prefer, but deliverance from the power of some mighty evil being. And in those days he did eat nothing. In this state of ecstasy, when the body was completely subordinate to the Spirit, the ordinary bodily wants seem to have been suspended. There is no difficulty in accepting this supposition, if the signification of the words, “in the Spirit,” above suggested, be adopted. The whole transaction belongs to the miraculous. We, who receive as God’s Word these Gospel narratives, find no difficulty in recognizing God’s power to suspend, when he pleases, what men regard as fixed natural laws. We believe, too, that on certain occasions in the world’s history it has pleased him to put this power into operation. He afterward hungered. Although still in the Spirit, in order to provide a field for the exercise of the peculiar typical temptation about to be dwelt upon, some of the bodily functions, which during the trance or the ecstasy had been temporarily suspended, were allowed again to play their usual part in the life, as in the ease Of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul, and John.

Luk 4:3

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. It has been quaintly said of the tempter “that he had sped so successfully to his own mind by a temptation about a matter of eating with the first Adam, that he practiced the old manner of his trading with the second.” These diabolical promptings have been spoken of already in this Commentary as “typical.” They represent, indeed, some of the principal temptations to which different classes of men and women in all ages are subject; the hard task of bread-winning, after all, suggests very many of the evil thoughts and imaginings to which men are subject, though, perhaps, they suspect it not. Weakened and exhausted by long abstinence from food, the temptation to supply his wants by this easy means at once was great. Still, had he consented to the tempter’s suggestion, Jesus was aware that he would have broken the conditions of that human existence to which, in his deep love for us fallen beings, he had voluntarily consented and submitted himself. Should he, then, use his miraculous power for his own advantage? Then, re-membering his own late experience, the long fast from all human food, and yet life enduring through it all; calling to mind the miraculous supply of manna in the old desert days, the preservation of Elijah’s life through a similar fast,Jesus, all faint and weary, exclaims in reply, “Man shall not live by bread alone.”

Luk 4:5

And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. This temptation was something more than “offering to One who had lived as a village carpenter the throne of the world.” It appealed to his ambition certainly, but in Jesus’ case it was a high, pure, sinless ambition. This much he certainly knew already, that he was destined to rule over men from pole to pole. It was for him a righteous longing, this desire to have the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth as his possession. No false ambition was this in Jesus, this desire to realize the glorious Messianic hope. Again, how typical a temptation! All ranks and orders are often soon tempted here. A noble end as they think, and in the beauty of the goal they forget that the road leading to it is paved with evil and wrong.

Luk 4:7

If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. Dr. Morrison, on Mat 4:9, has well caught the thought here. The arch-tempter “as it were said to Jesus, ‘I am indeed the prince and god of this world. Its kingdoms and their glory are at my disposal. I could at once open up thy way to the highest honors that a universal conqueror and a universal sovereign could desire. I could gather at once around thee a host of devoted Jewish troops; I could pave their way for victory after victory, until at no distant period the whole Roman empire, and indeed the whole world, should be subject to thy sway. Only abandon the wild chimera of putting down sin and making all men fanatical and holy; fall in with my way of things; let the morals of the world alone, more especially its morals in reference to God; work with me and under me, and all will go well. But if thou refuse this offer, look out for determined opposition, for incessant persecution, for the most miserable poverty, and for every species of woe.'”

Luk 4:8

Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Jesus repelled the offer with stern indignation. He would receive the splendid inheritance which he felt was his at no other hands than his Father’s; he would win all and more than the tempter offered him, but it would be by a slow and painful processby self-denial, self-sacrifice, self-surrender; the glorious consummation would only be attained at the end of a long vista of centuries. The words, “Get thee behind me, Satan,” do not occur in the older manuscripts containing St. Luke’s Gospel. These are evidently a later addition from the parallel passage in St. Matthew.

Luk 4:9

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple. In St. Matthew Jerusalem is here called “the holy city,” a name still preserved in the East, where it is still termed El-Khuds, the holy. Pinnacle; literally, “wing” of the temple. “Pinnacle” comes from the Vulgate translation, pinnaculum. The part of the great building evidently referred to hero was that magnificent southern wing of the Lord’s house constructed by Herod the Great, which was known as the royal portico. Josephus calls it the most remarkable building under the sun (‘Ant.,’ 15.11. 5). One who stood on the roof of this portion of the temple would look from a dizzy height into the Valley of the Kidron. Such a spectator, writes Josephus (‘Ant.,’ 2.5), “would be giddy while his sight could not reach to such an immense depth.” To this spot, “whether in the body or out of the body” we cannot tell, Jesus was taken by the evil spirit. “Now,” said his tempter, “if you really are what you seem to think, cast thyself down. You know what is written in the Divine writing, how the Eternal would give his angels charge concerning thee, they were to bear thee up, ‘lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’ If thou art he of whom all this is written, there will be no risk. You are sure that you are the Son of God: try this once, and see. If you triumphantly come out of this trial, all men will recognize you, and your reign as Messiah will commence forthwith.” This temptation was of a more subtle nature than the other two. It appeals again to all ranks of men, and warns them of the sore danger of selfishly courting danger. The angels will ever watch over us with a tender care when, to accomplish a duty or to perform an act of self-denying love, we confront peril; not so when we presumptuously and for our own ends rush into danger.

Luk 4:12

And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. It is remarkable that in these crowning instances of temptation, which no doubt were originally recounted by the Lord himself to the inner circle of the disciples, and from them passed into the regular course of instruction adopted by the Christian teachers of the first days, the Redeemer, in each of his three answers to the devil, uses words taken from two chapters (the sixth and eighth) of Deuteronomy. It has been suggested that the thoughts and expressions of this book were fresh in the mind of the tempted Christ, as he had probably, specially during his sojourn in the wilderness, used for his own study and meditation a book which told the story of Israel’s wanderings in the desert for forty years. It seems, however, more likely that the Lord simply chose to frame his answers from a book with which every Israelite from his earliest yearn had been acquainted. The maxims and precepts of Deuteronomy were used in the education of every Hebrew child. Its devout and beautiful maxims were written on the phylacteries or frontiers which so many pious Jews were in the habit of wearing.

Luk 4:13

And when the devil had ended all the temptation.

“Thou Spirit, who ledd’st this glorious eremite
Into the desert, his victorious field,
Against the spiritual foe, and brought’st him thence
By proof the undoubted Son of God.”

(Milton.)

St. Matthew closes the story of the “victorious field” by telling us how, when every hellish suggestion had been made and repelled, the wearied and exhausted Jesus was visited and refreshed by the visible ministry of angels. The words of the Greek original translated “all the temptation” would be more accurately rendered by “every kind of temptation.” The three great temptations, related by two of the evangelists in detail, are very varied and comprehensive in character, and appeal to most of the human passions and desires; but from the words with which St. Luke began his recital, “being forty days tempted of the devil,” it is clear that Jesus was incessantly tempted the whole time by hellish whispers and suggestions, perhaps of the same kind, though with varied details, as the three we have recorded for us. Besides the uses of the temptation mystery in the development of the humanity of the blessed Son of God, the great scene has its deep lessons for all sorts and conditions of men in all times. Some eminent expositors would seem to wish to limit the area of the teaching of the temptation, and to regard it as mainly an experience preserved for the guidance of the disciples of the Master. Theyso say these scholarswere, from this scene in the life of the great Teacher, to learn never to use their miraculous power for their personal advantage (first temptation); never to associate with wicked men for the attainment of good ends (second temptation); never to perform a miracle in an ostentatious spirit (third temptation). All this was doubtless contained in the Lord’s story of his awful experience, and the lesson was never forgotten by the twelve and their own immediate followers. But the instruction was not meant to be confined to the little circle of his own; it was, like the whole of the gospel teaching, intended for all sorts and conditions of men. The common everyday lesson which every child may read in this story of his Master’s trial, is that from the plain appointed path of duty, which very often too is the path of suffering, no persuasion however skillfully worded, no sophistry however plausible, must be sufficient to turn him. He departed from him for a season; more accurately, till a convenient season. It is evident that all through the two years and a half of the public ministry, which succeeded the events just recorded, Jesus was exposed to the various trials and temptations to which suffering mortal flesh is exposed. So Bonaventura, in his ‘Life of Christ,’ says, “Many other were the occasions on which he endured temptation.” Still there is no doubt but that the “convenient season” here pointedly alluded to referred to that other great epoch of temptation just before the cross, when our Lord prayed in the agony of the garden at the close of his earthly work. There the tempter tried if great suffering was not able to conquer that Sinless One.

Luk 4:14-30

THE PREACHING OF JESUS AT NAZARETH, AND ITS RESULT.

Luk 4:14

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. Between the events of the temptation and the preaching at Nazareth here related, some considerable time had intervened. St. John, in his Gospel, gives a somewhat detailed account of this period which St. Luke omits. Shortly after the temptation, took place the concluding incidents in the Baptist’s career, which St. Luke summarized in his brief statement (Luk 3:19, Luk 3:20), when he tells us of the arrest and imprisonment of the fearless preacher by the Tetrarch Herod. St. John tells how the Sanhedrin sent some special envoys to the Baptist, asking him formally who he really was. After this questioning, John in his Gospel mentions the calling of Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Nathanael, and then records the first miracle of Jesus at Cana in Galilee, and how the Lord visited Capernaum. He then proceeds to relate some of the circumstances which took place at the Passover at Jerusalem, and how the Lord drove out the men who profaned his Father’s house. He writes down, too, the particulars of Nicodemus the Pharisee’s visit to Jesus by night. The Master then proceeded, as is here related by St. Luke, “in the power of the Spirit,” who descended on him formally at his baptism, into Galilee, and on his journey thither tarried at Samaria, resting on the well there, and talking with the woman in those memorable words recorded by St. John at length in his fourth chapter (verses 4-42). Rapidly the report of what he had done at Cana, the fame of his marvellous words at Jerusalem, Samaria, and other places, spread through all the central districts of the Holy Land.

Luk 4:15

And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. His miracles, his words touching and eloquent, perhaps too a dim memory of marvels which had happened years before at his birth, shed round the new Teacher a halo of glory. It was only when, instead of the Messianic hopes of conquest and power which they cherished, a life of brave self-denial and quiet generosity was preached, that the reaction against him set in. The men of Nazareth, with their violent antagonism, which we are about to consider, were only, after all, a few months in advance of the rest of the nation in their rejection of the Messiah.

Luk 4:16

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day. This had been for years his practice in the little synagogue of the village where was his carpenter’s shop. Children at the age of five years were admitted into the synagogue, and at thirteen attendance there was part of the legal life of the Jew. These synagogues were the regular places for religious gatherings every sabbath day, and also usually on Mondays and Tuesdays, besides on other special occasions. We hear of them after the return from the Captivity, and probably they existed long before. Some think that in Psa 74:8 there is a reference to them. And stood up for to read. The holy books were always read standing. The ruler or elder presided over and directed the synagogue service. The priest and Levite had no recognized position in the synagogue. Their functions were confined to the temple and to the duties prescribed in the Law. It was not unusual for the synagogue officials, if any stranger was present who was known to be competent, to ask him to read and to expound a passage in the Law or Prophets. Our Lord was well known in Nazareth, and of late had evidently gained a great reputation as a preacher. It was, therefore, most natural that he should be asked to take a prominent part in the sabbath services.

Luk 4:17

And there was delivered unto him the Book of the Prophet Esaias. In the sabbath service there were two lessons read. The first was always taken from the Pentateuch (the Law). The five books of Moses were written on parchment, (usually) between two rollers, and the day’s lesson was left unrolled for the reader’s convenience. The Prophets were on single rollers, no special portion being left open. It has been suggested that the great and famous Messianic passage read by our Lord was the lesson for the day. This is quite uncertain; indeed, it is more probable that Jesus, when the roll of Isaiah was handed to him by the ruler of the synagogue, specially selected the section containing this passage.

Luk 4:18

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. St. Luke here quotes, with a few important variations, from the LXX. of Isa 61:1, Isa 61:2. The clause, “to set at liberty them that are bruised,” does not occur the present text of Isaiah. The bright, comforting words of the great prophet the Lord chose as giving a general summary of what he designed to carry out in his ministry. It could be no undesigned coincidence that the opening words of the passage contain a singularly clear mention of the three Persons of the blessed Trinitythe Spirit, the Father, and the Anointed (Messiah). Because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, etc. The common interpretation referred this passage to the state of the people on the return from the Captivity. Nothing, however, that the people had yet experienced in any way satisfied the brilliant picture painted in the great prophecy. A remnant certainly had returned several centuries back from their distant exile, but the large majority of the chosen people were scattered abroad; their own land was crushed under what seemed a hopeless servitude; poverty, ignorance, universal discontent, reigned alike in Jerusalem, garrisoned with Roman legionaries, and in the most distant of the poor upland villages of Galilee. Only could deliverance come and a golden age of prosperity return with the promised Messiah. This was the interpretation which the choicest spirits in Israel applied to the great Isaiah prophecy read that sabbath day in the little synagogue of Nazareth. This was the meaning which Jesus at once gave to it, only he startled his hearers by telling them that in him they saw the promised long-looked-for Deliverer. We only possess, it is evident, the very barest abstract of the words of the Teacher Jesus on this occasion. They must have been singularly eloquent, winning, and powerful to have extorted the wonder and admiration alluded to in the twenty-second verse.

Luk 4:20

And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. This was the usual position adopted by a Jewish preacher. The chair of the preacher was placed near the spot where the lesson was read. These synagogues were built with the end pointed towards Jerusalem, in which direction the Jew ever loved to turn as he prayed (Dan 6:10). The men sat on one side of the building, the women on the other. There was always at the end of the chamber an ark of wood, a memory of the sacred ark of the covenant, which once, with its golden mercy-seat, hallowed now and again with the presence of the visible glory, was the chief treasure of the temple ca Mount Zion. In the “ark” were kept the Law (the five books of Moses) and the rolls of the prophets.

Luk 4:22

And they said, Is not this Joseph’s Son? Quickly the preacher caught the mind and feeling of his audience. Surprise and admiration soon gave place to a spirit of unbelief. Is not this who speaks to us such words, bright and eloquent with hope, often with a ring of sure triumph and certain victory in themis it not the young Carpenter we have known so long in our village?

Luk 4:23

Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself. “There is something interesting in our finding this proverb in the Gospel of the beloved physician. May we think of him as hearing the proverb casually, tracking out its application, and so coming on this history? It was, probably, so far as is known, a common Jewish proverb; but there is no trace of it in Greek writers, and it was therefore likely to attract his notice” (Dean Plumptre). Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. Now, up to this time in Jesus’ public career no miracles are recorded as having been done in Capernaum. After the miracle at Cana we know that the Lord resided for some time in Capernaum (Joh 2:12); the miracles to which these men of Nazarath alluded were no doubt worked then. ‘The memory of these early miracles, as Godet well observes, would have been effaced by more remarkable later events, as that at Cana would have been had not John, who required it in the plan of his Gospel, rescued it from oblivion. The Jews of Nazareth, after the first moment of surprise and admiration at Jesus’ words, evidently looked at him with scorn and unbelief. That poor Carpenter their glorious expected Messiah! As for the marvellous deeds reported to have been done in Capernaum, they did not believe in them; at least why did he not here, in the neighborhood of his own home, something of the same kind? If they could see with their eyes marvels worked by him, then perhaps they might accept him as Messiah.

Luk 4:24

And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But instead of gratifying their curiosity and supplying them with some more empty arguments why they should not listen to his words, the Lord quietly quotes a proverb well known to all peopleFarrar calls it a curious psychological factthe quoting prefaced by the solemn “verily.” The Master was evidently looking far beyond the little prejudices of Nazareth. “His own country” meant far more than the narrow circuit bounded by the Nazareth hills. The Speaker was thinking of all the chosen peopleof the Jews, who as a nation he knew too well would not accept him. But if Israel would have none of him, he would reign in the hearts of that unnumbered multitude who peopled the isles of the Gentiles.

Luk 4:25-27

But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. In support of these assertions, Jesus proceeds to quote two well known incidents in the story of Israel. They must remember God’s mercies in past times were not confined to Israel. There were many starving widows among the chosen people, not a few childless, desolate hearths; but their own great Elijah was sent to none of these, but to a despised Phoenician woman in Sarepta, hard by Sidon. Elisha, that loved man of God, who passed by the homes of the people continually, performed his famous miracle of healing on no child of Israel, though many a leper mourned his sad lot among the chosen people; but the one on whom Elisha worked his mighty miracle of mercy was the Syrian leper Naaman, the great foe of Israel.

Luk 4:28

And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. The Jews in the synagogue quickly caught the Master’s meaning. Thoughts such as “Thou our Messiah, who talkest of Gentile, Syrian, and Zidonian in the same breath with us the chosen and elect of God, who hintest at the possibility of the accursed Gentile sharing in our promised blessings!” flashed through their minds, and as one man the congregation rose, and, seizing the Preacher, dragged him out of the synagogue, and hurried him through the little town to one of the rocky precipices close by.

Luk 4:29

And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. The place now shown as the scene of the act of violence of the fanatics of Nazareth, known as the Mount of Precipitation, is some two miles from the town. It must be remembered that this happened on a sabbath day; this would therefore be beyond the limits of a sabbath day’s journey. There is, however, close to Nazareth a cliff about forty feet high.

Luk 4:30

But he passing through the midst of them went his way. Not necessarily a miracle. There is nothing hinted here that our Lord rendered himself invisible, or that he smote his enemies with a temporary blindness. He probably quietly overawed these angry men with his calm self-possession, so that they forbore their cruel purpose, and thus he passed through their midst, and left Nazarethas far as we knowforever. The foregoing is probably the same visit very briefly alluded to by St. Matthew (Mat 13:54-58) and by St. Mark (Mar 6:1-6), in both Gospels related in unchronological order. Most likely they were aware of the incident, but ignorant of the exact place it held among the early events of the Master’s life. St. Luke, who gives it with far greater detail, inserts it evidently in its right place. Is it not at least probable that St. Luke derived his accurate knowledge of this Nazareth incident from Mary, or from some of her intimate circle, from whom he procured the information which he embodied in the earlier chapters of his Gospel? She, and others of her friends, would be likely to have preserved some accurate memories of this painful visit of Jesus to his old home.

Luk 4:31-44

AT CAPERNAUM.

Luk 4:31

And came down to Capernaum. Capernaum was the real home of the Master during the two years and a half of his public ministry. He chose this flourishing lakecity partly because his kinsmen and first disciples lived in it or its immediate neighborhood, but more especially on account of its situation. It has been termed the very center of the manufacturing district of Palestine; it lay on the high-road which led from Damascus and the Syrian cities to Tyro, Sidon, and Jerusalem. “It was, in fact, on ‘the way of the sea’ (Isa 9:1), the great caravan-road which led (from the East) to the Mediterranean. It was hence peculiarly fitted to be the center of a far-reaching ministry, of which even Gentiles would hear” (Farrar). The evangelist speaks of “coming down” to the shore of the lake, in contrast with Nazareth, which was placed in the hills. We do not meet with the name Capernaum in the Old Testament; it therefore appears not to have been a city belonging to remote antiquity. Its name is generally interpreted as being compounded of two words, signifying “town of consolations,” a beautiful and significant derivation. It may, however, originally have taken its name from the Prophet Nahum. Josephus, the historian, tells us. the name originally belonged to a fountain. He dwells also on the mildness of the climate; it would therefore seem as though, in the first place, Capernaum was used as a health resort, and then its admirable situation favored its adoption as a convenient center. The extensive ruins of Tel-Hum, on the lake-shore, are generally believed to be the remains of the once rich and populous Capernaum. And taught them on the sabbath days.

Luk 4:32

And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power. We have here again a picture which gives a general summary of Jesus’ life extending over a considerable period. This is the fifth of these pictures of St. Luke. It represents the Master dwelling quietly at Capernaum, in the midst of his disciples, teaching and preaching; on the sabbath days gathering a considerable concourse drawn from the people at large, and generally surprising the listeners with his earnestness, freshness, and ability, which carried conviction into many a heart, Gentile as well as Jew. Although this period of the life of Jesus was signalized by many miracles, it does not seem that his ordinary preaching and teaching needed any such supernatural testimony to enable it to win its way. St. Luke especially tells us it was with power, and that the crowds heard it amazed and astonished. St. Matthew gives us (Mat 7:29) one reason, which helps us to understand something of this success which attended his teaching. It was “not as the scribes.” In the Talmud we have many a fair specimen of the sacred instruction of the “schools” in the time of our Lord. Frivolous minutiae, hair-splitting of texts, weary repetition of the sayings of the men of old, questions connected with the exact keeping of the sabbath, with the tithing of mint, anise, and cummin, a singular lack of all dealing with the weightier matters of the Lawjustice, judgment, truthwere among the characteristics of the scribes’ popular instruction. The practical heart-searching words of Jesus were in strong contrast with the curious but useless themes dwelt on by the official teachers of the day. It was with the thirty-first verse of this chapter that the great Gnostic heretic, Marcion (second century) began his Gospel, which, in the early days of Christianity, had a vast circulation. Marcion, while preferring St. Luke’s Gospel, as emanating from St. Paul, before putting it out as the authoritative history to be used by his numerous followers, cut out the earlier chapters of our Gospel, which bore on the birth and infancy of the Lord, commencing hereprefixing, however, a note of time, thus: “In the fifteenth year of the government of Tiberius, Jesus went down” “into the town of Galilee named Capernaum.”

Luk 4:33

And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil. After the general picture of Jesus’ life and work in Capenaum, St. Luke proceeds to give a detailed account of the way in which one sabbath day was spent, no doubt intending us to understand it as a specimen of the ordinary sabbath-day work of the Master. We meet with here, for the first time in our Gospel, one of those unhappy persons described as either “having a spirit of an unclean devil,” or as “possessed with a devil” or “devils,” or in similar terms, generally signifying “demoniacs,” men or womenapparently a class by themselves, directly under the influence of some evil spirit. Who, now, were these unhappy beings with whom Jesus in his ministry of mercy seems often to have come in contact? Many of these “demoniacs” mentioned in the Gospels would nowadays certainly be classed under the ordinary category of the “sick.” They seem to have been simply afflicted with disease of one kind or other; for instance, the epileptic child mentioned by St. Luke (Luk 9:39), or dumbness again (Mat 9:32), blindness (Mat 12:22), and insanity, among other instances, are ascribed to demoniac agency. Are we, then, simply to regard these cases, not as exceptional displays of diabolical power, but as instances of sickness and disease which still exist among us? and to suppose that our Lord, in speaking of devils possessing these sick ones, accommodated himself to the popular belief, and spoke of these afflicted persons in the way men were able to understand? for it is disputable that Judaism in the days of Jesus of Nazareth ascribed to “demons,” or “devils,” much of the suffering and woe with which men are afflicted under the common name of disease. The Talmud, which well represents the Jewish teaching of that time, has endless allusions to evil spirits, or devils, who were permitted to work evil and mischief on the bodies and even on the souls of men. Josephus, the contemporary historian, narrates that a lamb grew at Machaerus, the wool of which had the power of expelling devils; and he toils how he was the eye-witness of the cure of a man possessed of a devil by means of a ring containing a root which had similar properties; this, he says, took place in the presence of the Emperor Vespasian (‘Ant.,’ 8.2, 5; ‘Bell. Jud.,’ 7.6, 3). Many believed that these demons, or devils, were the souls of the wicked who returned to earth after death, and sought a new home for themselves in the bodies of the living. This popular belief in demoniacal agency is mentioned by Justin Martyr (‘Apol.,’ 1.), and even seems to have lingered in some parts as late as Chrysostom. But such a theorywhich represents Jesus in his miraculous cures accommodating himself to popular belief, and speaking of the sufferers as possessed by devils which really had no existence save in imaginationis not only quite foreign to the transparently truthful character of all the Master’s words and works, but is perfectly incompatible with the narratives given us by the evangelists of the cures in question. In these, in several instances, the devils are not only spoken to, but they speak themselvesthey answer questions, they even prefer requests. Jesus, too, gives his own power to cast out devils (Luk 9:1), and to tread on all the power of the enemy (Luk 10:19). He even, in St. Mark (Mar 9:29), is represented as distinguishing a special class of devils over whom a mastery could be obtained alone through prayer and fasting. Evidently the Holy Spirit, who guided the writers of those memoirs of the apostles we call the Gospels, intended that a marked distinction should be impressed upon the readers of the apostolic memoirs as existing between ordinary maladies of the flesh and those terrible and various scourges which the presence of devils inflicted upon those hapless beings in whose bodies, for some mysterious reason, they had been permitted to take up their habitation. The whole question is fraught with difficulties. Dean Plumptre suggests that perhaps we possess not the data for an absolutely certain and exhaustive answer. It seems, on the wholewhile not denying the possible presence of these evil spirits at different times of the world’s history occupying the bodies and distracting the souls of menbest to assume that these devils possessed special and peculiar power over men at that period when Jesus walked among us. By this means, as Godet well says, Jesus could be proclaimed externally and visibly as the Conqueror of the enemy of men (and of his legions of evil messengers). That period, when the Lord taught among us, was a time when, it is generally conceded, moral and social evil had reached its highest point of development. Since that age the power of these unhappy spirits of evil has been, if not destroyed, at least restrained by the influencegreater, perhaps, than men choose to acknowledgeof the Master’s religion or by the direct command of the Master himself.

Luk 4:34

Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? This man, with his evil spirit, would have been looked on as unclean, and would not have been admitted within the synagogue walls; he had probably crept in unseen. Something in the nearness to the holy Teacher we know compelled the demon to cry aloud. It is strange, this presence of God causing pain. It is the impossibility of the wounded eye bearing light. The cry rendered, “Let us alone,” is scarcely the imperative of , but an interjection, possibly the Greek reproduction of the Hebrew , ah! woe! There was evidently some deeper degree of misery possible for the unhappy spirit; hence its “Art thou come to destroy us?” The same dread appears in the case of the Gadarene demoniac (Mar 8:31; Mat 8:29), where the spirits dreaded being driven into the deep, where such spirits await the judgment, that abyss, literally, “the bottomless place;” any doom seemed to these lost ones preferable to that. I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.

Luk 4:35

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace. Jesus at once indignantly refuses this homage. He never allowed devils to proclaim they knew him. There is something very awful in the thought that to this whole class of created beings he is ever pillions. In his dealings with these we never are allowed to catch sight of one ray of the Redeemer’s tender pitiful love.

Luk 4:37

And the fame of him went out; more accurately rendered, and there went out a rumor concerning him.

Luk 4:38

And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought him for her. This abrupt mention of Peter (Simon) for the first time, without any explanatory notice, tells us that when St. Luke wrote his Gospel Peter was well known and honored in all the Churches. The Lord’s choice of one who was already married, the subsequent favor showed to him, the high position evidently accorded to him in the Church of the first days, is a perpetual protest against the exaggerated asceticism which later was so earnestly taught in ecclesiastical Christianity. The epithet “great,” applied to the fever, was a well-known technical term; it was used by Galen of fevers. There are several expressions in this Gospel which remind us that the author was a trained physician.

Luk 4:40

Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. The healing of the “possessed” in the synagogue that morning, followed by the cure of the fever of Simon’s wife’s mother, we know was rapidly noised abroad, and in great measure accoutered for the crowds who brought their sick to him in the evening. It was evidently in the life of Jesus a notable occasion, and many a sick tortured one had occasion to bless the Master’s presence then. It was so memorable an occasion that all the three evangelists notice it; their reports are recorded in almost the same words. No doubt, in the early days of the preaching of the faith, this evening’s work was constantly alluded to by the first teachers. The note of time, “when the sun was setting,” indicates that the moment in question had been waited for, for sunset ended the sabbath, and then those outside Capernaum and in its outlying suburbs were enabled to bring their sick and afflicted without infringing the strict sabbath rules. “The twilight scene, of Jesus moving about with word and touch of healing among the sick and suffering, the raving and tortured crowd (Mat 4:24), is one of the most striking in the Gospels, and St. Matthew quotes it as a fulfillment of Isa 53:4” (Farrar).

Luk 4:41

Thou art Christ the Son of God. The older authorities omit “Christ,” and read simply, “Thou art the Son of God.” For they knew that he was Christ; better rendered, that he was the Christ, or Messiah. After the Crucifixion, but not till then, “Christ” became a proper name. It was before simply a title, signifying “the Messiah,” “the Anointed One.” These words of the evil spirits do not seem to have been prompted by any design, as some have supposed, to excite the people either for or against the fresh Teacher; they are simply a cry of involuntary adoration. They knew who that poor Carpenter-Rabbi was; they had seen him in his Divine glory!

Luk 4:42

And when it was day, he parted and went into a desert place. For solitude, meditation, and prayer. The night, or at least most of it, must have been spent in these blessed works of mercy. It was very early in the deep, dark dawn that the Redeemer was up again seeking fresh strength from his Father. St. Mark tells us when he left the house “it was still very dark.”

HOMILETICS

Luk 4:1-13

The temptation in the wilderness.

One of the most mysterious but most suggestive passages in the history of the Christ. Without attempting to indicate all the points presented for reflection (see homiletics on Mat 4:1-25.), observe

I. THE TEMPTATION IS NECESSARY TO THE PERFECTING OF JESUS AS THE SAVIOR OF SINNERS. He is led by the Spirit into the wildernessled for the purpose of being tried by the devil. In the solitudes and simplicities of the Nazareth life, he had not known, he could not know, this kind of trial. Now is to come the first distinct experience of the devil’s power. Godmay we so say?carried him away from the scene of the baptism and the opened heavens and the Divine voice, and presented him to Satan, the prince of the power of the air: “This is my beloved Son: put forth thine hand, and touch him.” Is this strange?

1. It is a very real link of communion between the Lord and the life beset by sin and evil. “By thy fasting and temptation, good Lord, deliver me.”

2. See in it a part, and an essential part, in the making of Jesus to us Wisdom, and Righteousness, and Sanctification, and Redemption. Let us not overlook that “the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil.” Now begins the great pitched battle between the kingdoms of light and of darkness; the wilderness-time is the girding of the sword on the thigh of the most Mighty. Do not think of the temptation as an isolated experience. At the end of all the temptations the devil departed from him only for a season, or until a season. He had been conquered, but he was not done with the Conqueror; he only bided his opportunity. The whole earthly ministry was a conflict with that hell which had all but dominated over the world of man. And the conflict was concluded in victory only when the Head was bowed on the cross. “Through death he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.” Ah! truly there is “an infinite more behind” all that is recorded.

II. TEMPTATION IS NECESSARY TO HUMAN PERFECTING. The hour of the leading into the wilderness is striking. St. Luke amplifies the account given by the earlier evangelist. The latter connects the event with the baptism and that which accompanied it; the former tells us of what is subjectiveof the conscious plenitude of life and power. Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, is led. When the sense of the mighty force is strong within him, when the chords of the heart are vibrating in response to the voice from heaven, when the soul feels straitened until it enters on the great mission given it; when he is ready, lo! this summons to the wilderness, this forcible taking of the anointed man, with the anointing fresh and full, to the dreary desert place over whose surface the wild beasts roam. But is not this a way of God? Was not Saul of Tarsus, in the morning of his life in Jesus, sent for three years to Arabia? Is not strength gathered, is not character compacted, through contact, direct and personal, with the forces alike of good and evil? He who was “made in all things like to his brethren” must have that in his human history which corresponds to facts and necessities in ours. And the wilderness, with its struggle, its assaults on faith and obedience, its glimpse into the outer darkness, its resistance of the devil, is a necessity in the education of the man as the Son of God.

III. THE TEMPTATIONS OF CHRIST RECORDED ARE A MIRROR OF THE TEMPTATIONS OF HIS BRETHREN Mark the word “recorded.” St. Luke tells us that Jesus was led during forty days, tempted of the devil. What the forty days meant remains untold. Probably it could not be expressed in language intelligible to us. It was only at the end that “the Divine event becomes human enough to be made to appear.” Until then the lower wants were in a condition of suspense; the hunger is “the first sign of his coming back to us.” Then the part of the temptation which we can understand begins. It will be remembered that we are dealing with a narrative of real transactions. It is not a poem, not a parable. Whether the acts were purely subjective, consisting only of suggestions to the inner spiritual sense, is a doubtful point; but that there was a veritable tempting in the manner described, that we are regarding “a chronicle of events,” cannot be doubted. Nor is it a mere likeness of temptation that is set before us. The gospel story would be nothing to the heart if we conceived of it as a series of visions which in no distinct way touched the citadel of the Lord’s heart, was not to him what temptation is to usthe contact of the soul with some hour and power of darkness. If it be askedHow can this be if Jesus was without sin? let it be recollected that sin does not consist in an impression of what is evil; it consists in yielding to the impression, in receiving it. The sacred writers are careful to note that all suggestions come, not from the soul, but to the soul from a lying spirit outside the personality. When we speak of sinlessness, we do not mean that enticements to sin can never present themselves or be felt as enticements; we mean that they are never yielded to or consented tothat there is a will so perfectly loyal to the Father that the wrong and the unchildlike are never in the purpose of Jesus. Note the three points or regions of the temptation recorded. The order is slightly different in the accounts of St. Matthew and St. Luke. That which is third in the one is second in the other, reminding us that too much stress is not to be laid on the mere sequence of the story. The first trial had reference to the urgent need; it came in the form of the subtle insinuation, “Son of God, you are hungry: why not use your power to satisfy the wants of nature? You have not bread, you cannot buy bread: why not bid these stones become bread?” So plausible, that the lie can scarcely be discerned. It is addressed to the man on the most pressing side of his necessity. And Jesus meets it as man. “Man’s only life is not that by bread, but that by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” God’s Word had made the stone a stone. He would not say the stone is a loaf. He must be throughout in harmony with the eternal word and will. Then how subtle is the second attack! Adhering to St. Matthew’s order, “Thou art full of confidence in thy God. Thou dost trust him to the uttermost. Put thy faith to the proof. The Jews expect that their Messiah will descend from the clouds. Away to the top of yonder temple. Cast thyself down from thence. Do something striking; thou knowest it is written, ‘He shall give his angels charge over thee.'” How plausible the appeal to the Son of God on the side of his faith! And, once more-repelled by the counter-thrust, the counter-Scripture, “Thou shalt not try to the uttermost the Lord thy God, claiming a miraculous help for what is born of human pride and rashness”mark the tact and the audacity in the final assault which the enemy makes. The love of powerthat which is at once the strength and the weakness of every noble mindshall be the wedge. “Son of God, look down on the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. Thou art seeking the sovereignty of man. I can give it thee. The force is thine; use it at my instigation. The dominion of love is one of toil and pain. Take what I offer. Think what blessings to the world will be at once secured. The sole condition is to fall down and worship me. Am I not the real king of the world?” It is the very climax of devilry. The temptation can go no further. “Then saith Jesus, Get thee behind me, Satan.” It is the battle of man that is portrayed in man’s Lord. “For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one.” Here is the tempter who is tempting us, adapting the form of his solicitations to our tempers, our endowments, our circumstances. Here are the characteristics of his approaches, his doubts, his “ifs” (“if” is a devil-word which more than any other loosens the holdfasts of faith), his quotations from Scripture when it suits his purpose to do so, his three great heads of temptationthat which seeks us through bodily need or fleshly appetite, that which seeks us through even our purer and higher instincts, that which would draw us into the net by stirring up the pride of life. Ah! there is no sleeping with this tempter. “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.”

IV. THE VICTORY OF CHRIST IS OUR ENCOURAGEMENT. Blessed is the assurance contained in the words, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” The devil is behind Jesus, the Captain of our salvation. What is our position towards our Captain? Apart from him? Ah, we may tremble! With him, in him? He is between us and Satan, and we can do all things through him strengthening. “Be of good cheer: I have overcome.

Luk 4:14-30

The visit of Christ to Nazareth.

The Lord is in Galilee, slowly moving from place to place, always in the character of Teacher, and always winning the applause of those who throng the synagogues. It is the period of unbroken popularity, short but, so long as it lasts, complete. His face is towards his native place, foreseeing and, as we are reminded, foretelling that the tide will receive its first check there. The visit is in many ways significant.

I. IT REMINDS US OF A DUTY. “He came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up.” He had testified, when leaving Samaria, that a prophet is without honor in his own country. But he will not turn from it. He makes it the place for the first unfolding of the blessed Messiah-mission. And, although cast forth from the city, he seems again to have visited Nazareth. “He does not give it up for a first sin, though that sin may have been a grievous one.” Is not this a lesson for all? The place of the upbringing, however far we may roam from it, has a claim on our special sympathy. Our own should never be neglected. It is easier sometimes to deal with strangers. We can speak more frankly and openly to them; they meet us often more frankly and openly than do our kindred or those directly related to us. What is far-fetched is frequently more esteemed than what is home-bred. Nevertheless, the duty is to witness for God to the circle which encloses our tenderest associations. Yes, even to repeat and repeat our message, and thus deliver our own soul.

II. IT SPEAKS TO US OF A GOOD HABIT. “As his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.” Here was one, remember, who knew more than the elders. Might he not have said, “Why go to the place of meeting? Can I not worship God, my Father, on mountain-side, or in my dwelling? The synagogue can give me nothing, no increase to my knowledge or to my devotion; nay, my meditation can be more free and sweet when my soul is alone with Heaven.” But this he did not say. It was his rule to be where the two or three met in the name of God. The sabbath day was God’s ordinance; therefore he kept it holy. Social worship has its authority, not only in the sanction which is implied in God’s promises to those who assemble together for his praise, but in the instincts of our common nature. Therefore he kept rank with those who surrounded him, and when the call to the local sanctuary was sounded, he was always responsive. Surely in this he has left an example on which may well be based the rule, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together.” Keep two things in view:

(1) the honoring of God;

(2) our part as members one of another.

And when these things are vivid, there will arise the sense, not merely of benefit to be received by ourselves, but of duty, both to him who made and redeemed us, and to those amongst whom we live and move. No light excuse will then be allowed to interfere with the custom. Each worshipper will feel, “I have my ministry, my place in the congregation; this place vacant, this ministry not rendered, there is a want for which I am responsible.” It is the absence of a feeling of responsibility in regard to the services of the sanctuary, it is the presence of a mere self-pleasing spirit, which explains much of the laxity of attendance which prevails. Let Christians ponder the way of the Lord, whose custom was to enter the village sanctuary, and contribute to the instruction of the village folk on the sabbath day.

III. IT SETS BEFORE US A REMARKABLE SERMON. The first of the two lessons for the day has been read; the lesson which remains is from the prophetsit is from Isaiah. Jesus stands up to read it. It is the passage which forms the sixty-first chapter of the book. The opening words of this chapter are his text. He rolls up the parchment, returns it to the attendant, and, as was the manner of the teacher, he sits down. Every eye is fastened on him as slowly and emphatically he declares, “This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears.” And there follows the sermon, the substance of which Luke records. Concerning the sermon, note:

1. Its thought and style. The words are “gracious,” literally, “words of grace.” Divine grace is the theme, and the language befits the theme. It is not in the fashion of ordinary teachers; it shines, and it burns. It is beautiful, winning; “grace is poured into the lips.” Such words become the pulpit; no other words become it.

2. Its effect. At first the wonder, the admiration, of the people is excited. If they had only yielded to the teaching, how mighty would have been the work of the day! But, alas! the small, petty feelings of the village prevent the work. The charm of the discourse is soon effaced by the murmurs, “Is not this Joseph’s Son? Capernaum may shout in his praise, but he is one of ourselves. We know his parentage and early surroundings. No, no; Joseph’s Son is not the Anointed of Jehovah.” And soon the countenance changes from wonder into scorn, and from scorn into rage, as the Teacher, reading their thoughts, charges home their guilt, and reminds them that the blessing passes from those who account themselves unworthy of it. Are these Nazarenes sinners above all others because this is their treatment of the Holy One? Have not we prejudices and prepossessions sometimes quite as irrational as were theirs? Has not the oscillation of feeling which we trace in them its counterpart in our own experience? Have not words sometimes seemed gracious to us until some little pride was touched, some demand made on faith against which reason or inclination rebelled, and, in our secret soul, Jesus was cast out? May we not hear his love protesting, “How often would I have gathered you, and ye would not”?

Luk 4:31-43

A sabbath day’s work.

“The despised and rejected” of Nazareth comes down to Capernaum, henceforth the center of his labor of love. The evangelist sets before us one of the sabbath days of this early Galilaean period, and bids us note the use made of the sabbath by the Son of man, who was also its Lord. He takes us to the synagogue, no doubt crowded by an expectant throng of fishermen, farmers, masters and workmen of busy Gennesareth. Jesus is the Teacher; and, as the discourse proceeds, we hear the sentence passing from one to another, “What a word!” or, “What is this word!”so different from the speech to which they are accustomed, so strangely fascinating. Has not the exclamation of these simple folk been repeated, in circles ever widening? Is it not, more than ever, the voice of the day in which we live? Let us look to the incidents of the Capernaum sabbath for three illustrations of the abiding power of the Word of the Lord.

I. THERE IS THE POWER TO INSPIRE. We see this generally and specially. Generally, in the effect produced, on the great body of the people. They had not yet been inflamed against Jesus by the emissaries of the Pharisees; and his preaching arrested the attention. It was not wild and startling, like that of John; it was calm, but intense. The pedantries of the scribes had no place in it; it spoke to the heart; it was the word of One in the light and love of Godthe Son of God and the Son of man. “For a season” at least they rejoiced in it. There were responses in the conscience, deep answering “amens” in the soul. The word was with authority. Specially in the attitude of those by whom Jesus was accompanied. We are told by Mark that he is accompanied by Simon and Andrew, James and John. They are the elder sons of his special family. They have heard the word, “Follow me,” and, obeying it, have left all to be his disciples. Oh, blessed powerthe power of that Spirit who, in the beginning, moved on the face of the waters and said, “Let there be light!” the power to awake the slumbering desire, to interpret the needs and thoughts of the heart, to stir up the longing to be better and nobler, to be the citizens of the kingdom of heaven and the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty! Who of us has felt the life-giving force of this heavenly spring? Such a one will join in the cry, “What a word!”

II. THERE IS THE POWER TO EXORCISE. One of the audience on the first of the Capernaum sabbaths is a miserable demoniac, “a man with the spirit of an unclean demon.” Whether, by such an expression, we are to understand only a violent type of mania, there is no need to discuss. The language of the thirty-third and thirty-fourth verses seems to imply more than this. “It is utterly impossible,” says Dean Alford, “to understand such a testimony as that of the sick person, still less of the fever or disease.” Be this as it may, the multitude, spell-bound, is receiving the word which is with power, when suddenly a great scream is heard. ” ! Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? I know thee who thou art; the Holy One of God.” Calmly, firmly, the Preacher rebukes the spirit; there is a paroxysm, a convulsion, and the man rises up, the wildness all gone, a right spirit renewed in him. “What a word! He commandeth the unclean spirits, and they obey him!” Let us believe that this word of command and rebuke is still with us. Unclean spirits, demons in men, alas! are legion, and sore havoc they make in human lives and homes. No demon is ever alone; it is always accompanied by evil powers, by manifold miseries. The only force adequate to the cleansing of the soul thus possessed is that of the Holy One of God. Welcoming all remedial legislation, all forms of philanthropic effort, with a view to raise the fallen, to cast out the devils which afflict society, let us remember that the innermost seat of the evil can be reached only by the gospel of the Holy One. With this gospel, let us never despair. “God is the God of hope; the devil is the spirit of despair.”

III. THERE IS THE POWER TO HEAL. The mission of Jesus in Galilee was a great medical mission. The Preacher and the physician represent the two aspects of his ministry. Here is a thought which consecrates the art of the physician; he is a revelation of one side of the abiding power of Christ; it is for him to recognize the Master and acknowledge the supreme authority of the Word of the Lord. And turning to the physician and availing themselves of his skill, the sick and diseased may recall that it is Jesus Christ who maketh whole. This is the true faith-healing. See how the healing power of the words is illustrated. Read Verses 40, 41. What a hospital is before the eye of the Healer when the sun is setting! And not one of the impotent and afflicted is without the touch; not one baffles the skill. For a more particular illustration, read Verses 38, 39. It is “a great fever,” and they beseech him for that precious life. He stands over her and “rebukes the fever.” Another account is still more touching: “He comes and takes her by the hand, and lifts her up.” Is not this a passage which makes all the Christian world kin? How many understand what is meant by the beseeching for one laid low with “the great fever”! Ah! but some will say, “It was not with my beloved as with her in the gospel story. I wept and fasted; I cried, ‘Oh, spare my dear one!’ but there was no rebuke of the disease. The one for whom I entreated was taken, and I was left, sitting alone and keeping silence.” Peace, thou bleeding heart! He allowed his beloved Lazarus to die; but in his own time and way he stood beside the grave and bade Lazarus come forth. He told the sisters that their faith was feeble; that the higher faith would not have been clamorousit would have felt, “His hand is holding that life; it is lifting it up; whosoever lives and believes in him has been already lifted up, and never dies.” So bethink thyself; not according to thy way, but according to his own, he did come; he did take by the hand; he did whisper, “Rise, my love, my fair one, and come; where I am thou shalt be also.” In the case of Simon’s mother-in-law the answer is visible. Observe, not only is the fever removed, but strength is infused”immediately she rose up and ministered unto them.” A beautiful suggestion, that ministry to Christ always follows the sense of healing by Christ. “What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?”

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Luk 4:1, Luk 4:2 (first part)

Solitude and struggle.

We are not to suppose, even though we read this statement as given by Matthew (Mat 4:1), that our Lord was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for the express purpose of being tempted by the evil one: to take that view would be to mistake the force of the Hebrew idiom. All that is intended is that Jesus was constrained to retire into the solitude of the wilderness where he would have to undergo the temptation which did actually befall him. He was led, by Divine direction, into retirement, and there, by Divine permission, into spiritual struggle.

I. THE DIVINE DIRECTION. As Moses in Midian, as David around Bethlehem, as Elijah at Horeb, as John in the wilderness of Judaea, as (afterwards) Saul in Arabia, so Jesus prepared for his great work in the depth of “the solitary place.” There we Can well believe that he held much communion with God; that he looked down into the secret places of his own soul and communed carefully with himself; and that he pondered long on the great workthe Father’s businesswhich lay before him. We may be sure that this period of solitude produced very rich fruit in after-days, not only in the truth which was spoken, but in the life which was lived and the sorrow which was endured. This period should find its Counterpart in our history; if it does not find it by our consent, it may do so without any choice of our own. For:

1. God commends such retirement to us. He does so by the way in which he led the greatest and the wisest of his servants (see above); by the faculties of devotion, introspection, and forecast which he has given us; by the example of our Lord. But:

2. God compels us to such retirement. He does so by his holy providence, when he lays us aside, when he takes us away from the busy scenes of toil, from “the strife of tongues,” from the excitements of society, and even from the distractions of the home circle; when he shuts the door upon us and draws round the curtain and leaves us alone with himself. Of that time, if we are wise, we shall make good use. It is a time for spiritual renovation; then we may learn lessons we should never gather even in the sanctuary; then we may enter on an upward path which otherwise we should never take, and so reach a goal we should otherwise never gain. It is a sacred opportunity, inciting to

(1) review;

(2) introspection or self-examination;

(3) onlook;

(4) prayer,

including the solemn and determined rededication of our whole selves and our entire future to the service of our Savior.

II. THE DIVINE PERMISSION. By the permission of God the evil one came to our Lord and tempted him (see following homilies). God allows the tempter to assail us even as he did his “beloved Son.” There are some temptations which are more likely to beset us in the period of solitude than at any other timetemptations of the wilderness. They are:

1. A morbid sensitiveness as to

(1) our own conditiona disposition to look too much to our own feelings, and to dwell too little on the goodness and the love of God; also as to

(2) our own reputation, and the estimation in which we are held among men.

2. Excessive disappointment and consequent disheartenment concerning

(1) the life we are living before God;

(2) the work we are doing for our fellowmen;

(3) the progress of the kingdom of God.

But though we may pass through these struggles we may come safely out of them. The remedies are these:

(1) An appeal to God for his guidance and inspiration;

(2) a resort to the promises of his Word;

(3) a timely return to the activities of daily work, of public worship, of active usefulness.C.

Luk 4:2-4

The temptation of the flesh.

There can be no question as to the reality of the temptation. Without contending for the strictly literal sense of the passage, we do maintain that the temptation was a very real thing to our Lord. It constituted a serious struggle through which he went, out of which he came forth victorious, by passing through which he was our Exemplar. We cannot afford to lose this aspect of his life, this view of our Lord himself; but we must beware lest we do; for “if we shrink from believing that he really felt the force of temptation we make that Divine life a mere mimic representation of griefs that were not real, and surprises that were feigned, and sorrows that were theatrical. But thus we lose the Savior.” It was a real conflict that is here depicted; and the first stage of it was that through which we have all, in our time, to passthe stern contest with the temptation of the flesh.

I. THE SEVERITY OF THE TEMPTATION. “He hungered” after long fasting. Hunger, in its severer forms, is unknown to us. In a country like this we have no experience of it. We can only judge of it from the testimony of those who have endured it; and, thus judging, we are sure that it is a very urgent, imperious, almost irresistible craving. The extremities and inhumanities to which it has driven men who are not naturally inhuman tell their own tale with terrible force. Our Master was suffering, we may well believe, from the most severe pangs of want. There were stones of the size and color of such a loaf as he would have given everything (it would be right to give) to obtain. By an easy exertion of his miraculous power he could turn the one into the other. Why not do so? Because to do that would be to take himself out of the hands of that heavenly Father to whose care he was committed, and manifest distrust in his providential goodness. Or because to do so would be to employ his Divine power first on his own behalf, instead of using it, as on the occasion of its first exercise it behoved him to employ it, on behalf of others. Or because to do that would be to give present and bodily cravings precedence of the great concerns of the kingdom of God. For some such reason our Lord thought that it would be wrong or, at any rate, undesirable for him to act on the suggestion, and he forbore. Temptation of the fleshly kind comes to us in the shape of hunger, or thirst, or sexual passion.

1. These trials of our moderation and self-government are more or less severe according to

(1) our temperament and

(2) our circumstances.

2. They may lead us into errors and evils which are

(1) mistakes to be avoided; or

(2) indiscretions to be condemned and regretted, and, of course, forsaken; or

(3) vices and sins which are shameful and deadly,

which stain the conscience, which ruin the reputation, which lead down to swift destruction.

II. THE WAY OF VICTORY. When the hour of conflict comes we must gird ourselves for the fight; and though the peril may be great because the enemy is strong, yet have we great resources, and there is no reason why we should not win the battle. We should call to our help our regard for:

1. The will of God as revealed in his Word; that “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God,” should be at hand with us as it was with our great Leader: “It is written.”

2. The penalty of disobediencea very heavy one in its ultimate issues.

3. The example of our Divine Master, calmly putting aside the false suggestion, preferring to suffer rather than to sin.

4. The consideration that sin excludes us from other and higher blessings. Better far, in the thought of Christ, to rest in bodily hunger, committing himself to the faithfulness of the holy Father. And how much better than any physical enjoyment is the satisfaction of spirit which attends purity and piety! Not the bread of bodily comfort, but the sense of God’s abiding favor, the continuance of the friendship of Christ, the cherishing of a heavenly hope,that is the good thing to prize and to pursue.C.

Luk 4:5-8

Temptation: outward and inward grandeur.

Of course, literal exactness is necessarily excluded here; we must look for, and shall have no difficulty in finding, the sense and spirit of the words. We will look at

I. THE APPEAL THAT WAS MADE TO OUR LORD, and the corresponding attack that is made on ourselves. Christ was tempted to seize “power and glory” for himself by an act of unholy submission. These were the prize which the worldly minded Jews of his age imagined to be within reach of their Messiah. To one of his humble circumstances but limitless capacity, and also of rightful and honorable ambition, there might very easily be presented a most powerful temptation to aim at a great and glorious supremacya throne like that of the Caesar himself, on which imperial power might be exercised and human glory at its topmost height be enjoyed. And the force of this temptation would be very greatly intensified by the fact that such a throne as this would be gained by very different measures from those Jesus had been contemplating in his solitude. The collecting of multitudes by appealing to their national passions, the leading of armies and gaining of victories, the command of great bodies of men, the excitements of political strife,all this is full of enjoyment to the ambitious soul. A vastly different experience this (and to all that was human in the mind of Jesus Christ immensely more attractive) from that of speaking unappreciated truth, living a life too noble to be understood, suffering from keen and malignant persecution, dying in the pangs and shame of martyrdom! The price to be paid for surrendering the higher for the lower aim, and the distressing for the delightful means, was “worshipping” Satan; in other words, declining the course which he most disliked, and adopting the course which he most desired. The attack which is now made on us, corresponding to this, is the suggestion that we should turn aside from the higher aspiration to the lower ambition. It may come to the Christian minister in his study, to the statesman in his cabinet, to the doctor in his consultingroom, to the author or editor at his table: it is a suggestion to leave the straight line of duty, of faithfulness, of service, of truth, of loyalty to conviction, of moral and spiritual integrity, and take the lower path of popularity, of honor, of temporal success. To do this is to take a course which we may dignify by some fair name, but which, in Scripture language, is worshipping the devil.

II. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT WAS REPELLED BY HIM, and in which it should be defeated by us. This was one of holy indignation: “Get thee behind me,” etc. Our Lord indignantly refused to entertain a suggestion so utterly opposed to his spirit of consecration, so subversive of all his high purposes and lofty hopes. He met it by the quotation of a word which demanded entire obedience to the will of God and full devotedness to his service. In this spirit of holy indignation let us repel the first advances of a temptation to leave the higher and the heavenly road of truth and service for the lower and the earthly one of mere temporal success. To take that lower course would be to play into the hands of the evil one; to lose the commendation of our conscience and to live under the shadow of its rebuke; to lower ourselves and to degrade our life in the estimate of all the true and wise on earth and in heaven; to lose our true and high reward; to break the word and depart from the will of the Lord our God.C.

Luk 4:9-12

Temptation to guilty haste.

One more attempt is made by the evil one on the integrity of our Lord’s faithfulness. We note

I. THE EVIL SUGGESTION. The idea conveyed to the mind of Jesus, now on the point of commencing his ministry, was this (as I understand it): “Here is a glorious opportunity to make a most successful beginning; alighting from this height among the assembled worshippers below, who are all ready to welcome the Messiah, you will gain such a prestige from so brilliant a miracle that the battle of conviction will be almost won by a single blow. There need be no fear; the angels will sustain you,” etc. But to act in this way would be to proceed along a line totally unsuited to the kind of work which Jesus came to do. It would be very gratifying, very stimulating, very agreeable to human feeling, but it would not be the right course to pursue. Christ came to build up a vast spiritual empire, and he was to lay its foundations carefully and steadily, and therefore deliberately and slowly, in the minds of men. This victory was not one to be snatched by a sudden impetuous charge; there must be a long and a hard campaign. Everything could not be done by a brilliant stroke, appealing to the imagination; there must be a long, laborious process, by which the judgment and the conscience of mankind would be convinced. There would be fatal folly in an endeavor to force an issue. There would be Divine wisdom in “beginning at the beginning,” in gradually working onwards, in toiling upwards amid fatigues and sorrows until the height was reached. Such are the victories before us nowtriumphs over ignorance, over vice, over unbelief, over superstition, over indifference, over indecision, over spiritual languor. We should like to be working faster, to be winning the battle at a greater pace. Then cometh the evil one, and he says, “Leave these slow processes; mix a little error with the truth you preach; be more careful to produce an effect than to deliver the Divine message; sacrifice purity to power; introduce into the method’s of the kingdom of Christ the principles and the weapons of the kingdom of the world; hasten to the goal and snatch the crown of success, instead of working so hard and waiting so long.”

II. THE FIRM REFUSAL. Christ declined to adopt the suggestion; he said that to do so would be “tempting the Lord his God.” It would be expecting God to work a miracle in order to gratify his unholy eagerness. We must not try to precipitate the cause of righteousness by an unholy impatience, which is a practical distrust of God’s Word. To expect God to bless means which he has not sanctioned, to own and honor methods which are not in accord with the principles he has revealed,this is to lose his favor and to draw down his condemnation; it is to invite discomfiture. “He that believeth shall not make haste.” “Our wisdom as well as our duty, as “workmen together with God,” is to

(1) adopt God-given methods;

(2) ask for the Divine help and inspiration;

(3) confidently await the Divine blessing in God’s own chosen time and way.C.

Luk 4:18

The poor and the gospel.

A most significant fact that the first work of the Messiah should be his “preaching the gospel to the poor.” What is the significance of it?

I. BY THE POOR DIVINE TRUTH IS MOST NEEDED. Their life on earth is the hardest; it is often one of unremitting toil; often one of severe privation, almost destitute comfort and enjoyment; often one of serious and hard oppression, in which the strong will of another robs of all liberty of action. The past is sad, the present gloomy, the future dark. There are no pleasures in recollection, and there is no relief in hope. How precious, how necessary, to these are the joys which earth cannot give and cannot stealthe treasures which enrich the heart, the hopes which reach beyond the grave!

II. BY THE POOR, DIVINE TRUTH IS MOST APPRECIATED. “How hardly do they that have riches enter the kingdom of heaven!” Their time is occupied, their minds are filled, with pursuits and pleasures which are on an earthly plane, and things higher and worthier are hidden from view. The poor, though they have indeed their own temptations and their own errors and failings, are yet more likely to see the Divine hand beckoning to them, and to hear the heavenly voice calling them to wisdom and service and eternal joy. And, as a fact, they do. The common people still hear Christ gladly, while the wealthy and the strong and the famous are sitting at the feet of “the world,” to learn its wisdom and to seek its favor.

III. TO THE POOR, DIVINE TRUTH IS CLEARLY AND MARKEDLY OFFERED. It was, in fact, a very great thing to say, “To the poor the gospel is preached.” It was one of the “watermarks” of Christianity that our Master made his appeal, not, as philosophy and theology had done before him, and as science in our day is doing, to human learning and influence, but to the unlettered and the lowly, to the multitude and the millions among men, to the common human heart. Other systems had tried to reach the lower levels by affecting the heights of society first. The gospel of Jesus Christ “moves upward from below.” It teaches, cleanses, raises the people; and so it purifies and exalts the nation. This is the Divine method, and must be ours. It is for the Church of Christ to follow its Divine Master, to see that the signs of truth are about its handiwork, and amongst them this leading sign, that “to the poor the gospel is preached.” If this feature should be absent, it will be time for the Church to be considering where it standshow near to or remote from its Master.C.

Luk 4:18

Healing the broken-hearted.

We have a supreme want, but we have a Divine remedy.

I. THE BROKEN HUMAN HEART. There are two things which break hearts:

1. One is intolerable shame; the shame which comes from a crushing sense of sin; it may be of flagrant sin, such as commands the deep indignation and strong censure of our fellowmen, and involves the loss of our own self-respect; or it may be a sense of that common sin of which all the souls of men are guilty in the sight of Godthe keeping back from him of all that has been due to him, all the reverence and love of our hearts and all the service of our lives. Under a deep sense of sin, and therefore of condemnation, affected and afflicted with the consciousness of Divine disapproval and the fear of Divine punishment, the heart cries out for refuge.

2. The other is overwhelming sorrow; it may be some crushing disappointment, or it may be some wearing and trying sickness, or it may be some heavy and humiliating loss, or it may be some terrible bereavement and consequent loneliness of heart and life; under one or more of these overwhelming burdens the heart may be bowed down even to breaking.

II. THE ONE DIVINE REFUGE. There is but one availing “Refuge of our soul” to whom we can flee with perfect assurance that in him we shall find what we need. Christ came “to heal the broken-hearted,” and he does so by:

1. Offering us the most tender sympathy. He is the High Priest who is “touched with a feeling of our infirmities, having been in all points tried even as we are,” and therefore able to enter perfectly into our griefs, whether of mind, body, or estate.

2. Ministering to us Divine comfort. By his Holy Spirit’s ministry he comes to us, and dwells within us, and acts powerfully though graciously upon our hearts; thus he lets the gentle dews of his comfort cool the heats of our fevered spirit, making himself known to us as the “God of all comfort,” as that “One who comforteth them that are cast down.”

3. Granting us effectual help; enlightening our minds, energizing our spirits, making us capable of doing that which has to be done, animating and reviving us, fitting us to take our part and do our work. In proportion as we are reverent and pure of heart in the time of our prosperity and joy, may we look for his indwelling and outworking in the “day of desperate grief” and of heart-brokenness.C.

Luk 4:18

Spiritual bondage and Christian freedom.

Who does not pity the captive? Saddening to the sympathetic heart is the thought of the man who is confined within his lonely and dreary cell, shut in from the beauties and melodies of nature, excluded from the haunts of men, debarred from all the activities of busy life, unable to enter his own home, compelled to unwilling solitude and separation from those he loves! There is no prayer that we breathe with a finer or fuller feeling than the petition, “Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee.” Yet is there a bondage that is worse than any ever inflicted by stone walls and iron chains. It is

I. THE BONDAGE OF SIN. Sin is at first a transgression, but it soon becomes a tyranny. It grows into a power; and it becomes a power which holds the soul in its grasp, so that it is practically enslaved; it attempts to rise, to move, to do that which befits it and for which it was created, but it finds that it cannot; it is held down; its way is barred. This is true of sin in all its forms, and it is true in a number of degrees, varying from an objectionable constraint down to an almost hopeless despotism. It applies to:

1. Error, which becomes an inveterate prejudice through which no light will break.

2. Folly, such as that of procrastination, which in no length of time weaves itself round the soul.

3. Vice, such as intemperance, or profanity, or impurity (more especially in some of its forms). There is no bondage more thoroughly deserving the name than this. The victim of vice is, indeed, “holden with the cords of his sins” (Pro 5:22); they have him fast in the saddest and most degrading thraldom in which a human being can be held.

4. Vanity. How many a man is a wretched slave to the judgment of other men! The fear of their condemnation, or still oftener of their ridicule, impels him in a direction in which he knows he ought not to be going, ties him to a position from which he is longing to break away.

5. Rebellion against God; disloyalty, estrangement, the withholding of the heart and life from God’s service, so long maintained, that, when the soul thinks of repentance and return, it finds itself held to its wrong and sinful state.

II. THE FREEDOM WHICH IS IN CHRIST. The gospel announces “deliverance to the captives.” And how does it effect this blessed emancipation?

1. By giving to the sinner a deep sense of his sin, and filling his soul with shame of himself and loathing of his iniquity. When men have come to hate sin they are well on the road toward its conquest.

2. By taking back the penitent to the favor and love of God. Through Christ sin is pardoned and the sinner is restored. As one that loves God, and seeks above all things to enjoy his favor, the man “cannot sin;” he has acquired a reason and motive for purity and integrity which gives him the victory over sin. How can he grieve his heavenly Father, his Divine Redeemer, the Holy Spirit of God?

3. By giving him access to a source of Divine power. God is ready to dwell effectually within, and to work mightily upon the soul that seeks his presence and asks his power. We can do “all things in Christ who strengtheneth us.” He makes us to know “the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe,” in snapping the bonds that bound us, and investing us with “the glorious liberty of the children of God.”C.

Luk 4:18

Spiritual blindness.

“The recovering of sight to the blind.” We think of

I. THE BADNESS OF BLINDNESS, and its degrees. “It must be very bad to be blind,” we say; probably we but faintly realize what it means.

1. It is bad to be physically blindto look on no scenery, to read no book, to behold no countenance, to recognize no love in a human face, to grope our way in the thick darkness.

2. It is worse to be mentally blindto see, and not to see; to open the eyes on the beauty and wonder and glory of the universe and to recognize nothing beautiful, wonderful, glorious, there; to be as lonely in a library as in a cell!

3. It is worse still to be morally blindblind of soul, so that a man can see nothing degraded in drunkenness, nothing shameful in vice, nothing revolting in obscenity and profanity, nothing repelling in selfishness; so that a man can see nothing noble in generosity, nothing beautiful in beneficence, nothing regal in righteousness and duty, nothing sacred in human love.

4. It is worst of all to be spiritually blindworst, because that is the root and source of all the others; blindness of spirit, a darkness in which the soul fails to see the Highest of all beings, the loftiest of all truths, the greatest of all facts; a darkness in which the soul fails to recognize the essential truth that in God we “live, and move, and have our being,” and that to him we are responsible for all we are and have; in which it is blind to our sorrowful state of guilt and condemnation in the sight of God.

II. THE WORST FEATURE OF SPIRITUAL PRIVATION. That which is the best feature in physical is the worst in spiritual blindness. Under the merciful principle of accommodation, the blind became not only submissive, but contented and even cheerful in the darkness in which they dwell. They are able not only to speak of it, but to feel about it that it is “the shadow of God’s wing.” That is a very happy thing; but that is the very worst feature of spiritual blindness. It is spiritual insensibility that is the most deplorablethe fact that men don’t know that they don’t see; that they suppose themselves to know everything when they know nothing; that they are not aware what a world of truth and blessedness is around them and is accessible to them. Who shall reveal this to them?

III. CHRIST THE GREAT RESTORER of our spiritual vision. And how does he make us see that to which, but for him, we should have remained blind?

1. By making quite plain and certain that which would have remained shadowy and uncertain. Many truths of vital importance men would, in his absence, have speculated upon and discussed, but they would not have known them. Coming to us from God, the great Teacher has turned these uncertainties into living and sustaining truth. He tells us authoritatively and decisively that God is the one Divine Spirit, the righteous Ruler of all, the Father of souls, condemning them in their sin, pitying them in their estrangement, inviting them to return; that God has determined that when we die we shall live again, shall come forth to a resurrection of condemnation or of life.

2. By bringing the truth close home to the eye of the soul. When our Lord lived on earth he did this himself in his own Person; e.g. in the cases of the woman of Samaria, the rich young ruler, Nicodemus, he brought the truth of the kingdom home to the heart and the conscience. Those lips are closed to us now; Christ speaks not now as he spoke then. But his Spirit is with us still, speaking through his Word and through his faithful servants, and through his providence.

3. By more fully enlightening the minds of those who go in faith to seek and to serve him. Unto all seeking and trusting souls he manifests his truth in ever-enlarging fullness; them he leads “into all the truth” they need to know; and to them it becomes gloriously true that the Spirit of the Lord has anointed him, their Savior, for “the recovering of sight to the blind.”C.

Luk 4:18

The bruised.

“To set at liberty them that are bruised.” And who may they be who are thus characterized? and in what way does Jesus Christ meet their especial need?

I. BRUISED SOULS. We find these in:

1. Those who are chafed with the worries of life; whose disposition is such, or whose circumstances are such, that they are harassed and fretted by a multitude of minor conflicts with men and things; who are in danger of losing or have lost their mental equilibrium as the result of the perpetual strife.

2. Those who are perplexed with the problems of life; who want to be mentally satisfied and to see that their theories agree with the existing facts, and who, finding these two things in frequent antagonism, are troubled thereby in soul;such men are never fixed in their convictions, but always thinking that these require readjustment.

3. Those who are smitten by the persecutions of life; who are continually coming into collision with men. They may have a combative habit, or they may be placed in human surroundings unfavorable to peace; but, from whatever cause, they are always in conflict, and are perpetually finding themselves the object of attack, of the ribaldry and the scorn of men; they bear a bruised feeling about them.

4. Those that are worn with excessive toil.

5. Those that are wounded by the heavier sorrows of life; from whom health, or reputation, or position, or fortune, or the object of strong and deep affection has been suddenly taken away.

II. THE REFUGE THEY HAVE IN CHRIST. Jesus Christ does not “set at liberty” bruised souls as a deliverer releases bruised prisoners; but he does emancipate them by taking from them their suffering, and giving to them a large measure of spiritual freedom. He blesses these bruised souls, and proves to them a Divine Refuge.

1. By his sympathy. In each one of their distresses they can feel sure of the tender sympathy of their High Priest, “touched with the feeling of their infirmities.”

2. By his example. In all points he has been tempted, or tried, even as we are. We bear no cross which he has not carried before us, and his was heavier than ours.

3. By his aid. He is ready, at our appeal, to strengthen us by his indwelling Spirit, and to grant us such strong sustaining grace that, instead of groaning under our blows, we may even glory in them (2Co 12:9).

4. By his promises; those “exceeding great and precious promises,” which not only cover the whole path of life, however long that may prove, but reach on beyond the horizon-line of death into the blessed and eternal future.C.

Luk 4:22

The graciousness of the words of Christ.

“The gracious words [words of grace] which proceeded out of his mouth.” The “words of the Lord Jesus” were “words of grace” indeed. They were so whether we consider

I. THEIR SUBSTANCE. They were not, indeed, without seriousness, and at times not without severity. Christ did say, when the occasion required it, things which startled his hearers, things which are well fitted to make us pause and even tremble if we are obnoxious to their severity. He is, as a Divine Teacher and Revealer of God, as far as possible removed from the easy good-naturedness which would represent it as a matter of indifference what men hold and how they live,the “good God” will make it all right in the end. No man can listen attentively and reverently to Christ and settle down into comfortable unbelief or self-complacent sin. Yet were his words predominantly and pre-eminently “words of grace.” By the truths he preached he made known to mankind that:

1. God is accessible to all; the Approachable One, who is always willing to receive his children, and who welcomes back those who have wandered farthest away.

2. That a noble life is open to all; we may be in character and spirit, as well as in name and in position, the children of God (Mat 5:45-48); we are to be “the light of the world,” “the salt of the earth.”

3. That a glorious future is within the reach of all; “in the Father’s house are many mansions.”

4. That salvation is very near to all; the Scripture is fulfilled; the Redeemer is come; the blind may see; the captives may be delivered; this is “the acceptable year,” “the accepted time;” “to-day is the day of salvation.” Or whether we consider

II. THEIR FORM. There is about the gracious words of Christ:

1. An accent of persuasiveness. He does not angrily threaten, he cordially invites us; he says, winningly, “Come unto me I am meek and lowly;” “Abide in me, and I [will abide] in you;” “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock,” etc.

2. A note of considerateness. “Come into a desert place, and rest awhile;” “I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now;” “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

3. A touch of tenderness. “I will not leave you comfortless;” “Because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart.”

(1.) It is perilous to abuse the grace of Christ. There is such a thing as “the wrath of the Lamb.”

(2.) It is perfectly safe to trust in his grace. He means everything he says; the worst may obtain his mercy, the most diffident may confide in his redemption of his word.C.

Luk 4:32, Luk 4:37

Fame and Power.

“His word was with power;” “The fame of him went out.” Fame and power are the objects of eager and arduous pursuit; they are supposed to be deserving of the expenditure of our strength, and to reward us for all our anxieties and toils. What is their worth, intrinsic and relative? What were they to our Lord? and what should they be to us?

I. THE WORTHLESSNESS OF FAME.

1. The fame of Jesus Christ, as a man, is remarkable indeed. Born in a little Judaean village, of humble parents, receiving a very scanty education, enjoying no patronage, teaching truths too deep to be understood by the multitude and too broad to be appreciated by the orthodox of his time, arousing the hatred of the powerful, and dying while yet a young man a death of utmost ignominy,his name has become known, his doctrine has been received, he himself has been honored and even worshipped by countless millions of mankind under every sky. This is fame of the first magnitude; there are very few names “under heaven given among men” that can aspire to stand in the same rank, on the ground of human fame.

2. Jesus Christ shunned rather than sought fame. “Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it” (Mat 9:30; Mat 8:1-34 : 4; Mat 12:16; Mat 17:9). “Great multitudes came together to hear and to be healed and he withdrew himself into the wilderness” (Luk 5:15, Luk 5:16; see also Verses 42, 43).

3. He appears to have been embarrassed by his fame rather than gratified, and his work seems to have been hindered rather than helped by it (see Joh 6:15). And it is obvious that, as his great and high purpose was one which was far removed from the superficial and worldly hopes of the people, popularity or fame would not further but rather retard the work he had in hand. It is worth no man’s while to be seriously concerned about his fame. To seek for and strive after an honorable reputation is what every man owes to himself, to his family, to his Church, to his Master. But no man need concern himself greatly about the acquisition of fame.

(1) It is obvious that only a very small minority of mankind can attain it; therefore any extensive endeavor after it must end in disappointment.

(2) It is of very slight intrinsic worth; for it is possessed and enjoyed by the bad as well as by the good, by the notorious as well as by the celebrated.

(3) It does not usually crown its hero until he has gone where it will no longer affect him; useless to the martyred patriot himself, however valuable to his country, is the costly tomb, or the splendid monument, or the elaborate elegy contributed to his memory.

(4) Its effect on living men is exceedingly doubtful; it may gladden and stimulate, but it may elate and injure.

II. THE EXCELLENCY OF POWER. “Power belongeth unto God” (Psa 62:12). And power belonged to the Son of God. “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit” (Luk 4:14).

1. Christ possessed and exerted powerthe power of the prophet, speaking truth; “his word was with power” (Luk 4:32; Mat 7:28, Mat 7:29); the power of the Son of God, working miracles; the power of holiness and innocency (Joh 7:30; Joh 18:6); the power of love and sympathy, attaching disciples, men and women, to himself with bonds of affection that no dangers or sufferings could break.

2. He aspired after other and still higher power than any he exercisedthe power which could only be gained by a sacrificial death. “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” That pure and holy aspiration has been and shall be gloriously fulfilled. It is well worth our while to seek after a true, living, spiritual power.

(1) It is attainable by us all; it is within the reach of those who seek it in the fellowship and the service of Christ, and who ask it of the Spirit of God.

(2) It is of real intrinsic worth; it is a Divine, a Christ-like, an angelic thing; it is a source of benefit and blessing to mankind.

(3) It will enlarge our heritage both here and hereafter; for to every man God will give sacred and blessed opportunity of service “according to his several ability.”C.

Luk 4:40

The healing Savior.

This interesting picture had evidently been impressed upon the minds of the apostolic witnesses, for all the evangelists record the fact that the occurrence took place as the sun was setting, or in the evening of the day. It was, indeed, a sight to be long remembered. Who can imagine the gratitude and joy which filled the hearts of husbands and wives, parents and children, as they that gracious presence and returned to their homes in health and strength?

I. THE SUPREME MALADY. The malady of maladies from which we suffer is sin. For sin is to the soul just what sickness is to the body.

1. Its essential nature. It is the radical disorder of the human spirit. The faculties of the soul, instead of doing that for which they were created, are helpless or are perverted, so that the man himself no longer walks with God, no longer speaks his praise, no longer works in his cause. The soul that was meant to find its life and its heritage in revering, honoring, rejoicing in, serving, glorifying God, is out of all happy relation with him, cannot do his will, may not even know who he is. Everything is in a state of disorder and helplessness.

2. Its various forms. As there are “divers diseases” of the flesh, as the sickness of the body takes a variety of formsblindness, paralysis, fever, etc.so does sin in the soul and in the life of man. It may appear as doubt, or disbelief, or even impious denial of God; or as the deliberate and determined rejection of his claims; or as a flagrant violation of his laws; or as a guilty inattention to his voice as he speaks to us in conscience, or in his Word, or in his Son; or as a prolonged and presumptuous procrastination, ever delaying to do what is recognized as the right and the wise thing.

II. THE ONLY CURE. As many of these sick ones knew not what else to do, to whom else they could apply; as they felt that the ordinary remedies and the human skill accessible to them must prove unavailing, and that, if this new and wonderful Healer did not help them, they must bear their burden of pain and helplessness through their future days; so may we feel respecting the supreme malady. Nothing merely human will prove to be a cure. Only a Divine hand can heal these deep wounds, these fatal ills. And how does Jesus Christ prove himself the one Healer of the heart?

1. By showing us our sin in its true light, as a grievous wrong done to our heavenly Father, and thus filling our souls with sorrow and shame concerning it.

2. By offering himself as that Divine One through whom it may be forgiven, and we be restored to the favor and friendship of God.

3. By leading us in every path of holiness and purity, and forming in us a righteous character and an obedient spirit.

III. AN EFFICACIOUS METHOD. “He laid his hands on every one of them.” The touch of that Divine hand communicated health to the body, and at the same time hope and joy to the heart. It was not absolutely necessary that he should touch them; he could “speak the word only,” and the patient would be healed. But he preferred to do so; it brought him, the Healer, into close and loving contact with those, whom he was healing. We, too, in our way, are healers after Christ. We aspire to move through our life, dispensing health and happiness to them that are sick and sad of soul. If we fail in part to do this, may it not be because we do not get into close enough contact with those whom we are endeavoring to bless? We must learn to be like our Lord, and lay our hands on every one of them, and then shall we be most likely to heal them.C.

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR

Luk 4:1-13

The temptation of Christ.

From the baptism of Jesus we now pass to his temptation. In the baptism he received, as we have seen, three gifts from the Fatherthe guarantee of a perfect revelation of the Father’s will, of a perfect inspiration to do that revealed will, and of an assurance of Sonship during the trying ordeal. We are now to notice three temptations, corresponding very accurately to these three gifts, and so presenting in most artistic fashion the great drama of Messiah’s life. But before taking them up as they are here presented by Luke, let us direct our attention to one or two preliminary matters. And first we must notice that Jesus was “led,” or, as Mark puts it still more graphically, was “driven” of the Spirit into the wilderness (Mar 1:12). This clearly implies that our Lord did not “court temptation,” nor rush with a light heart into it, nor shirk it, but accepted bravely what was forced upon him. It is only in such a spirit that we can hope successfully to resist it. There is no premise of Scripture to sustain any one who rushes madly into temptation. But, secondly, we observe that a great baptism of the Spirit is usually to prepare the recipient for some victoriously-to-be-met temptation. Jesus went to the wilderness filled with the Holy Ghost, and so was enabled to vanquish his tempter. Thirdly, the scene of the temptation is significant. While its exact location is not indicated, its general characteristics are. It was some wilderness, where nature affords no food or sustenance to man. What a contrast to the happy garden where the first Adam was tempted! Messiah meets the tempter in the most trying circumstances, and the tempter’s defeat there is promise of his defeat everywhere. Moreover, Mark tells us he was “with the wild beasts” (Mar 1:13). It is a new Daniel braving the lions and subduing them. Fourthly, we must observe that he is here tempted in his public capacity, as Messiah. He had doubtless been tempted previously as a private individual; he had been urged by Satan most probably to leave the privacy of Nazareth for a more public position, and had put away all these temptations manfully. Now that he has dedicated himself as Messiah in the Jordan, he must undergo corresponding temptations.

II. NOTICE THE TEMPTATION THROUGH APPETITE. (Verses 3, 4.) After forty days’ fast, during which time he was suffering temptation from Satan, he finds himself famishing. The spectacle in the wilderness and among the wild beasts is, therefore, that of a famishing Messiah. Never was he nearer death than on this occasion, except when death actually came. It is at this juncture that Satan first tempts him through his hunger. He claims to be the Son of God; this assurance was given him in his baptism; and as the Son he believes he possesses, though as yet he has not exercised, miraculous power. Let him, then, use his power for self-preservation, which is the first law of nature, and transform the stones of the wilderness into bread. The fallacy which underlies this temptation is one to which men are now most prone, viz. that “men must live,” and then this false principle passes through degrees of comparison, and men say to themselves they must, if possible, live well, and, lastly, they must, if possible, live very well But is it necessary that any of us should live? Who has given us this revelation? May not God’s revelation be that the best thing we could do would be to die for truth and righteousness? Hence our Lord, instead of listening to the voice of appetite, declares his resolve to listen to the voice of God, and upon that revelation he will live. “It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” It is surely instructive in these times, when appetite is accepted by many as man’s one certain revelation, to have our Lord directing our attention to a higher revelation and a more sustaining voice. Bread cannot sustain the whole man; it can only prop up the physical nature; but the spiritual needs other food and higher help, and finds it in God’s Word alone! Amid the fierce struggle for bread, let us listen to him who speaks about the better bread which comes out of the mouth of God!

II. NOTICE THE TEMPTATION THROUGH AMBITION. (Verses 58.) Matthew puts this temptation last, instead of here, and in this is probably chronologically more accurate than Luke. But we need not transpose it in order to profit by it. Messiah, then, though famishing, abides by the revelation of God rather than make a miraculous banquet in the wilderness. But of the revelation the Father gave him this was a chief partthat he was to become Conqueror and Ruler of the world! Universal empire was, therefore, his legitimate ambition. It is here that Satan tempts him. Taking him to some mountain-top, he shows him, in some miraculous fashion, all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time. Next he claims to be the rightful ruler of these kingdoms, but is willing to make a bargain with the ambitious Messiah that, if he will only acknowledge his sovereignty and pay him the homage due to earthly kings, all the kingdoms shall be made over to him. The temptation here is to gratify ambition at the cheapest rate. No self-denial, no self-sacrifice, no consuming spirit, shall be needful, but simply a little homage paid to the world’s prince. It was such a bargain as a worldly mind would have welcomed eagerly. But Jesus refused the terms. He would not acknowledge Satan to be the world’s rightful ruler. He regarded him as a usurper whom he had come to depose. Hence, in impatience with the arch-fiend, our Lord exclaimed, “Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” The question in the first temptation was that of revelation, corresponding to the first of the baptismal gifts; the question in this temptation is that of inspiration, the spirit of service, and corresponding to the second of the baptismal gifts. Jesus will not render any homage to the world’s betrayer, but will serve God alone! Once more may we see the grand spirit of self-sacrifice which this implies. Jesus will seek and obtain a universal empire, but by making no truce with the world; rather would he himself suffer unto death and be followed by myriads of martyrs, than gratify a poor ambition in Satan’s suggested and worldly way.

III. NOTICE THE TEMPTATION TO PRESUMPTION AND OSTENTATION. (Verses 9-12.) As Messiah Jesus must consider what plan would be best for beginning his public work. This must have been with him a distinct subject of thought. And now Satan suggests that if he precipitated himself from the pinnacle of the temple into the court, and did so with impunity as God’s Son, the people could not but hail him as the promised Messiah. He should put his Sonship, the tempter suggests, to the test. He should test the promise about angels bearing up the believer and preventing him from dashing his foot against a stone. It was a temptation to carry faith into presumption, and becoming ostentatious in doing so. Our Lord, then, having resolved to live by faith, is as firmly resolved to avoid presumption. He will not tempt his Father by claiming support in ostentatious circumstances. And so he repels the insinuation, and resolves not to presume upon his Sonship. Hence we find that, instead of entering in any such spirit upon his work, he enters upon it publicly when he drives the traffickers from the temple. It was an amazing method of beginning Messianic work, and yet it was the best way. These temptations have their little counterparts in our own experience. We are tempted through appetite, through ambition, and through presumption. We must resist the enemy in the Master’s spirit. The apt quotations from the Divine Word show where the sword of the Lord lies, and it is for us not to let it rust in a napkin, like Goliath’s at the tabernacle, but to have it in constant readiness for active service and faithful resistance.

And now, in conclusion, we have to notice the fact that angels came and ministered unto Jesus when the crisis was past. We know not what they brought to him-ambrosial food, the corn of heaven, perhaps; at all events the most delightful food of which he ever partook. Then, like Elijah, he went in the strength of the food received, not, indeed, to the mount of God and the wilderness, but from the wilderness to the busy haunts of men, and in the power of the Spirit. Satan, meanwhile, having “completed” the temptation, having done his worst to make him fall, leaves him for a season free. It must have been a heaven of happiness to be consciously free from his incessant wiles and snares, and to have won the freedom. So may we in our little measure win some respite from the enemy, if we faithfully follow our Lord in resisting temptation!R.M.E.

Luk 4:14-30

Christ’s sermon in Nazareth.

The temptation of Christ strengthened all the graces within him, so that he felt himself prepared, on returning from the wilderness, for public work. Luke does not take us, as John does in his Gospel, back to the Jordan; nor does he take us to the marriage in Cana of Galilee, where the wonderful works began (Joh 2:1-13). He prefers to sum up for us his early Galilaean ministry in two verses, before proceeding to a detailed account of his visit to Nazareth and his rejection by his countrymen. Let us consider

I. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HIS PUBLIC REPUTATION BEFORE APPEARING IN NAZARETH. (Verses 14, 15.) Had he gone to his own city first without a reputation, he would not have received the attention he did. Jesus knew that a prophet has no honor in his own country; he knew that he need not go among his old companions without having achieved something remarkable; hence he made a name for himself in other parts of Galilee before advancing to the difficult task at his old home. And the method he pursued was significant. He did not create rival institutions to the existing Churches. He went into the synagogues and availed himself of the opportunities they offered. He read the Word, expounded it, and made a reputation for himself as a popular Teacher. Of course, along with his teaching, there was a measure of miracle. But his wonderful works were merely to secure increased attention to his still more wonderful words. His expositions of truth were really the important element to which all else was but subsidiary. It was, therefore, with an established reputation that he advanced to Nazareth to test his countrymen as to their cordiality towards him.

II. LET US NEXT CONSIDER HIS VISIT TO NAZARETH. (Verses 16-21.) We are not informed on what day of the Jewish week he came to Nazareth; but we are told what happened on the first sabbath day after his arrival. We shall notice the significant facts as they are told us by Luke.

1. He shared in the public worship. If any one ever had a right to absent himself on the ground of knowing more than others could tell him, it was surely Jesus. Yet we find him subjecting himself to family training, and putting all honor he could upon social and public worship. Moreover, it was his “custom.” The habit of waiting upon God at the sanctuary has thus the highest warrant. In this, as in all else, our Lord is the perfect Example. But:

2. He took part in public worship. The Jews in their synagogues seem to have encouraged greater freedom than Church forms now admit of. They welcomed the help of young men as readers, and took exhortation from strangers when they happened to be present. Our Lord, then, took the place of reader on this occasion, and, as Isaiah’s prophecy was handed to him, he selected as his text the notable passage about the mission of Messiah. The Anointed One was sent to “preach the gospel to the poor,” etc. And here it is instructive to notice

(1) the class Messiah gathers round him. Not those whom the world would choose, but the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives, the blind, the bruised, the imprisoned! What a. policy to inaugurate! Again,

(2) it is significant what treatment he gives them. He gives the gospel, not wealth, to the poor; healing, not freedom from trial, to the broken-hearted; freedom from sin to the captives; the recovering of sight to the blind; liberty to the bruised in spirit; and acceptance and jubilee joy to all imprisoned ones. In short, iris spiritual comfort over and above physical which he brings to them I It is here that the world’s wisdom fails. It may do something to alleviate physical distress, but is as helpless as the doctor in Macbeth in “ministering to minds diseased.”

3. He embodied and illustrated his text. When he had read the text he gave the book back to the minister and sat down before the congregation, and proceeded to expound the passage. He had to speak of himself. He was the Person referred to in it. No wonder the eyes of all were fastened on him. The Anointed One was in their midst, and he was ready to heal the broken-hearted and to work the wonders in the spiritual realm which were so important. The exposition was really the embodiment of blessing in his own Person. The Healer was there, the great Physician of souls.

III. LET US NEXT CONSIDER THE EFFECT OF HIS SERMON. (Verses 22, 23.) The first effect was wonder and admiration. He had evidently interested them by his spiritual exposition. No such sermon had ever been heard before in Nazareth. It was a case of ministerial joy at the glad reception of a message. But if these were the lights of joy in the picture, they were speedily followed by the shadows of ministerial disappointment. Their admiration gave way before familiarity. They began to say, “Is not this Joseph’s Son?” They knew his antecedents, and so will put the worst construction possible upon his work. But the contempt of familiarity was not their only danger; they imagined that, as his countrymen, they were entitled to demand such miraculous credentials as he had given elsewhere. He had lived among them for the most of thirty years a sinless life, the greatest of all miracles in a sinful world; but they demand something more, and think that he will have but a sickly reputation if he does not accede to their request. The physician who cannot cure himself will not be in much demand to cure others; so if Jesus will not, by a miraculous display at Nazareth, establish his reputation which familiarity is undermining, they are prepared to say it is because he cannot. The mistake they make is in forgetting that Nazareth had no right to the treatment of Capernaum, since it had thirty years of the sinlessness of Jesus, which the seaside town had not.

IV. CONSIDER OUR LORD‘S SOVEREIGN REFUSAL OF THEIR DEMAND. (Verses 24-27.) The notion of the Nazarenes was that they had a right to a miraculous display from Christ. As Jews, and as his own townspeople, they fancied they had a claim which could not be got over. This self-righteous spirit must be put down. Hence our Lord declares, in the first place, that “no prophet is accepted in his own country.” To this law of limited influence through familiarity Jesus himself has to bow. It is the principle which secures a missionary enterprise. Men are more influential away from home than they can ever be at home. Better leave the plain of Shinar than wait only to have one’s tongue confounded and one’s influence gone. But, besides, our Lord from history recalls two illustrations of God in his sovereignty passing all the Jews by and selecting Gentiles and outsiders for blessing. The first case was in Elijah’s time, when many an Israelitish widow was famishing for want of bread; but none of them was visited by the prophet, or got her barrel of meal miraculously replenished, as did the heathen widow at Sarepta. Again, there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet, but they were all passed over, and Naaman, the Syrian general, was cured. It was in both instances to show that Jews, as such, had no claim upon God’s bounty, who could, if he pleased, pass them all by. This humiliation is one of the great lessons we must all learn if we are to profit by Christ’s salvation. Divine sovereignty is to humiliate in order to exalt; but if sovereignty is denied to God, the curse comes instead.

V. CONSIDER THE SAD ISSUE OF THE VISIT. (Verses 28-30.) The Nazarenes are filled with wrath. They will not accept the invitation, but will contend for their rights, so called. So indignant are they as to meditate his destruction. Hence they take him towards the brow of the hill, with the intention of casting him headlong over it. It was a diabolical attempt. It was frustrated, however, by the majestic bearing of the Redeemer. He went through them by simple majesty of bearing, and they dare not touch him. Over the hills he passed in judicial separation from the misguided city. And now we are surely taught by this history not to be surprised if we are apparently unsuccessful in our work. It was the same with the Master. All, in such circumstances, we can do is to lay the truth of God before men’s minds, and show them at once their unworthiness to receive it, and their responsibility in rejecting it. Moreover, if old acquaintances do not receive our testimony with that eagerness and respect we imagine it deserves, let us remember that our Master was subject himself to the same law, and accepted the situation. Patience under disappointment is the great lesson of comfort from such a passage.R.M.E.

Luk 4:31-44

Our Lord’s labors at Capernaum.

As Nazareth knew not the day of her visitation, and had done her best to make away with Jesus, he had no alternative but to make another place his center. Capernaum, a city situated on the lake of Galilee, and through which the Eastern caravans were accustomed to pass, is selected by him as the most suitable head-quarters for his Galilaean ministry. Accordingly, he came down from the uplands, where Nazareth lay, to this seaport, and there began his missionary enterprise. And here we have

I. THE CHARACTER OF HIS PREACHING. (Luk 4:31, Luk 4:32.) Entering on the sabbath days into the synagogue, he taught with authority and with success. His teaching was a great contrast to that of the scribes. They seem to have contented themselves with quoting authorities. Unless they could back up their views by some great name, they were not sure about their doctrines. It was a prodigious use of commentators which they indulged in. But Jesus came and preached what he himself knew as a matter of certainty. There was a directness and “dead certainty” about his utterances which struck all the hearers as something new. And surely it is on this line that preachers still will find the path of safety. What we preach ought to be experience, the verities of our own spiritual life. And this preaching of certainties had its due effect in spiritual power. The word went home to the hearers’ heartsthey had never heard truth so clearly presented before; and so they were lost in wonder and astonishment. The secret of success lies here. It is not by radiating a series of uncertainties upon men; it is not by bolstering men up in “honest doubt” and leaving them in the haze, that men will be won to what is high and holy. It is by telling them what we have learned ourselvesthe glorious certainties of spiritual experience. Like the psalmist, we must gather men around us to tell them what God has done for our souls. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” and speaketh well!

II. OUR LORD DEMONSTRATED HIS POWER OVER DEVILS AS WELL AS OVER MEN. (Luk 4:33-37.) In the synagogue there happened to be an unfortunate man possessed by what is called an “unclean devil;” his “inspirations” from this unhappy source being perhaps of a lustful and sensual character. The possession of men by demons was a struggle upon the diabolical spirit’s part for a physical instrument to bring him into relations with the sensible and material world. The humanity of the man became the slave or hack of the demon, he used the man’s voice to utter his unholy thoughts, and reduced the poor subject to utter wretchedness. The presence of the holy Saviour aroused the demon’s fears, He saw that his hour of judgment had come; and so, as a last resort, he tried to injure the reputation of Jesus by bearing witness to his holy character. There are some people from whom it is not desirable to hold certificates or receive testimonials. And in this appeal to Jesus he speaks for the man as well as for himself, as if he had a commission to do so. “Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou come to destroy us?” etc. We have thus set before us:

1. The separating power of sin. The fellowship of the holy is not desired.

2. The inherent dread of judgment. The demon felt he deserved destruction.

3. The overweening sense of success in sin. The demon imagined that the poor possessed one would be involved in his own destruction. And now Jesus first silences the spirit, indicating that he desires no such witnesses; and, secondly, commands him to come out of the possessed one. In this way the demon is bidden back to that spiritual realm which he seemed so anxious to escape. There is nothing for it but to obey Christ. In doing so, however, he does his worst upon the poor possessed one; he throws him down, and to all appearance has once more the mastery over his prey. It is a last and unsuccessful effort. The man is found to have come unscathed through the ordeal. The restoration of human nature to freedom from demoniacal temptation is one great object of the Saviour’s work. Clothing men in their right mind again, enabling them to think and act for themselves, and to resist the subtle temptations to impurity and sin,this is a glorious function of the Holy One of God! The result of the miracle was the recognition of Jesus as the Sovereign of that spiritual world below man, from which he is liable to assault. His mighty word not only controlled human hearts, but extended to demons too. They had to obey his commands, no matter how loath they might be to do so. And this should comfort us in our temptations.

III. OUR LORD CARRIES ON IN PETER‘S HOUSEHOLD THE HEALING WORK WHICH HE HAD EXERCISED IN THE PUBLIC CONGREGATION. (Luk 4:38, Luk 4:39.) Peter’s mother-in-law was ill of a great fever; and when he was come in they besought him for her. We are thus taught that our Lord likes to be asked for the blessings he is so ready to afford. Prayer is the natural cry of need, or of intercession, to One who is able to meet man’s difficulties and bless him. And so our Lord, being besought, goes to the patient, rebukes the fever, takes her by the hand, and lo! it leaves her; and she rose to the activities of health again. Her ministration showed the immediate and complete character of the cure, and also the gratitude which should characterize one who is saved by Jesus. And are we not thus taught that we should bring our fevered souls to Jesus as the great Physician? He can take away the fever instantaneously. There is nothing so wonderful as the way in which we regain spiritual health at the throne of grace. But let us see to it that it leads to ministration. He gives us back our health that we may use it for his glory and the benefit of those about us.

IV. OUR LORD IS NEXT SEEN TAKING DISEASES AND POSSESSED ONES BY WHOLESALE, AND HEALING THEM. (Luk 4:40, Luk 4:41.) At sunset, when the sabbath ended, and when under the friendly shades of night the poor sick and deformed ones could conveniently be brought to him, he finds an immense opportunity confronting him. Peter’s house is turned into a consulting hospital, and, like famous physicians, he is well-nigh overwhelmed with work. Possessed ones are also brought to him; and the demons adopt the same plan as the one noticed alreadythey begin to testify to his Messiahship and Sonship. This mass of suffering humanity he takes in hand, and with infallible certainty heals them every one. He accomplishes the healing, too, in the most sympathetic fashion, laying his tender hand on each, and conveying through contact the needful blessing. It was truly “a night much to be remembered” by all these sons and daughters of affliction whom Jesus thus lovingly healed! As for the demons, on the other hand, they receive nothing from him but rebuke. He will not have their testimony to his nature or his mission. At the same time, he shows his sovereignty over them in dooming them to silence and solitude, at least so far as possessing men was concerned.

V. OUR LORD SHOWS US HIS NEED OF RETIREMENT AFTER LABOUR, AND ALSO WHAT HIS GREAT COMMISSION WAS. (Luk 4:42-44.) After these mighty works he feels the need of retirement to commune with God, and keep his soul in proper tune for further work. If Jesus felt the need of prayer, how presumptuous in minor minds to excuse themselves from it! They seem to have given him an invitation to settle in Capernaum. And if he had, he would have had a famous physician’s practice, doors besieged from morning to night, and no time for any other work. Hence he resolved to itinerate rather than settle down. His wandering from place to place secured him from overwork of a purely physical character, and enabled him to be the Missionary he was meant to be. It is an interesting question why he did not make Palestine a healthful land from end to end. He might have organized deputations and sought out all the sick, and made the land free from all disease and suffering. But while he healed all who came or were brought to him, and sent disciples forth on similar errands, he did not undertake this wholesale cure. And two answers may be given in the way of valid reason about it. In the first place, the people did not deserve such a blessing, and would not likely have been the better for it. A world of sinful men would not be improved if they were all made and kept healthy men. Health of soul and perfect health of body are to synchronize in the great future which lies before us. But secondly, if he had undertaken this physical work, he would have lost his opportunities of purely spiritual work, the preaching of the gospel, for which more especially he had come. Hence we must admire his resolve to be an itinerant Missionary rather than a settled and famous Physician. Preaching is really the highest work of man, if it is done conscientiously. The sphere is spiritual, and the results are for evermore. It is well to magnify the office as magnified by the Master.R.M.E.

Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary

Luk 4:1-13 . See on Mat 4:1-11 . Comp. Mar 1:13 .

According to the reading (see the critical remarks), Luke says: and He was led by the (Holy) Spirit in the wilderness, whilst He was for forty days tempted of the devil . Thus the Spirit had Him in His guidance as His ruling principle (Rom 8:14 ). Luke relates besides, varying from Matthew, that Jesus (1) during forty days (comp. Mar 1:13 ) was tempted of the devil (how? is not specified), and that then, (2) moreover, the three special temptations related in detail occurred. [81] This variation from Matthew remained also in the Recepta , in respect of which the translation would be: He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness in order to be tempted of the devil during the space of forty days (by reason of the present participle, see on Luk 2:45 ).

Luk 4:3 . ] more concrete than Mat 4:4 .

Luk 4:5 . ] (see the critical remarks) he led Him upwards from the wilderness to a more loftily situated place. The “very high mountain” (Matthew) is a more exact definition due to the further developed tradition. Luke has drawn from another source.

.] in a point of time , in a moment , a magically simultaneous glimpse; a peculiar feature of the representation. [82] On the expression, comp. Plut. Mor . p. 104 A; Jacobs, ad Anthol . VII. p. 126.

Luk 4:6 . ] .

Observe the emphasis of (Luk 4:7 ).

] by God , which the boastful devil cunningly intends to have taken for granted .

Luk 4:10 f. ] not recitative, but: that , and then : and that . Comp. Luk 7:16 . Otherwise in Mat 4:6 .

] ne unquam , not necessarily to be written separately (Bornemann); see rather Ellendt, Lex. Soph . II. p. 107; Lipsius, Gramm. Unters . p. 129 f.

Luk 4:13 . .] every temptation , so that he had no further temptation in readiness. “Omnia tela consumsit,” Bengel.

] until a fitting season , when he would appear anew against Him to tempt Him. It is to be taken subjectively of the purpose and idea of the devil ; he thought at some later time, at some more fortunate hour, to be able with better success to approach Him. Historically he did not undertake this again directly, but indirectly, as it repeatedly occurred by means of the Pharisees, etc. (Joh 8:40 ff.), and at last by means of Judas, Luk 22:3 [83] ; but with what glorious result for the tempted! Comp. Joh 14:30 . The difference of meaning which Tittmann, Synon . p. 37, has asserted (according to which is said to be equivalent to ) is pure invention. See Fritzsche, ad Rom . I. p. 308 f. Whether, moreover, the characteristic addition is a remnant of the primitive form of this narrative (Ewald) or is appended from later reflection, is an open question. But it is hardly an addition inserted by Luke himself (Bleek, Holtzmann, and others), since it is connected with the omission of the ministry of the angels. This omission is not to be attributed to a realistic effort on the part of Luke (Holtzmann, but see Luk 22:43 ), but must have been a feature of the source used by him, and hence the must also have already formed part of it.

[81] According to Hilgenfeld, Luke’s dependence on Matthew and Mark is said to be manifested with special clearness from his narrative of the temptation. But just in regard to this narrative he must have followed a distinct source, because otherwise his variation in the sequence of the temptations (see on Mat 4:5 , Rem.), and the omission of the angels’ ministry, would be incomprehensible (which Hilgenfeld therefore declares to be a pure invention), as, moreover, the (ver. 13) peculiar to Luke points to another source.

[82] The various attempts to make this intelligible may be seen in Nebe, d. Versuch. d. Herrn , Wetzlar 1857, p. 109 ff. The author himself, regarding the temptation as an actual external history, avails himself of the analogy of the fatum morganum , but says that before the eye of the Lord the magical picture immediately dissolved. But according to the connection . . does not mean that the appearance lasted only a single moment, but that the whole of the kingdoms were brought within the view of Jesus, not as it were successively , but in one moment , notwithstanding their varied local situation upon the whole earth. Bengel says appropriately, “ acuta tentatio.”

[83] According to Wieseler, Synopse , p. 201, the persecutions on the part of the Jews are meant, which had begun, Joh 5:15-18 ff.; there would therefore be a longer interval between vv. 13, 14. But a comparison of ver. 14 with ver. 1 shows that this interval is introduced in the harmonistic interest; moreover, Hofmann’s reference to the agony in Gethsemane ( Schriftbew . II. 1, p. 317) is introduced , since not this, but probably the whole opposition of the hierarchy (Joh 8:44 ), and finally the crime of Judas (Joh 13:2 ; Joh 13:27 ), appears as the work of the devil.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

C. In the Wilderness. Luk 4:1-13

1And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from [the] Jordan, and was led by [in] the Spirit into, the wilderness, 2Being forty days tempted of [by] the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward1 hungered.3And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stonethat it be made bread. 4And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shallnot live by bread alone, but by every word of God2 [Deu 8:3]. 5And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain,3 shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world ina moment [instant] of time. 6And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them [i.e., of the kingdoms]: for that [it] is delivered unto me [has been committed or entrusted to me by God]; and to whomsoever I will, I give it.7If thou therefore wilt worship [fall down before] me, all shall [it shall all] be thine.8And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan:4 for it is written,Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9And he brought him to [into] Jerusalem, and set him on a [the] pinnacle of the temple, and said untohim, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10For it is written, He11shall give his angels charge over [concerning] thee, to keep thee [safe]: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone [Psa 91:12]. 12And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt theLord thy God. 13And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a [until a convenient] season.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The narrative of the temptation has in Luke a peculiar character. While Mark contents himself with relating the event in a brief mention (Luk 1:12-13), Luke is almost as detailed as Matthew, but deviates in his order of arranging the different temptations from this his predecessor in narration. The third temptation, with Matthew, is with Luke the second, and the reverse. We give the preference to the arrangement of the first Evangelist. Matthew keeps the order of time more in mind (Luk 4:1; Luk 4:5; Luk 4:8) than Luke, who speaks quite indefinitely (Luk 4:1-2). In the arrangement of the former, moreover, there is a more natural climax, and it is in itself improbable that the Lord, after He had repulsed the demand of the tempter that He should worship him, would have tolerated still a third attempt from this side or would have entered into any intercourse with him. On this account, Ambrosius and also other fathers of the church, even in commenting upon the narrative of Luke, have preferred the arrangement of Matthew. In another respect, also, the praise of greater exactness belongs to the first of the Evangelists. Matthew makes the temptation proper only begin after the fortieth day; Luke represents this whole space of time as a period of inward temptations, nevertheless it is evident that at least the temptation to turn stones into bread, represented as the first of all, could only begin at the end of the period of time, after long fasting. Perhaps the two narratives may be, without violence, reconciled in this way; that the forty days, also, were, in a more general sense, a time of inward temptations (Mark and Luke), while immediately thereafter (Matthew) the more concrete cases of temptation which are adduced in the first and third Gospels, present themselves.

Luk 4:1. In the Spirit, .; in Matthew, .There appears to be no doubt that this signifies the Holy Spirit, which had just been poured out in all its fulness upon the baptized Jesus. Full of the Holy Spirit, that now more than ever penetrated and inspired Him, He was driven with irresistible might not only toward () the wilderness, but into () the wilderness, where He abides awhile, not only with the unexpected consequence, but with the definite purpose (, Matthew), that He there, according to Gods supreme providence and under His especial permission, should be tempted of the devil.

Luk 4:2. Forty days tempted by the devil.If we read with Lachmann, , which appears to deserve the preference, we may perhaps refer the designation of time, viz., forty days, to the immediately preceding words, , and translate: He was led in the Spirit into the wilderness forty days, and tempted by the devil. In this way even the appearance of a discrepancy between Matthew and Luke, in regard to the actual point when the temptation began, is avoided.

Into the wilderness.We are to understand the word wilderness not with some of the older expositors in a figurative, but in a literal, sense, and probably (agreeably to tradition) to refer it to the wilderness of Quarantania, between Jericho and Jerusalem. As to the locality, see the Gospel of Matthew by Lange, p. 81. There is still shown the mountain upon which the tempter is said to have taken the Lord, lying over against Abarim, from whose summit Moses overlooked the promised land. Trustworthy travellers relate, that in the neighborhood of this mountain there are found many stones whose form and whose color even agrees with that of bread, so that they could easily deceive the hasty observer. See Sepp, Leben Jesu, ii p. 92.

By the devil.We come here to the natural question, what we are to think as to the agent of the temptation and the manner in which the tempter approached the Lord. As to the former, the views may properly be divided into two classes. Some will acknowledge here no working of the devil whatever, and understand it either of one or of several human tempters, or, of tempting thoughts and conceptions, which are supposed to have arisen in the mind of Jesus Himself in view of His Messianic work. Others assume an actual temptation of the devil, whether in visible form as the Gospels relate, or through the working of the invisible evil spirit upon the pure of the Lord, capable as it nevertheless was of temptation. The different advocates of these explanations may be found named in Hase, Meyer, and De Wette. It cannot be difficult for us to make a choice among these different explanations. That the narrative can scarcely be understood literally appears hardly to need an intimation. A corporal appearance of the devil, a temporary of the evil principle, is without any analogy in the Holy Scriptures. How should the devil have had power over the body of the Lord to carry Him through air and clouds whither he would? If the Lord did not know him, what should we have to think of His all-surpassing knowledge? And if He did know him, how could He consent to hold discourse with such a tempter? Where lies the mountain from which all the kingdoms of the earth can be viewed with a glance, and how could the Lord during the forty days in which He abides in the silent wilderness all at once stand upon the pinnacle of the temple? But this impossibity of understanding the narrative does not for all this give us a right to find here an historical or philosophical myth. If even the previous history exhibits a purely historical character, still less do we move in a nebulous, mythical sphere at the beginning of the public life of Jesus. Analogies which are presented with the history of the temptations of Job, David, and others, would at most only prove the possibility, but by no means the probability or certainty of the invention of a narrative of a temptation of the Messiah. We see plainly that the Evangelists are persuaded that they are relating an historical fact, and we have no right, upon philosophical grounds, to bring in doubt the possibility of the chief fact here related.Quite as unsatisfactory is the interpretation of it as a dream, vision, or parable. If the Lord had wished to teach His apostles in a similitude from what fundamental principles He started in His Messianic activity, and to what temptations they also were exposed, He would certainly have availed Himself of another form of instruction. Moreover, it is hard to see how such a parable could with any ground have been understood as history. The difficulty does not lessen but increases, if we assume that the parable in this form does not come from Jesus Himself, but from one of His disciples, who invented it in order to warn the first believers against sensuous Messianic expectations; and if we understand it as a dream or a vision, the narrative then really loses all significance. What value has a conflict that has arisen from self-deceit, and does he deserve the name of a victor who strives against spectres of the night? If this vision was effected by the devil in the soul of Jesus (Olshausen), we do not then comprehend what significance is to be attributed to a temptation that was not combated with rational self-consciousness. Or if this dream was a product of the fantasy of Jesus Himself (Paulus), we could then no longer ascribe any perfect sinlessness to Him whose imagination could, sponte sua, defile itself with such odious conceptions.

As respects the opinion that we have here to understand a human tempter, this, in its older form, has been already too often combated for us to lose now even a word in disputing it. The only form in which it deserves consideration is that in which Lange (Leben Jesu, p. 218) brings it up. He is far from denying the diabolical ground of the temptation, but maintains that the medium of it was a visit of the Sanhedrim, who, after Johnsubsequently to their interview with himhad referred them (Joh 1:19-28) to Jesus, had, in Langes view, approached Him with the full pomp and impetuousness of their Messianic expectations, and laid before Him a plan of Messianic activity wholly different from that which had originally come to maturity in His own mind. We cannot possibly read the brilliant exposition of this view in its details without recognizing the authors gift of intuition and combination. If we saw ourselves necessitated to look for historical foundation of this kind for our present narrative, we should undoubtedly seek in vain to project a better. But, on the other hand, it must not be overlooked that the Evangelists themselves do not make the least mention of so early a meeting of the Lord with the Sanhedrim; that there is as little proof of Johns having designated the Messiah to the Sanhedrim as there is probability of any such interview with the yet unknown Nazarene; that, finally, the offence speedily taken by the Sanhedrim against the Lord after His public appearance admits of a sufficient explanation even without assuming so secret a back-ground. All these reasons now give weight to the question whether we should not do better (Ullmann) to understand here tempting thoughts, which had come up in the soul of the Lord from the worldly form of the Messianic expectations among the Jews, which, however, He at once, through the might of His holy will, repelled from Him, and which, when He afterward communicated these inner experiences of His to His disciples, He ascribed, in oriental style, to the devil the prince of this world. However, on considering the matter more closely, this interpretation also offers difficulties, so that Strauss for once did not say untruly that the Lord in this case would have communicated to His disciples a confused mixture of truth and fiction. Why He should have related to His friends this history of His inward conflict in such a form, can scarcely be understood. As to the first and second temptations at least, we do not see how they could proceed from the worldly-minded expectation of the contemporaries of the Lord. This, at all events, would have sprung more from the consciousness of His own miraculous power and the certainty of the protection of God than from the corrupt notions of the spirit of the times. If Jesus had had even in the most fleeting manner such thoughts, He would not have been Christ, and this explanation appears to me as the most wretched neoteric outrage that has been committed against His person (Schleiermacher). If these tempting thoughts were purely theoretical and objective, occasioned by conceptions having nothing attractive for the Lord, where is the temptation? and if these evil thoughts proceeded actually from the heart of the Son of Man (Mat 15:19), where is His sinlessness? We, for our part, believe that we can only explain the origin of the temptation by assuming the direct operation of the (invisible) evil spirit upon the mind and the sensibility of the Redeemer. In this case, 1. the credibility of the narrative is recognized, and we are as little necessitated to understand the devil at the beginning as the angels at the end of the narrative, in a merely figurative sense; 2. the sinlessness of the Lord is preserved: the tempting thoughts originate not from within, but are brought upon Him from without; 3. and, finally, the abandonment of a spiritless literal interpretation is vindicated. But if the Evil One worked directly, although invisibly, upon the God-man, the temptation must have taken place , alone, and we are justified in representing to ourselves the Lord upon the pinnacle of the temple without His having left the wilderness. There is no other conception which, like this, holds fast to what is essential in the purely historical interpretation without falling into the absurdities that necessarily spring from the assumption of a bodily appearance of the devil.

We feel conscious that this opinion can find no favor in the eyes of those who despise the doctrine of a personality of the Evil One as a superstition of the middle ages. But we cannot join with them, since we are thoroughly persuaded that very many scruples against the biblical demonology proceed from exaggeration or misunderstanding. That Jesus and the apostles did speak of a personal evil spirit and of his operations, is subject to no doubt, and that in this they accommodated themselves to a superstitious popular fancy, is wholly without proof. If any one, philosophically reasoning, persists in seeing in their expressions only the personification of an abstract idea, let him look to it how he can answer for it; but let him not at all events impose this conception on Jesus and the apostles. Never is Rationalism weaker than when it seeks to vindicate itself exegetically. That the old demonology did not receive its fuller development among the Jews until after the Babylonian captivity, we must no doubt concede; but so far is it from being of Chaldean and Persian origin, that, on the other hand, it distinguishes itself in essence and character from this and every dualistic theory, intended to explain the riddle of sin. That even in higher regions of the spiritual world freedom has been misused to sin, is as far from being unreasonable as is the conception that the fallen angels unite with a high degree of intellectual development a deep moral degeneracy. Both facts are daily to be seen among men, and whoever is willing to believe in personal good angels, but not in a personal Satan, is thoroughly inconsistent. The possibility of a direct working of the Evil One upon the spirit of the Lord, admits of being opposed neither with psychological nor with scriptural arguments. Its intention could be no other than to bring Him to a fall, and thus to frustrate the work of Redemption, and its permission by the Father can seem strange to no one who understands what this means: Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered!

And He did eat nothing in those days.A comparison with Mat 11:18 shows, that it is not indispensably necessary to understand such an expression of an entire abstinence from all food. He might have been able, as well as John, to partake of locusts and wild honey without essentially annulling the fast. (Lange.) On the other hand, however, nothing hinders us from understanding this fasting of the Lord in its strictest sense. If there are examples of an uncommonly long fasting, even in men whose physical and psychical development has been disturbed by sin, how much more conceivable is it with Him whose bodily organism had been weakened by no sin, whose soul, more than that of any one, could control the flesh and constrain it to obedience. Immediately after such a fast, hunger must necessarily have made itself felt with unexampled power; and undoubtedly by the abstinence from bodily nourishment, the susceptibility of the soul to the influence of the Prince of Darkness, and the combat with him, was not a little heightened. According to Matthew and Luke, the hunger makes itself felt not in the course of the forty lays, but only at the end of them.

Luk 4:3. If Thou be the Son of God command.The voice of the evil spirit evidently links itself with the remembrances of the heavenly voice at the Jordan. Here also, is the devil a Simia Dei, since he permits an echo of the word of truth to be heard.This stone, , more , than in Matthew, who retains his ordinary plural, , in an oratio indirecta. The point of attachment for the temptation is partly the exalted self-consciousness, partly the painful necessity of the Lord; the purpose of the temptation, to have Him use His miraculous power for the satisfaction of His own necessity.

Luk 4:4. That man shall not live by bread alone.In Matthew the citation, Deu 8:3, is quoted more fully, and moreover from the LXX. We need not deny that the Lord uses the declaration in a somewhat different sense from that in which Moses means it; nor is there any reason for referring the appellation Man exclusively or principally to the Messiah. In a divinely free manner He uses the word of Scripture to indicate that man, even without the use of bread, may behold his life lengthened and sustained by any means whatever of which God may avail Himself to strengthen his bodily energies. In other words: God does not need His miraculous power in order to allay painful hunger. For that He possesses innumerable means, and the Son will await the way which the Father may please to use.

Luk 4:5. Taking Him up into a high mountain.As already remarked, Luke assigns to the third and severest temptation the middle place. Matthus eo temporis ordine describit assultus, quo facti sunt, Lucas gradationem observat in locis, it describit desertum, montem, templum. Qu ordinis non modo innoxia sed etiam salubris varietas, argumento est, non alterum Evangelistam ab altero scripsisse (Bengel). The difficulty, however, which the narrative of Luk 5:8 offers, according to the Recepta, namely, that the Lord, after He had recognized and unmasked the Evil One, can yet admit for the third time discourse with him; this difficulty vanishes if we assume, with Tischendorf and others, that the words, Get thee behind me, Satan, are here spurious, and have been transferred from the parallel passage in Matthew.

Showed unto Him.Of course, , not one after the other, but all together, , 1Co 15:52.

All the kingdoms of the world.Not the Jewish land, but the heathen world surrounding it and extending beyond the sight, which is several times spoken of in the New Testament as subject to the prince of this world, while Jehovah is the head of the theocratic state. Besides this, it deserves consideration that the address of Satan to the Lord on this occasion is communicated by Luke somewhat more at length than by Matthew.

For it has been committed to me, etc.A paraphrase of the preceding words for the benefit and edification of Theophilus and other readers, who were unacquainted or little acquainted with the demonology of the Jews.

Luk 4:7. If Thou, therefore, wilt fall down before me.We need not here understand an actually idolatrous adoration. It is sufficient if we understand it of an Oriental homage which is often rendered to mighty monarchs, Mat 2:2. As the first temptation is addressed to sensual appetite, this is addressed to the craving for the possession of kingly dignity, upon which the Messiah is conscious of being assuredly able to reckon. The temptation lies in the alternative; dominion without conflict on the one hand, bloody strife on the other, against the might of darkness, if its alluring voice should be repelled. The lie which is at the bottom of the arrogant promise of the tempter (to me is it committed, etc.), is truly Satanic; but it is this very arrogance of demand which enables the Lord (Matt.) to know with whom He is striving in this moment, and He has at once the ready against Satan, in that He yet again hurls upon him a decisive word of the Scripture.

Luk 4:8. Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, Deu 6:13.According to the LXX., with a variation of instead of , on account of the preceding words of Satan. The Lord does not only publicly express the monotheistic principle, but shows at the same time that He will rather dispense with all the kingdoms of the world, however by right they belong to Him, than obtain them in an unlawful way. His answer is a declaration of war; His rejection of the homage He paid for with His life; and so repulsed, Satan could not return the third time. Before it came to this pass, however, that he retreated, still another temptation took place previously; according to Matthews accurate account, the second, which, however, Luke relates as the third.

Luk 4:9. And he brought Him to Jerusalem.Although in itself it is very probable that the Lord, during this period, spent a single day, , at Jerusalem (Lange), it nevertheless appears more probable to us that He did not in body leave the wilderness at all before the combat was quite ended. Before the inner consciousness of the Lord, it was, without doubt, as if He stood upon the , and as respects the ability of the Evil One to transport Him in spirit to a place so entirely different, we may well call to mind the expression of Gregory: Nil mirum est, si Christus a Diabolo se permisit circumduci, qui a membris illius se perrhisit crucifigi.

On the pinnacle of the temple, not , but .The access to the was apparently permitted to no one but the priests and Levites alone, but nothing hinders us from understanding one of the accessory buildings, whose pinnacle constituted a sort of cornice (), and of which Josephus also relates that from it one could throw a look that made him dizzy, into an incalculable depth (Ant. Jud. xv. 15, 11). It is true, if any one cast himself down there he would not descend before the eyes of the citizens of the city, but in the obscure vale of Kedron. But the promise, moreover, is precisely this, that in falling He should not reach the bottom, but in His fall should be held up by the angels, and doubtless be brought into the midst of the astonished inhabitants of the city and frequenters of the temple, who a moment before had seen him, with shuddering terror, upon the eminence.

Luk 4:10. For it is written, He shall give.The devil can quote Scripture for his purpose. And this time he combats the Lord with His own weapons. The passage, Psa 91:11-12, is not Messianic (Usteri), but speaks of the saints in general, and the devil leaves the Lord to draw a conclusion a minori ad majus from the safety of the saints to that of the Messiah, the chief favorite of God. By a literal interpretation of the figurative utterance he tempts the Lord to work a miracle of display, not upon the heart and conscience but upon the imagination of the people, and thus in a few moments to bring about an extraordinary success. This time he works not upon the desire of enjoyment or possession, but of honor and elevation. Now it will undoubtedly have to be shown, whether the Lord really believes the word of the Scripture with which He has already repeatedly defended Himself. He is tempted on the side of that same believing confidence which has just held Him back from turning stones into bread, and the greatness of His triumph consists in this, that He at once discovers the just limit that separates confidence and presumption.

Luk 4:12. And Jesus answering.The Lord answers a third time with a word of Scripture, out of Deut. (6:16), still more striking in Matt., , rursus. The word of the law which He mentions contains no contradiction of the devils quotation from the Psalm, but a rectification of the misuse which the Evil One had made of it. Apart from the special signification of the utterance for the Israelitish people (on occasion of the strife at Marah, Exo 17:2) the Lord gives him to feel that whoever throws himself uncalled into danger in the hope that God will deliver him, displays no heroic courage of faith, but commits an act of presumptuous folly.

Luk 4:13. And when the devil had ended all the temptation.The coming and ministration of the angels is to be supplied from Matthew and Mark. See, as to this, Lange, Matthew, p. 86. Without doubt, it is in the spirit of the narration if we conceive to ourselves these as invisible witnesses of the combat and triumph of Jesus. (Comp. 1Co 4:9.) While they, soon after the departing of Satan from Him, serve Him whether spiritually or bodily. (Comp. 1Ki 19:5.)

Until a season.It is a very significant intimation for the apprehension of the whole history of the temptation which Luke gives us in these concluding words. Unwittingly he gives us occasion in these forty days to see not only the beginning but also the type of the different temptations which were perpetually returning for the God-man. Without doubt he has regard, moreover, particularly to the time when Satan entered into Judas (Luk 22:3) and the whole power of darkness rose against the Suffering One. Yet he may also have thought on the activity of the Evil One in opposing the Lord previously to this. Comp. Luk 10:18; Luk 13:16; Luk 22:31.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. The history of the temptation in the wilderness constitutes partly the end of the history of the hidden, partly the beginning of the history of the public life of Jesus. The silence of John respecting this event, proves nothing against the truth of the narrative of the Synoptics. Had none of those uttered a word of a tentatio a Diabolo, the believer himself, who sees in Christ the God-man, and assumes the reality of a kingdom of darkness over against the kingdom of Heaven, would of himself have come to the supposition that a life and working such as that of the Lord could not possibly have begun without such a preceding inward conflict. Of what kind this conflict was is now communicated to us by his witnesses in a way which leaves us no other choice, than here either to understand it as one of the , whose origin, on historical Christian ground, an apostle of the Lord denies (2Pe 1:16), or to believe that Jesus Himself instructed His disciples in reference to this remarkable event of His inner life. For us the latter admits of no controversy, and thus is the inquiry as to the source of the historical narrative answered in a satisfactory manner. But at the same time it is self-evident that the Lord could not communicate to His friends in reference to what took place in the wilderness more than they were in a condition to bear. Joh 16:12. Without doubt, therefore, He clothed His narrative in a form which was calculated for their receptivity and their necessity, and there remains to us the privilege of distinguishing carefully between the fact itself and the peculiar way in which it was represented by Him and has been described by them. Here, also, does the utterance, Joh 6:63, hold good.

2. The fact now, which can be derived with sufficient certainty from the different narrations, is apparently this: 1. At the beginning of His course, the Saviour was exposed to temptations to act in direct opposition to the high principles to which He showed Himself faithful through life. 2. These temptations were directly occasioned by the Prince of this world, who wished to bring the second Adam, like the first, to apostasy, in order thus to destroy the work of redemption. 3. The Lord, with clear consciousness and steadfastness, combatted these temptations with the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6:17), and left the field of conflict without a single wound. 4. The Victor, as a sign of the Fathers approbation, was served by the angels of heaven and received their homage.Every explanation of the history of the temptation which acknowledges what is essential in these great elements of it, deserves from the Christian point of view to be admitted and weighed. In respect to the external side of the fact (the condition of the Lord, the manner of the temptation, the locality, etc.), it will, perhaps, never be possible to find an explanation which satisfactorily resolves all difficulties. Yet this is of less consequence if only the inner significance of the above named facts remains acknowledged, and these, themselves, are not assailed.

3. The history of the temptation throws the brightest light upon the person of the Lord. On the one hand, we learn to know Him here from His own word (Luk 4:4) as a man like His brethren in all things (Heb 2:17); on the other hand, Satan himself proclaims Him as Gods Son (Luk 4:3), and this time, at least, has the father of lies become a witness of the truth. The true humanity of the Lord reveals itself not less in the hunger which He feels than in His capacity of being tempted. His divine majesty shows itself in the manner in which He combats, in the victory which He achieves, in the crown which He wins.

4. Dogmatics has in the treatment of the history of the temptation, the difficult problem, on the one hand, to regard the Lord as truly tempted, so that the temptations do not glide from Him as something merely external, as water from a rock, without making any impression upon His sensibility; on the other hand, to vindicate the word of the apostolic writer, (Heb 4:15). That both the one and the other, are impossible, if an absolute non potuit peccare is asserted of the Lord, is self-evident. The of the Lord by no means excluded the possibility of sinning; but on the other hand consisted in this, that He, filled with boundless abhorrence of sin, combatted and overcame it under whatever form it might show itself. Only the Father is (Jam 1:13), but the Logos, once entered within the bounds of finite humanity, comes through his (Rom 8:13) into personal contact with sin. Like every true man, the Lord had a sensuous perception of the pleasant and the unpleasant. For this feeling natural enjoyment must have been preferable to want, honor to shame, riches to poverty, life to death. Upon this feeling the might of temptation works, and whoever in this of itself could already find something sinful, would have to prefer an accusation against God, who originally so constituted our human nature. He would, moreover, be obliged to consider the first man as a sinner born, for in the very commandment of probation and in the added threatening (Gen 2:16-17) the existence of this feeling is presupposed. Every representation by which there is ascribed to the Lord even a minimum of the peccatum originale (Irving) is condemned by the Christian consciousness in the most decided manner.

5. On the other hand, the potuit non peccare, can and must, be vindicated here as vigorously as the realiter non peccavit. He did not awaken the conception of what was evil, of Himself within Himself, but it came from without to Him through the operation of another spirit upon His own. This would have amounted to an inward sin only in the case that the Lords will had inclined a moment to practise that which He had learned to know as morally evil. That the three thoughts: to work a miracle for Himself; to work upon the people through outward display; and to attain earthly dominionconsidered altogether for itself and as yet without reference to Gods willhad something attractive for His delicate and pure moral sense, is so little to be denied that the opposite, in a true man, would scarcely be conceivable. It lay in the very nature of the case that such conceptions at this moment must produce upon the spirit and sensibility of the Lord a double impression. Why should He otherwise have at once reached out for a weapon with which to combat the enemy? But here we could speak of sin, only in case that the desire for evil had really been awakened, that the wish to be able to give an ear to the Evil One had come up in His sensibility. But of this we perceive no trace. The temptation comes before His eyes in its most alluring colors; He has a living sense of all that it possesses which is attractive; He reflects that He might be able to succumb, yet instantaneously He repels it from Him as something foreign and unhallowed. It places itself before His imagination, but finds no point of attachment in His will; it works upon the , yet before this can be stained the tempter is already conquered through the .

Two examples for a more particular elucidation. There was as yet no sin when Eve saw that the forbidden tree had its attraction, nor yet when the permission to eat of this tree appeared to her desirable, so long, that is, as she was considering this act without any relation to the prohibition that had been received; only when in unconscious and conscious conflict with the commandment the actual desire rose in her mind, and she was filled with dissatisfaction at the commandment, did sin then creep into her heart, even before she had stretched out her hand after the apple.It was as yet no sin that the Lord in Gethsemane exhibited a natural dread of death, a natural longing for life; no sin as yet that He in the immediate presence of death, and in the consciousness of being able to escape it, had a double sense of the worth of life, nor was it even as yet any sin that He prayed and wished that the cup might pass from Him: only if He had allowed this wish to prevail contrary to the will of God, after He had clearly perceived this will; if the resolution to submit Himself to Gods recognized will had been preceded by reluctance and conflict; if, in a word, not His deed but His will even had then moved in another direction from Gods will, then would the Man of Sorrows have been also a child of sin.
6. The temptations here vanquished perpetually returned in the public life of the Lord. The first, e.g., Mat 27:40; the second, Joh 7:3-4; the third, Joh 6:14. It cannot surprise us that the Lord, therefore, saw in the entreaty of Peter, Mat 16:22, a Satanic back-ground. To whichever of these temptations He had given a hearing, still either His perfect obedience or His perfect love of man would have been stained, and herewith His perfect capability of being a Redeemer of sinners would have been annihilated.

7. The history of the temptation throws light upon the work of the Lord. We learn here to recognize this as a work that was given Him by the Father Himself to do, which He entered upon with clear self-consciousness, which was preceded by severe conflict, and which was directed entirely to destroying the works of the devil. 1Jn 3:9. In His perfect obedience, the second Adam, He here stands over against the first as the Restorer of the Paradise which Adam lost by his sin. Adam fell in Paradise and made it a wilderness; Christ conquered in a wilderness and made it a paradise, where the beasts lost their savageness and the angels abode. (Olshausen.)

8. The threefold temptation of Jesus is the symbol and type of the temptations against which every Christian has to strive. 1Jn 2:16. First temptation =the lust of the flesh; the second =the lust of the eye; the third =pride, of which John says: It is not of the Father, but of the world.

9. The temptation of Jesus as it repeats itself, as well in His own life as in the lives of His people, was, on the other hand, in a certain sense adumbrated in the temptations and trials of the most eminent men of God under the ancient covenant. (Joseph, Job, David, and others.) It lies in the nature of the case, that in proportion as one is placed on a higher eminence in the kingdom of God, he is also exposed to severer temptations. It is remarkable that almost at the same time with this temptation of the Lord a similar temptation encountered His Forerunner. See Lange, Leben Jesu, p. 451 ff.

10. The origin of all these temptations, and very especially of the temptation of Jesus, was the working of the devil. The history of His temptation may be called a striking revelation of the existence, the might, the laws, and the working of the kingdom of darkness. The existence of this kingdom of the personal Evil One, is not revealed by the Holy God. It reveals itself in facts like these. It is here shown that there is an Evil Spirit, an enemy of God, and of His kingdom. He knows Christ and hates Him. He uses the Scripture and perverts it; to lead astray is his joy, and lying is his power; Gods word the only weapon that vanquishes him. It is noticeable how the most exalted moments of development for the kingdom of God have been at all times accompanied by an intenser reaction of the kingdom of darkness. Where the history of mankind begins, there the father of lies shows himself. When Israel is about to become a theocratic people, he imitates the miracles of Moses through the Egyptian sorcerers; when the Son of God appears in the flesh, He increases the number of the , and seeks to bring Him Himself to apostasy; and when the last development of the kingdom of God approaches, there does he rage most vehemently because his time is short. Rev 20:7.

11. With the best right, at all times, has the Saviours It is written been considered as one of the strongest proofs for the divine authority of the Holy Scripture. The Christian who regards the whole Bible with the eye with which the Lord viewed the Old Testament, cannot possibly restrict the rule which He gave on another occasion, . Joh 10:35. It is remarkable, moreover, of what high importance even those parts of Scripture can be, which to us, superficially considered, appear less important for Christian life and faith. All three citations of the Lord are taken from one book (Deuteronomy), and yet the word of God, out of this one book, is for Him enough to put the Devil and his power to flight. 1Co 12:22-23, holds good, also, of the organic whole of the Scripture.

12. In the inquiry respecting the historical reality of the angelophanies in the life of the Lord, we must above all not overlook their infrequeney, which affords the strongest argument against an invention. From the settlement of the child in Nazareth we have met no angels on His way, and after this appearance we shall not see them in visible form again before the night of Gethsemane falls. Would a writer of myths have been able to content himself with so little? But if now, after the decisive had been addressed to Satan, no angels had appeared, we should almost have had occasion to doubt the reality of their existence. Comp. Lange, Gospel of Matthew, p. 86: Jsus tent au desert, trois mditations par Ad. Monod, Paris, 1854.

13. An eminent work of art, setting forth the history of the temptation in a genuine Protestant spirit, has proceeded from Ary Scheffer.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The history of the temptation offers for homiletical treatment peculiar difficulties, which are easier to feel than to avoid. It is certainly easier to point out how it must not, than how it must be, handled suitably for the edification of the church. On the whole, a sharp separation of the exegetico-critical and the practico-ascetical element is to be commended, and the counsel of the apostle, 2Ti 2:23, must not be lost out of mind. Superficial criticism of opposing opinions is in the pulpit as superfluous as an extended defence of personal views. Where there is strife the Devil comes into the midst of the children of God. Job 1:6. It will be best to leave the disputable points in a sacred obscurity and to keep to that which is clear and evident. To those who, in reference to the New Testament demonology, stand on a sceptical or negative position, the treatment of this material is least of all to be commended. They have, if they cannot withhold themselves from it, at least to take heed that they advance no principles by which the expression of the Christian self-consciousness in reference to the absolute sinlessness and purity of the Lord shall be in the least wounded. On the whole, if one is disposed to treat the entire narrative altogether, it will perhaps be best to consider it either as an image of the conflict which the Lord had to sustain His life long, or as a type of the spiritual conflict to which every believer in His name is called. That, nevertheless, both in the whole narrative, as well as in its particular parts, there lies a rich treasure of thoughts homiletically serviceable, may be seen from the following hints.

From the Jordan of glorification to the wilderness of temptation. This is the way of God; as with Christ, so with the Christian; and, moreover: 1. An old, and yet an ever new; 2. a hard, and yet a good; 3. a dark, and yet a light; 4. a lonesome, and yet a blessed way.The temptations which follow a Christian, even into solitude.Christian fasting in its opposition: 1. To Judaizing fasting, which sees in abstinence from food something in itself meritorious; 2. to heathenish wantonness, which says: Let us eat and drink, for, etc.; again, 3. to the ultramontane: Touch not, taste not, handle not; 4. to the ultra-Protestant: , but without the limiting .Doubt of the truth of Gods word the first way to sin; Song of Solomon , 1. In Paradise, Gen 3:2; so here, Luk 4:3; Luke 3. so always.The temptation to misuse, ever united with the possession of peculiar power.The unpermitted ways of providing ones bread.It is written (), the sword of the Spirit: 1. How beautifully it glitters; 2. how deeply it wounds; 3. how decisively it triumphs.Man lives not by bread alone; he cannot, he may not, he need not.God can in all manner of ways remove the need of His own.The dangerous mountain heights in the spiritual life.The Evil One, the prince of this world: 1. Extent; 2. limits of his might.Never does Satan lie more outrageously than when he promises.The worship of the Devil in its more refined forms: 1. How old it Isaiah 2. how richly it appears to reward; 3. how miserably it ends.To worship the Lord and serve Him alone: 1. A difficult; 2. a holy; 3. a blessed requirement.Even the sanctuary is no asylum against severe and renewed temptation.The Lord of the temple upon the pinnacle of the temple andupon the brink of the abyss.The highest standpoints border on the deepest abysses.The Devil also a Doctor of Divinity.The misuse of Holy Scripture: 1. In many ways the letter used as a weapon to combat the spirit; a poetical word as a weapon to contest the requirement of the law; an Old Testament declaration as a weapon to combat a declaration of the New Testament; 2. dangerous, because the word of Scripture, in and of itself, is holy, finds an echo in the spirit, and is used with so much craft; to be vanquished only by a right, that is, an intelligent, persevering searching of the Scriptures, prompted by the longing for salvation.No angels help to be expected for him that would tempt God.The ministration of angels to the saints: 1. How far to be expected; 2. how far not.What is it to tempt God? Why is this sin so great? How is this sin best avoided?When the Scripture is used believingly, wisely, and perseveringly, there must the Devil at last give way.When the Devil gives way, it is still always for a season; every time he comes back in order: 1. To mislead; but also, 2. to be combatted; and, 3. to be conquered anew.The angels come to serve Him who has refused their help when it would tempt God.The noblest triumphs over the kingdom of darkness are celebrated in secret.Heaven is a sympathizing witness of the conflict carried on on earth.God permits no one to be tempted above his power of resistance, but gives with the temptation the way of escape. 1Co 10:13.

Starke:Whoever gives himself to be guided by Gods spirit, like Christ, comes, it is true, into temptation; but yet he also comes out again.Satan seeks in particular to make Gods children doubtful of their being his children.The weapons of Christ and His Christians are not carnal, but yet mighty before God.The glory and joy of the world is brief and momentary:When the Devil is not ashamed to lie to Christs face, of what, then, is he to be ashamed?Osiander:Whoever, to obtain honor and happiness, professes a strange religion, worships the Devil.Nova Bibl. Wirt.:The Devil is a lofty-seeming spirit; let us, in the might of God, destroy all high things, and in the low valleys of humility be quiet and still.The Devil can, it is true, strongly draw saints toward sin, but not constrain them by force; persuadere potest, precipitare non potest.Jerome:The Scripture is the only rule and standard of our faith and life; to that let us cleave. Psa 119:105.As Satan continually comes back, so does God come ever back to help us.

Stier:How the threefold tempter of the wilderness repeats himself with added strength in the passion.Rautenberg:Christ is tempted even as we, yet without sin. This word is: 1. A light for our blindness; 2. a spur for our slackness; 3. a staff for our weakness.Bachmann:The temptation of Jesus was a temptation: 1. To doubt of God; 2. to presuming upon God; 3. to apostasy from Gods word.Oettinger:In the kingdom of God there is: 1. No spiritual consecration without spiritual trials; 2. no spiritual trials without spiritual weapons; 3. no spiritual weapons without spiritual victory.Arndt:The temptation of the Lord: 1. Its character; 2. its importance so far as it is set forth, (a) representatively, (b) figuratively, for us.Fuchs:The means to a victory over the temptations of the Devil: 1. Watch continually, in every place; 2. watch and pray evermore; 3. use diligently Gods word.Van Oosterzee:The temptation in the wilderness the image of the conflict of the Christian life: 1. The temptation; 2. the enemy, 3. the attack; 4. the weapon; 5. the victory; 6. the crown. Finally, the question: If you fight against Christ, how can you still have courage, if you fight under Christ, how can you still be anxious?The three temptations of the Lord: that in the morning, the noon, the evening of life. Sensuality especially the sin of the youth, ambition especially that of the man, avarice especially that of the old man. Whoever has overcome the first of these three temptations must count upon the second, whoever sees the second behind him will soon be covertly approached by the third. But in these all, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Over against forty days temptation in the first stand the forty days peace and joy in the second life of the Lord.

Footnotes:

[1]Luk 4:2.The adverb is wanting in Codd. B., D., L., [Cod. Sin.], etc., and probably is to be expunged as by Lachmann, Tischendorf and Meyer, because apparently inserted from the parallel passage, Mat 4:2.

[2]Luk 4:4.Van Oosterzee omits the clause, , supported by Tischendorf, but against Lachmann and Meyer. Meyer remarks that it is supported by almost all the old versions and fathers, and that, if it had been inserted from Mat 4:4, would as a vox solennis have doubtless been more precisely like that passage. Alford omits it, Tregelles brackets it. Cod. B. and Cod. Sin. both omit it.C. C. S.]

[3]Luk 4:5.Text. rec.: . The genuineness of this reading is at least doubtful [omitted by Codd. B., L., Cod. Sin.], and to be regarded as a paraphrastic emendation from Mat 4:8, and is therefore omitted by Tischendorf, [Tregelles, Alford, and defended by Meyer, with reason, as absolutely necessary in the text.C. C. S.]

[4]Luk 4:8.Text. rec.: , . Apparently an interpolation from Mat 4:10. At least it is wanting in Codd. B., D., L., [Cod. Sin.], most versions, and in fathers of authority, and is moreover a serious (and, at the same time, critically suspicious) obstacle to the harmony of the evangelical narratives.

Fuente: A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures, Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical by Lange

CONTENTS

Christ’s Temptations. His Preaching in the Synagogue. He casteth out a Devil, and cureth many that were sick.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

(1) And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, (2) Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. (3) And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. (4) And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. (5) And the devil taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (6) And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me: and to whomsoever I will I give it. (7) If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. (8) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (9) And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: (10) For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee: (11) And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. (12) And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (13) And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

It was one part of the covenant of redemption, that the human

nature of Christ should be anointed to the arduous work, which the Son of God, when taking into union with himself that holy portion of our nature, for this vast purpose, engaged to do. Hence those scriptures: Isa 11:1-2 ; Psa 89:19-24 ; Heb 1:8-9 . with Psa 45:6-7 . And what makes this subject most blessed is, that the spirit of Jehovah not only rested upon Christ, but was in Christ. Holy men of old, and the Prophets of God, spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. The influence given to them was limited at certain times, and greater or less as occasion required; but God gave not the spirit by measure unto Christ. He always spake the words of God. So that in every other person, the Holy Ghost was as in a vessel, but in Christ as a fountain. In Jesus, full, overflowing. To everyone of us, saith the Apostle, is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 2Pe 1:21 ; Joh 3:34 ; Eph 4:7 .

We shall do well, in our entrance upon the subject of Christ’s temptations to observe, how immediately after his baptism, temptations began. And we shall do well also to observe, how everything tended to heighten those temptations with the Lord Jesus, in long and severe fasting; and in a wilderness uninhabited but with wild beasts. Reader! it is one of the most endeared views of Jesus, which the Holy Ghost hath given us, when we behold him going through the same exercises, and being assaulted with the same fiery trials his people are made acquainted with; inasmuch as these things carry with them a palpable evidence, that he knoweth all our feelings by his own. All the angels of light cannot give us that assistance, neither can they enter into our feelings, because their nature is not human. But Jesus’s affections are like our own, only infinitely heightened, both from the greatness and holiness of his nature, and his own personal experience in his humanity. It was a precious love-token of our Lord, and, if I do not greatly mistake, intended to act in this way, when after his resurrection, in appearing to them, he saw and felt for their fright, and comforted their minds into this assurance, from fellow-feeling. A spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. Luk 24:39 . It will be well both for the Writer and Reader in all their temptations, while reading those of the Lord Jesus Christ, to keep this thought in view.

The limits I must observe in a work of this kind, will not allow me to lead the Reader through all the several particulars which might otherwise be noticed in our Lord’s temptations. It will be sufficient to observe, that under three great branches are included all sorts of sin, to which the devil tempted Christ in our nature, and which John calls the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life. 1Jn 2:16 . If the Reader will examine the several different artifices of Satan, here used by the accursed enemy to seduce Christ, he will find that all may be classed under one or other of these. But I am more concerned that both myself and Reader may have suitable apprehensions of the cause of those temptations of the Lord Jesus, when acting as our surety and representative, than to attempt exploring what human intellect, in the present unripe state of things, can never arrive at, and in a subject so deep and mysterious as the temptations of Jesus.

And we shall at once get into very precious and blessed discoveries of this most interesting subject, such as the temptations of Christ are, when, under the Holy Ghost’s teaching, we behold Christ as sustaining those attacks from Satan on our account. By the fall of man, our whole nature was become the lawful captive of the devil. See Isa 49:24-26 . Here then Jesus enters the field in our behalf, and goes into the very territories of Satan, to rescue our nature from his dominion. And when the devil had discharged the whole of his artillery, he departed for a season. We find his renewed attacks in the garden of Gethsemane, the particulars of which are related to us, Luk 22 . to which I refer the Reader. But in this part of his temptations in the wilderness, we behold him giving out, and Christ victorious.

Let not the Reader however, even for the present, dismiss the subject, before that he hath first, under the Holy Ghost’s teaching, taken with him one or two improvements arising from the same, which may the Lord make profitable.

And first, let it be remembered, it is said of Christ, that though H e were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. Heb 5:8 . From hence we may safely conclude, that it was in our nature Christ sustained the attacks of Satan; and therefore his personal knowledge and fellow-feeling of our nature, give his redeemed an interest in that knowledge and fellow-feeling, upon every occasion of trial. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he knoweth how to succour them that are tempted. Heb 2:18 .

Secondly. To this should be added, that though Jesus is now in glory, yet is He the same Jesus still. It is not his nature that is changed, but his state. And He is now in glory, as the head of his body the Church, and consequently as an head, he knows and feels what everyone of his members feel. Every attack of Satan, on the humblest of his people, Jesus is perfectly acquainted with. And if Jesus, in the days of his flesh, offered up strong crying and tears, and was heard in that he feared, how sure, how very sure is it, that he will hear and answer all the cries of his redeemed!

And thirdly, to add no more, and what according to my view of things, becomes as sweet a thought as any, all that mercy, help, compassion, and the like, which Jesus will impart to the tempted state of his members below, will be his Jesus-love, that is, his God – man love, made everlastingly secure and full, to all the unnumbered wants of his whole tried family upon earth, by virtue of his Godhead; but at the same time no less most graciously suited, to be communicable to them by virtue of his manhood, in flowing in one and the same nature from his heart to theirs, in an endless succession of love and kindness.

Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

Luk 4:4

The Greeks… knew that man does not live by bread alone, that livelihood is not life, that mere wealth is not well-being. The satisfaction of material wants is not the end of human endeavour. The wealth of nations, like the happiness of individuals, has its source deeper than in the accumulation of riches or the expansion of commerce. The true value of the goods of life is determined by the sense of life as a whole, and by their relation to the higher and distinctively human ends of existence.

Butcher’s Harvard Lectures on Greek Subjects, pp. 79, 80.

Religion is the sense that you are, as far as you are anything, the child of the Larger Life.

R, L. Nettleship.

References. IV. 4. T. Arnold, Christian Life, Its Hopes, p. 90. IV. 5. Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p. 340. IV. 5- 8. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. ix. p. 95. IV. 7. W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 262. IV. 9. Ibid. Sermons, p. 275.

Luk 4:6-7

A strange, frolicsome, noisy little world was this school: great pains were taken to hide chains with flowers; a subtle essence of Romanism pervaded every arrangement; large sensual indulgence (so to speak) was permitted by way of counterpoise to jealous spiritual restraint. Each mind was being reared in slavery; but, to prevent reflection from dwelling on this fact, every pretext for physical recreation was seized and made the most of. There, as elsewhere, the Church strove to bring up her children robust in body, feeble in soul, fat, ruddy, hale, joyous, ignorant, unthinking, unquestioning. ‘Eat, drink, and live!’ she says. ‘Look after your bodies; leave your souls to me. I hold their cure guide their course: I guarantee their final fate.’ A bargain, in which every true Catholic deems himself a gainer. Lucifer just offers the same terms: ‘All this power will I give thee and the glory of it; for that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.’

Villette, xiv.

References. IV. 9-13. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vii. p. 188. IV. 10. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. vii. p. 260; vol. x. p. 361.

Luk 4:13

Let not a man trust his victory over his nature too far: for nature will be buried a great time, and yet revive upon the temptation.

Bacon.

References. IV. 13. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxix. No. 2326. IV. 14. J. Wallace, Christian World Pulpit, vol. lvi. p. 381. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vii. p. 339. IV. 15. Ibid. (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 25. IV. 16. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 91. J. Farquhar, The Schools and Schoolmasters of Christ, pp. 45 and 89. J. Alford Davies, Seven Words of Love, p. 88. Expositor (6th Series), vol. ii. p. 69. Ibid. vol. iv. p. 376; (7th Series), vol. vi. pp. 30, 465.

The Beginning of the Ministry

Luk 4:16-19

We are the witnesses in this incident of the opening of a ministry which has changed the world. We picture Him as He stands up upon that memorable morn, full of a mysterious power. What was the secret of that power? Jesus teaches us the secret when He says, ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me’. But, again, we may ask, What was it that had supplied the last element in the education of Jesus to His life work? It was temptation a temptation victoriously resisted. That is just the element of education which so many ministries conspicuously lack. Note, again, how the universal begins with the local. ‘He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.’ How difficult to begin just there; yet that is just where all true ministries ought to begin. And now let us ask what is the meaning of this great proclamation in which Christ describes the fourfold programme of Christianity?

I. First of all, He proclaims a social Gospel, a Gospel that deals with circumstances, a Gospel that deals with the outside conditions of a man’s life. He says that He preaches the Gospel to the poor, and that Christianity is hope to poverty; this is the first note that Christ sounds. Now, there can be no mistake whatever as to what poverty means in the common judgment of the world. Poverty is degradation and dependence; to be poor is to be at the mercy of the world. What has Christ to say to that? In what way does He preach the Gospel to the poor? (1) In this way, that Christianity utterly rejects this human view of poverty. (2) It is a Gospel to the poor, again, because it arches over every poor man the illimitable firmament, and opens to him the doors of an everlasting life. (3) Christianity is a Gospel to the poor, because Christianity alone has taught us to have some respect for the rights of labour, some sympathy with the sorrows of poverty, some regard for the natural claims of human brotherhood.

II. The second element of this programme of Christianity is the healing Gospel. Broken-hearted-ness may stand for the sorrows of love, for the poignant anguish of love unrequited or shattered, the love that seeks but never finds, the love which finds but soon loses, the love which wins an imperfect or no earthly consummation.

III. The third element in the programme that Christ announced is an emancipating Gospel. Christ brings intellectual emancipation. The true liberty is within Christianity, not without, for Christianity replaces doubt by certitude, the guesses of hope with the never-failing light of faith.

IV. Christ announced an enlightening Gospel. Christianity is the recovery of spiritual faculty sight to the blind, for men were not created blind, but seeing; and Christ gives back the lost power of seeing. It is an enlightening Gospel; the soul recovers its vision, and we see the will of God upon the scroll of destiny, and are at peace. And who can close the book without feeling, too, how there throbs through this passage a Divine hospitality and compassion! This is the keynote surely of Christianity, and must be the keynote of every successful ministry.

W. J. Dawson, The Comrade Christ, p. 33.

References. IV. 16, 17, 21. F. J. A. Hort, Village Sermons in Outline, p. 36. IV. 16-21. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p. 25. IV. 16-30. A. B. Bruce, The Galilean Gospel, p. 20. Expositor (5th Series), vol. iii. p. 21. IV. 17, 18. Lyman Abbott, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlix. p. 68. IV. 17-19. W. P. Balfern, Glimpses of Jesus, p. 102. IV. 17-20. Expositor (6th Series), vol. v. p. 55.

The Broken-hearted (For Advent)

Luk 4:18

I. A Broken Heart. A broken heart is a very common thing at the present day, perhaps commoner now than it ever was in the world’s history. Science has to a great extent conquered physical pain, but science has done nothing to diminish mental pain. So there are many reasons why hearts are broken.

(a) Broken by Grief. There is grief, natural grief, perhaps we may call it grief which comes upon us, which we all expect must come upon us when the parent dies, and we are left without those we love in this cold world.

(b) There is Failure. The world of youth is a glorious world of sunshine and of bright visions, and those visions fade as youth fades, and then the world is grey, like some December day.

(c) Sin. And there are some whose hearts are broken by sin, sin of themselves or of some other. Yes, their shame is rightly suffered, but the thought that this shame could have been avoided adds poignancy to the pain.

II. Christ came to Heal the Broken in Heart. To the simple this truth appears in all its simplicity. Christ healed the broken heart by taking sorrow on Him. He trod the road first, and the simple with grateful hearts tread it after Him. They ask no reason why He created sorrow, they ask no reason why Christ had to suffer, they merely feel that they are planting their footsteps where Christ trod, and that His Divine sympathy enfolds them, and their hearts ache no longer as their mind dwells on His sorrow and His love.

The Christ coming on earth assured us that our God was One of infinite pity. Before His coming the world knew God as a Being of infinite power, but not of infinite beauty. His all-embracing love was yet unknown to man. Till he heard of God taking upon Himself the form of man, and by the sacrifice of the cross, showing that infinite love in infinite selfsacrifice, the mystery of His love was hid from man; but when He entered in triumph into heaven He threw open wide the gates of heaven and showed the wondrous beauty of the Godhead. Poverty, shame, sorrow, disappointment, failure, have henceforth another meaning to the Christian.

Luk 4:18

In Wesley’s Journal for Monday, 2nd April, 1739, this entry occurs: ‘At four in the afternoon I submitted to be more vile, and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a little eminence in a ground adjoining to the city, to almost three thousand people. The Scripture on which I spoke was this (is it possible any one should be ignorant that it is fulfilled in every true minister of Christ?), “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor,” etc.

Luk 4:18

In confusion there is ever bondage; and it is to this confusion, the want of rhythm and cadence in life, the absence of a clear purpose and intention, that it owes so much of its weariness and sadness. Have you not felt how much there is in the ordinary inevitable cause of life which renders to bondage? ‘The strong hours conquer us.’ We are straitened in ourselves and in each other, fettered to a routine which makes us often say with John Bunyan, And so I went home to prison’.

Dora Greenwell.

References. IV. 18. H. P. Liddon, University Sermons (2nd Series), p. 281. Expositor (5th Series), vol. ii. p. 372. IV. 18, 19. H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1483, p. 1. A. P. Stanley, Canterbury Sermons, p. 74. H. M. Butler, Harrow School Sermons, p. 38. Expositor (6th Series), vol. xi. p. 343. IV. 19. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 15. IV. 21. Expositor (6th Series), vol. viii. p. 116. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture Luke, p. 85. IV. 22. A. G. Mortimer, The Church’s Lessons for the Christian Year, pt. i. p. 171. H. G. Woods, Church Family Newspaper, vol. xiii. p. 786. IV. 23. L. D. Bevan, Sermons to Students, p. 93. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. pp. 232, 319; ibid. vol. vi. p. 445.

Luk 4:24

A correspondent of the Daily News, some years ago narrated a circumstance regarding the burial of Carlyle at Ecclefechan, to illustrate the small honour in which the great author was held by his native villagers. Hardly any interest was excited by the arrival of the funeral party. Mr. Froude, however, rushed fussily up to the stationmaster and said: ‘I hope every precaution is being taken to prevent unseemly crowding; that the police have taken proper measures to ensure the road being kept clear between the station and the churchyard.’ ‘Eh, man,’ was the reply, ‘ye needna fash yersel’. There’s na an auld wife in Ecclefechan that wud pit her heed oot o’ the winda tae look at Tam Carlyle when he was leevin,’ let alane when he’s deed.’

References. IV. 24. H. S. Holland, Vital Values, p. 131. IV. 25. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vii. p. 178. IV. 28-30. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii. No. 753. IV. 29. H. Woodcock, Sermon Outlines (1st Series), p. 266. Expositor (6th Series), vol. i. p. 195; ibid. vol. viii. p. 382. IV. 30. Ibid. vol. vi. p. 366.

Luk 4:32

The first condition of effective oratory is given in the words ‘this man speaketh with authority’. English preachers, ever since the seventeenth century, have never possessed this secret, and have therefore never commanded their hearers.

Leslie Stephen, English Thought in Eighteenth Century, ii. p. 355.

Reference. IV. 32. F. B. Cowl, Preacher’s Magazine , vol. xvii. p. 431.

Luk 4:32

Say what you will, the Christian religion, it must be allowed, has something astonishing about it.

Pascal.

References. IV. 32, 36. Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p. 366. IV. 33, 34. A. Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture St. Luke, p. 95. IV. 34. Expositor (6th Series), vol. x. p. 407. IV. 38. C. S. Robinson, Simon Peter, p. 186. Expositor (4th Series), vol. vi. p. 355. IV. 38, 39. M. Eastwood, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xliv. p. 60. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxvi. No. 2174. IV. 39. E. A. Askew, The Service of Perfect Freedom, p. 205. Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii. No. 1071.

Setting Suns

Luk 4:40

What happened when the sun was setting? ‘He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them.’ It was the brightest sunrise they ever saw; they forgot that the sun was setting in the heavens, for a greater, healthier, happier Sun had risen elsewhere. It will always be so in human history. When your heart’s sun is setting another sun will take its place and fill the sky with a brighter light. There is no despair in love, no sunset hour in the higher passions. God will be merciful to you, and He will comfort you at the latter end. He has great stores of grace, great stretches of ability that have not yet been touched, and He will come to you in some sunset hour, and tell you that presently the Sun will rise with healing in His wings.

I. ‘He laid His hands on every one of them,’ and the laying-on of His hands was resurrection, rehabilitation, ordination, life. O Thou living Christ, why not lay Thine hands upon us, and make men of us, and heroes, and triumphant souls? Why not? There is a great deal of masonry in contact. They say that when a certain man shakes hands with you, he can by the handshake let you know whether he belongs to the Freemasons or not. What is it? Only himself knows, and his kith and kindred in that secret; but by a grand grasp you know that you are hand-locked with a brother. Has the Christian hand lost its touch? It is a hand in form, in pressure of a certain kind, but is there that electric, magnetic touch which is the secret and the seal of a high and noble personality?

II. ‘And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ, the Son of God;’ and He said, Silence! But why silence? They told the truth. Yes, they did. Why hush them in an ignominious silence? Simply because they were bad spirits. Christ never called in the aid of any one devil or man, that was bad. The devils also believe and tremble, their faith does not bring them to peace; they believe and are afraid; they believe, and they are burned with judgment Christ will not have any bad man as a preacher. He does not call for men who have no infirmities and no weaknesses, but He knows the difference between a man who is infirm on purposes and weak that he may serve an end, and the sincere man who is only a man. ‘The best of men are but men at the best,’ and Christ knows this, and therefore it hath pleased Him to call out men who are very imperfect and infirm, but sincere at heart, to tell what they know of His kingdom.

III. ‘And when it was day, He departed and went into a desert place: and the people sought Him, and came unto Him, and stayed Him, that He should not depart from them.’ They said, No, abide with us always, we are happy and healthy whilst Thou art here. Christ said, No, ‘I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also’. What is the lesson? Christ must not be localised. If we want to localise Him, we are selfish; we must send the royalist love and gift to other cities also, saying, Let them hear by all means. Oh that all the cities of the world could hear this music! That is the true secret of missions. If we cannot send the living Christ Himself, we must send the living Christ in the living missionary to preach good tidings of great joy.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. vi. p. 242.

Joseph Parker, City Temple Pulpit, vol. VI. p. 242

References. IV. 41. Expositor (4th Series), vol. iii. p. 460. IV. 42. Ibid. (5th Series), vol. iii. p. 103. IV. 43. Ibid. (6th Series), vol. v. p. 72. IV. 44 J. Stalker, Christian World Pulpit, vol. liii. p. 235.

Fuente: Expositor’s Dictionary of Text by Robertson

Exciting Sermons

Luk 4:28-29

Are there any such perorations in connection with the pulpit eloquence of this day? The preacher retires amid thunders of applause, or amid tepid compliments, or without recognition, or with more or less of well-calculated or ill-calculated criticism. But when does a congregation ever rise up, and, filled with wrath, seize the minister, lead him to the brow of the hill, and threaten to cast him headlong from the eminences of the city? Never! We have fallen upon other times. Hear the trumpery criticism of this day: The sermon was so quiet, so delightfully quiet; the preacher was so pleasant, so tranquil, so composed; he never betrayed the faintest excitement. Or, hear it again in another form: The sermon was so comforting, soothing, healing; there was balm in it; the preacher was a son of consolation: how richly he dwelt upon the divine promises! how aptly and happily he applied them to human necessity! There is room for all that kind of preaching. It is not a kind of preaching in either case to be despised or held in light esteem. Sometimes we need quietness, oftentimes we need healing. The brokenhearted are the majority in every congregation, if they knew themselves. We need the balm that is in Gilead, and we need no other physician but the One that is there. All that is true; create space for such ministry, for we need it all.

But where is the other kind of eloquence? It must be the right kind in some instances, at least, because it is associated in this text with the name of Jesus Christ. This was not some wandering speaker who had gone forth without licence or authority, or without adequate cause, and had aroused popular passions, or excited religious hatred. The speaker was the Son of God, he who spake as never man spake: and yet when he had uttered a few words, to us apparently so simple and so inoffensive, the whole congregation rose up in a mass, being filled with wrath, and led him forth to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.

There should be room for that ministry as well as the other. We do not like it. Therefore, perhaps, we need it the more. We would rather not be disturbed. We have disturbance enough in business and in politics. When we go to the sanctuary we want to hear something to soothe us, and lull us, and comfort us. That is bad reasoning. When we go to the sanctuary we should go for truth. Sometimes truth will be like a child-angel, so sweet, so tender, so familiar, so domestic, so necessary to the completeness of the household; sometimes it will be as the voice of the lute, just what we need; and sometimes it will rage and storm and judge the world and thunder against its iniquities and corruptions: we need it all. Christ’s was the perfect ministry, and in Christ we find all this kind of preaching. And only that ministry is right, four-square to the edge, that can be both tender and judicial, comforting and critical, sympathetic and damnatory.

Nor must the preacher be afraid of the people or of his own income. That is the great curse of every age of the pulpit, that a man should think whether he is diminishing his own resources when he declares this or that part of the counsel of God. Those who do not like it must go, and take their gold with them. It will buy them nothing. For such metal there is no exchange with God. It will be a mistake to upbraid the ministry of the time for self-consideration to that degree. The preaching of this day is as fearless as it has been in any other day. Not, perhaps, so fearless in every church; but wherever there is fearless preaching there is a congregation rising to thrust the preacher out of existence. The fearless, all-truth-speaking preacher is hated everywhere. He is not and cannot be a popular man. He can have no sympathy with the majority of his race. He must be prepared for consequences.

What a wondrous ministry was Christ’s! In verse twenty-two we read, in the same chapter, “And all bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.” A few verses after, the whole of the people in the synagogue “rose up,” “being filled with wrath.” What a change he wrought! What a wizard he was! Now look at the people. How beaming, how radiant, how benignant! they say. Did charmer ever charm like this? Hear that music, and say, was the like ever heard in Israel? In five minutes more, by historical allusions which the people alone could understand, the same people rose up, being filled with wrath, and would have killed the very charmer whose entrancing power they had just acknowledged.

Was there ever any exciting preaching in the Church? Read: “And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and they laid hands on them, and put them in hold.” They do the same to-day. If you were to preach apostolically you would be put in prison. The magistrate before whom you would be tried would not understand the case. What case is there that a magistrate really and thoroughly understands all round and round where the gospel is concerned, where high moral impulses are involved, and where the real good of the people is the question of the hour? The magistrates have never been on the side of apostolical preachers. The magistrates have always suggested prison as the best treatment for men who preach the gospel. It looks energetic; if a magistrate were to sympathise with the preacher it would look sentimental. A magistrate seems to be doing something for his dignity when he puts somebody in prison. Read the life of George Fox; read the Life and Journals of John Wesley; study the biography of George Whitefield; read the present-day records of the Salvation Army, and say when were apostolical preachers otherwise treated than Christ himself was treated in the very instance before us.

Understand that we are not saying a word against this same popular quiet preaching, in which a man speaks for an hour, and says nothing that can at all offend or exasperate his audience. We are not undervaluing healing preaching. God forbid. For we all need it; if not to-day, yesterday; it not yesterday, tomorrow we shall need it. But we want to point out that the counsel of God is full-orbed, now soft as when Zephyrus on Flora breathes, and now a wind that silences Euroclydon.

But the times have changed! Have they? Who changed them? Is the devil changed? Has that miracle at last been wrought? Has evil washed its hands and come out of the process pure and stainless? What has changed? Is the thief honest? Why, that is a paradox, a contradiction in terms. Are there no thieves to-day? Is the miser generous? When did he convert himself? If he is generous he is not a miser; if he is a miser he is not generous. The times have changed! When? Services may have changed, transient relations may have been transformed and modified, but the times have not changed in the sense of making sin less sinful, dishonesty less thievish, miserliness less avaricious. We find these great radical principles and policies abiding now in the deepest sense. What if we should be the real thieves? That is a harrowing suggestion. But what if the magistrate should be the real thief, and the little boy who took the pocket-handkerchief should be honest in his soul and only thievish in his fingers, because of some impulsion or compulsion not easily understood by those who are outside the circle and atmosphere within which he lives? What if the man with the fine clothing and the gold ring and the high position be the real thief? not a vulgar, common, street thief, that is the very poorest kind of felon; but a calculating, long-headed, nimble-fingered gentleman, who writes well and reads much, and talks fluently, and has his turns of piety what if he in the soul of him and in the whole trick of his policy be the real thief?

Have the times changed? In that direction they may have changed. Refined sin may have displaced rough criminality, but the devil is inconvertible, and will be the same when the hour of doom has struck. Do not misunderstand things, and do not be such wonderful optimists and poets as to see improvements where there really are none at all. If there are improvements prove them, recognise them, be thankful for them; but understand that the devil cannot change. If he is dead the times may have changed. If we have any reason to believe that he is still hidden in some corner of God’s universe, he is as fruitful of poison and iniquity as he ever was. What if we be the misers? That is an exasperating suggestion. The man who makes it ought to be led out, and cast down from the top of the highest hill that is accessible. What if we be the misers? Ay, that! You who gave a hundred pounds all at once may be the miser. Why did you give it? In what atmosphere did you act? What was your regnant motive? Go into your soul, and ask your soul torturing questions until you get at the truth. If you gave it honestly, lovingly, gratefully, you will be blessed; you shall have it tenfold back again. The question is, Did you, or did you not? and that question I must force back upon myself until I bleed. Is not every man more or less miserly? Who gives what he ought to give? Who gives to the point of dividing his last crust with Christ? Does he give anything who withholds anything? Does he answer God’s appeal who has his meals regularly and fully, and who sleeps through all the night of the world’s darkness and sorrow? These are questions which I must put to myself and hold a long inquest with my own life. And it may turn out that I am the thief, the miser, the felon, the self-indulgent, the wrong-doer. If judgment thus begins at the house of God, what wonder that everybody in the synagogue should rise up inflamed with wrath, mad with resentment? Yet so curiously are we constituted, so wondrously made, that we have a positive delight in hearing the sins of other people denounced. Thus we eke out our own virtue. We do like the man in the next pew to have the truth told plainly to him. We love to hear drunkenness denounced, whereas we may be the real drunkards. The man who drinks his potass may be the real winebibber. That is no paradox; it is a plain, literal possibility in life. Men are what they are in the soul of them. Less the habit, more the spirit, must be taken as the judge and estimate of the man’s spiritual quality.

Speaking thus, how different an aspect is put upon everything. The first shall be last, and the last shall be first; and many shall come from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in God’s kingdom of light, and we ourselves, pretentious, ostentatious, pharisaic professors, shall be cast out because we nodded our heads at certain dogmas, but gave no heed to the commandments. We sought to suck the honey of the beatitudes, but never attempted to obey the law.

Great mistakes may thus be made about any ministry. You hear a man once, and judge him altogether. How foolish and unreasonable, how wholly unjust as well as unwise is this course! If you had heard Jesus Christ in the twenty-second verse, so to say, you would have gone away with this report: “So gracious in his speech, so musical, tuneful, tender, comforting.” If you had gone away at the twenty-eighth verse you would have said, “Exasperating, maddening his congregation. Instead of taking that people into his hand, and playing upon them as a skilful man would play upon an instrument, he roused them to madness; yea, so vehement and terrible was he in style that all the people rose up and seized him, and led him out, and would have killed him on the spot.” Neither report would have given a fair idea of the ministry of Christ.

Yet this is just how ministries are treated to-day. A man who never heard a minister before falls upon some occasion when the minister is very tender and sympathetic, and thinks he is always so; or falls upon another occasion when the minister is denunciatory, and goes away and reports him in terms that are full of all evil suggestion. You never know any ministry that has anything in it until you have heard it seven years long, in all its moods, tenses, variations, aspects, colours, in the whole gamut of its strength. What is true of a ministry is true of God’s Book. We must read it all if we would judge it fairly. It is true of the gospel; we must hear it all if we would pronounce upon it with wisdom and ripeness of judgment.

So with Christ our Lord. Hear him: Blessed are the pure in heart, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the meek, blessed are the peacemakers. Oh, how the beatitudes flow from his sacred lips! Hear him: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; woe unto you, ye lawyers; woe unto thee, Chorazin; woe unto thee, Bethsaida. Where are your beatitudes now? It is the same man, in the same brief three years’ ministry. Behold, you must take in the evening and the morning to make the day. God’s great sky has in it four directions, and every one must be estimated and set in its proper relation to the other if you would understand the geometry of God’s canopy. Blessed be God, the severity is always against the sin. It is sin that is predestinated to go to hell. It is sin that is foreordained to be damned. Some persons do not like these words, “hell” and “damned “; yet how wondrously men change in their estimate even of such terms and of the doctrine and preaching with which they are associated. I know a remarkable artist who came to a church with which I am very familiar, and heard a sermon on the damnation of wickedness, and fled away in horror because she did not believe in hell and in damnation. Years have come and years have gone, and she is now in the Roman Catholic Church, where there is a real hell, where there is no want of literal fire. So curiously are we made, and so mysterious is the reaction which is the possibility of our lives.

We must have the whole counsel of God. We must hear of the night as well as of the day, and we must not as ministers and churches allow ourselves to be cozened out of half the truth because there are people who will come in thousands to hear our musical utterances about Christ, who would be exasperated and offended if we held up the law in its terror. We must lose them; we must bear our lot as bravely as we can. Better the pews be empty to the point of desolation; better that the minister should starve than that we should never hear that God is Judge as well as Saviour. All the gentleness is for the sinner. God never turns against the prodigal; he is always against the self-righteous. The self-righteous is, of course, the greatest sinner, but God has no pity upon him, because he cannot have pity where there is no pity for himself, that is to say, fox the sinner, the man himself. The man is self-righteous, self-satisfied; he has enough, he wants no more; he is a perfect man and an upright, yea, he is the temple of the living God, and other men are the filth and the off-scouring of the race. God can have no pity for that man. He can only encounter him with sternness and judgment, and visit him with the final penalty. But where there is a broken heart, where there is a contrite spirit, where there is a desire to come home again, all the angels are sent down to make the way easy, and great welcomes await the returning prodigal. God is gentle and good towards any soul that can weep over its own guilt and its own sorrow. Let us, therefore, take heart and come before him with tears. He will dwell with the contrite in spirit.

This is my conclusion: It ought to be the greatest blessing of society to have within it a pulpit that can be both gentle and terrible. When you lose that pulpit you lose a saving element from your social constitution. It ought to be the supremest educational force in morals to have a pulpit that is afraid of no face of clay; to have a pulpit that will speak all the counsel of God, come weal, come woe. Do not let us misunderstand this. He is the great preacher who preaches to himself. Yea, he is the man to be trusted who first takes up the law and smites himself with it, and tells you across the ruins of a broken law that he is criminal as well as preacher. I would listen to that man. It is an infinite impertinence on the part of any man to preach the law as if he kept it. It is an infinite help to us to hear any man preach the law who says he has broken it all through and through, yet by the mercy of God, as shown in the Cross of Christ, he has crawled home again, and has begun to taste the sweets of divine forgiveness.

Notes

[From the Speaker’s Commentary.]

Luk 4:28 . Filled with wrath. They were indignant at his rejection of his countrymen which he points by citing the examples of the two great prophets. They may also have understood him to hint that he had a mission even to the heathen.

Luk 4:29 . Thrust him out. Drove him out with violence.

The brow. Or a brow, according to a great preponderance of authority. Two natural features, in the neighbourhood of Nazareth, may still be identified…. “The second is indicated in the Gospel history by one of those slight touches which serve as a testimony to the truth of the description, by nearly approaching, but yet not crossing, the verge of inaccuracy. ‘They rose,’ it is said of the infuriated inhabitants, and cast him out of the city, and brought him to a brow of the mountain…. on which the city was built, so as to cast him down the cliff.’… Most readers probably from these words imagine a town built on the summit of a mountain, from which summit the intended precipitation was to take place. This, as I have said, is not the situation of Nazareth. Yet its position is still in accordance with the narrative. It is built ‘upon,’ that is, on the side of, ‘a mountain,’ but the ‘brow’ is not beneath, but over the town, and such a cliff… as is here implied is to be found, as all modern travellers describe, in the abrupt face of the limestone rock, about thirty or forty feet high, overhanging the Maronite convent at the south-west corner of the town, and another at a little further distance.” (Stanley, “Sinai and Palestine,” ch. 10.) One such cliff, about two miles from Nazareth, is shown as the “Mount of Precipitation.”

That they might cast, etc. Read, so as to cast.

Prayer

Blessed Jesus, thou knowest all things; thou readest every heart; thou needest not that any should testify of man, for thou knowest what is in man. Truly we bear the image and likeness of God, and thou, being in the bosom of the Father, knowest all things that are in our nature. We can hide nothing from thee; but, blessed be thy name, thine eyes are not eyes of justice only, they are eyes of love, compassion, tenderness; they see us as we are, they see us as we might be, they see us in the purpose of God. Behold, we come to thee; to thee all men must come; thou canst find the piece we have lost; thou canst bring back our whole being, our highest quality, our truest character; thou canst restore us to our standing in the household of God. Blessed One, we love thee; we do not only revere thee and admire thee, and offer the homage due to great power; but we love thee, we yearn towards thee, we struggle after thee, we struggle after thee in the crowd, knowing that if we can but touch the hem of thy garment we shall lose all our disease. O thou Great Speaker, Great Healer, Friend of the broken heart, and Helper of the helpless, come to us day by day, bringing the daily bread we need for the body, and the bread of life we need for the soul. We have read thy life we have sat down with thee, we have looked at thee; we have been with thee when we thought no eye could see us, when hardly thine own vision could detect us, so deep was the darkness and so complete our concealment; and after all we have heard and seen and known and felt of thee we love thee all the more. Lord, abide with us, for it is towards evening, and the day is far spent with many: break bread to us with thine own dear hands, and when we begin to touch what thou hast blessed we shall see thee, a vanishing glory, but a light to come again. Amen.

Fuente: The People’s Bible by Joseph Parker

THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST

Harmony pages 16-17 and Mat 4:1-11 ; Mar 1:12-13 ; Luk 4:1-13 .

The theme of this chapter is Satan’s first temptation of Jesus, our Lord. The lesson is found on pages 16-17 of the Harmony. There are three historians of the great event: Mat 4:1-11 ; Mar 1:12-13 ; Luk 4:1-13 . Following closely the text, let us note these general observations.

(1) All the historians agree on five express particulars and one implication, to wit:

The temptation of our Lord immediately follows his baptism, in which the Father audibly proclaimed him as his Son, and the Spirit visibly accredited, anointed, and endued him as the Messiah. So that the temptation is hell’s prompt response to heaven’s challenge in the inauguration.

Our Lord was Spirit-guided to meet the issues of the conflict.

The scene of the battle was “in the wilderness.”

The time of the struggle was “forty days.”

The tempter was Satan himself.

The implication is clear that no human being stood with Jesus. On the contrary, Mark adds: “He was with the wild beasts.”

(2) Matthew and Luke agree: In expressing the Spirit guidance as a leading “led of the Spirit.” But Mark expresses it as a propulsion “driven of the Spirit,” while Luke adds he was “full of the Spirit.”

He fasted throughout the forty days and afterward hungered.

In the consummation Satan visibly appeared and verbally submitted three special temptations, though Luke reverses

Matthew’s order of the last two.

Satan commenced two of these special temptations with the phrase, “If thou art the Son of God,” showing his knowledge of the Father’s avowal at the baptism.

Jesus triumphed over Satan in them all.

In achieving this victory, Jesus used only the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, quoting from Deuteronomy only.

Satan also quoted Scripture.

Then Satan left him. But Matthew adds that Satan left because Jesus recognizes his adversary and peremptorily dismissed him, “Get thee hence, Satan,” and Luke adds he left him only “for a season,” so it was not the final battle.

Matthew and Mark agree that when Satan left him “angels came and ministered unto him,” meaning, at least, that they supplied him with food and encouraged him. Thus three worlds were interested in the great conflict.

(4) Mark implies that in some form the temptation lasted throughout the forty days, which Luke seems to confirm by saying, “When Satan had completed every temptation.” From this implication it follows that the form of the temptation up to the culmination when Jesus hungered was by mental suggestion only, Satan holding himself invisible, but when Jesus was faint with hunger, then, as Matthew and Luke agree, he appeared visibly and submitted audibly the three great special temptations.

Thus face to face, the two great warring personalities conducted the verbal duel and spiritual wrestling. This is evident from our Lord’s recognition of his adversary and his peremptory dismissal of him by name, “Get thee hence, Satan.” We need not stagger at Mark’s implication when we reflect how easy it is for one spirit, by direct impact, to impress another, chough the one impressed may not be conscious of it, nor when we consider how many of what we consider our own thoughts are not self-originated, but suggestions from without. Bunyan represents his Pilgrim, when passing through the valley of the shadow of death, as being horrified at curses, slimy thoughts, and blasphemies in his mind, which he supposed were his own, whereas, they were suggestions from without by invisible whispering demons. The capital point is that our Lord was tempted in both forms first for many days by invisible external suggestions; second, when Apollyon, as in the case of Bunyan’s Pilgrim, visibly, audibly, palpably, horribly, and suddenly came upon him in his weakest hour, straddled across his narrow way, and buried his fiery darts in rapid succession.

(5) We should carefully note, as illustrative of the value of harmonic study of the testimony of several witnesses, the special contribution of each historian. We see the force of Matthew’s “Get thee hence, Satan” and Mark’s “driven of the Spirit,” and his implication of continuous temptation, and Luke’s “full of the Spirit,” and especially his “left him for a season.”

(6) The Greek word rendered “tempt” means “to try, prove, or test.” The moral character of the “testing” depends upon the object and methods. If the object be to incite or to entice to sin, or the means be guile, flattery, lying, indeed any form of deception that would turn the tempted one from God and appeal to lower motives, then it is bad, whether coming from Satan or from his subordinates. But if the object be to honorably ascertain or prove character by lawful methods, or to fairly develop and discipline the inexperienced soul, then it is good. We may lawfully prove or test God himself in any way appointed by him whether of promise or precept. We may sinfully tempt him by creating situations not appointed by him and then claiming his help.

In the sense of enticing to sin, God tempts no man. In the sense of proving his people, he is always tempting us, as he did Abraham. In his providence he often permits us to be tested with evil intent by Satan, as in the cases of Job and Peter. In this providential permission to Satan there are always great limitations.

We are never tempted in a good sense nor allowed to be tempted in an evil sense beyond our ability to bear or to resist. And always the decision and the responsibility are upon the tempted one.

He himself must yield in order to fall. The words of James and Paul are pertinent: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempteth no man: but each man is tempted when he is drawn away by his own lust and enticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin; and the sin when it is full grown, bringeth forth death” (Jas 1:12-15 ). “There hath no temptation taken you but such as man can bear: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation make also the way of escape, that ye may be able to endure it” (1Co 10:13 ). Our English word “tempt” once had both the good and evil senses of the Greek word, but now is limited to the evil sense.

(7) The exact site of the temptation in the wilderness has never been determined. It is quite probable that on this point the Scriptures are designedly silent, as in the case of the burial place of Moses, to hedge against superstitious pilgrimages and shrines. If it be lawful to venture on conjecture, I would suggest the wilderness of the Arabian peninsula, for these reasons:

There is a strong scriptural parallel between our Lord and Israel as a nation.

Israel, as a nation, was not only tempted and fell in this Arabian wilderness, but also there evilly tempted God.

There is a correspondence between their forty years and Christ’s forty days.

There both Moses and Elijah “fasted forty days.”

All of our Lord’s quotations ‘in his temptation are from the Pentateuch, word fruitage of Israel’s wilderness life.

As the forty years wilderness life and the wilderness words quoted by our Lord prepared God’s son, Israel, for the national life, so this forty days fasting and triumph over Satan’s temptations prepared his Son, Jesus, for his great lifework of Israel’s redemption.

Before Paul enters his great work for the salvation of the Gentiles it was necessary that there should be a period of seclusion for meditation, for receiving his gospel, for settling great questions between himself alone and God on the one hand, and the devil on the other hand. He says, “I conferred not with flesh and blood went not to Jerusalem but I went into Arabia.” Evidently not to preach, but under the shadow of Sinai where the Law was given, there in the light of the gospel to gain that view of the Law so powerfully set forth in his letters to the Galatians and the Romans. Why not, then if we must guess follow these analogies and this fitness, and suppose that this was the wilderness site of Christ’s temptation, returning from which to deliver his marvelous Sermon on the Mount, which, after all, is but the highest spiritual exposition of the Law?

(8) Can a man do without food forty days? It has been objected against the credibility of the Bible, that it represents Moses, Elijah, and our Lord fasting forty days. Within my own memory this fact has been demonstrated scientifically. A Dr. Tanner, after a careful preparation, did, in the presence of competent witnesses, fast forty days. He ate no food. The only thing he allowed himself was occasionally to rinse his mouth with water, and very rarely to swallow just a little of the water. He was not sustained by the high spiritual exaltation of Moses, Elijah, and our Lord.

(9) From Christ’s fast of forty days two new words, or institutions, have been derived:

Etymologically, our English word “quarantine.” The wholly unscriptural “forty days of Lent” preceding the equally unscriptural festival of Easter observed by Romanists and Episcopalians. The word “Easter” in the common version of Act 12:4 is simply the Jewish Passover and is so rendered in our best English versions.

(10) Was this a real temptation of our Lord? In other words, was it a case of “Not able to sin” (non posse peccare) or “able not to sin” (posse non peccare)1 This is a vital question and must be squarely answered. The temptation of our Lord was not only real, but was an epoch in his own life and in the history of the race. It was no sham battle.

The teaching of the Scriptures is express and manifold. It was not the essential deity of our Lord on trial, but his humanity, and also in an emphatic sense his representative humanity. There is no stronger proof that the Messiah was really a man and had a human soul than his susceptibility to temptation and his successful resistance to it as a man. This becomes the more obvious when we consider the later battles with Satan in Gethsemane and on the cross, to which this wilderness temptation was no more than a preliminary skirmish. The true answer to this question lies in the answer to a broader question: Why should Jesus be tempted?

We must fairly answer this broader question:

He was the Second Adam the new race-head (1Co 15:45-49 ; Rom 5:12-21 ). “The first Adam was tempted in a garden full of permitted fruits, and by his fall converted it into a desert. The Second Adam was tempted in a desert, faint with the hunger of a forty days’ fast, and by his victory converted it into a garden.” The new race head was on probation like the first.

In the highest sense he was Israel, God’s Son: “Out of Egypt have I called my Son.” He was Isaiah’s “Servant of the Lord,” so marvelously foreshadowed in the last twenty-seven chapters of that book. National Israel failed under temptation in every probation under the theocracy established by Moses, under the monarchy established by Samuel, under the hierarchy established by Ezra, Nehemiah, Zechariah, Haggai, and Malachi, culminating in its rejection of the Messiah. If “all Israel is to be saved” as taught by Ezekiel, Zechariah, and Paul, then this “Son which God called out of Egypt” must triumph over real temptation.

He could not become man’s vicarious substitute in death and judgment unless on real probation from birth to death, he himself was demonstrated to be “a lamb without spot or blemish, holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners.” “For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings” (Heb 2:10 ).

He could not destroy the work of the devil and rescue “the lawful captives,” “the prey of the terrible one,” “except as he shared the common lot of humanity.” “Since then the children are sharers in the flesh and blood, he also himself in like manner partook of the same; that through death he might bring to nought him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and might deliver all them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Heb 2:14-15 ).

Without enduring real temptation in his humanity he could not become a sympathizing and efficient high priest: “Wherefore it behooved him in all things to be made like unto his brethren, that he might become a faithful and merciful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted” (Heb 2:17-18 ). “Having then a great high priest, who hath passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but one that has been in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with boldness unto the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy, and may find grace to help us in time of need” (Heb 4:14-16 ).

He could not seat humanity on the throne of the universe as King of kings and Lord of lords except by emptying himself of heavenly glory, laying aside the form of God and assuming the form of a slave, and when found in the fashion of a man he should through every temptation be perfect in obedience to every precept and submissive to every penal sanction of the Law (See Phi 2:6-11 ).

He could not, as the Son of Man, become the judge of the world except he had triumphed in real temptation as a man. (Note carefully Joh 5:22 ; Joh 5:27 ; Act 17:31 ; Mat 25:31 f.) Not otherwise as enduring temptation could he become an example to his people in their hours of trial. (See Phi 2:5 ; 1Pe 2:21-23 ; 1Pe 4:1 .)

In assigning these reasons for Christ’s real temptation we have not limited ourselves to Satan’s first temptation of our Lord.

(11) On the subject of the temptation, what may we say of Milton’s Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained?

Paradise Regained is very inferior, as a literary epic, to Paradise Lost.

The Devil of Paradise Lost is a far grander personage than the Devil of Paradise Regained. Says Robert Burns, “The Devil is the hero of Paradise Lost, but in Paradise Regained he is a sneak nibbling at the heel of Jesus.” In neither have we a true portrait of Satan.

In closing his Paradise Regained at the preliminary skirmish between Jesus and Satan, he virtually acknowledges his failure to master his great theme.

PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS Reserving the discussions of the three special temptations of Jesus to the next chapter, we close the present discussion by citing from Dr. Broadus’ great treatment of this theme in his commentary these quotations:

“Christ hungered as a man, and fed the hungry as God. He was hungry as man, and yet he is the Bread of Life. He was a-thirst as a man, and yet He says, Let him that is athirst come to me and drink. He was weary) and is our Rest. . . He pays tribute, and is a King; he is called a devil, and casts out devils; prays, and hears prayer; weeps, and dries our tears; is sold for thirty pieces of silver, and redeems the world; is led as a sheep to the slaughter, and is the Good Shepherd” Wordsworth.

“Observe (1) that the first word spoken by Christ in His ministerial office is an assertion of the authority of the scripture. (2) That He opposeth the word of God as the properest encounterer against the words of the devil. (3) That He allegeth scripture as a thing undeniable and uncontrollable by the devil himself. (4) That He maketh the scripture His rule, though He had the fullness of the Spirit above measure” Lightfoot.

“The devil may tempt us to fall, but he cannot make us fall; he may persuade us to cast ourselves down, but he cannot cast us down” Wordsworth. “True faith never tries experiments upon the promises, being satisfied that they will be fulfilled as occasion may arise. We have no right to create danger, and expect providence to shield us from it. The love of adventure, curiosity as to the places and procedure as vice, the spirit of speculation in business, the profits of some calling attended by moral perils often lead men to tempt God. It is a common form of sin” Broadus.

“The successive temptations may be ranked as temptations over-confidence, and over-confidence, and other confidence, The first, to take things impatiently into our hands; the second, to throw things presumptuously on God’s hands; the third, to transfer things disloyally into other hands than God’s” Griffith.

QUESTIONS

1. Who were the historians of Satan’s first temptation of Christ?

2. In what particulars do the historians agree?

3. In what particulars do Matthew and Luke agree?

4. In what particulars do Matthew and Mark agree?

5. What is the strong implication of the continuance of the temptation throughout the forty days by Mark?

6. What was the form of the temptation during the forty days? Explain and illustrate its possibilities.

7. In what part of the temptation does Satan appear visibly face to face with and tempt and wrestle with Christ?

8. What is the value of harmonic study illustrated in the special contributions of each historian?

9. What is the meaning of our Greek word rendered “tempt”?

10. Upon what does the moral character of the tempting depend?

11. How may we lawfully in one case, and unlawfully in another case, tempt God himself?

12. Give Scripture proof that in the bad sense of the word God tempts no man, and proof that in the good sense of the word he does tempt man.

13. Give proof that he does, under great limitations, permit Satan to tempt us in an evil sense

14. When tempted by Satan, upon whom do the decision & responsibility rest?

15. Cite the pertinent words of James and Paul.

16. To what sense is our English word “tempt” now limited?

17. Why, probably, are the Scriptures silent on the exact spot of the temptation in the wilderness?

18. If we venture on a suggestion of the site, give the reasons, in order of the wilderness of Arabia as the place.

19. Prove scripturally and scientifically that a man can fast forty days.

20. How is our English word “quarantine” derived etymologically?

21. What two institutions observed by Romanists and Episcopalians are without scriptural warrant?

22. What is the meaning of the Greek word rendered “Easter” in the common version at Act 12:4 ?

23. Was the temptation of our Lord a real one? In other words, was it a case of “Not able to sin” or of “Able not to sin”?

24. Give, in order, the great reasons why Christ should be really tempted.

25. Concerning the temptation, what may we say of Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Paradise Regained?

26. In what commentary may we find the most critical and rational treatment of the temptation of our Lord?

27. Cite, in order, Dr. Broadus’ quotations of practical observations from Wordsworth, Lightfoot, Broadus himself, and Griffith.

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

XXI

SATAN’S THREE SPECIAL TEMPTATIONS OF OUR LORD

Harmony pages 16-17 and Mat 4:1-11 ; Luk 4:1-18 .

In the preceding chapter we have submitted some general observations on the wilderness temptation of Jesus, and its continuance throughout the forty days’ fast by mental suggestion from Satan, himself invisible. We are now to consider the three special temptations at the conclusion of the long fast, when to Jesus, exhausted and faint with hunger, Satan visibly appears and urges on him in rapid succession the consummation of his assault. We follow the better and more logical order of Matthew’s history.

THE FIRST TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS “If thou art the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Here, first of all, it is important to note that the mood, “if thou art,” is indicative, not subjunctive. We must not let the “if” mislead us. So the word “Son” is emphatic in the Greek. In some way Satan had learned that at the baptism the Father in heaven audibly proclaimed, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” Therefore it does not fall in with his plan of temptation to commence with an express doubt of the Sonship of Jesus, as the subjunctive mood, “If thou be,” would have certainly implied. The phrase means, “Since,” or “seeing thou art the Son of God” Son emphatic. In other words, his first temptation assumes the Sonship, with all power to work miracles: “Being God’s Son in the highest sense, able to do wonders, being faint with hunger after a long fast, far from any food supply, convert this stone into a loaf of bread and satisfy thy hunger.” The temptation was very subtle.

Our Lord replies at once with a scripture magnifying the written word as the standard of human life, quoting Deu 8:3 : “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God,” which means, “I am here and hungering under divine appointment. The Spirit led me here. In the way he appointed I must wait on his word and trust him to supply my needs. To resort to miracle to supply my need would show under confidence in God.”

He might have truly said, “I will never work a miracle in my own behalf. The miracle-working power I possess is for the benefit of others.”

Or, as truly, “I will never do a wonder at the demand of others, particularly of my enemies, nor to gratify curiosity, nor for self-display. Or, he might have said, “If I, at the first difficulty after my inauguration, extricate myself as selfish miracle, bow can my people in their trials find in my course an example?” The passage in Deuteronomy clearly shows that God often placed his people in trying circumstances, “to humble them, to prove them, to know what was in their hearts,” in order to see if they would trust him and obey him. Life is not a matter of food and clothes and shelter, but of fearing God and keeping his commandments. The thirty-seventh Psalm expresses our Lord’s attitude: Trust in Jehovah, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on his faithfulness. Delight thyself also in Jehovah; And he will give thee the desires of thy heart. Commit thy way unto Jehovah; Trust also in him, and he will bring it to pass. And he will make thy righteousness to go forth as the light, And thy justice as the noonday. Rest in Jehovah, and wait patiently for him: They shall not be put to shame in the time of evil; And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. A man’s goings are established of Jehovah; And he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, be shall not be utterly cast down; For Jehovah upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; Yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his seed begging bread. The law of his God is in his heart; None of his steps shall slide. Psa 37:3-7 ; Psa 37:19 ; Psa 37:23-25 ; Psa 37:31

I cite a simple, practical illustration: In my early pastorate at Waco, I found one of my members keeping a retail dramshop. He was much confused at seeing me, and said:

“Well, parson, a man must live.”

“Not necessarily,” I replied; “it may be best for him to die. But it is necessary, while he lives, to live in God’s ways and to trust him. You cannot serve God in this business.”

Another case I recall, while holding a meeting at Chappel Hill, Texas. Through the unswerving faith, labors, and prayers of a Christian wife, a hard, bad man was brought to accept Christ. Just as he was about to be baptized, I put my hand on him and said:

“Isn’t there something you ought to say to these people before you are baptized?”

He knew that I knew his sole business was the keeping of a low liquor house with a gambling adjunct.

“You mean about my business?”

“Yes.”

“Parson, everything I have in the world is in that business; what ought I say?”

“Don’t ask me. You are now the Lord’s man; ask him.”

He put his hand in his pocket and drew out a key, passing it to a deacon, and said:

“There’s the key to my liquor shop. Don’t sell my stock. Pour it out. Lock the door. I will never enter it again while I live.”

Then, with face illuminated, he was baptized.

The bread and meat question can never be answered right, apart from our higher relations with God and confidence in his care. Well did our Lord say later, “Be not anxious for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than the food, and the body than the raiment?”

THE TEMPTATION IN THE HOLY CITY

“Then the devil taketh him into the holy city; and he set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him, if thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and, on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, Again it is written, Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.”

What a change of scene! We have left the wilderness. This is Jerusalem. This is the Temple. The transition is rapid. There is no delay. On a wing of the Temple our Lord looks down from his dizzy height into the deep chasm far below. Satan is with him. Having failed on the line of “under-confidence” in God, he resorts to the other extreme, “over-confidence,” or presumption. It is as if he had said, “You did well to trust God for food. It is that trust to which I now appeal. You did well to cite the Holy Scriptures. To the Scriptures I now appeal. Trust God, believe this scripture, and cast thyself down this precipice.” And what a scripture he cites!

Psa 91 is the loftiest hymn of confidence in God and the highest expression of the security of one trusting in God in the whole Bible and in all the literature of the world.

It commences: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” Let the reader read all of it over again, and imagine that he sees Satan’s finger pointing to the angel passage, and hears him say, “It is written.”

Our Lord’s reply comes like a double bolt of lightning, “Again it is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” What a light on biblical interpretation “Again it is written!” Scripture must interpret scripture. We may not draw a vital conclusion from a single detached passage, severed from its context, and dislocated from the unity of truth. What a lesson to text heretics and faddists going off on a tangent from the circle of truth! That very psalm illustrates the power of the reply of Jesus: “For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler” (Psalm 91-93).

The devil and infidels are never harmonists. They try to make one passage contradict and fight another. They misapply. They put the finger on David’s sin with Uriah’s wife, and then say, “It is written that David was a man after God’s own heart.”

“Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” We have already shown that the word “tempt” may have a good or bad sense according to the object or method. We may test or prove God by implicit obedience when he commands, and by absolute trust in his promises when we are in his appointed way. Hear Jehovah’s own words: “Bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Mal 3:10 ).

“Prove me now herewith.” It would have been presumption for Israel to have rushed into the Red Sea on their own initiative, but it was the sublime audacity of faith after God said, “Go forward” It was the devil, not Jehovah, who said, “Cast thyself down.” The psalm passage cited would have been pertinent if Jehovah had said, “Cast thyself down.” We may not claim God’s promise in obeying the Devil. We may not invent or create situations of difficulty in order to prove God’s protecting care. Let us stick to the King’s highway and we will find no lion there.

It is said that when one of the fathers rebuked a demon for taking possession of a Christian, the demon replied: “I never went to the church after him; but when he came to the drinking and gambling hells, on my territory, I occupied him.”

To whom the father replied, “To be perfectly fair, even to the devil, I must admit that you make out your case as to occupying him when found in your territory, but as he now comes penitently home, you can’t stay in him. So get out. But, by the way, you may roar at any other Christian, sojourning in your territory.”

THIRD TEMPTATION ON THE HIGH MOUNTAIN There is a last change of scene. So far, there is no reason to suppose a miracle in the shifting of the scenes. Jesus went in a natural way to Jerusalem as he had gone to the wilderness, and as he now ascends the mountain. But there is something above the natural in the way Satan, “in one moment of time” exhibits and Jesus sees the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. We may not crudely suppose that from any mountain, however high, the whole world would be visible to the natural eye, nor even if the world were flat instead of a globe, that any natural eye would have the keenness of vision to sweep discerningly so vast a horizon, nor especially to master and weigh its complicated details in a moment of time.

But the inner eye may see things invisible. Satan, the high intellectual spirit, in addressing the higher intellectual spirit of Jesus could exhibit the world kingdoms and their glory in one great cyclorama. One may ask, Why then ascend a mountain for a viewpoint? The answer is not difficult when we consider that all these temptations are addressed to Jesus, the man. It will help us to get at the reason if we recall the history of Balaam (Num 22:24 ) where by changing the place of divination a new effort was made to curse Israel (Num 23:13 ). Or by recalling Grant’s assaults on General Lee: if he failed at one point, he rapidly shifted the scene of the battle to another point, calling for new and swift readjustment. It is human nature for an army to fight better when it knows and has tried a battlefield, and to be subject to disorder and panic when called suddenly to a new and untried field, necessitating rapid movement of troops, new plans of defense, and new lines of battle.

Jesus was a man. As a man he was subject to all the sensations attending the rapid shiftings of the scenes of conflict, particularly in the faintness of hunger called to make long marches. As has been said, the temptations are on the line of “under-confidence, over-confidence, and other confidence.” This last temptation touches the very mission of Jesus. He came to fulfil man’s original commission to “subdue the earth and exercise dominion over it.” He came to set up a world kingdom. Satan exhibits the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. Then hear him: “All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me” (Mat 4:9 ). “To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If thou, therefore, wilt worship before me it shall all be thine.”

First of all, let us consider the veracity of Satan’s claim to world empire, and his power to bestow it. Commentators generally allege that Satan lied outright. If their contention be true, there was no temptation at all. On the other hand, he became de facto prince of this world when he defeated the first man, God’s son by creation. He confirmed his title by defeating Israel, God’s national son. The world empires, Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome were largely raised to power by him and derived their systems of idolatry from him. The Scriptures call him the prince of this world and add that through his domination “the whole world lieth in wickedness.” He is the author of “the course of this world.” Through “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,” he reigns over all his usurped territory. He had “the power of death, and through the fear of death kept the people in bondage.” As mammon he rules the business world and supplies its maxims of greed. Through national jealousies and ambitions and godless politics he keeps up the burdensome armaments of rival nations.

It is true that Satan’s power is never supreme that God’s providence overrules all that limitations tether Satan to a stake, no matter how long the rope. Yet we must concede much of Satan’s high claim.

Our next thought is that Satan’s temptation is on the line of Jewish desire expectation. They wanted a world kingdom with the Jews on top. They were ready at any time to make Jesus king if only he would free them from Roman domination and make Jerusalem the capital of the world. A million Jews would have leaped to arms in a day to follow such a leader.

But look at the Scriptures. God, by prophecy, had said to Jesus, “Ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost part of the earth for thy possession.” This, however, was to follow the cross and the resurrection. Satan says, “Worship me, and I will give thee the kingdoms of the world without the cross.” This daring impious proposition of Satan to turn God out of his world stirred our Lord into a flame of righteous indignation. He tore all the masks off the tempter. He dragged him into the open light in all his loathsome serpentine length. He uttered the prophetic sentence of final eviction: “Get thee hence, Satan,” and struck a conquering blow with the sword of the Spirit: “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt -thou serve” (Mat 4:10 ). So the first battle ended. It was a presage of the victory in all succeeding battles. It became the slogan of the saints: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” “Whom resist stedfast in the faith.”

At the close of this chapter we may raise another question: Judging from the silence of the Scriptures, our Lord had not been assaulted by Satan since through his agent, Herod, he sought to take the young child’s life in the massacre of the innocents at Bethlehem. The question is, Why did Satan permit him to grow to manhood without further effort to defeat his mission, till this great occasion? My own judgment is that as Satan is neither omnipresent nor omniscient, he must have supposed that Herod had succeeded in destroying the One concerning whom the Wise Men asked, “Where is he that is king of the Jews?” The flight into Egypt, and the seclusion at Nazareth, Satan does not seem to have known or understood. What startled him from his long inactivity was the inauguration of Christ at his baptism: that voice of the Father; that descent of the Spirit. God kept him in quiet until he had grown in wisdom, until he had been endued with power, until he was ready to undertake his great mission of saving the world.

QUESTIONS

1. Whose order of the three special temptations is the logical one?

2. What was the scene of the first temptation?

3. Does the phrase, “if thou art the Son of God,” imply a doubt of his being the Son of God? If not, explain the “if.”

4. What were the words of the first temptation?

5. In his replies to all the temptations, what does our Lord make the standard of human life?

6. From what book of the Pentateuch are all of our Lord’s quotations taken?

7. Give the meaning of our Lord’s use of the quotation, “Man shall not live my bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.”

8. What other things might he have truly said?

9. What words of Psa 37 express the Lord’s attitude?

10. Give the substance of the two practical illustrations.

11. In what way alone can the bread and meat question ever be answered right?

12. In the Sermon on the Mount, what pertinent words did our Lord afterward use?

13. What was the scene of the second temptation?

14. In what three words does a writer express the three temptations?

15. Show the process of Satan’s proceeding from the line of under confidence to overconfidence.

16. From what marvelous psalm does Satan quote?

17. From our Lord’s reply, “Again it is written,” what lesson of interpretation may be drawn?

18. In the second part of his reply, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God,” prove that the word “tempt” when applied to God on the part of man, may be lawful and unlawful, and illustrate.

19. Relate the legend of one of the fathers and a demon.

20. What was the scene of the third temptation?

21. Is there necessarily any miracle in shifting the scenes from the wilderness to Jerusalem, and from Jerusalem to the top of the mountain?

22. Show, however, that there must have been something above the natural in Satan’s exhibiting and Christ’s seeing the kingdoms of the world and their glory in a moment of time, and yet how could this be done?

23. Explain why the ascent of the mountain was not for the purpose of a viewpoint, and the reason of Satan’s shifting the scene.

24. This last and crowning temptation touches what.?

25. Give the words of this last temptation.

26. How much of truth is there in Satan’s claim to the sovereignty of the world kingdoms and his authority to give them to whom he will, and yet what the limitations of Satan’s governing the world?

27. How was Satan’s last temptation on a line with Jewish desire and expectation?

28. Prove from a prophetic scripture that God calls upon the Son to ask of him for this world empire, and at what point in the life of Christ to the words of the psalm touch it?

29. When Satan, therefore, tempted Christ to worship him, and receive from him the kingdoms of the world, what the daring and impiety of his proposal?

30. What was the effect on our Lord of this final temptation of Satan’s, and how does he reply?

31. How may we account for Satan’s letting Jesus alone from the time that he sought his death through Herod until this series of temptations?

Fuente: B.H. Carroll’s An Interpretation of the English Bible

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

Ver. 1. Returned from Jordan, and was led ] No sooner out of the water of baptism, but in the fire of temptation. After greatest feelings, we are to expect sharpest assaults; neither can we better quench the devil’s fiery darts, than with the water of baptism. We lead, saith Luther, of a certain holy virgin, who, whensoever solicited to sin, would stop the tempter’s mouth with this one answer, Christiana sum, I am a Christian. Intellexit enim hostis statim virtutem baptismi et fidei-et fugit ab ea. Satan could not abide the mention of baptism, but fled from her presently.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

1 13. ] TEMPTATION OF JESUS. Mat 4:1-11 .Mar 1:12-13Mar 1:12-13 .

Luk 4:1 is peculiar to Luke, and very important. Our Lord was now full of the Holy Ghost, and in that fulness He is led up to combat with the enemy. He has arrived at the fulness of the stature of perfect man, outwardly and spiritually. And as when His Church was inaugurated by the descent of the Spirit in His fulness, so now, the first and fittest weapon for the combat is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The discourse of Peter in Act 2 , like our Lord’s replies here, is grounded in the testimony of the Scripture.

The accounts of Matt. and Luke (Mark’s is principally a compendium) are distinct: see notes on Matt. and Mark.

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Luk 4:1-13 . The Temptation (Mat 4:1-11 , Mar 1:12-13 ). Lk.’s account of the temptation resembles Mt.’s so closely as to suggest a common source. Yet there are points of difference of which a not improbable explanation is editorial solicitude to prevent wrong impressions, and ensure edification in connection with perusal of a narrative relating to a delicate subject: the temptation of the Holy Jesus by the unholy adversary. This solicitude might of course have stamped itself on the source Lk. uses, but it seems preferable to ascribe it to himself.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luk 4:1 . : introducing a new theme, closely connected, however, with the baptism, as appears from , the genealogy being treated as a parenthesis. ., full of the Spirit, who descended upon Him at the Jordan, and conceived of as abiding on Him and in Him. This phrase is adopted by Lk. to exclude the possibility of evil thoughts in Jesus: no room for them; first example of such editorial solicitude. . . . Hahn takes this as meaning that Jesus left the Jordan with the intention of returning immediately to Galilee, so that His retirement into the desert was the result of a change of purpose brought about by the influence of the Spirit. The words do not in themselves convey this sense, and the idea is intrinsically unlikely. Retirement for reflection after the baptism was likely to be the first impulse of Jesus. Vide on Mt. : imperfect, implying a continuous process. ., in the spirit, suggesting voluntary movement, and excluding the idea of compulsory action of the Spirit on an unwilling subject that might be suggested by the phrases of Mt. and Mk. Vide notes there. .: this reading is more suitable to the continued movement implied in than . of T.R.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Luke Chapter 4

Luk 4:1-13 .

Mat 4:1-11 ; Mar 1:12 , Mar 1:13 .

In none of the Synoptic Gospels has the temptation a weightier place than here. Matthew confronts the Messiah with the great enemy of God’s people; and, giving the three closing acts just as they took place, reports them as they illustrate dispensation, and the great impending change, which is emphatically his theme. Mark notes the fact in its due time, and the devotedness of the blessed Servant of God thus tempted of the devil in the wilderness, with none but the wild beasts near, till at its close, as we know also from Matthew, angels came and ministered to Him. John characteristically omits the circumstance altogether; for it clearly attached to His being found in fashion as a man (when He emptied Himself, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men), and not to His being God. To Luke it was of capital moment; and the Spirit, as we shall see, saw fit to arrange the order of its parts so as the better to carry out the design by our Evangelist.

Here is noted the transition from Jordan of Jesus, “full of the Holy Ghost” (verse 1). It might not at first sight appear to be a likely path; but the more one reflects, the more one may see its wisdom and suitability. He was just baptized, sealed of the Spirit, and, above all, owned by the Father as His beloved Son, forthwith led in the Spirit in the wilderness; and there He was forty days tempted of the devil.tid=49#bkm80- The principle is true of us too. – Sons of God by the faith of Jesus, and consciously so by the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, we too know what it is to be tempted by the devil. Temptation is hardly the way in which the devil deals with his children; but when we are delivered, such conflicts begin.

The first in order, and this in Matthew too, is the appeal to natural wants. “And in those days he did not eat anything; and when they were finished, he hungered.* And the devil said to him, If thou be Son of God, speak to this stone that it become bread.”tid=49#bkm81- The Lord at once takes the lowliest ground, really the most elevated morally, that the sustenance of nature is not the first consideration, but living by the Word of God. He waits for a word from Him Whose will He was come to do. He refuses even in His hunger to take a single step in the way of satisfying His sinless wants without Divine direction. The true and only right place of man is dependence; and He having become a man, would not swerve. from the dependence which referred to God instead of following wishes of His own: indeed, His will was to do God’s will. “And Jesus answered unto him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, (Deu 8:3 ) but by every word of God”tid=49#bkm81a- (verse 4). Such was the true estate of man, and his right relation to God; and Jesus therein abode, in circumstances of the greatest trial, the bright contrast of the first Adam, who left it where all circumstances were in his favour.

* Before “hungered,” AE, etc., 1, 33, 69, Syrr., etc., put “afterwards, which Edd. omit, with BDL and Old Lat.

“But by every word of God”: so AD, etc., and all later uncials with cursives, Goth., most Syrr. Rejected by Edd. following BL, Syrsin, Amiat., Sahid., Memph. (from Matthew).

Historically Israel were so tried and failed totally, spite of that constant lesson in the daily manna of their dependence on God and of His unfailing care of them. They hardened their hearts, not hearing His voice; so that forty years long Jehovah was grieved with that generation, and said, “It is a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways.” (Psa 95:10 ). But the heart of Jesus was toward His Father, and He, with the full power of the Spirit, refused to supply even the most legitimate wants of the body, save in obedience. “My meat,” as He said later, “is to do the will of him that sent Me.” (Joh 4:34 .)

The next here (the third in Matthew, and, as I believe, in the order of occurrence) is the worldly appeal. “And [the devil]* leading him up into a high mountain, showed him all the kingdoms of the habitable world in a moment of time. And the devil said to him, I will give thee all this power, and the glory, for it is given up to me,tid=49#bkm82- and to whomsoever will I give it. If, therefore, thou wilt do homage before me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answering him said, It is written, Thou shalt do homage to the Lord thy God, and him alone shalt thou serve” (verses 5-8). (Deu 6:13 ). The best authenticated text leaves out of the Lord’s answer to the devil “Get thee behind me, Satan; for.” And a little reflection shows that, as the external authority demands this omission, so it seems necessarily to follow from the change of order in which Luke was, I doubt not, guided of God. For the vulgarly received text would give the strange appearance that the Lord told the adversary to get behind or go away, while Satan is represented as staying where he was and tempting the Lord after a new sort. Omit these words, and all flows on in exact connection with the context. Internal evidence is thus in harmony with the external.

*[“The devil”]: so AE, etc., Amiat., Syrr. (sin.: “Satan”); but omitted by Edd., after BDL, 1.

“Into a high mountain”: as AD and later uncials, all cursives, Syrr. Goth.; but Edd. omit, following BL, Amiat., etc. (from Matthew).

“All”: so Edd. after ABDL, most cursives (1, 33, 69), Syrr. Memph. “All things” is found in only a few minuscules, and in Amiat.

“Get thee behind me, Satan,” in T. R. after “him” is supported only by A with later uncials, most cursives. Edd. follow BDLX, 1, 33, etc.; and the same authorities with Amiat. omit “for.”

In Matthew where the words occur in the third place,tid=49#bkm83- as in fact it was so, the command to get hence is followed by the devil leaving Him. Thus all is as it should be. In Luke where the transposition occurs, the necessity for omitting the clause is evident; and so it was.

The Lord rebuts the worldly temptations by insisting, according to the written Word, on worshipping the Lord God and serving only Him. Homage to Satan is incompatible with the service of God.

Lastly comes the religious trial. “And he led him to, Jerusalem,tid=49#bkm84- and set him on the edge of the temple,tid=49#bkm85- and said to him, If thou be Son of God, cast thyself down hence, for it is written, He shall give charge to his angels concerning thee to keep thee; and on their hands they shall bear thee up, lest in any wise thou strike thy foot against a stone. (Psa 91:11 f). And Jesus answering said to him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt [the] LORD thy God” (verses 9-12) (Deu 6:16 ). Here the devil would separate the way from the end, omitting this part of the psalm which he cites. The Lord replies with the saying in Scripture, “Thou shalt not tempt the LORD thy God.” To trust Him and count on His gracious ways is not to tempt. The Israelites tempted Jehovah by questioning whether He was in their midst or not; they ought to have reckoned on His presence, and succour, and care. Jesus did not need to prove the faithfulness of God to His own Word; He was sure of it and counted on it. He knew that Jehovah would give His angels charge over Him, and this not outside ‘ but to keep Him in all His ways. Thus foiled in his misuse of Scripture, as everywhere else, the enemy could do no more then. “And the devil having completed every temptation, departed from him for a time.”tid=49#bkm86- Jesus, the Son of God, was victorious, and this in obedience, by the right use of the written Word of God.

Luk 4:14-30 .

It is important to notice that the temptation in the wilderness preceded the active public life of the Lord, as Gethsemane preceded His death in atonement for our sins. It is an utterly false notion that this defeat of Satan in the wilderness was the basis of our redemption. Such, I believe, is Milton’s view in his “Paradise Regained.” But this theory makes victory to be the means of our deliverance from God instead of suffering, and gives consequently the all-importance to living energy, rather than to God’s infinite moral or judicial dealing with our sins on the cross; it puts life in the place of death, and shuts out or ignores expiation. The real object and connection of the temptation is manifest, when we consider that it is the prelude to the Lord’s public life here below, in which He was continually acting on His victory over Satan. When the enemy came again at Gethsemane, it was to turn the Lord aside through the terror of death, and specially of such a death as His on the cross. In the wilderness, and on the mountain, and on the pinnacle of the temple (for there were three different sites and circumstances of this temptation) it was to draw Him away from the path of God by the desirable things of the world.

But however this may be, Jesus now returns in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: “and a rumour went out into the whole surrounding country about him. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.”tid=49#bkm87- This is the general description, I apprehend; but the Spirit of God singles out a very special circumstance which illustrates our Lord in the great design of this Gospel. It is peculiar to Luke.tid=49#bkm88- “He came to Nazareth [Nazara], where he was brought up: and he entered, according to his custom, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up to read.tid=49#bkm89- And the book of the prophet Esaias was given to him. And having unrolled the book, he found the place where it was written.” It was, in fact, the beginning of Isaiah 61.tid=49#bkm90- This is the more remarkable because the connection of the prophecy is the total ruin of Israel, and the introduction of the kingdom of God and His glory when judgment takes its course. Yet in the midst of this these verses describe our Lord in the fulness of grace. There is no prophet so evangelical, according to ordinary language, as Isaiah; and in Isaiah there is no portion perhaps of the whole prophecy that so breathes the spirit of the Gospel as these very verses. Now what can be more striking than that this should be read on that occasion by Christ, and that the Spirit of God gives Luke alone to record it? Our Lord takes the book and reads, stopping precisely at the point where mercy terminates. It is the description of His grace in ministry; it is not so much His Person as His devoted life, His work, His ways on earth. In fact, it is pretty much what we have in Act 10 : “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.” Immediately after in the prophecy follows “the day of vengeance of our God.” But our Lord does not read these words. Is not this, too, extremely remarkable, that our Lord should stop in the middle of a verse, and read what describes His grace and not what touches on His judgment? Why is this? Because He is come only in grace now. By and by He will come in judgment, and then the other verses of the prophecy will be accomplished. Then it will be both the year of His redeemed when He will bless them, and the day of vengeance when He will execute judgment upon their enemies.

Meanwhile, all that He was about to do in Israel for the present was only gracious activity in the power of the Spirit. To this accordingly God had anointed Him – “to preach glad tidings to [the] poor; he hath sent me [to heal the broken-hearted],* to preach to captives deliverance, and to [the] blind sight, to send forth [the] crushed delivered” – and this is what He was to preach – “[the] acceptable year of [the] LORD.” tid=49#bkm91- “And he rolled up the book.” Now nothing, it is plain, can more aptly suit the object of the Spirit of God in Luke, who is the only writer inspired to record this. All through the Gospel, this is what He is doing. It is the activity of grace among men’s misery and sins and need.” By and by He will tread the winepress alone, He will expend the fury of the Lord upon His adversaries; but now it is unmingled mercy. Such was Jesus upon the earth, and so Luke describes Him throughout. No wonder therefore that He closed the book. This was all that was needful or true to say about Him now; the rest will be proved in its own time. The judgment of God in the second advent is as true as the grace of God that He has been showing in the first advent.

*Before “to preach deliverance,” A, with all later uncials and most cursives, Goth. Syrrpesch hcl hier has the words bracketed, which Edd. reject, after BDL, 33, 69, Syrsin Old Lat. and Amiat., Origen, etc.

Another thing, too, is remarkable and proved by this. It is that the whole state of things since Christ was upon the earth till the second advent is a parenthesis. It is not the accomplishment of prophecy, but the revelation of the mystery that was hid in God that is now brought to view. Prophecy shows us Christ’s first and second advents together; but what is between the two advents is filled up by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, Who is forming the Church wherein there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Prophecy always supposes Jew and Gentile. The Church is founded upon the blotting out of this distinction for the time being. It is during the period when Israel does not own the Messiah, which stretches over all the interval between the two advents of Christ, that this new and heavenly work proceeds.

The Lord therefore stopped dead short, and closed the book. When He comes again, He will, as it were, open the book where He left off.tid=49#bkm92a- Meanwhile, His action was exclusively in grace. The Lord draws their particular attention to this; for when He returns the book to the officer who has it in charge, He sits down. People were all gazing at Him in wonder. He tells them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your ears.”

But unbelief at once betrays itself. “Is not this the son of Joseph?” They could not deny the grace,tid=49#bkm93- but they contemn His person: “He was despised and rejected of men.” In point of fact, unbelief is always blind; He was not Joseph’s son, tid=49#bkm94- except legally – He was God’s Son. “And he said to them, Ye will surely say to me this parable, Physician, heal thyself: tid=49#bkm95- whatsoever we have heard has taken place in* Capernaum, do here also in thine own country.” His answer to their thought was, that “No prophet is acceptable in his [own] country.”tid=49#bkm96- Nevertheless grace shines out all the more because Christ was rejected. It is remarkable that He does not vindicate Himself by power; He does not work any miracles to make good the rights of His own person, but appeals to the Word of God, the Old Testament Scriptures, for what suited the present time. “Of a truth, I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months,tid=49#bkm97- so that a great famine came upon all the land; and to none of them was Elias sent, but to Sarepta of Sidon, to a woman [that was] a widow.” Grace, therefore, when Israel rejects (and they were doing so now), goes out to the Gentiles. Sidon was under the special judgment of God, and there was a widow there, reft of all human resources, and she was the one to whom God sent His prophet in the days of deep distress. When Israel themselves were suffering from a terrible famine, God opened stores for the desolate woman in Sidon. Thus grace goes outside His guilty people. So, too, in the time of Elisha the prophet. Many lepers were in Israel, “and none of them was cleansed, but Naaman the Syrian.” Grace is sovereign, and in the days of Jewish unbelief Gentiles are blessed. This Scripture showed; and how beautiful this was and in keeping with Luke! It paves the way for the going forth of the Gospel. When Israel rejected the Lord Jesus, the grace of God must work among the Gentiles, among those who least expect and deserve mercy. How did the men of Nazareth relish this? They were “filled with rage, and rising up, they cast him forth out of the city, and led him up to the brow of the mountain upon which their city was built, so that they might throw him down the precipice.” This is the expression of the hatred which follows rejection of grace. When self-righteous men are convicted of wrong without feeling their guilt against God, there are no bounds to their resentment; and the enmity of their hearts is most of all against Jesus.

*T. R. for “in” has , with AE, etc., and most cursives. Edd. adopt , which may be “to” or “for” (R.V. “at”), but is probably a colloquial substitute for , as in verse 44. The critical text is that of BDL, 69.

“Of Sidonia”; so ABCDL, etc., 1, 69, Old Lat., Memph. “Sidon” appears in E, etc., Syrr.

“So that they might,” as Edd. after BDL, etc., 1, 33, 69. Memph., in place of “in order to,” the reading of AC, etc.

The result of the Lord’s first appearance at Nazareth in the synagogue was that, though He Himself characterized His ministry from the Word of God, or rather the Spirit of God had already anticipated it as He then openly proclaimed it, as being the ministry of grace, by reading this scripture and declaring that it was that day fulfilled in their ears, man soon turns from it in anger and dislike. Attracted at first, he revolted from it afterwards, because grace both tells out the ruin of man, and always insists on going out wherever there is need and misery. Nevertheless, the Lord did not make it plainly known that grace should go out to the Gentiles till their rejection of Himself began to manifest itself. And now the same men who were so smitten with the charm of grace at first were ready to turn upon Him and cast Him down headlong from “the brow of the mountain upon which their city was built. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way.”tid=49#bkm98- His time was not yet come.

Luke 4: 31-37.tid=49#bkm99- tid=49#bkm100-

Mar 1:21-28 .

He “came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee,tid=49#bkm101- and taught them on the Sabbaths. And they were astonished at his doctrine; for his word was with authority.”tid=49#bkm102- This was what Jesus showed. It was not first miracles and then glory, but the truth of God. The Word, not a miracle, forms a connecting link between the soul and God; no miracle can do this – nothing but the Word of God. For the Word addresses itself to faith, while a miracle is done as a sign to unbelief. But as God produces faith by the Word, so He also nourishes it by the Word. This proves the immense value of the Word of God; and Christ’s word was with authority.

“And there was in the synagogue a man having a spirit of an unclean demon.”tid=49#bkm103- This is the first great work that is recorded in Luke. Our Lord seems already to have done mighty deeds in Capernaum (that is, in this very place) before He went to Nazareth: but Luke begins with Nazareth, in order to characterise His ministry by that wonderful description in the Word of God which opens out grace to man. Now we find Him in Capernaum, and the first miracle recorded of Him here, whilst He was teaching in the synagogue, was the cure of a man possessed with a spirit of an unclean demon which had the consciousness of the power of Jesus. For the demoniac cried out, “Eh! what have we to do with thee, Jesus, Nazarene?tid=49#bkm104- Hast thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy [One] of God.” It is remarkable here and elsewhere, the “I” and the “we” – the man himself, and yet the identification with the evil spirit. Moreover, this possessed man says, “I know thee who thou art; the Holy [One] of God.” This appears to be the same character in which Psa 89 speaks of Christ, where it says, “Jehovah is our shield; and the Holy One of Israel our King” (verse 18). It is a psalm full of interest because the Holy One there is the sole groundwork of the hopes of the people, as well as the stay of the house of David, otherwise ruined. It is just the same thing in our Gospel, save that Luke goes out more widely. The point of Psa 89 is that every hope depends on Him. Israel have come to nothing; the glory has waned, and at length departed; the throne is cast down to the ground. But then He is the King, and therefore it is perfectly secured.

The shame of God’s servants shall be removed, and their enemies shall surely be put to perpetual reproach, after the downfall of their pride, and all the painful discipline that the people of Israel shall pass through.

Here the unclean spirit prompts the man to acknowledge Jesus as this Holy One. But He refused such testimony; He did not even receive the witness of men, how much less of demons! “Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out from him. And the demon, having thrown him downtid=49#bkm105- into the midst, came out from him without doing him any injury. And astonishmenttid=49#bkm106- came upon all, and they spoke to one another, saying, What word [is] this! for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out. And a rumour went out into every place of the country round concerning him.” He has thus shown that the power of Christ must first put down Satan (but not without a certain allowed humiliation for man); that this is the chief evil which pollutes and oppresses the world; and that until the day Satan’s power is expelled it is no good to expect full deliverance. We must go to the source of the mischief. This, therefore, is the earliest of the miracles of Christ brought before us by Luke.tid=49#bkm107-

Luk 4:38-44 .

Mat 8:14-17 ; Mar 1:29-39 .

But then there is also compassion – deep and effectual pity for men. So our Lord, when He leaves the synagogue, goes into the house of Simon.tid=49#bkm108- “And Simon’s wife’s mother was sufferingtid=49#bkm108a- under a greattid=49#bkm109- fever, and they besought him for her. And, standing over her, he rebuked the fever, and it left her; and immediately standing up, she served them.” Not only was there power to dismiss the disease with a word, but there was, contrary to all nature, strength communicated to her. A “great” fever leaves a person, even when it is gone, exceedingly weak, and a considerable time must elapse before usual vigour returns. But in this case, as the healing was the fruit of Divine power, Peter’s wife’s mother not only arose, but served them immediately.

The same evening, “when the sun went down, all they that had persons sick with divers diseases brought them to him; and having laid his hands on every one tid=49#bkm110- of them, he healed them.” It made no difference. It was not only that He could cure the fever, but He could cure everything. “He laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them.” Another thing to be noticed is the manner of it, the tenderness of feeling – He laid His hands on them. This was in no way necessary; a word would have been enough, and the Lord often employed nothing more than a word. But here He shows His human compassion – He laid His hands upon them and healed them. Demons also came out of many, but we find Him here keeping up the testimony to man of the power that Satan had in the world. There are few things more injurious to men than forgetfulness of the power of Satan. At the present time there is exceeding unbelief on the subject. It is regarded as one of the obsolete delusions of the past. But we find most clearly demons going out of many, not in any one peculiar case, “crying out, and saying, Thou art the Son* of God.” These acknowledge the Lord, not as the Holy One of Psa 89 , but as the Anointed One, the Son of God, of Psa 2 . He was the King of Israel in both cases. But the Lord accepted not their testimony in any instance. He really was the Holy One and the Son of God, but it was from God that He took His title, and recognition by the demons He refuses. “They knew that He was the Christ.”tid=49#bkm111- What a solemn thing to find that man is even more obdurate than Satan! for the demons were more willing to acknowledge Jesus than the men even who were delivered here from the demons, and who were healed of all their diseases. Man for whom Jesus came! What a proof of the incurable unbelief of man, and the certain ruin of those who refuse the Son of God! Devils believe and tremble. Man, even when he does believe with his natural heart, does not tremble. He may believe, but he is insensible in his belief. Can such faith save him? The only faith that is good for anything is that which brings the sinner in his need and ruin before God, and which sees God in infinite mercy giving His Son to die for him. Anything short of this ends in destruction; and so far from natural faith bettering a man, it only brings out his evil, and turns to corruption the more speedily. It is a kind of complimenting the Son of God, instead of a lowly and a true owning of man’s own condition and God’s grace.

*”The Son”: so Edd., after BCDL, 33, Old Lat., Amiat., Memph., Arm. A and later uncials, as most cursives, Syrr. Aeth. Goth. add “the Christ” before “the Son.”

But there is another thing which this chapter brings before us – namely, that our Lord departedtid=49#bkm112- when it was day “into a desert place; and the crowds sought after* him, and came up to him, and [would have] kept him backtid=49#bkm113- that he should not go from them. But he said to them, I must needs announce the glad tidings of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for for this I have been sent forth. And he was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.”tid=49#bkm114- The great object of the coming of Christ was to preach God’s kingdom;tid=49#bkm115- it was bringing God and God’s power before men – God’s power visiting man in mercy. No healing of diseases or expulsion of demons could satisfy the Lord. And when He had by His miracles attracted attention in any place, it was the more reason for His going to another. He did not seek His own fame; another should come in his own name who would. But for our Lord Jesus to attract a name was a reason for departure, not for staying.

*”Sought after”: so Edd., following ABCD, etc., 1, 33, 69. EG and some later uncials have simply “sought.”

“I have been [I was]”: so ABCDL, 1, 33, 69. AE and some later uncials have “I am.”

“Galilee” (Cf. Mar 1:39 ): so Blass, with AD, etc., Old Lat., Goth., Syrrpesch hcl. Other Edd. adopt “Judea,” after BCLQR, a few cursives, Syrsin, Memph. See further in Appendix, note tid=49#bkm114- .

NOTES ON THE FOURTH CHAPTER.

80 Luk 4:1-13 . – The TEMPTATION.

“By the Spirit.” Luke has (American Revv., “in the S.”); Matthew, . Comparison of the Evangelists suffices for exclusion of any such idea as the Unitarian, that the Lord’s own spirit alone is here meant, according to which the conflict must have been purely mental. “In the Spirit” means “in the power of.” Cf. its use in 11: 15, and Weymouth there.

If there were no personal devil (verse 2), then our Lord would have been tempted from within (Norris); and this is what the suggestion comes to – made, amongst others, by J. Weiss (p. 51) – that it was a mere vision like that in Eze 8:3 , or Isa 6 , or 2Co 12:1-4 . Cf. note on 22: 31.

There are three sermons on this subject by Adolphe Monod, and an “Exposition” by Maclaren (vol. i., pp. 78-85).

81 Luk 4:3 . – Note the order: Body, Mind, Spirit (most subtle). Edersheim records the then popular notion that Messiah would feed His people, as Moses did, with manna. Cf. the miraculous feeding of thousands, with Psa 103:5 , Psa 105:40 , Psa 132:15 , each time of Jehovah.

81a Luk 4:4 ff. – Luke’s, as compared with Matthew’s, statement shows abbreviated quotation of Deu 8:3 .

Dr. Arnold preached from verse 4, on Fasting.

With verse 5 f., cf. Joh 8:44 , 2Th 2:11 .

82 Luk 4:6 . – Cf. Joh 12:31 , Joh 14:30 ; Rev 12:3 .

83 Luk 4:7 f. – The difference of order (see note 81) from that in Matthew, Zahn would explain by supposing that what JESUS told His disciples about it they repeated differently from memory (“Introduction,” ii., 403 f., German); but such an exposition as W. Kelly’s is more in accordance with the inspiration of the Evangelist. Zahn shares Alford’s idea that Luke could not have had Matthew’s account before him.

“It is written.” Bettex sententiously remarks, “Satan is silent. For him there is no Biblical criticism” (“The Book of Truth,” p. 125).

84 Luk 4:9 . – “Jerusalem” represents Matthew’s “holy city,” in keeping with the distinction (B. Weiss) between our Evangelist’s use in the original Greek (e.g., at Luk 1:22 ), cf. Hierosolyma and Jerusalem. Ramsay’s discrimination of “geographical” and “hieratical” (as here) would render a reference to “different sources” (Weiss) quite needless.

85 “Edge,” , a word common to both Evangelists recording this, and at the same time peculiar. Weiss deems conclusive for his theory of a common source (“Sources of Luke’s Gospel,” p. 100).

Norris: “Faith allied to self-will passes into presumptuous fanaticism.”

86 Luk 4:13 . – “Season.” Wesley (as the Expositor) takes this as referable to the scene in Gethsemane (Luk 22:53 ). The other view, according to which our Lord was more or less subject to Satan’s subtle enmity in this way throughout has been based on Luk 22:28 . But indeed the form of the Greek, “every temptation,” shows that no form of testing set forth in 1Jn 2:16 can be excluded. Cf. Joh 6:15 , Mar 8:11 , Mat 16:23 .

As to the Lord’s incapacity for sin, see Trench, “Studies in the Gospels,” p. 28.

For the Buddhist parallel adduced (as by Pfleiderer, “Early Conception, etc.,” pp. 51-53), see “Sacred Books of the East,” iv. p. 204.

A difficulty is sometimes raised about no one having witnessed this scene. There is none, however, in supposing that the Lord communicated it to His disciples, if not during the Ministry (Garvie suggests, at Caesarea Philippi), at least during the forty days before His Ascension.

Sermons on the Temptation have been preached by, amongst others, Luther (p. 299), Bishop Andrewes (series of seven), and G. Whitefield.

Between this and the next verse a place may be found for events recorded in Joh 1:19-4:42 , in the interval, that is, between the Temptation and the Galilean ministry of Mark’s framework. This would seem to have embraced a visit to Galilee before the imprisonment of the Baptist, and a return to Judea for ministry there, with (Briggs suggests, p. 4) the sons of Zebedee.

87 Luk 4:14 f. – Reference may be made here to Farrar on “Jesus as He lived in Galilee,” “Life of Christ,” chapter xxii.; and for Synagogues, to Edersheim, “Jewish Social Life,” chapter xvi. f.

As Stock says, it is not likely that any of the teaching (cf. verse 31) here referred to preceded that at Nazareth (verse 16 ff.). He helpfully compares Mat 4:13 (p. 70).

88 Luk 4:16-30 . – Upon the question whether Christ was twice rejected at Nazareth, consult Rush Rhees, p. 292 f.

89 Luk 4:17 . – This affords illustration of the Lord’s familiarity, by training, with the Hebrew Scriptures. Synagogue rolls were not in Aramaic. A Haftara, or section of the Prophets, was read on Sabbath after the reading of the Law.

90 Luk 4:18 . – The quotation is made up of Isa 61 and 58: 6.

“Anointed,” see Zec 4:6 , Zec 4:14 . “Thus early did He claim to be Messiah” (Stalker, p. 131). Prophecy prepared men for a Messiah working miracles, cf. Luk 11:20 .

Henry Venn preached from verse 18 f., on “The Work of Christ.”

91 Luk 4:19 . – “Acceptable year of [the] LORD,” cf. 2Co 6:2 . As to the break between the “acceptable year” and the “day of vengeance” in Isa 61:2 , see note below on Luk 21:25 .

A question that has been discussed since the Patristic period is, Of what duration was our Lord’s ministry? The present, verse was of old supposed to indicate that the Synoptic ministry lasted only one year.

The Synoptists nowhere say that the ministry extended over only a single year. On the other hand, when Jlicher says that it is “childish” to use 13: 7 of this Gospel in support of a three years’ ministry, it would be none the less so to understand the present passage as so limiting it. By comparison of the third and the last Gospels, we may venture to say that the

First Passover (Joh 2:13 ) synchronizes with Luk 4:13 , A.D. 26-27

Second Passover (Joh 5:1 ) synchronizes with Luk 5 . A.D. 27-28

Third Passover (Joh 6:4 ) synchronizes with Luk 9 . A.D. 28-29

Origen, Jerome, and Augustine, allowing for a Fourth Passover in John’s Gospel (cf. note 53 on John), concluded that the period was from three years to three years and a half. Turner (art. “Chronology of the New Testament” in Hastings’ “Dict. of the Bible”) makes it “between two and three years.”

Blass has observed that Mark (Peter) would not so readily report in Jerusalem what had happened there, as that which the Jerusalemites could not know. Similarly Matthew, and also Luke if he composed any part of his Gospel in Judea. With reference to Luk 13:34 , the Halle Professor has written: “It is John who first clears up the passage and justifies it” (Expository Times, July, 1907). Luther and Lightfoot had already made use of it.

92 Luk 4:21 . – Here is the Lord’s first direct statement to Israelites of His Messianic claims: cf. Joh 4:26 . See Whyte, “Walk, Conversation, and Character of Jesus Christ our Lord,” chapter x.; “Our Lord’s First Text”; also chapter xxix., “Our Lord and the Bible.” Frennsen, a recent German revolutionary writer, has made use of this passage of Luke in his “Holy Land,” chapter xxvi. (E. T., p. 315). C. Kingsley’s sermon, “The Message of the Church to Labouring Men” is from this passage.

92a Cf. Rev 5:6 .

93 Luk 4:22 . – “Words of grace,” cf. Psa 45:2 . Westcott “To substitute gracious words [A.V.] would be to obscure the truth” (“Some Lessons, etc.,” p. 33): cf. Act 14:3 ; Act 20:32 .

94 “Joseph’s son.” Mark, although reliance is placed on Mar 6:3 for modern denial of the Virgin Birth (cf. note 57 on Mark, note 30 above, and see Wright, “Introduction to Synopsis, etc.,” p. xli.), speaks of the “carpenter, the Son of Mary,” whilst Luke, who is discredited when he records it as a miraculous event, in his parallel to Mark has the above description. It would be absurd to have to suppose that Joseph is regarded as dead at the point of the narrative of the one Evangelist, but still alive by the other. Again, it is in Luke that we meet with “His parents” and “Thy father.” Accordingly, critics can but conceive editorial variations in each Gospel, all of which suggestions (e.g., Wright’s “Trito-Mark”) must be taken for what they are worth. Anything like proof in the sense of our English High Court of Justice (see note 56 on Mark, ad fin.) is rare indeed.

95 Luk 4:23 . – For this proverb (“parable “), see Talmud, “Bereshith Rabba,” sect. 23. It is still current amongst Jews in the form “He is a physician for others, not for Himself.”

“Capernaum.” It would not require the training of a critic to see that, from the reference to great deeds there, this section is out of chronological order.

96 Luk 4:24 . – There is a clear instance of our Lord’s repeated use of the same proverb: see Joh 4:44 .

“Our country.” Cf. Mat 19:1 , and see note on Luk 2:3 above.

97 Luk 4:25 . – “Three years and six months,” as in Jas 5:17 : cf. 1Ki 18:1 . The period of drought may have been so stated according to a symbol of misfortune (Dan 12:7 ); so De Wette, followed by Weiss.

98 Luk 4:30 . – Here is another link with the Gospel of John (John 9: 59).

99 Luk 4:31-37 . – From here to 6: 16, Luke’s account is in close touch with that of Mark: see Harnack’s “Luke the Physician,” p. 87 ff.

100 Marcion’s recension of Luke begins here. He passed over the Baptist as one belonging to the Old Dispensation. Marcion may be regarded as the first Biblical critic (Harnack, “History of Dogma,” pp. 237-240; cf. Bebb, art. in Hastings’ “Dict. of Bible,” and Burkitt, chapter ix.). What we know of him, (cf. notes 14, 17, above) comes chiefly from Tertullian, Adv. Marc. v., and Epiphanius, Haer. xlii. Irenaeus says that he “mutilated the Scriptures . . curtailing the Gospel according to Luke and the Epistles of Paul” (iii. 12, 12). Semler suggested that our Gospel and Marcion’s were compiled from the same original source; and after his time arose the idea that the Gospel according to Luke was an expansion of that used by Marcion; but critics seem now all to have returned to the old view. The passages omitted by this Gnostic are enumerated in Gloag’s work.

Marcion’s system was strongly Anti-Jewish; he questioned our Lord’s speaking as in Mat 5:17 (Tertullian, Adv. Marc. iv. 7, v. 14; but cf. Luk 16:17 ). The third Gospel was the only one that he seems to have recognized; and the use which he made in connection with it of some of the Pauline Epistles, may have sustained the impression that there is a strong Pauline cast upon Luke’s record. See Godet, “New Testament Studies,” p. 44. This Pauline colouring has been specially investigated by Resch in vol. xii. (1904) of the New Series of Monographs edited by Gebhardt and Harnack (see in particular p. 571 ff. of his Dissertation). Cf. Swete, “St. Paul assimilated that side of our Lord’s teaching which this Gospel has specially preserved” (” Studies in the Teaching of our Lord,” p. 119). It is generally admitted that there are passages in LUKE alien to parts of the Epistles, e.g., Luk 12:35 compared with Eph 6:14 ; Luk 18:1 with 2Th 1:11 ; Luk 21:34 with 1Th 5:3 ; Luk 24:34 with 1Co 15:5 ; whilst Luk 21 may be read throughout alongside of 1Th 5 . As for Luk 10:7 (cf. 1Ti 5:18 and 1Co 9:14 ) see note there. The Expositor, it will be seen, compares Luke’s Gospel with the Epistle to the Romans.

The attempt of H. H. Evans to establish Paul’s authorship of this Gospel and of the Book of Acts (1884), although it has been commended by some German writers, seems to have attracted little attention in this country. Evans brought out the interesting fact that of 1750 words peculiar to LUKE amongst the Evangelists, one-half are found in Paul’s Epistles; also that 250 words occurring in both this Gospel and the Acts are not to be found elsewhere in the New Testament outside the Apostle’s writings (p. 20 f.; cf. note 29 above).

The interest of this subject now lies in its connection with the cry “Back to Christ!” expressed by Carpenter as “transfer of the centre of interest from Paul to Christ” (“The Bible in the Nineteenth Century,” p. 341) as if the Reformers were not radical enough in contenting themselves with recovery of Pauline truth (and that, as the Expositor would have said, to a very limited extent). It is true that our Lord’s teaching was “the word of the beginning of the Christ” (Heb 6:1 ), and that Luke “had in mind the Lord Jesus Christ as the risen Saviour” (Bruce, Introduction to “Expositor’s Greek Testament,” i.); but, as Fairbairn has said, “What gives to the Gospels their peculiar significance is that they are lives of Jesus by men who believed that Christ had created Christianity. The struggle of the modern spirit is to get behind the faith of the Evangelists and read the history they wrote with the vision they had before their eyes were opened” (“Philosophy of the Christian Religion,” p. 306); cf. note 30, ad. fin. (Wellhausen).

101 “Capernaum,” cf. note on verse 23. See Delitzsch, “A Day in Capernaum.” Mat 4:13 tells us that it became the Lord’s place of residence, so far as He had one, in Galilee. Cf. note 22 on Mark (“His own city”).

102 Luk 4:32 . – Cf. 1Co 1:18 , and note on Mar 1:22 , besides that on Luk 5:17 below.

103 Luk 4:33 . – “Spirit of unclean demon”, cf. Luk 6:18 ; Luk 11:24 , “unclean spirit.” Lightfoot (Horae Hebr., on Luk 13:11 , “spirit of infirmity”) records a distinction made between spirits causing disease and “evil spirits,” occupied with sorcery and accordingly called “unclean.” Probably Luke’s “unclean” was adapted to Gentile thought, for that recognized a distinction between good and bad “demons.” Zec 13:2 and Rev 16:13 f. show the connection of unclean spirits with false prophets.

Renan speaks of the wilderness as “haunted according to popular belief by demons.” Cf., however, Maurice, “Not in deserts, but in places of concourse, in the synagogues we hear of them.” “Let us fly from superstitions”, says the critic. “We do not hear less of spirits . . . in this day than in former days. I do not perceive that even scientific men can point to deliverance from a superstition . . . not a few succumb,” etc. (p. 62 ff.). A notable instance was Lord Herbert of Cherbury, a deistical apostle of “the philosophy of common sense” who looked for a sign if he was to publish his “Tractatus de Veritate.” of course, he heard a sound from heaven such as he desired.

104 Luk 4:34 . – “Nazarene,” see note on Joh 18:5 . “Matthew,” writes Weiss, “always has Nazarean, Luke nearly always has Nazarene” (“Sources of Luke’s Gospel,” p. 12).

105 Luk 4:35 . – “Having thrown him down.” This does not conflict with Mark’s tearing him; the convulsions left no evil effect (Darby-Smith).

106 Luk 4:36 . – The word is peculiar to Luke (5: 9; Act 3:10 “Wonder”).

107 Luk 4:37 . – This miracle is one of the seven performed on Sabbaths, the rest of which are – in verse 38 here, Luk 6:6 ff., Luk 13:10 ff., Luk 14:1 , and two in John (Joh 5:9 ff., and Joh 9:1 ff.).

The temper of our age is, of course, adverse to MIRACLE. No “intelligent man” is expected any longer to rest the truth of Christianity at all upon operation in times past of “the powers of the age to come,” at the dawn of which Christ’s words in 18: 8 of this Gospel will have their application. We may not be far off that time now. The American Professor Foster writes: “An intelligent man who now affirms his faith in miraculous narratives like the Biblical, can hardly know what intellectual honesty means” (p. 132). But do not sensible men in all countries correct their logic by their experience? Cf. Kaftan, “The Truth of the Christian Religion,” vol. ii., p. 130 f.; also Orr, “The Bible under Trial,” p. 152. Indeed, Ritschl, with all his dislike of metaphysics, has said: “Every one will meet the miraculous in his own experience” (“Instruction in the Christian Religion,” p. 189, note. Cf. Wesley’s note on Mar 16:18 ; it seems to have been derived from Bengel’s Gnomon, “Even at this day in every believer faith has a latent miraculous power.” Those who imagine that belief in miracle is not essential to Christianity, if consistent, must surrender prayer in the Christian sense. Huxley has amended Hume’s argument upon miracles, which in his revised form – consonant with the views of J. S. Mill – makes it all a question of evidence, whilst it is by the aid of Hume’s own philosophy that Fairbairn has criticized the eighteenth century writer’s treatment of the subject (“Philosophy of the Christian Religion,” p. 25 ff.).

Harnack, in an unwonted manner, goes almost into rhapsody over the sure ground afforded by agreement of “Q” with Mark (“Sayings,” p. 249). It is certain that “Q,” if ever it existed, harmonized with the same canonical Gospel as regards the large amount of Christ’s “supernatural energy” – this is generally conceded.

A medical writer in the Hibbert Journal (April, 1907) has confessed that many of the disorders recorded could not have been cured by moral therapeutics (auto-suggestion).

The Biblical miracles seem to have closed with the incidents of the last chapter of the Acts, when Paul definitely gave up his testimony to the Jews, for whom they were intended (cf. 1Co 1:22 ), in fulfilment of Isaiah. Contrast the case of Epaphroditus (Phi 2:25 ff.): “Why did not the Apostle heal him?” (Cf. Sir R. Anderson, “The Silence of God,” p. 57 f.)

Besides Butler’s “Analogy,” part ii., chapters ii., vii., in this connection, the following recent literature well repays consultation: – Mozley’s Bampton Lectures (6th ed., 1883), Westcott’s “Gospel of Life” (chapter vii.), Sanday’s “The Life of Christ in Recent Research” (section viii.), Boyd Kinnear’s “The Foundation of Religion” (chapter x.), Dr. Jas. Drummond’s “The Miraculous in Christianity” – candid like all that he writes – Bettex’s “Modern Science and Christianity” (E. T., 1903), pp. 162-185; and not least Dr. L. von Gerdtell’s pamphlet on “Miracles before the Forum of Modern Thought” (still only in German; see note 52 on John and the Christian of 12th Oct., 1911, p. 17). For the connection of the transcendent character of JESUS with His miracles, see Rush Rhees, pp. 249-269.

An extract from Illingworth may close this note: “Miracles flow naturally from a Person . . . at home in two worlds. . . . We cannot separate the wonderful life, or the wonderful teaching, from the wonderful works. They involve and interpenetrate and presuppose each other” (“Divine Immanence,” p. 90).

There is a classification of the Lucan Miracles in Westcott “Introduction to the Study of the Gospels,” p. 392 f. See further, notes 27 and 58 on Mark.

108 Luk 4:38 . – Another illustration (cf. note on verse 23) of Luke’s non-chronological order; nothing hitherto has been said about Simon, who is introduced abruptly.

108a Luk 4:39 . – For the compound imperfect in the Greek, cf. verse 44 and Luk 5:16 f. See also note 108 on Mark.

109 An instance of the Evangelist’s special medical knowledge (cf. note 2). “Great fever” decribes typhus. See again Luk 8:41 , etc.

110 Luk 4:40 . – Cf. Mar 1:32 , where critics pounce upon “many” as if improved upon here by “all,” “every one.” Mark may mean “many they were that,” etc., in the modern manner.

111 Luk 4:41 . – Here is the point of contact with the other Synoptists.

112 Luk 4:42 . – “Coming out” is understood by De Wette as from Capernaum,

113 Note the imperfect tense: “Would have kept – were for keeping – Him back.”

114 Luk 4:43 f. – The reading “Judea.” Godet has remarked that this “neutral” reading should have been a lesson to Westcott and Hort. If it be accepted, it must mean the whole land, as in Luk 1:51 (see note there). For the ministry in Judea proper, cf. Luk 13:34 , Luk 19:31 , Luk 22:14 , Act 2:9 , Act 10:37 .

115 As to the “Kingdom of God,” regarded by Ritschlians as the centre of Christ’s teaching, see note 21 on Mark, and cf. notes below on Luk 12:31 , Luk 17:20 f., and Luk 19:12 .

Some conceive that verse 43 marks the end of a section in one of Luke’s sources (Zahn, p. 373).

Fuente: William Kelly Major Works (New Testament)

Luke

THE TEMPTATION

Luk 4:1 – Luk 4:13 .

If we adopt the Revised Version’s reading and rendering, the whole of the forty days in the desert were one long assault of Jesus by Satan, during which the consciousness of bodily needs was suspended by the intensity of spiritual conflict. Exhaustion followed this terrible tension, and the enemy chose that moment of physical weakness to bring up his strongest battalions. What a contrast these days made with the hour of the baptism! And yet both the opened heavens and the grim fight were needful parts of Christ’s preparation. As true man, He could be truly tempted; as perfect man, suggestions of evil could not arise within, but must be presented from without. He must know our temptations if He is to help us in them, and He must ‘first bind the strong man’ if He is afterwards ‘to spoil his house.’ It is useless to discuss whether the tempter appeared in visible form, or carried Jesus from place to place. The presence and voice were real, though probably if any eye had looked on, nothing would have been seen but the solitary Jesus, sitting still in the wilderness.

I. The first temptation is that of the Son of man tempted to distrust God.

Long experience had taught the tempter that his most taking baits were those which appealed to the appetites and needs of the body, and so he tries these first. The run of men are drawn to sin by some form or other of these, and the hunger of Jesus laid Him open to their power-if not on the side of delights of sense, yet on the side of wants. The tempter quotes the divine voice at the baptism with almost a sneer, as if the hungry, fainting Man before him were a strange ‘Son of God.’ The suggestion sounds innocent enough; for there would have been no necessary harm in working a miracle to feed Himself. But its evil is betrayed by the words, ‘If Thou art the Son of God,’ and the answer of our Lord, which begins emphatically with ‘man,’ puts us on the right track to understand why He repelled the insidious proposal even while He was faint with hunger. To yield to it would have been to shake off for His own sake the human conditions which He had taken for our sakes, and to seek to cease to be Son of man in acting as Son of God. He takes no notice of the title given by Satan, but falls back on His brotherhood with man, and accepts the laws under which they live as His conditions.

The quotation from Deuteronomy, which Luke gives in a less complete form than Matthew, implies, even in that incomplete form, that bread is not the only means of keeping a man in life, but that God can feed Him, as He did Israel in its desert life, with manna; or, if manna fails, by the bare exercise of His divine will. Therefore Jesus will not use His power as Son of God, because to do so would at once take Him out of His fellowship with man, and would betray His distrust of God’s power to feed Him there in the desert. How soon His confidence was vindicated Matthew tells us. As soon as the devil departed from Him, ‘angels came and ministered unto Him.’ The soft rush of their wings brought solace to His spirit, wearied with struggle, and once again ‘man did eat angels’ food.’

This first temptation teaches us much. It makes the manhood of our Lord pathetically true, as showing Him bearing the prosaic but terrible pinch of hunger, carried almost to its fatal point. It teaches us how innocent and necessary wants may be the devil’s levers to overturn our souls. It warns us against severing ourselves from our fellows by the use of distinctive powers for our own behoof. It sets forth humble reliance on God’s sustaining will as best for us, even if we are in the desert, where, according to sense, we must starve; and it magnifies the Brother’s love, who for our sakes waived the prerogatives of the Son of God, that He might be the brother of the poor and needy.

II. The second temptation is that of the Messiah, tempted to grasp His dominion by false means.

The devil finds that he must try a subtler way. Foiled on the side of the physical nature, he begins to apprehend that he has to deal with One loftier than the mass of men; and so he brings out the glittering bait, which catches the more finely organised natures. Where sense fails, ambition may succeed. There is nothing said now about ‘Son of God.’ The relation of Jesus to God is not now the point of attack, but His hoped-for relation to the world. Did Satan actually transport the body of Jesus to some eminence? Probably not. It would not have made the vision of all the kingdoms any more natural if he had. The remarkable language ‘showed . . . all . . . in a moment of time’ describes a physical impossibility, and most likely is meant to indicate some sort of diabolic phantasmagoria, flashed before Christ’s consciousness, while His eyes were fixed on the silent, sandy waste.

There is much in Scripture that seems to bear out the boast that the kingdoms are at Satan’s disposal. But he is ‘the father of lies’ as well as the ‘prince of this world,’ and we may be very sure that his authority loses nothing in his telling. If we think how many thrones have been built on violence and sustained by crime, how seldom in the world’s history the right has been uppermost, and how little of the fear of God goes to the organisation of society, even to-day, in so-called Christian countries, we shall be ready to feel that in this boast the devil told more truth than we like to believe. Note that he acknowledges that the power has been ‘given,’ and on the fact of the delegation of it rests the temptation to worship. He knew that Jesus looked forward to becoming the world’s King, and he offers easy terms of winning the dignity. Very cunning he thought himself, but he had made one mistake. He did not know what kind of kingdom Jesus wished to establish. If it had been one of the bad old pattern, like Nebuchadnezzar’s or Caesar’s, his offer would have been tempting, but it had no bearing on One who meant to reign by love, and to win love by loving to the death.

Worshipping the devil could only help to set up a devil’s kingdom. Jesus wanted nothing of the ‘glory’ which had been ‘given’ him. His answer, again taken from Deuteronomy, is His declaration that His kingdom is a kingdom of obedience, and that He will only reign as God’s representative. It defines His own position and the genius of His dominion. It would come to the tempter’s ears as the broken law, which makes his misery and turns all his ‘glory’ into ashes. This is our Lord’s decisive choice, at the outset of His public work, of the path of suffering and death. He renounces all aid from such arts and methods as have built up the kingdoms of earth, and presents Himself as the antagonist of Satan and his dominion. Henceforth it is war to the knife.

For us the lessons are plain. We have to learn what sort of kingdom Jesus sets up. We have to beware, in our own little lives, of ever seeking to accomplish good things by questionable means, of trying to carry on Christ’s work with the devil’s weapons. When churches lower the standard of Christian morality, because keeping it up would alienate wealthy or powerful men, when they wink hard at sin which pays, when they enlist envy, jealousy, emulation of the baser sort in the service of religious movements, are they not worshipping Satan? And will not their gains be such as he can give, and not such as Christ’s kingdom grows by? Let us learn, too, to adore and be thankful for the calm and fixed decisiveness with which Jesus chose from the beginning, and trod until the end, with bleeding but unreluctant feet, the path of suffering on His road to His throne.

III. The third temptation tempts the worshipping Son to tempt God.

Luke arranges the temptations partly from a consideration of locality, the desert and the mountain being near each other, and partly in order to bring out a certain sequence in them. First comes the appeal to the physical nature, then that to the finer desires of the mind; and these having been repelled, and the resolve to worship God having been spoken by Jesus, Luke’s third temptation is addressed to the devout soul, as it looks to the cunning but shallow eyes of the tempter. Matthew, on the other hand, in accordance with his point of view, puts the specially Messianic temptation last. The actual order is as undiscoverable as unimportant. In Luke’s order there is substantially but one change of place-from the solitude of the wilderness to the Temple. As we have said, the change was probably not one of the Lord’s body, but only of the scenes flashed before His mind’s eye. ‘The pinnacle of the Temple’ may have been the summit that looked down into the deep valley where the enormous stones of the lofty wall still stand, and which must have been at a dizzy height above the narrow glen on the one side and the Temple courts on the other. There is immense, suppressed rage and malignity in the recurrence of the sneer, ‘If Thou art the Son of God’ and in the use of Christ’s own weapon of defence, the quotation of Scripture.

What was wrong in the act suggested? There is no reference to the effect on the beholders, as has often been supposed; and if we are correct in supposing that the whole temptation was transacted in the desert, there could be none. But plainly the point of it was the suggestion that Jesus should, of His own accord and needlessly, put Himself in danger, expecting God to deliver Him. It looked like devout confidence; it was really ‘tempting God’. It looked like the very perfection of the trust with which, in the first round of this duel, Christ had conquered; it was really distrust, as putting God to proof whether He would keep His promises or no. It looked like the very perfection of that worship with which He had overcome in the second round of the fight; it wag really self-will in the mask of devoutness. It tempted God, because it sought to draw Him to fulfil to a man on self-chosen paths His promises to those who walk in ways which He has appointed.

We trust God when we look to Him to deliver us in perils met in meek acceptance of His will. We tempt Him when we expect Him to save us from those encountered on roads that we have picked oat for ourselves. Such presumption disguised as filial trust is the temptation besetting the higher regions of experience, to which the fumes of animal passions and the less gross but more dangerous airs from the desires of the mind do not ascend. Religious men who have conquered these have still this foe to meet. Spiritual pride, the belief that we may venture into dangers either to our natural or to our religious life, where no call of duty takes us, the thrusting ourselves, unbidden, into circumstances where nothing but a miracle can save us-these are the snares which Satan lays for souls that have broken his coarser nets. The three answers with which Jesus overcame are the mottoes by which we shall conquer. Trust God, by whose will we live. Worship God, in whose service we get all of this world that is good for us. Tempt not God, whose angels keep us in our ways, when they are His ways, and who reckons trust that is not submission to His ways to be tempting God, and not trusting Him.

‘All the temptation’ was ended. So these three made a complete whole, and the quiver of the enemy was for the time empty. He departed ‘for a season,’ or rather, until an opportunity. He was foiled when he tried to tempt by addressing desires. His next assault will be at Gethsemane and Calvary, when dread and the shrinking from pain and death will be assailed as vainly.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Luk 4:1-4

1Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 2for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry. 3And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” 4And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.'”

Luk 4:1 “full of the Holy Spirit” This refers to Jesus’ baptism in Luk 3:22. Luke’s emphasis on the Spirit can be seen by the Spirit being mentioned twice in the opening clauses as well as Luk 4:14; Luk 4:18. Notice that the temptations occurred while Jesus was filled with the Spirit, even led by the Spirit (cf. Mar 1:12) into this time of testing (as well as spiritual preparation and mental clarification).

Luke is often called the Gospel of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is revealed as the empowering source of Jesus.

1. conceived by the Spirit Luk 1:35

2. came in the Spirit to the temple Luk 2:27

3. will baptize with the Spirit Luk 3:16

4. Spirit descended upon Him Luk 3:22

5. full of the Spirit Luk 4:1

6. led by the Spirit Luk 4:1

7. in the power of the Spirit Luk 4:14

8. anointed by the Spirit Luk 4:18

Some theologians try to contrast “full of the Spirit” with “filling of the Spirit” as if the first were permanent (which is surely true of Jesus, cf. Luk 4:14; Luk 4:18). However, the “filling” is used of several in Luke’s writings:

1. Luke

(a) Elizabeth in Luk 1:41

(b) Zacharias in Luk 1:67

2. Acts

(a) the Seven in Act 6:3

(b) Stephen, one of the Seven in Act 7:55

Several times in Acts the disciples are said to “be filled”:

1. all those in the upper room, Luk 2:4

2. Peter, Luk 4:8

3. the group, Luk 4:31

4. Paul, Luk 9:17; Luk 13:9

Even Jesus has a previous experience of the Spirit in Luk 3:22.

I have included several Special Topics related to the Spirit

1. Spirit (pneuma) in the NT at Luk 1:80

2. The Trinity at Luk 3:22

3. The Personhood of the Spirit at Luk 12:12

4. Spirit in the Bible (see below)

SPECIAL TOPIC: SPIRIT IN THE BIBLE

“forty days” Mark (Peter) chose a motif from the OT of (1) Moses’ forty days and forty nights on Mt. Sinai (cf. Exo 24:18; Exo 34:28; Deu 9:9; Deu 10:10) and (2) Israel wandering in the wilderness for forty years (cf. Num 14:26-35). Matthew saw Jesus as the New Law giver and deliverer.

The term “forty” was used often in the Bible, implying that it could function both literally (forty years from Egypt to Canaan) and figuratively (the flood). The Hebrews used a lunar calendar. “Forty” implied a long, indefinite period of time longer than a lunar cycle, not exactly forty twenty-four hour periods.

“was led by the Spirit” This phrase is different in each of the Synoptics.

A. Mark (Luk 1:12) has ekball (“to throw out”) in its present active indicative form, which would denote an ongoing experience. This was a strong term, used of exorcism (cf. Mar 1:34; Mar 1:39; Mar 3:15; Mar 3:22-23; Mar 6:13; Mar 7:26; Mar 9:18; Mar 9:28; Mar 9:38).

B. Matthew (Luk 4:1) has anag, a compound from ana “up” and ag “to go” or “to lead.” In its aorist passive indicative form, which denotes a finished, one-time event. This term is also used of offering sacrifices (cf. Act 7:41).

C. Luke (Luk 4:1) has ag in its imperfect passive indicative form, which emphasizes the beginning of an action.

All three assert the action of the Spirit (see Special Topic at Luk 12:12) in this inaugural preparation experience for public ministry.

“the wilderness” This refers, not to the desert, but to the uninhabited pastureland south and east of Jerusalem. It was during the wilderness wandering of Israel (i.e., the Exodus) that YHWH was uniquely present, powerful, and constantly providing for Israel’s needs. The rabbis later called this forty-year (actually thirty-eight years) wandering the honeymoon between YHWH and Israel. This was the very region where John had spent his time of preparation.

It is also possible that “the wilderness” symbolizes the dwelling place of evil spirits (azazel, cf. Lev 16:8; Lev 16:10). These spirits were denoted by certain animals (cf. Isa 13:21; Isa 34:14-15). There is an allusion to this in Mat 12:43.

SPECIAL TOPIC: THE DEMONIC IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Luk 4:2 “forty” There seems to be some literary attempt by the Gospel writers to connect Jesus’ experience in the wilderness with Moses in the wilderness (cf. Exo 16:35; Num 14:33-34; Duet. Luk 8:2) or Moses on the mountain of God (cf. Exo 24:18; Exo 34:28; Deu 9:18; Deu 10:10). This play on Moses is much more obvious in the Matthean parallel (cf. Matthew 4).

“tempted” See Special Topic below.

SPECIAL TOPIC: GREEK TERMS FOR TESTING AND THEIR CONNOTATIONS

“by the devil” This is the Greek term diabolos, for the OT Satan. See Special Topic following.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SATAN

“He ate nothing” Fasting for spiritual sensitivity was practiced regularly in Judaism of the first century. Although Jesus ate nothing (double negative) this does not mean He did not drink fluids. Physically life cannot be sustained after the third or fourth day without fluids. See SPECIAL TOPIC: FASTING at Luk 5:33.

“He became hungry” Jesus was a normal man with bodily needs. Scholars still debate whether Luke’s emphasis on Jesus’ humanity was in any way connected to the early church heresy of Gnosticism, which denied His true humanity. (See Special Topic at Luk 2:40).

It is possible that Satan/Devil waited until the end of the fast, when Jesus was weak and hungry, to start the temptations, the first of which deals with bread.

Luk 4:3; Luk 4:9 “if” This is a first class conditional sentence and may have several meanings: (1) the statement is assumed true so that the author can make his point or (2) the author is assenting the truthfulness of the statement. In this context I am assuming #2. The Devil was not doubting who He was (i.e., “the Son of God,” Luk 3:22, also mentioned in Luk 1:32; Luk 1:35), but how He would accomplish His God-given Messianic task (cf. James S. Stewart, The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ).

Luk 4:3 “stone. . .bread” Apparently these rocks in the Judean desert were shaped like loaves of baked bread used in first century Palestine. Satan was tempting Jesus to use His Messianic powers both to meet His personal needs and to win human followers by feeding them. In the OT the Messiah was described as feeding the poor (cf. Isa 58:6-7; Isa 58:10). These temptation experiences, to some extent, continued to occur during Jesus’ ministry. The feeding of the five thousand (Mat 14:13-21) and of the four thousand (Mat 15:29-33) showed how humans would, and did, abuse God’s provision of physical food. This again was similar to the problems of Israel’s wilderness experience (i.e., God providing food). Matthew saw a parallel between Moses and Jesus. The Jews were expecting the Messiah to perform many of the functions of Moses (cf. John 6).

Luk 4:4 “it is written” This is a perfect passive indicative. This was the standard way of introducing an inspired quotation from the OT (cf. Luk 4:4; Luk 4:7; Luk 4:10), in this case, from Deu 8:3 from the Septuagint (LXX). This particular quote relates to God providing manna to the children of Israel during the wilderness period.

All of Jesus’ responses to Satan’s temptations were quotes from Deuteronomy (i.e., Deu 6:13; Deu 6:16; Deu 8:3). This must have been one of His favorite books.

1. He quoted repeatedly from it during His temptation by Satan in the wilderness, Mat 4:1-16; Luk 4:1-13.

2. It is possibly the outline behind the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7.

3. Jesus quoted Deu 6:5 as the greatest commandment, Mat 22:34-40; Mar 12:28-34; Luk 10:25-28.

4. Jesus quoted this section of the OT (Genesis – Deuteronomy) most often because the Jews of His day considered it the most authoritative section of the canon.

Jesus memorized God’s word and hid it in His heart that He might not sin against God (cf. Psa 119:11). If Jesus needed God’s word in His mind and heart to face temptation, how much more do we?

“man shall not live on bread alone” This quote is from Deu 8:3. There is a Greek manuscript variant involving this quote.

1. NASB, NRSV, TEV, and NJB follow the Greek uncial manuscripts , B, L, and W (UBS4 gives it a B rating).

2. NKJV follows MSS A and D, which come from the Septuagint translation of Deu 8:3 and the Mat 4:4 parallel.

Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley

Jesus. App-98.

full. Used of pneuma hagion only when without the Art. See App-101., and Act 6:3; Act 7:55; Act 11:24.

the Holy Ghost. No Art. Greek. pneuma hagion, or “power from on high”. See above.

from = away from. Greek apo. App-104.

by. Greek en. App-104. Not the same word as in Luk 4:4.

the Spirit. With Art. = the Holy Spirit Himself.

into. Greek. eis. App-104. All the texts read en. The Spirit not only led Him “into” the wilderness but guided Him when there.

the wilderness. Supply the Ellipsis (App-6) thus: “the wilderness, [and was there in the wilderness, ] being tempted”, &a

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

1-13.] TEMPTATION OF JESUS. Mat 4:1-11. Mar 1:12-13.

Luk 4:1 is peculiar to Luke, and very important. Our Lord was now full of the Holy Ghost, and in that fulness He is led up to combat with the enemy. He has arrived at the fulness of the stature of perfect man, outwardly and spiritually. And as when His Church was inaugurated by the descent of the Spirit in His fulness, so now, the first and fittest weapon for the combat is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The discourse of Peter in Acts 2, like our Lords replies here, is grounded in the testimony of the Scripture.

The accounts of Matt. and Luke (Marks is principally a compendium) are distinct: see notes on Matt. and Mark.

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Chapter 4

And Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit returned from Jordan ( Luk 4:1 ),

Now He was at Jordan where He was baptized by John, and He returned from Jordan.

and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness ( Luk 4:1 ),

Now the Judean wilderness stretches from an area just fifteen miles north of Jericho, and continues on down to the Dead Sea. And it extends back to what are known as the Jerusalem Hills, and it is a very barren, desolate area known as the Judean wilderness. There is about an average of one inch of rain a year.

It was in this area that Bishop Pike died as he was searching for the historic Jesus. It is a very wild, desolate area. It oftentimes gets up to 120, 125 degrees there in that Judean wilderness.

And Jesus went into the wilderness.

Forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did not eat anything: [so forty days fasting] and when they were ended, he afterward hungered ( Luk 4:2 ).

Now those who have fasted for prolonged periods of time will tell you that after five days that strong appetite leaves, and you really don’t get that hungry. Now I can tell you after three days you’re vanished. You start having visions of hot fudge sundaes and strawberry shortcake. But they tell me, if you can get to the fifth day that the hunger begins to leave, and that you will not get hungry again until you begin to starve to death. And they do say that a person, by taking water, can exist as much as forty days or so without eating. But once you get hungry after a prolonged period, it is important that you eat, and of course, you have to eat, breaking your fast very slowly. In other words, if you sit down to a big dinner after fasting for forty days, it will kill you. Your body wouldn’t be able to handle it. So if you’ve been fasting for say fourteen days, you should take at least fourteen days in breaking the fast. Beginning with just half glass of juice, and half water mixed together, and break it slowly, introducing foods and nutrients to your body again, because if you introduce too much, too fast, it can actually destroy you, it can kill you. Your body just can’t handle it. And a lot of people have died because they were foolish in breaking a fast. They just go out and eat a big dinner.

So Jesus had been fasting, going without food for forty days. And now He was hungry. Which means that He was beginning to starve to death.

And so the devil said to him, If thou be the Son of God ( Luk 4:3 ),

And in the Greek, the if is in the subjunctive, rather than in the indicative case. And the if in the subjunctive is not a question, but is a declaration, “Since thou art the Son of God”. He isn’t really questioning the fact if Jesus is the Son of God or not, but he is in reality saying, “Since thou art the Son of God,”

command this stone that it be made bread ( Luk 4:3 ).

Use your divine gifts to satisfy the needs of your own flesh. A common temptation for men who have been gifted by God or placed in positions of authority or power by God, use God’s gift to you, for your own benefit, for the benefit of your own flesh, to enrich yourself. And there are always those who, unfortunately, succumb to that temptation of the prostituting of their gifts that God has given to them, as they use them for their own benefit, rather than for the blessing of the entire body of Christ.

Satan is suggesting to Jesus that He do this, that the material is superior, the most important. But Jesus denied that suggestion with a word of God, declaring,

It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone ( Luk 4:4 ),

The material life is not the most important.

but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God ( Luk 4:4 ).

Now all the way through Jesus emphasized and declared that the spiritual was superior to the material. This is the declaration of the New Testament, that the spiritual life is more important than, and superior to the material life. And this is the challenge that the world is giving us today in humanism, declaring that the material life is superior. And that is why the church and humanism lock horns. Because the true church of Jesus Christ must affirm the same message that Jesus declared, and that is, the spiritual is supreme. Humanism says the material is supreme. So the battle rages. But this is the declaration that Jesus made. The superiority of the spiritual over the physical realm.

Satan here was declaring the superiority of the physical over the spiritual. Take the spiritual and make something physical out of it. Take the spiritual power, and take that stone and make it bread, so you can feed yourself. You are hungry. And Jesus said, “Look, man doesn’t live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The superiority of the spiritual over the material.

So the devil took him up to a high mountain, and showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time ( Luk 4:5 ).

So before His eyes flash the kingdoms of the world. He saw Caesar sitting on the throne in Rome. He saw all of the power that world rulership brought. All of the honor, all of the glory. He saw the servants as they bowed and as they brought the delicacies. And He saw the people as he had the audience before him. Saw the power that he wielded from the throne.

And Satan said unto Jesus, All this power will I give to you, and the glory of them: for it’s been delivered unto me ( Luk 4:6 );

When was it delivered unto him? It was delivered unto to him in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned against the commandment of the Lord. They forfeited the earth to Satan. The Bible says, “Know ye not that whomsoever you yield yourself servants to obey, his servants you become. Whether obedience unto righteousness, or of disobedience unto sin. Yield therefore your members as instruments unto God, unto righteousness.” But in yielding to Satan’s suggestions, in obeying the suggestion of Satan, they were disobeying the command of God, and they yielded and forfeited the earth, which God had given to them, over to Satan. And Satan took control of the earth, as man yielded to his power, to his control, to his suggestion.

You see, in the beginning the world was God’s; He made it. But when God created men and placed men on the earth, God gave the earth to men. God said to Adam, “Have dominion over the earth, over the fish in the sea, the fowls in the air, over every moving and creeping thing, for I have given it unto thee” ( Gen 1:28 ). So God gave to men this beautiful gift of the earth. And at that time it was beautiful. And even today where you can find nature unspoiled, it’s still beautiful.

But men in his folly and in yielding to Satan forfeited over unto Satan the world. And man in turn became a slave. A slave of Satan. And so Paul the apostle said, “In times past you all walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, that even now is directing the children of disobedience” ( Eph 2:2 ). Satan is in control of the world. We sing, “This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ear, all nature sings and . . . the music of the spheres.” But in reality, this is Satan’s world. He is telling that to Jesus. In fact, if you will study carefully, we will realize that the purpose of the coming of Jesus Christ was to redeem the world back to God. To bring it back into God’s sphere. Because men had forfeited to Satan, now God is seeking to bring it back into His sphere, and for this purpose He sent His Son to redeem the world.

Now as we look at the world today, we do not yet see the redemption. We still see a world that is in rebellion against God. And we see the effects of that rebellion in our society. And it is totally wrong for men to blame God for the calamities of our world, which calamities have resulted entirely from men’s rebellion against God ruling over the world. Yes, the world is in a mess. Yes, horrible things happen. Yes, there are things that we can’t explain or understand, especially in the light of God’s love. But we can understand them in the light of the world under the control of Satan, being governed and directed by Satan.

Now Jesus did not dispute Satan’s claim when Satan said, “Look, it’s mine, it’s been given to me, it’s been delivered to me, and I can give it to whomever I will.” Jesus didn’t dispute that; He recognized that fact. In fact, He knew that was true, and that’s what He had come for, is to wrest it from Satan. By redeeming the world by going to the cross, and dying to pay the price of redemption. The price of redemption was that of shedding the blood. And He was going to go to the cross to redeem the world. And that was God’s plan of the redemption of the world and man. It’s through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Now what Satan is actually suggesting here is that Jesus can escape the cross. “You don’t have to take God’s plan. You don’t have to take the path that God has prescript to redeem. I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll give it to you right now, without the cross. Only one little hitch, bow down and worship me.”

Of course, Jesus, had He bowed down to worship him, would then have been subservient also to Satan, and it would still be in his power. He would still be the one in control, because He would have bowed down to him. ” Submit to my authority, I give it all to you. You can sit on the throne, you can rule, but you be under my authority, having bowed down to me.”

And Jesus answered:

it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve ( Luk 4:8 ).

Now, that the world is still under the control of Satan is evident by the fact that in the book of Revelation in chapter 13, when the man of sin, the beast comes on the scene, Satan will give to him his power and his throne. And we read that the antichrist will rule over the world. Satan still has the power of dispensing the world ruling powers to those whom he pleases. “I can give it to whomever I will.” God allows him, of course, but yet, Satan has still tremendous power and will turn the world over to the antichrist. But then Jesus will come with the title deed to the earth, and will declare, “The kingdoms of this world have now become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Messiah, and He shall reign for ever and ever, as king of kings, and Lord of Lords, forever and ever, and ever Hallaluja, Hallaluja, Amen” ( Rev 11:15 ).

That has not yet happened. I am personally convinced that it is not far off. I believe that man has sunk about as low as God will allow him to sink. I really believe that the time has come in the history of mankind that God must once again intervene. God has intervened in history before. He intervened at the tower of Babel. When the technology of men had increased to the extent that God said anything he wants to do, he is capable of doing. And we are again arriving at that type of technology. God intervened in at the time of Noah, when there was a tremendous advancement in the powers given unto men through occult forces. We are coming to that again. Time for intervention.

So Satan is laying before Jesus an extremely powerful temptation. Something extremely desirable. Something that He was willing to die for. But Satan is saying, “You don’t have to die for it. I give it to you, just bow down and worship me.”

The third temptation was at the pinnacle at the temple, where Satan suggested that He jump. And now Satan takes to quoting the scripture.

It is written, He will give his angels charge over thee ( Luk 4:10 ),

He leaves out an important part. “To keep thee in all thy ways.” He omits that. So he is quoting only half of the scripture. Which he is a master in doing. Leaving out some of the salient points. It is written, “He will give His angels charge over thee,”

to bear thee up, lest at any time you dash your foot against a stone ( Luk 4:11 ).

“If you’re the Son of God, go head and jump.” And the idea being, by jumping off of this high pinnacle of the temple and landing in that crowd of people down below, completely unharmed, soft landing. “The people by the spectacular demonstration of power will surely know that you’re the Messiah. And they will stand in awe of wonder of you.”

And Jesus said, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God ( Luk 4:12 ).

Now a couple of weeks ago when we were closing out Mark’s gospel, we find that it was written there that these signs should follow them that believe. “In my name,” He said, “they will cast out devils, they will speak with new tongues, they shall take up serpents, if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not harm them.” Again, this other written word of God applies, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” You are not to put yourself deliberately into jeopardy to prove anything. Jesus doesn’t need to prove that He is the Son of God by putting His life deliberately in jeopardy by jumping of the pinnacle of the temple to create a spectacular scene among the crowd below, by the angels bearing Him up, lest He dash His foot against a stone.

So it is not right to just take scriptures and say, “Well, it says if they drink any deadly thing,” so just drink cyanide and show that we are real believers. No, that’s tempting the Lord our God.

I know of missionaries who have been bitten by poisonous snakes without any harm at all. I know missionaries who have drunk poisonous swamp water, because of their intense suffering of malaria, and just so thirsty, they had to drink something, and put a straw down into that poisonous swamp water, and drink it without any harm. But for you to just go out and deliberately jeopardize yourself is manifestly wrong. Tempting the Lord our God.

So when the devil had ended all of the temptation, he departed from him for a season ( Luk 4:13 ).

He came back, but for a while he left Him.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit ( Luk 4:14 )

Now He began in chapter 4, full of the Holy Spirit, and being led by the Spirit. And now returning in the power of the Spirit. And so that work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus, leading Him, filling Him, empowering Him. And we as believers have that same privilege of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Being led by the Holy Spirit, and being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Paul said, “Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be ye being filled with the Spirit” ( Eph 5:18 ). Paul said in Rom 8:1-39 , “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God” ( Rom 8:14 ). In Act 1:8 ,Jesus said, “And you will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you.”

So we as the believer have that same relationship with the Spirit that Jesus had, and that we can be filled with the Spirit, led by the Spirit, and empowered by the Spirit of God.

And as he was there went out a fame of him through all of the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all ( Luk 4:14-15 ).

He was going around teaching in the synagogues in the area of the Galilee. Now at this particular time, according to Josephus, at this time was the governor in the area of Galilee, and Josephus in his writings declares that he had two hundred and four cities in his jurisdiction that had populations exceeding 10,000 people. So at the time that Jesus was ministering in the Galilee, it was a very populated area, perhaps as many as three million people. Of course, that’s the number that Josephus claims–three million people living in the area of Galilee during the ministry of Jesus. Today there is just about four million people in all of the land of Israel, most of them are in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. There is probably less than a half a million people in the Galilee region today. But in the time of Christ, there were three million people inhabiting. Which, of course, is an extremely beautiful area. If there were an area in the world which I would enjoy living, it would be along the Sea of Galilee. It is so beautiful there; I love it there. You got hot summers, but you got the lake right there, skiing and swimming and all, it’s just a beautiful place. In fact, they used to say in the Galilee it was easier to raise ten tons of fruit than one child. It produced so abundantly in that area.

Now, He now returned to Nazareth where He was born and where He grew up. He spent thirty years in Nazareth. Where He was known as the carpenter’s son. And He was well known by the people.

And so he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as was his custom [He was in the habit of doing it], he went into the synogogue on the sabbath day, and he stood up to read the scriptures ( Luk 4:16 ).

Now this was something, a custom that He had developed. He would go into the synogogue on the Sabbath day, and to teach. So He stood up to read the scriptures.

And they delivered unto him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah ( Luk 4:17 ).

And, of course, all of the scriptures were on scrolls, and they would keep these in a depository in the synogogue, and they would carry it out, and they would unroll it. And so they handed Him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And each day they had a particular passage that they read out of the scrolls. And in the synogogue worship, even to the present day, on every day of the year on this particular day they read these particular scriptures.

And so they handed him the prophet Isaiah.

And when he had opened the scroll, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and the recovering of their sight to the blind, and set at liberty those that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and gave it again to the man who was in charge ( Luk 4:17-20 ),

It reads minister, but really he was the servant. He isn’t minister in the sense that we think of a minister today. But he was just a fellow that carried the scrolls around.

and he sat down. And all of the eyes of the people that were in the synogogue were fasten on him ( Luk 4:20 ).

When He sat down, that was indicative of the fact that He was now going begin to teach. The rabbis always sat when they taught. And so He stood to read the scriptures. But having read them, then in sitting down, he was signifying to the people He is now going to teach us the scriptures.

He looked up this particular passage in Isaiah, which is Isa 61:1-11 , and He read out of Isa 61:1-11 the prophecy concerning the Messiah. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of the sight to the blind, and set at liberty those that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” This was to be the ministry of the Messiah. Now if you will go back to Isa 61:1-11 , you’ll find that He stopped right in the middle of the text of Isa 61:1-11 . He didn’t complete the reading of the ministry of the Messiah. The reason being, there are two comings of the Messiah. The rest of Isa 61:1-11 pertains to those things that will transpire when He comes again. As it speaks of the judgment and all that will transpire. That will await His second coming. Those things that He read are the things that pertain to His first coming. This would be His works. This would be His activities. And thus, it was extremely significant that as He said, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,” He closed the book.

Now it’s interesting to compare the ministry of Jesus with John the Baptist. With John the Baptist there was really no gospel. Just, “Repent, you generation of vipers, bring forth something that shows you’ve repented. Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Make the path straight.” I mean, just laying on them, really no gospel. But with Jesus, we find the gospel. “I have come to mend up, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of the sight to the blind, to set at liberty those that are bruised, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” And so the glorious gospel that was brought to us by Jesus Christ.

Now later on when John the Baptist began to have questions concerning Jesus after he had been in prison for awhile, and Jesus had not kicked Herod out from the throne and taken over, John sent his disciples to Jesus with the question, “Are you the Messiah, or shall we look for another?” In other words, “What’s the big delay? I am tired of this prison.”

And in that same hour many came to Jesus who were blind and lame, the poor. And He healed them. He restored their sight. And He said to those disciples of John, “Go back and tell John what you’ve seen. How the blind receive their sight, the lame are walking, and to the meek the gospel is being preached.” And Jesus, rather than answering directly, “Go back and tell John, ‘Yes, I am the one you’re looking for.'” Rather than His own testimony, in essence He was saying, “My works testify of who I am.” These were to be the works of the Messiah.

Now later on Jesus said, “Believeth thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very works sake.” “Don’t believe it because I say it unto you, but I have demonstrated the works of the Messiah. I have done those things that the scriptures said the Messiah would do, in giving sight to the blind, the lame are walking, the gospel if being preached to the poor.” And these works are a witness, and they attest to the fact that Jesus is indeed the Messiah.

And so He closed the book, gave it to the minister, He sat down. Everybody was looking at Him.

And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears ( Luk 4:21 ).

That must have been an electric, dynamic moment. As He closed the book, having read these prophesies of the Messiah, which they all knew and recognized to be prophesies of the Messiah. And He said, “Today the scripture has been fulfilled.”

When He was talking to the woman at the well, the Samaritan woman, she said to Him, “We know that when the Messiah is come, He is going to tell us everything.” And Jesus said, “Woman, I’ve got news for you, the one who is speaking to you, is He.” Imagine the dynamic of that moment, to realize, “Hey, this is it, He is the one.” He is declaring this to the people here at the beginning of His ministry.

And all bore witness, and they wondered at his gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? ( Luk 4:22 )

They were stumbled, because they knew Him.

And he said unto them, You surely will say this proverb unto me, Physician, heal thyself: for whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do it also here in this country ( Luk 4:23 ).

Now we’ve heard that you have done some exciting things down in Capernaum, do something here.

And he said, I tell you the truth, No prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut for three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout the land; But unto none of them was Elijah sent, but to Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow ( Luk 4:24-26 ).

Now Jesus is saying some things that are going to really upset them, because one thing a Jew was, and that was, he was a complete national. In fact, in their writings of this time, the Jews taught that the Gentiles were only created for fuel for hell. And they did not believe that a Gentile could be saved. “We are the sons of Abraham.” And they had this strong nationalistic feeling, feeling that salvation was only for the Jews, everyone else was excluded. So that when Jesus begins to point out a few things in their history, it upsets them.

Now in the time of Elijah when there was this famine as a result of the drought for three and a half years, there was a widow who was sustained during in the famine by Elijah. The Lord sent Elijah to her. But she wasn’t a Jewess. She was in the city of Sarepta. And there were many lepers in Israel, though there were many widows in Israel, none of the widows were visited by Elias, just this one outside.

And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of Elijah the prophet; but none of them were cleansed, except Naaman the Syrian ( Luk 4:27 ).

Oh, man, that’s enough to make any Jew’s blood boil. “We are the people. God only cares for us, and no one else.”

And all of those that were in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled [with anger] with wrath. And they rose up, and threw him out of the city, and they led him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him head first over ( Luk 4:28-29 ).

They were going to take Him up and toss Him over the cliff.

But he, passing through the midst of them on his way ( Luk 4:30 ),

So He just disappeared actually from their sight.

And went on down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and he taught them on the sabbath days. And they were astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with authority ( Luk 4:31-32 ).

Now no one spoke with authority in those days. When anyone would preach they would say, “Now Rabbi Hallel declares . . . ” They were like government employees, no one wanted to take any word of authority; they always pass you off to someone else. No one wants to take responsibility for anything. That’s why it is so hard to get a permit anywhere. No one wants to accept any responsibility. If it comes back it’s my neck, and it’s awfully hard to deal with government agencies. Well, in those days when everyone spoke, they would always speak with the quoting of someone else. “He said this,” or, “He declared that.” But Jesus wasn’t quoting the rabbis, He just said, “I say unto you, now you’ve heard that it has been said, you’ve heard that this is what was said, but I say unto you,” and He spoke with authority. And they weren’t used to that, they were amazed at the fact that He spoke with such authority. Astonished at His doctrine, for His word was with authority.

And in the synogogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean devil, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know who you are; the Holy one of God ( Luk 4:33-34 ).

The demons recognized Him. And here in the synogogue in Capernaum the demon possessed man cries out.

And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when devil had thrown him in the midst, he came out of him, and did not hurt him. And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What kind of word is this! for with authority and power he commands the unclean spirit, and they come out ( Luk 4:35-36 ).

Now in those days they had rights of exorcism. I mean, they would go through a ceremony that you wouldn’t believe. Gaze over that person with that unclean, and they would use sometimes a gold ring, and go through this whole long routine and rigmarole to exorcise the unclean spirits. And it was really a heavy-duty thing. And here Jesus is just speaking to them, and commanding them, and they are coming out. And they are saying, “Hey, wait a minute. What is going on here? What kind of word of authority is this that He can just speak to them and they are obedient to Him?”

And his fame went out in to every place of the country around that area. And he arose out of the synagogue, and he entered into Simon’s house. And Simon’s wife’s mother was taken with great fever; and they besought him for her ( Luk 4:37-38 ).

Now Simon was married, his wife’s mother. It is interesting that nothing at all is mentioned concerning the wives of the apostles. Now because nothing is mentioned from them we should not infer anything concerning them. The scripture is silent. We should be silent. There is no inferences at all that we can draw from the silence of the scripture concerning the wives of the apostles. No inferences can be made. Inferences if they were second-rate citizens, or anything of this nature are absolutely wrong. Because the scripture is silent concerning them. But the main thing when the scriptures are silent, how many times men love to speak, and the books that are written about the silence of the scriptures. You know, the inferences and the conclusions that a person draws because the scripture is silent in a certain area, and that is all speculative, and there is to be no inferences drawn from it whatsoever.

Now we would not even know that Peter was married for sure, except that his wife’s mother was sick and was taken with a great fever. Now this is in the Greek medical terms. Luke was a doctor, and thus, he diagnoses her condition with medical terms in the Greek language here.

And they came to Jesus that He might help her.

And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and immediately she rose and [fixed dinner for them] ministered unto them ( Luk 4:39 ).

Which means fix something to eat, and prepare something for them, as mothers are so prone to do. You know, just that typical neat mom that goes out and fix something for them.

And when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with diverse kind of diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them. And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art the Messiah, the Son of God. And he rebuked them, and would not allow them to speak: for they knew that he was the Messiah. And when it was day, he departed and went into a deserted area: and the people were looking for him, and they came unto him, and they begged him that he would not depart from them. But he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. And he preached in the synagogues of Galilee ( Luk 4:40-44 ). “

Fuente: Through the Bible Commentary

Luk 4:1. And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

Full of the Holy Ghost and then led into the wilderness to be tempted. You would not expect that. Yet it is a sadder thing to be led into a wilderness when you are not filled with the Spirit, and a sadder thing to be tempted when the Spirit of God is not resting upon you. The temptation of our Lord was not one to which he wantonly exposed himself, he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. The Spirit of God may lead us where we shall have to endure trial. If he does so, we are safe; and we shall come off conquerors even as our Master did.

Luk 4:2. Being forty days tempted of the devil.

Six weeks of temptation. We read the story of the temptation, perhaps, in six minutes; but it lasted for nearly six weeks Forty days tempted of the devil.

Luk 4:2. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

It does not appear, therefore, that Jesus hungered while he was fasting. He was miraculously sustained during that period. After fasting, one looks for deeper spiritual feeling, and more holy joy; but the most prominent fact here is that he afterward hungered, Think not that you have lost the benefit of your devout exercises when you do not at once feel it. Perhaps the very best thing that can happen to you, after much prayer, is a holy hunger; I mean not a natural hunger, as it was with our Lord; but a blessed hungering after divine things. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Luk 4:3. And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

Satan met the hungry Man, and suited his temptation to his present pangs, to his special weakness at that moment: If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. The devil suspected, and I think he knew that Jesus was the Son of God; but he began his temptation with an if. He hissed that into the Saviours ear: If thou be the Son of God. If you, believer, can be led to doubt your sonship, and to fear that you are not a son of God, Satan will have begun to win the battle. So he begins to storm the fort royal of faith: If thou be the Son of God. Our Lord was the Son of God, but he was then suffering as our Substitute; and in that condition he was a lone and humble man; what if I call him a common soldier in the ranks? Satan invites him to work a miracle of an improper kind on his own behalf; but Jesus wrought no miracle for himself. Now, it may be, that the devil is trying some of you tonight. You are very poor, or business is going very awkwardly, and Satan suggests that you should help yourself in an improper manner. He tells you that you can get out of your trouble very easily by some action which, although it may not be strictly right, may not be so very wrong after all. He said to Jesus, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

Luk 4:4. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written,

That is Christs sword. See how swiftly he drew it out of its sheath. What a sharp two-edged sword is this to be used against Satan! You also, believer, have this powerful weapon in your hand; let no man take it from you. Believe in the inspiration of Scripture. Just now there is a fierce attack upon the Book of Deuteronomy. It is a very curious thing that all the texts Christ used during the temptation were taken out of Deuteronomy, as if that was to be the very armoury out of which he would select this true Jerusalem blade, with which he should overcome the tempter, It is written, It is written, It is said.

Luk 4:4. That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

God can sustain me without my turning the stone into bread. God can bring me through my trouble without my saying or doing anything wrong I am not dependent upon the outward and visible. If you can feel like that, if you can appropriate the promise of God, and quote it to Satan, saying, It is written, Using it as Christ did, you will come off conqueror in the time of temptation even as he did.

Luk 4:5. And the devil,

Now he tries him again. There is wave upon wave trying to wash the Son of man off his feet.

Luk 4:5. Taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Skeptics have asked how that could be done. Well, they had better ask him who did it. He knows more about them, and they know more about him, than I do; but be did it: I am sure, for here it is written, that he shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

Luk 4:6. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it.

Does not be talk proudly in the, presence of his Lord and Master? What an audacious dog he must have been thus to howl in the presence of him who could have destroyed him by a look or a word, if he had wished to do so!

Luk 4:7-8. If thou therefore, wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan:

The temptation annoyed him, it was so foreign to his holy nature, it vexed his gracious spirit, so he cried out indignantly to the tempter: Get thee behind me, Satan.

Luk 4:8. For it is written,

Here flashed forth the sword again.

Luk 4:8. Thou, shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Then let us pay no reverence, no worship, to any but God. Consciences and minds are made for God alone; before him let us bow; but if all the world were proffered us for a moments idolatry, let us not fall into the snare of the tempter.

Luk 4:9. And he brought him to Jerusalem,

Satan now takes Christ to holy ground. Temptations are generally more severe there.

Luk 4:9. And set him on a pinnacle of the temple,

The highest point of all; elevated high above the earth.

Luk 4:9-11. And said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, test at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

Now Satan tries to quote Scripture, as he can do when it answers his purpose; but he never quotes it correctly. You young brethren who go out preaching, mind that you do not imitate the devil by quoting part of a text, or quoting Scripture incorrectly. He did it, however, with a purpose; not by misadventure or from forgetfulness; he left out the very necessary words, In all thy ways. He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. Satan left out those last four words, for it was not the way of a child of God to come down from a pinnacle of the temple headlong into the gulf beneath.

Luk 4:12. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Do nothing presumptuously. Do nothing which would lead the Lord to act otherwise than according to his settled laws, which are always right and good.

Luk 4:13-14. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:

He had not lost anything by the temptation, the power of the Spirit was still upon him.

Luk 4:14-15. And there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all.

He became popular; the people resorted to him, and were glad to hear him. He who has had secret temptation and private conflict is prepared to bear open success without being elevated by it. Hast thou stood foot to foot with Satan? Thou wilt think little of the applause or of the attacks of thy fellow-men.

Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible

Luk 4:1. , full of the Holy Ghost) See ch. Luk 3:22.- , in the Spirit) viz. that Spirit, the Holy Spirit [given Him specially at His baptism].

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

Luk 4:1-13

4. THE TEMPTATION OF JESUS

Luk 4:1-13

1, 2 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit,-An account of the temptation is given by Matthew (Mat 4:1-11), Mark (Mar 1:12-13), and Luke. Matthew and Luke give the account more in detail; Mark makes only a brief reference to it. The third temptation with Matthew is the second with Luke. The order as given by Matthew is generally accepted as the order of occurrence. Matthew and Luke state generally that Jesus was “led in the Spirit,” and Mark states that “the Spirit driveth him forth” into the wilderness. Matthew has “stone” and “bread” in the plural, while Luke has these in the singular. Some explain this as though the devil had first commanded “these stones” to be made into bread, and later only commanded one particular stone to be made into bread, and that Matthew records one of the statements of the devil and Luke records the same statement made a little later. The quotation from Deu 8:3 is given more fully by Matthew than by Luke, but the quotation from Psa 91:11-12 is fuller in Luke than in Matthew; however the meaning is the same in both. Luke gives the language of Satan more at length than Matthew.

Jesus received the Holy Spirit at his baptism and was thus “full of the Holy Spirit.” The temptation of Jesus was the last step in the preparation for his public ministry. Under the influence of the Spirit he was brought to the place of trial, and the temptation, in a large part, was the suggestion to use for selfish ends the divine powers of which he was conscious, and to forget his filial relation to his father he was tempted to rebel against God. He was “driven” or “led” into the wilderness, probably the wilderness of Jordan west of Jericho. Mark describes Jesus in the wilderness “with the wild beasts”; he remained there “during forty days.” He was tempted during this time, but the full force of the temptation came with its crisis at the end of the forty days.

3, 4 And the devil said unto him,-Some have looked at the temptation of Jesus as being one with a threefold part; others have looked at it as being three distinct temptations. They are treated here as three temptations. The first one was to get Jesus to turn a stone or stones into bread. “If thou art the Son of God” then you have the power to make bread out of these stones. Some have looked at the clause “if thou” as expressing a doubt; however “if” seems to have the force of “since,” which would express no doubt. It is claimed by some that the devil wanted Jesus to prove himself as the Son of God. The devil challenges Jesus to prove his claim to be the Son of God by a miracle; a good motive is suggested to Jesus and the sinfulness of the act is skillfully disguised by the devil. There seems to be a twofold nature to this temptation; he is tempted to satisfy his hunger and to prove himself to be the Son of God.

And Jesus answered unto him,-Jesus quoted Deu 8:3. These words, “it is written,” are the first upon record that were spoken by Jesus after his entrance into his public ministry; hence his first words are a declaration of the authority of the scriptures. Jesus met every temptation by a quotation of scripture. Man must have bread; Jesus does not deny the place and value of “bread” in sustaining life, but he does place the emphasis on things more important. Jesus here shows his reliance on his heavenly Father, and equally shows his determination to seek no means to sustain life but such as are approved of God. To create bread out of stones contrary to God’s will, and in obedience to Satan, would be to die, not live. Jesus makes no reference to his divine Sonship; he was not called upon to prove that to Satan.

5-8 And he led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms- Matthew records this temptation as the third, but Luke puts it second. We need not speculate as to why this change is made; no one knows, and no one now can know. We have it as a fact that this change in the order has been made. It seems that Luke follows the order and position of the places -the desert, the mountain, and the temple. Here he is “led” upon the mountain and showed “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” The word in the Greek literally means “a mark made by a pointed instrument, a dot”; hence, a point of time. Jesus was given a vision of the inhabited world, “all the kingdoms of the world”; he not only saw Palestine, but also the heathen world, over which Satan exercised spiritual dominion; from the lofty elevation the kingdoms or tetrarchies of Palestine and adjacent regions could be seen, and the more distant empires of the world might be suggested by the tempter. There was something supernatural in this act which enabled Jesus to see these in a “moment of time”; the suddenness of the view added much to the power of the temptation. All these were promised to Jesus on the condition that he would “worship before me.” The kingdoms and the glory of them were held before Jesus as a temptation. Many think that these kingdoms did not belong to the devil, and hence he could not have fulfilled his promise even if Jesus had worshiped him. The devil here asked Jesus to transfer his allegiance from God to the devil; Jesus is tempted to acknowledge the supremacy and sovereignty of the devil; to do this would be to acknowledge a falsehood, for the devil was not supreme, neither was he a sovereign.

And Jesus answered and said unto him,-Here again Jesus quoted scripture. He said: “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Matthew records Jesus as saying, “Get thee hence, Satan,” but Luke omits that. In righteous indignation Jesus denounced Satan as the archenemy of God his Father. In this temptation the devil threw off the mask and appeared to Jesus is his real character; hitherto Jesus had dealt with him according to his assumed character, but now he repulsed him with abhorrence. Jesus added: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Here Jesus quotes Deu 6:13.

9-12 And he led him to Jerusalem,-This is the second temptation according to Matthew. We are not told how the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and to the pinnacle of the temple; it may have been as the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip. (Act 8:39.) Jesus permitted Satan to exercise great power over him;the language here seems to require an actual going from place to place, and yet it does not necessarily determine whether the devil did or did not transport him through the air. He brought him “to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple.” This was some high point of the temple building well known by the Jews at that time. The Greek word translated “temple” means literally a “winglet,” and is applied to a wingshape or pointed structure, a gable or pointed roof. The word translated “temple,” both here and in Matthew, means the whole sacred enclosure or temple buildings. This time the devil said to him: “If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence.” This temptation also seems to have a twofold meaning, appealing to the natural feeling and to the Messianic aspiration; since Jesus is the Son of God and is now upon the high pinnacle of the temple and can do nothing up there for the salvation of man, he is commanded to cast himself down.

And Jesus answering said unto him,-Again Jesus replied to Satan by quoting the scripture: “Thou shalt not make trial of the Lord thy God.” In this application of the scripture, Jesus intimates that he must not put God on trial by exercising a presumptuous confidence or by needlessly testing his veracity. To attempt to put God to the test would show unbelief, while display of power would be opposed to humility. Jesus did not, as some have, accuse the devil of misquoting scripture; neither did he deny the promise referred to in the scripture which the devil quoted; he simply replied by giving another quotation. The quotation that Jesus here used interprets the one quoted by the devil, but does not refute that quotation. Jesus meant to say that the quotation of the devil was a scriptural quotation and applicable to himself and would be fulfilled in due time, but to throw oneself into unnecessary danger in order to “tempt” God would be a sin, and especially when it was done at the command of the devil.

13 And when the devil had completed every temptation,- This means that the devil had used every available kind of temptation he was “tempted in all points” as we are, but “without sin.” (Heb 4:15.) The first temptation was in the sphere of bodily appetite; Jesus was urged by Satan to transform a stone into bread the second temptation was in the sphere of earthly ambition; it consisted in an offer of unlimited human power. The last temptation was in the sphere of intellectual curiosity; it suggested to Jesus that he should see for himself what would be the experience of one who should cast himself from a great height and then, by angel hands, be kept from harm.

“He departed from him for a season”; the devil had exhausted his power, hence “he departed from him for a season.” The scene closed with Jesus victorious, and “Luke 13:43;the angels ministered unto him.” (Mar 1:13.) Jesus had triumphed, and later he taught through James: “resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (Jas 4:7.) “Angels came and ministered unto him” (Mat 4:11);some think that angels brought him food, as Elijah was fed by angels after he had fasted forty days (1Ki 19:5.) The original from which we get “ministered” means “were ministering”; it signifies to attend as a servant; angels waited on him as human friends might have waited on one whom they found hungry, weary, lonely.

Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary

As man Jesus was tempted. All the words with which He rebutted the attacks of Satan were quotations from the divine law for the government of human life. The exhaustive nature of the temptation is revealed in Luke’s words, “When the devil had completed every temptation.” Evil had nothing more to suggest. The thoroughness of the temptation was the completeness of the victory.

The perfect and victorious Man now found His way back to Nazareth, and there, reading from the prophecy of Isaiah, claimed Messiahship definitely.

The account of this induction is followed by a group of pictures revealing different aspects in the work of our Lord. He is seen teaching in the synagogue while the people listened in astonishment. The quietness is disturbed by the cries of a demon-possessed man, and the Lord is seen-as Master of the underworld of evil. Next He is revealed as Master of disease, this revelation following that of His authority over evil. He who is able to exorcise demons has no difficulty in dealing with the result of evil in any form.

Then an evening scene, when it was light indeed, and the Lord’s unlimited resources were revealed. Finally, His need to be away from the pressing crowds, when He passed to the desert.

Fuente: An Exposition on the Whole Bible

4:1-13. The Internal Preparation for the Ministry of the Christ: the Temptation in the Wilderness, Mat 4:1-11; Mar 1:12, Mar 1:13.

R. C. Trench, Studies in the Gospels, pp. 1-65, Macmillan, 1867; B. Weiss, Leben Jesu, I. 2:10, Berlin, 1882; Eng. tr. 1. pp. 319-354; H. Lathamn, Pastor Pastorum, pp. 112-146, Bell, 1890; P. Schaff, Person of Christ, pp. 32, 153, Nisbet, 1880; A. M. Fairbairn, Expositor, first series, vol. iii. pp. 321-342, Hodder, 1876; P. Didon, Jsus Christ, ch. iii. pp. 208-226, Plon, 1891.

Many futile and irreverent questions have been raised respecting this mysterious subject; futile, because it is impossible to answer them, excepting by empty conjectures; and irreverent, because they are prompted by curiosity rather than by a desire for illumination. Had the answers to them been necessary for our spiritual welfare, the answers would have been placed within our reach. Among such questions are such as these: Did Satan assume a human form, and change his form with each change of temptation, or did he remain invisible? Did he know who Jews was, or was he trying to discover this? Did he know, until he was named, that Jesus knew who he was? Where was the spot from which he showed all the kingdoms of the world?

Three points are insisted upon in the Epistle to the Hebrews (2:18, 4:15), and beyond them we need not go. 1. The temptations were real. 2. Jesus remained absolutely unstained by them. 3. One purpose of the temptations was to assure us of His sympathy when we are tempted. The second point limits the first and intensifies the third. The sinlessness of Jesus excluded all those temptations which spring from previous sin; for there was no taint in Him to become the source of temptation. But the fact that the solicitations came wholly from without, and were not born from within, does not prevent that which was offered to Him being regarded as desirable. The force of a temptation depends, not upon the sin involved in what is proposed, but upon the advantage connected with it. And a righteous man, whose will never falters for a moment, may feel the attractiveness of the advantage more keenly than the weak man who succumbs; for the latter probably gave way before he recognized the whole of the attractiveness; or his nature may be less capable of such recognition. In this way the sinlessness of Jesus augments His capacity for sympathy: for in every case He felt the full force of temptation.1

It is obvious that the substance of the narrative could have had only one source. No one has succeeded in suggesting any probable alternative. There is no Old Testament parallel, of which this could be an adaptation. Nor is there any prophecy that the Messiah would have to endure temptation, of which this might be a fictitious fulfilment. And we may be sure that, if the whole had been baseless invention, the temptations would have been of a more commonplace, and probably of a grosser kind. No Jewish or Christian legend is at all like this. It is from Christ Himself that the narrative comes; and He probably gave it to the disciples in much the same form as that in which we have it here.

1. . These words connect the Temptation closely with the Baptism.1 It was under the influence of the Spirit, which had just descended upon Him, that He went, in obedience to Gods will, into the wilderness. All three accounts mark this connexion.; and it explains the meaning of the narrative. Jesus had been endowed with supernatural power; and He was tempted to make use of it in furthering His own interests without regard to the Fathers will. And here . (Mat 4:1) must not be understood as meaning that Christ went into the wilderness to court temptation. That would be too like yielding to the temptation which He resisted (vv. 9-12). He went into the desert in obedience to the Spirits promptings. That He should be tempted there was the Divine purpose respecting Him, to prepare Him for His work. D.C.G. ii. P. 714.

Neither Mt.nor Mk. has as an epithet of here (see on 1:15); and neither of them has Lk.s favourite .

. He was led in (not into) the wilderness, i.e. in His wanderings there, as in His progress thither, He was under Divine influence and guidance. The imperf. indicates continued action. Tradition, which is not likely to be of any value, places this wilderness close to Jericho. Some region farther north is more probable. The may be taken either with (RV.) or with (AV.). As the temptation by Satan was simultaneous (pres. part.) with the leading by the Spirit, the sense will be the same, whichever arrangement be adopted. In Mk. also the words are amphibolous, and may be taken either with or with . If we had only the account in Mt. we might have supposed that the temptations did not begin until the close of the forty days. The three recorded may have come at the end of the time, as seems to be implied with regard to the first of them. Or they may be given as representative of the struggles which continued throughout the whole period.

2. . The word is here used in its commonest sense of try or test, with a sinister motive. In N.T. it has three uses: 1. try or attempt to do (Act 9:26, Act 14:7, Act 24:6); 2. try or test, with a good motive (Joh 6:6; 2Co 13:5; Rev 2:2), especially of Gods sending trials (1Co 10:13; Heb 11:17; Rev 3:10); 3. try or test, with a bad motive, in order to produce perplexity or failure (11:16; Mat 19:3; [Jn.] 8:6), especially of tempting to sin (1Co 7:5; 1Th 3:5; Jam 1:13). It is thus of much wider meaning than (12:56, 14:19), which has only the second of these meanings. Trench, Syn. lxxiv.; Cremer, Lex. p. 494.

. All three use of the agency of Satan. He is not a mere instrument. Comp. 2Co 2:11; Act 10:38. In N.T. with the art. always means Satan, the calumniator, . In Mt., Jn., Acts, Eph., 1 and 2 Tim., Heb., James, Jude, 1 Pet., and Rev. this use is invariable. It is possible that was originally a translation of Satan = the adversary. In LXX sometimes means meet, oppose (Num 22:22, Num 22:32), and means adversary (1 Mac. 1:36). In Job (1:6-12, 2:1-7) and Zech. (3:1-3) is used as in N.T. for Satan, as the accuser or slanderer of God to man and of man to God. In this scene he endeavours to misrepresent God, and to induce Jesus to adopt a false view of His relation to God.

The existence of such a being is sometimes denied, but on purely priori grounds. To science the question is an open one, and does not admit of demonstration either way. But the teaching of Christ and His Apostles is clear and explicit; and only three explanations are possible. Either (1) they accommodated their language to a gross superstition, knowing it to be such; or (2) they shared this superstition, not knowing it to be such; or (3) the doctrine is not a superstition, but they taught the actual truth. As keim rightly says, one cannot possibly regard all the sayings of Jesus on this subject as later interpolations, and Jesus plainly designated His contention with the empire of Satan as a personal one (Jes. of Naz., Eng. tr. ii. pp. 318, 325). See Gore, Dissertations on Subjects connected with the Incarnation, pp. 23-27.

. This does not agree well with the supposition that Jesus partook of the scanty food which might be found in the wilderness. The of Mt. seems to imply the deliberate fasting which was customary in times of solemn retirement for purposes of devotion. But this does not exclude the possility that the mental and spiritual strain was so great that for a time there was no craving for food. In any case the want of food would at last bring prostration of body and mind; and then the violence of temptation would be specially felt. Both Mt. and Lk. appear to mean that it was not until near the end of the forty days that the pangs of hunger were endured. For of days being completed comp. Act 21:27; Job 1:5; Tobit 10:7.1

3. . Mt. adds , which is a very favourite expression of his.It does not necessarily imply corporal presence, although Mt. himself may have understood it in that sense. Jesus says of the approaching struggle in Gethsemane, The prince of the world cometh (Joh 14:30). Nowhere in Scripture is Satan said to have appeared in a visible form: Zec 3:1 is a vision. And nothing in this narrative requires us to believe that Satan was visible on this occasion.

. Both Mt. and Lk. have . . without the article, the reference being to the relationship to God, rather than to the office of the Messiah. The emphatic word is . The allusion to the voice from heaven (3:22) is manifest, but is not likely to have occurred to a writer of fiction, who would more probably have written, If Thou art the Christ. The if does not necessarily imply any doubt in Satan, although Augustine takes it so;1 but it is perhaps meant to inspire doubt in Jesus: Hath God said, Thou art My beloved Son, and yet forbidden Thee to give Thyself bread? Comp. Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden? (Gen 3:1). The suggestion seems to be that He is to work a miracle in order to prove the truth of Gods express declaration, and that He may doubt His relation to God, if God does not allow the miracle.

This seems better than to regard the first temptation as a temptation of the flesh. If the food had been there, would it have been sinful for Jesus to partake of it? Again, it is sometimes said that it was a temptation to use His supernatural power to supply His own necessities. Among the Laws of the Working of Signs we are told was one to the effect that Our Lord will not use His special powers to provide for His personal wants or those of His immediate followers.2 This law perhaps does not hold, except so far as it coincides with the principle that no miracle is wrought where the given end can be obtained without miracle. Some of Christs escapes from His enemies seem to have been miraculous. Was not that providing for a personal want? His rejoining His disciples by walking on the sea might be classed under the same head. The boat coming suddenly to land might be called providing for the wants of His immediate followers. Had He habitually supplied His personal wants by miracle, then He would have ceased to share the lot of mankind. But it would be rash to say that it would have been sinful for Him to supply Himself with food miraculously, when food was necessary for His work and could not be obtained by ordinary means. It is safer to regard this as a temptation to satisfy Himself of the truth of Gods word by a test of His own. The singular is more graphic than the of of Mt. A single loaf is all that He need produce. The similarity between lumps of stone and loaves of bread perhaps explains why this material, so common in the wilderness, was selected for change into food.

For the use of after (10:40, 14:15, etc.) see Win. lxiv. 8, pp. 420-424; B. Weiss on Mat 4:3; Simcox, Lang. of N.T. p. 177; Green, Gr. of N. T. p. 170. It is a weakening of the talk force of ba rather than a mere substitute for the infinitive. See Blass, Gr. pp. 217 ff.

4. Christ does not reply to the if by affirming that He is the Son of God; nor does He explain why the Son of God does not accept the devils challenge. He gives an answer which holds good for any child of God in similar temptation.1 The reply is a pointed refutation, however, of the special suggestion to Himself, having direct reference to . . Satan suggests that Gods Son would surely be allowed to provide food for Himself. Jesus replies that God can sustain, not only His Son, but any human being, with or without food, and can make other things besides bread to be food. Comp. My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me (Joh 4:34). The reply is verbatim as LXX of Deu 8:3. As all His replies come from this book, we may conjecture that Jesus had recently been reading it or meditating on it. The repeated use of a book which is so full of the trials of Israel in the wilderness may suggest a parallel between the forty days and the forty years. The direct reference is to the manna.

The addition of the remainder of the quotation in A D and other authorities comes from Mt. It differs in wording in the texts which insert it. If it were genuine here, its absence from the best authorities would be most extra ordinary. The insertion of and of in ver. 5, and the substitution of for , are corruptions of the same kind.

5. Lk. places second the temptation which Mt. places last The reasons given for preferring one order to the other are subjective and unconvincing. Perhaps neither Evangelist professes to give any chronological order. Temptations may be intermingled. It is very doubtful whether the with which Mt. introduces the temptation which he places second, and the with which he introduces his third, are intended to specify sequence in time. Many Lat. MSS. (Gbcflqr) here place vv. 5-8 after vv. 9-11. Lk.omits the command to Satan to depart;2 and we have no means of knowing which temptation it immediately followed. Mt. naturally connects it with the one which he places last.

. See on 2:22. The word does not require us to believe that Satan had control of Christs person and transferred Him bodily from the desert to a mountain-top. From no mountain could ll the kingdoms of the world be visible, least of all in a moment of time. If Satan on the mountain could present to Christs mind kingdoms which were not visible to the eye, he could do so in the desert. We may suppose that he transferred Jesus in thought to a mountain-top, whence He could in thought see all. For all the kingdoms of the world comp. Ezr 1:2, where we have for of the world in Mt. , which D substitutes here.

. A favourite expression with Lk. (2:1, 21:26; Act 11:28, Act 11:17:6, 31, Act 11:14:27, Act 11:24:5): elsewhere only six times, of which one is a quotation (Rom 10:18 from Psa 14:5). It describes the world as a place of settled government, the civilized world. To a Greek it might mean the Greek world as distinct from barbarian regions (Hdt. 4:110, 4; comp. Dem. De Cor. p. 242). Later it meant the Roman Empire, orbis terrarum, as in 2:1 (Philo, Leg. ad Cai. 25). In inscriptions the Roman Emperor is Finally, it meant the whole inhabited earth, as here and 21:26 (Rev 16:14; Heb 1:6; Jos. Ant. viii. 13, 4: B. J. vii. 3, 3). In Heb 2:5 it is used of the world to come as an ordered system: see Wsctt. Lk. omits here, but adds it in Satans offer.

. Puncto temporis: comp. (1Co 15:52). Not in Mt. Comp. Isa 24:5; Isa_2 Mac. 9:11. It intimates that the kingdoms were represented, not in a series of giants, but simultaneously: acuta fentatio (Beng.). To take . with is not a probable arrangement. With (=to prick) comp. stimulus, stick, and Sting.

6. . Both pronouns are emphatic: To Thee I will give because to me it hath been delivered.

The after is a constructio ad sensum, referring to the kingdoms understood in this authority and jurisdiction. In we have the common use of the perf, to express permanent and present result of past action; it has been given over and remains in my possession: comp. (4, 8. 10) and (12).

Satan does not say by whom it has been given over; and two answers an possible: 1. by Gods permission; 2. by mans sin. But the latter does not exclude the former; and in any case confitetur tentator, se non ease conditor (Beng.). That it refers to a Divine gift previous to his revolt against God, is agiatuitous conjecture. Christ Himself speaks of Satan as the ruler of this world (Joh 12:31, Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11). In the Rabbinical writings Lord of this world A a common name for Satan, as ruler of the heathen, in opposition to God, the Head of the Jewish theocrazy. The devil is the ruler of the un believing and sinful; but he mixes truth with falsehood when he claims to have dominion over all the material glory of the world. Comp. Eph 2:2; 2Co 4:4; Rev 13:2. In the mixture of falsehood seems to be still greater. Even of those who are under the dominion of Satan it is only in a limited sense true that he can dispose of them as he pleases. But the subtlety of the temptation lies partly in the fact that it appeals to what is in a very real sense true. Satan intimates that the enormous influence which he possesses aver human affairs may be obtained for the promotion of the Messiahs Kingdom. Thus all the pain and suffering, which otherwise lay before the Saviour of the world, might be evaded.1

7. . Mt. adds which, like indicates that be may have believed that Satan was visible, although this is not certain. Even actual prostration is possible to an invisible being, and fall down and worship is a natural figure for entire submission or intense admiration. In the East, prostration is an acknowledgment of authority, not necessarily of personal merit. The temptation, therefore, seems to be that of admitting Satans authority and accepting promotion from him.

. Lk.s favourite expression (1:15, 17, 19, 75, etc.), The usual constr. after is the acc. (ver. 8; Mat 4:10; Rev 9:20, Rev 9:13:12, Rev 9:14:9, Rev 9:2) or the dal. (Act 7:43; Joh 4:21, Joh 4:23; Rev 4:10, Rev 7:11) 4: but Rev 15:4 as here.

. The which has been delivered to me I am willing to delegate or transfer: magna superbia (Beng.). The acceptance of it would be equivalent to . Just as in the first case the lawful desire, for food was made an occasion of temptation, so here the lawful desire of power, a desire specially lawful in the Messiah. Everything depends upon why and how the food and the power are obtained. Christ was born to be a king; but His Kingdom is not of this world (Joh 18:36, Joh 18:37), and the prince of this world has nothing in Him (Joh 14:30). He rejects the Jewish idea of the Messiah as an earthly potentate, and thus condemns Himself to rejection by His own people. He rejects Satan as an ally, and thereby has him as an implacable enemy. The end does not sanctify the means.

8. . Mt. also has this word in harmony with Satans ; but in LXX of Deu 6:13 we have : see on 7:27.-. Lit. serve for hire ( = hireling). In class. Grk. it is used of the service of slaves and of freemen, whether rendered to men or to God: in N. T. always of religious service, but sometimes of the worship of idols (Act 7:42; Ram. 1:25). Trench, Syn. xxxv. Propositum out Domino humilitate diabolum vincere, non potehtia (Jerome).

9. . It is impossible to determine what this means. The article points to its being something well known by this name. The three points conjectured are: 1. the top of the Royal Porch, whence one looked into an abyss (Jos. Ant. 15:11, 5); 2. the top of Solomons Porch; 3. the roof of the . It was from that James the just was thrown, according to Hegesippus (Eus. H. E, 2:23, 11, 16). Had any part of the been intended, we should perhaps have had . rather than . .

. The repetition of this preamble is evidence that this temptation is in part the same as the first (ver. 3). In both cases Jesus is to tempt (ver. 12) God, to challenge Him to prove His Fatherhood by a test of His Sons own choosing. But, whereas in the first case Christ was to be rescued from an existing danger by a miracle, here He is to court needless danger in order to be rescued by a miracle. It may be that this is also a partial repetition of the second temptation. If the suggestion is that He should throw Himself down into the courts of the temple, so that the priests and the people might see His miraculous descent, and be convinced of His Messiahship, then this is once more a temptation to take a short cut to success, and, by doing violence to mens wills, avoid all the pain and suffering involved in the work of redemption.1 If this is correct, then this temptation is a combination of the other two. It is difficult to see what point there is in mentioning the temple, if presumptuously seeking peril was the only element in the temptation. The precipices of the wilderness would have served for that. The expresses more definitely than the mid. would have done that the act is to be entirely His own.Not Fall, nor Spring, but Cast Thyself; dejice teipsum. Comp. (1Jn 1:8).

10. The fact that after . Satan omits is in favour of the view that presumptuous rushing into danger is part of the temptation. To fling oneself down from a height is not going in ones ways, but out of them. The disobedient Prophet was slain by the lion, the obedient Daniel was preserved in the lions den. But we are not sure that the omission of the words has this significance.

11. . On their hands, implying great carefulness. The has no special reference either to the temple or the rocks below: stones abound in most places, and lie in the way of those who stumble.

12. . In Mt. . Jesus had appealed to Scripture; Satan does the same; and then Jesus shows that isolated texts may be misleading. They may be understood in a sense plainly at variance with some other passage. Satan had suggested that it was impossible to put too much trust in God. Christ points out that testing God is not trusting Him.

The verb is wholly biblical (10:25; Mat 4:7; Psa 77:18). In the Heb. it is Ye shall not tempt: but in LXX we have the sing. as here.

13. . Every kind of temptation: a further indication that He was tempted throughout the forty days, and that what is recorded is merely an illustration of what took place. The enemy tried all his weapons, and was at all points defeated. Comp. , all manner of sin and blasphemy (Mat 12:31); , every kind of tree (Mat 3:10); , he who enjoys every kind of pleasure, etc. (Arist. Eth. Nic. ii. 2. 7)

. Until a convenient season. This rendering gives the proper meaning both of and of : comp. Act 13:11, Act 13:24:25; Luk 21:24. It is Satans expectation that on some future occasion he will have an opportunity of better success; and an opportunity came when Judas was allowed to deliver the Christ into the hands of His enemies. That this was such an occasion seems to be indicated by Christs own declarations The prince of this world cometh; and he bath nothing in Me (Joh 14:30); and This is your hour and the power of darkness (Luk 22:53). Satan was not visible in a bodily shape then, and probably not on this earlier occasion.It is Peter who on one occasion became a visible tempter (Mat 16:23; Mar 8:33). Not that we are to suppose, however, that Satan entirely desisted from attacks between the beginning and end of Christs ministry: Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations, rather implies the contrary (22:28); but the evil one seems to have accumulated attacks at the beginning and the end. In the wilderness he employed the attractiveness of painless glory and success; in the garden he tried the dread of suffering and failure. All human temptation takes place through the instrumentality of pleasure or pain. Comp. 22:3.

Luke says nothing about the ministration of Angels which followed the temptation, as recorded by both Mt. and Mk., not because he doubts such facts, for he repeatedly records them (1:11, 26, 2:9, 22:43; Act 5:19, Act 8:26, Act 7:7, Act 23:23), but probably because his source said nothing about them. Mk. seems to mean that Angels were ministering to Jesus during the whole of the forty days: his three imperfects ( ) are co-ordinate.

The Temptation is not a dream, nor a vision, nor a myth, nor a parable, translated into history by those who heard and misunderstood it but an historical fact. It was part of the Messiahs preparation for His work. In His baptism He received strength. In His temptation He ractised the use of it. Moreover, He thus as man acquired experience (Heb. v. 8) of the possibilities of evil, and of the violent and subtle ways in which His work could be ruined.

Only from Himself could the disciples have learned the history of this struggle.Among other things it taught them the value of the Jewish Scriptures. With these for their guide they could overcome the evil one, as He had done: no special illumination was necessary (16:29, 31).

4:14-9:50. The Ministry in Galilee

Lk., like Mt. and Mk., omit the early ministry in Juda; but we shall find that his narrative, like theirs, implies it. All three of them connect the beginning of the Galilean ministry with the Baptism and the Temptation; while Mt. and Mk. make the imprisonment of the Baptist to be the occasion of Christs departure from Juda into Galilee (Mat 4:12; Mar 1:14). But they neither assert nor imply that John was imprisoned soon after the Temptation; nor do they explain why the arrest of John by Herod Antipas should make Christ take refuge in this same Herods dominions. It is from the Fourth Gospel that we learn that there was a considerable interval between the Temptation and Johns imprisonment, and that during it Jesus went into Galilee and returned to Judaea again (2:13). From it also we learn that the occasion of the second departure into Galilee was the jealousy of the Pharisees, who had been told that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples even than the Baptist. Much as they disliked and feared the revolutionary influence of John, they feared that of Jesus still more. John declared that he was not the Christ, he did no sign, and he upheld the Law. Whereas Jesus had been pointed out as the Messiah; lie worked miracles, and He disregarded, not only traditions which were held to be equal to the Law (Joh 4:9), but even the Law itself in the matter of the Sabbath (Joh 5:9, Joh 5:10). Thus we see that it was not to escape the persecution of Herod, but to escape that of the Pharisees, who had delivered the Baptist into the hands of Herod, that Jesus retired a second time from Judaea into Galilee. It was after that John was delivered up (Mar 1:14),and when He heard that John was delivered up (Mat 4:12), that Christ retired into Galilee. In neither case was it Herods action, but the action of those who delivered John into the hands of Herod, that led to Christs change of sphere. And in this way what is recorded in the Fourth Gospel explains the obscurities the other three.

There is a slight apparent difference between the first two Gospels and the third. The three Evangelists agree in noticing only one return from Juda to Galilee, and possibly each knows of only one. But whereas Mt. and Mk. seem to point to the second return, for they connect it with the delivering up a the Baptist, Lk. seems rather to point to the first return, for he connects it with the power of the Spirit, an expression which Suggests a reference to that power which Jesus had received at the Baptism and exercised in the Temptation. It is quite possible, however, that the expression refers to the power with which He had worked miracles and taught in Galilee and Juda in which case all three Gospels treat of the second return to Galilee.

Not very much plan is discernible in this portion of the Gospel; and it may be doubted whether the divisions made by commentators correspond with any arrangement which the writer had in his mind. But even artificial schemes help to a clearer apprehension of the whole; and the arrangement suggested by Godet is, at any rate, useful for this purpose. He takes the Development in the Position of Christs Disciples as the principle of his divisions.

1. 4:14-44. To the Call of the first Disciples.

2. 5:1-6:11. To the Nomination of the Twelve.

3. 6:12-8:56. To the first Mission of the Twelve.

4. 9:1-50. To the Departure for Jerusalem.

These divisions are clearly marked out in the text of WH., a space being left at the end of each.

4:14-44. The Ministry in Galilee to the Call of the First Disciples. The Visits to Nazareth and Capernaum.

14, 15. Comp. Mat 4:12; Mar 1:14. These two verses are introductory, and point out three characteristics of this period of Christs activity. 1. He worked in the power of the Spirit. 2. His fame spread far and wide. 3. The synagogues were the scenes of His preaching (comp. ver. 44).

14. . This is perhaps to remind us that since His first departure from Galilee He has been endowed with the Holy Spirit and has received new powers (3:22, 4:1, 18). Bengels post victoriam corroboratus connects it too exclusively with the Temptation. Unless, with De Wette, we take as anticipating what follows, the statement implies much preaching and perhaps some miracles, of which Lk. has said nothing; for Jesus is famous directly He returns. The power of the Spirit had already been exhibited in Him. Jn. says that the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast (4:45). But it is not likely that they had heard of the wonders which attended the Birth, or of those which attended the Baptism.

There are various marks of Lk.s style. 1. , for which Mt. has and Mk, Comp. ver. 1, where Lk. has while Mt. has . 2. of Divine power. Comp. 1:35, and see on 4:36. 3. in this sense. Comp. 23:5; Act 9:31, Act 9:42, Act 9:10:37 it is peculiar to Lk. see Simcox, Lang. of N.T.p.148. 4. sc. , is an expression of which Lk. is fond (3:3, 4:37, 7:17, 8:37; Act 14:6);not in Jn., and only twice in Mt.(3:5, 14:35) and once in Mk. (1:28; not 6:55).

15. . Lk. is so fond of this mode of transition that has no special significance; if it has, it is He Himself, as distinct from the rumour respecting Him. The imperf. points to His habitual practice at this time, and seems to deprive what follows of all chronological connexion. All the Gospels mention His teaching in synagogues, and give instances of His doing so during the early part of His ministry (Mat 4:23, Mat 4:9:35, Mat 4:12:9, Mat 4:13:54; Mar 1:21, Mar 1:39, Mar 1:3:1, Mar 1:6:2, Luk 4:44, Luk 6:6, Joh 6:59). Toward the close of it, when the hostility of the teachers became more pronounced, there is less mention of this practice: perhaps He then taught elsewhere, in order to avoid needless collision. It should be noticed that here, as elsewhere, it is the teaching rather than the worship in the synagogues that is prominent. Synagogues were primarily places of instruction (13:10; Joh 18:20; Act 13:27, Act 15:21, etc.), and it was as such that Augustus encourged them. Morality of a high kind was taught there, and morality is on the side of order.

. This means in the synagogues of the Galileans. Galilee at this time was very populous. Josephus no doubt exaggerates when the say that the smallest villages had fifteen thousand inhabitants (B. J. iii. 3, 2), and that there were over two hundred towns and villages. But in any case there were many Galileans. Among them there was more freshness and less formalism than among the inhabitants of Jud. Here the Pharisees and the hierarchy had less influence and therefore Galilee was a more hopeful field in which to seek the first elements of a Church. On the other hand, it was necessary to break down the prejudices of those Who had known Him in His Youth, and had seen in Him no signs of His Being the Messiah that they were expecting: andthe fame of the miracles which He had wrought in Juda was likely to contribute towards this. Thus the Judan ministry prepared the way for the more promising ministry in Galilee. We have no means of estimating the number of Galilean synagogues; but the fact that such a place as Capernaum had either none,or only a poor one, until a Roman centurion was moved to provide one (himself built us our synagogue, 7:5), is some evidence that by no means every village or even every small town possessed one. The remains of ancient synagogues exist at several places in Galilee; Tell-Hum, Irbid (the Arbela of 1 Mac. 9:2), Jisch (Giscala), Meiron (Mero), Kasyoun, Nabartein, and Kefr-Bereim. But it is doubtful whether any of theses are older than the second or third century.

The origin of synagogues is to be sought in the Babylonish captivity; and they greatly increased in number after the destruction of the temple. The fact that Jewish legend derives the institution of synagogues from Moses, shows how essential the Jews considered it to be. The statement that there were at one time 480 synagogues in Jerusalem is also legendary; but 480 may be a symbolical number. One has only to remember the size of Jerusalem to see the absurdity of 480, places of public instruction in it. But large towns sometimes had several synagogues, either forerent natonates (Act 6:9; see Lumby and Blass) or different handicrafts.1

. Because of the power of His preaching, especially when contrasted with the lifeless repetitions and senseless trivialities of ordinary teachers.

16-30. The Visit to Nazareth. Comp. Mat 13:53-58; Mar 6:1-6. It remains doubtful whether Lk. here refers to the same visit as that recorded by Mt. and Mk. If it is the same, he perps has purposely transposed it to the opening of the ministry, as being typical of the issue of Christs ministry. He was rejected by His own people. Similarly the non-Galilean ministry opens with a rejection (9:51-56). In any case, the form of the narrative is peculiar to Lk., showing that he here has some special source. We we not to understand that the Galilean ministry began at Nazareth. More probably Christ waited until the reports of what He had said and done in other parts of Galilee prepared the way for His return to Nazareth as a teacher.

16. []. This tells us rather more than 2:51: it implies, moreover, that for some time past Nazareth had camed to be His home. But the addition of where He had been brought up explains what follows. It had been His custom during His early life at Nazareth to attend the synagogue every sabbath. It is best to confine to the clause in which it is embedded, and not carry it on to : it was possibly the first time that He had stood up to read at Nazareth. But the phrase may refer to what had been His custom elsewhere since He began His ministry; or it may be written from the Evangelists point of view of what was afterwards His custom. We may therefore choose between these explanations. 1. He had previously been in the habit of attending the synagogue at Nazareth, and on this occasion stood up to read. 2. He had previously been in the habit of readiing at Nazareth 3. He had lately been in the habit of reading elsewhere, and now does so at Nazareth. 4. This was an early example of what became His custom. In no case must the sermon be included in the custom. That fais was His first sermon at Nazareth is implied by the whole context.

In D both and after are omitted, and the text runs, ; but in the Latin the former word is restored, veniens autem in Nazared ubi erat nutricates introibit secundum consuetudinem in sabbato in synagogam. The omissions are perhaps due to Marcionite influence. According to Marcion, Christ came direct from heaven into the synagogue, de calo in synagogam (see p. 131); and therefore all trace of His previous life in Nazareth must be obliterated. He was not reared there, and was not accustomed to visit the synagogue there. Only a custom of attending the synagogue existed. See Rendel Harris, Study of Codex Bexes, p. 232, in Texts and Studies, 2:1. Comp. the insertions 9:54, 55, which may be due to the same influence.

The phrase occurs in LXX Num 24:1; Sus. 13. It is characteristic of Lk. See on , 1:8. With the dat. occurs only here and Act 17:2; and occurs only here, Act 13:14, and 16:13: but comp. Luk 12:14, Luk 12:16 and 14:5. It is a periphrasis for ., or or or .

. Standing to read was the usual practice, excepting when the Book of Esther was read at the Feast of Purim: then the reader might sit. Christs standing up indicated that He had been asked to read, or was ready to do so. This is the only occasion on which we are told that Jesus read.

The lectern was close to the front seats, where those who were most likely to be called upon read commonly sat. A lesson from the Thorah or Law was read first, and then one from the Prophets. After the lesson had been mad in Hebrew it was interpreted into Aramaic (Neh 8:8), or into Greek in places where Greek was commonly spoken. This was done verse by verse in the Law; but in the Prophets three verses might be taken at once, and in this case Jesus seems to have taken two verses. Then followed the exposition or sermon. The reader, interpreter, and preacher might be one, two, or three persons. Here Christ was both reader and preacher; and Possibly He interpreted as well.1 Although there were officers with fixed duties attached to each synagogue, yet there was no one specially appointed either to read, or interpret,or preach, or pray. Any member of the congregation might discharge these duties; and probably those who were competent discharged them in turn at the invitation of the (Act 13:15. Comp. Philo in Eus. Prp Evang. viii. 7, p. 360 A, and Quod omnis probus liber 12.). Hence it was always easy for Jesus to address the congregation. When He became famous as a teacher He would often be invited to do so2 And during His early years He may have read without interpreting or expounding; for even those under age were sometimes allowed to read in the synagogues. We cannot infer from His being able to read that He Himself possessed the Scriptures. In N.T. is used in no other sense than that of reading; lit recognizing again the written characters; of reading aloud, Act 13:27, Act 13:15:21; 2Co 3:15; Col 4:16; 1Th 5:27.

17. . Was handed to Him, was given over by handing: comp. (ver. 42). It does not mean was handed to Him in addition, implying that something else had been handed to Him previously. This meaning is not common, and is not found elsewhere in N.T. The reading of the Parascha, or section from the Law, had probably preceded, and had been read possibly by someone else. This was the Haphthara, or prophetic section (Act 13:15). That Isa 61:1, Isa 61:2 was the lesson appointed for the day is quite uncertain. We do not even know whether there was at that time any cycle of prophetical lessons, nor whether it would be strictly adhered to, if there was such. Apparently Isaiah was handed to Him without His asking for it; but that also is uncertain. The cycle of lessons now in use is of much later origin; and therefore to employ the Jewish lectionary in order to determine the day on which this took place is futile. On the other hand, there is no evidence that Jesus takes the section which He lights upon as soon as it is unrolled; for quite as easily may mean the opposite;-that He intentionally found a passage which had been previously selected.

The more definite ( D) is probably a correction of (A B L and most versions). The former occurs nowhere in N.T., while the latter is very common: see esp. Rev 5:2, Rev 5:3, Rev 5:4, Rev 5:5, Rev 5:10:2, Rev 5:8, 20:12. Fond as Lk. is of analytical tenses, occurs nowhere else in his writings: . is common in Jn. (2:17, 6:31, 45, 10:34, 12:14, 16).

18. The quotation is given by the Evangelist somewhat freely from LXX, probably from memory and under the influence of other passages of Scripture. To argue that the Evangelist cannot be S. Luke, because S. Luke was a Gentile, and therefore would not know the LXX, is absurd. S. Luke was not only a constant companion of S. Paul, but a fellow-worker with him in dealing with both Jews and Gentiles. He could not have done this without becoming familiar with the LXX.

Down to inclusive the quotation agrees with LXX. After that the text of LXX runs thus: , , . In many authorities the clause has been, inserted into the test of Lk. in order to make the quotation morefull and more in harmony with O.T. We have similar insertion Mat 15:8; Act 7:37; Rom 8:9; Heb 12:20, and perhaps 2:71. In the original the Prophet puts into the mouth of Jehovahs ideal Servant a gracious message to those in captivity, promising them release and a return to the restored Jerusalem, the joy of which is compared to the joy of the year of jubilee. It is obvious that both figures, the return from exile and the release at the jubilee, admirably express Christs work of redemption.

. In applying these words to Himself the Christ looks back to His baptism. He is more than a Prophet; He is the Son, the Beloved One, of Jehovah (3:21, 22).

With () comp (2:25).- . Not wherefore, as in Act 19:32, which here would spoil the sense, but because,a meaning which often has in class. Grk. Vulg. has propter quod.Comp. Gen 18:5, Gen 18:14:8, Gen 18:22:16, 38:26; Num 10:31, Num 14:43, etc. The Ionic form is found 18:29; Act 28:20; 2Co 3:10: but is the commonest form (2Co 7:12), and also occurs before consonants (6:22; Act 26:21).

. The Christ was anointed with the Spirit, as Prophets and priests were anointed with oil (1Ki 19:16; Exo 28:41, Exo 30:30). Unlike (2Co 9:9), always had a bad meaning until it was ennobled by the Gospels (6:20, 7:22; 2Co 6:10; Jam 2:5). It suggests abject poverty ( = I crouch). See Hatch, Bibl. Grk. pp. 76, 77.

. Change from aor. to perf. He anointed Me (once for all); He hath sent Me (and I am here): comp 1Co 15:4. We have had of the mission of Gabriel (1:19, 26); here and ver. 43 we have it of the mission of the Christ; 7:27 of the Forerunner; 9:2 of the Twelve. Whereas is quite general and implies no special relation between sender and sent, adds the idea of a delegated authority making the person sent to be the envoy or representative of the sender. But also is used of the mission of the Christ (20:13), of Prophets (Ver. 26, 20:11, 12), and of the Apostles (Joh 13:20, Joh 20:21). Strictly speaking, means prisoners of war ( and ) freq. in class. Grk. but here only in N.T The cognate occurs 21:24; 2Co 10:5; 2Ti 3:6; , Eph 4:8. Neither this metaphor nor that of harmonizes very well with the year of jubilee, to which Godet would restrict the whole passage. Both might apply to captives in exile, some of whom had been blinded by their captors, or by long confinement in a dungeon.

. These words come from another part of Isaiah (58:6), and are perhaps inserted through a slip of memory. Jesus was reading, not quoting without book; and therefore we cannot suppose that He inserted the clause Lightfoot says that it was lawful to skip from one passage to an.other in reading the Prophets, but not in reading the Law (Hor. Heb. on Luk 4:17). That might explain the omission of a few verses, but not the going back three chapters. The insertion comes from the Evangelist, who is probably quoting from memory, and perhaps regards the unconsciously combined passages as a sort of programme of the ministry. The strong expression is here applied to those who are shattered in fortune and broken in spirit.

For the pregnant construction, send so as to be in, comp. 1:17. The asyndeton throughout, first between and and then between the three infinitives which depend upon is impressive.

19. . The age of the Messiah, which is Jehovahs time for bestowing great blessings on His people. Comp. (2Co 6:2; Isa 49:8): is not found in class. Grk. It is strange that Clement of Alexandria and Origen, who are commonly so ready to turn fact into figure, here turn an expression which is manifestly figurative into a literal statement of fact, and limit Christs ministry to a period of twelve months (comp. Clem. Hom. 17:19). Keim and other modern writers have made the same limit; but the three Passovers distinguished by S. John (2:13, 6:4, 11:55) are quite fatal to it.1 It is, however, an equally faulty exegesis to find the three years (i.e. two years and a fraction) of Christs ministry in the three years of Lk. 6-9 or the three days of 13:31-33. The first of these is obviously a parabolic saying not to be understood literally; and the other probably is such. The suggestion that the three servants sent to the wicked husbandmen mean the three years of the ministry is almost grotesque. See Nsgen, Gesch. Jesu Christi, Kap. 8., Mnchen, 1890.

20. The vivid description of what followed the reading of the lesson Points to an eye-witness as the source of the narrative. But the closed of AV., and RV. gives a wrong impression of the first incident: it leads one to think of a modern book with leaves. The Rhemish has folded; but rolled up would be a better rendering of . The long strip of parchment, or less probably papyrus (2Jn 1:12), would be wound upon a roller, or possibly upon two rollers, one at each end of the strip. Hence the name megillah (volumen),from glal, to roll. Such a book was in Greek sometimes called (Ezr 6:2; Eze 3:1-3) or (Heb 10:7; Psa 39:8; Eze 2:9): and it I said that originally meant the knob (cornu or umbilicus) at the end of the roller; but no instance of this use of appears to be known (Wsctt. on Heb 10:7).

. The – implies that it was the minister or chazzan who had handed Him the book who received it back again. The may have the same meaning, just as means the book which had been given to Him. But more probably means the minister usually found in a synagogue. It was among the duties of the chazzan to take the Scriptures from the ark and put them away again (Surenhusius, Mishna, ii. 246, iii. 266). He taught the children to read, and inflicted the scourgings (Mat 10:17). A Roman epitaph to a Jew who held is office is quoted by Schrer, II. ii. p. 66-

The chazzan of the synagogue became the deacon or sub-deacon the Christian Church.

A is lit. an under-rower (). The word may be used of almost any kind of attendant or servant (Act 5:22, Act 5:26, Act 5:13:5; Mat 26:58; Mar 14:54, Mar 14:65; Joh 7:32, Joh 7:45; 1Co 4:1). For the two participles, , without , comp. Act 12:4, Act 12:25.

. This was the usual attitude for expounding or preaching, and in the synagogues there was commonly a raised seat for the purpose. On other occasions we find Christ sitting to teach (5:3; Mat 5:1; Mar 4:1; [Joh 8:2]); and the disciples do the same (Act 16:13).

. Were fixed intently. Their intense interest was caused by His reputation as a teacher and as a worker of miracles, as well as by His having been brought up amongst them; perhaps also by His look and manner of reading. That lie had selected an unexpected passage, or had omitted the usual lesson from the Law, and that this surprised them, is pure conjecture. Comp. Act 6:15, where the same verb is used of the whole Sanhedrin riveting their eyes upon Stephen. It is a favourite word with Lk., who uses it a dozen times: elsewhere in N.T. only 2Co 3:7, 2Co 3:13. It occurs in LXX (1 Es. 6:28; Est_3 Mac. 2:26), in Aq. (Job 7:8), and in Jos. (B. J., v. 12, 3). The analytical tense marks the continuance of the action.

21. . The is not pleonastic: it points to the solemnity of the moment when His words broke the silence of universal expectation: comp. 7:24, 11:29, 12:1, 14:18. What follows may be regarded as a summary of what was said. It gives us the main subject of His discourse. We are led to suppose that lie said much more; perhaps interpreting to them in detail the things concerning Himself (24:27). The conversation with Nicodemus is similarly condensed by S. John (3:1-21). Even without this narrative we should know from 7:22 and Mat 11:5 that Christ interpreted Isa 61:1 ff. of Himself. The whole of the O.T. was to Him a prophecy respecting His life and work And this applies not only to prophetic utterances, but also to rites and institutions, as well as to historical events, which were so ordered as to be a forecast of the salvation and judgment which He was to bring.1 This verse sums up His sermon.

. This passage of Scripture (Mar 12:10; Joh 7:42, etc.) : for Scripture as a whole the plural is used (24:27, 32, 45; Mat 21:42, Mat 21:22:29, Mat 21:26:54, 56; Mar 12:24, etc.). His interpretation of the prophecy was at the same time a fulfilment of it; for the voice of Him of whom the Prophet wrote was sounding in their ears.Hence it is that he affirms . As Renan says, Il ne prchait passes opinions, il se prchait luimme.

22. . They bore witness to Him, not that what He said about Himself, but that what rumour had said respecting His power as a teacher, was true. They praised Him in an empty-hearted way. What they remembered of Him led them to think that the reports about Him were exaggerations; but they were willing to admit that this was not the case. Comp. 11:48. This bearing witness almost of necessity implies that Jesus had said a great deal more than is recorded here. What follows shows that they did not believe the teaching which so startled and impressed them, any more than those whose attention was riveted on Stephen, before he began to address them, were disposed to accept his teaching. The cases are very similar. Hence expresses amazement rather than admiration. For see small print on 2:33.

. Characterizing genitive or genitive of quality; freq. in writings influenced by Hebrew, which employs this construction, not merely through poverty in adjectives, but also through the vividness of phraseology which belongs to Oriental languages (Win. 34:3. b, p. 297).Comp. (16:8); (18:6); (Jam 1:25); (Jam 2:4); and perhaps the difficult (Jam 1:17). The meaning here is winning words. The very first meaning of ( is comeliness, winsomeness (Hom. Oba 1:8:175; Ecc 10:12; Psa 64:3; Ecclus. 21:16, 37:21; Col 4:6): and in all these passages it is the winsomeness of language that is specially signified. From this objective attractiveness it easily passes to subjective favour, Kindness,goodwill, esp. from a superior to an interior (Act 2:47; Gen 18:3, Gen 32:5, Gen 33:8, etc.); and hence, in particular, of finding favour with God (1:30; Act 7:46; Exo 33:12, Exo 33:13, Exo 33:16, etc).From the sense of Gods favour generally(2:30, 52; Joh 1:14, Joh 1:16) we come to the grace (Act 14:3, Act 14:20:24, 32; and the pauline Epp. passim). Lastly, it sometimes means the gratitude which this favour produces in the recipient (6:32-34, 17:9; 1Co 10:30). The word does not occur in Mt. or Mk. See Sanday on Rom 1:5, and Blass on Act 2:47 and 4:33.

Origen evidently has this passage in his mind when he wrote: For a proof that grace was poured on His lips (Psa 64:3, )is this, that although the period of His teaching was short,-for He taught somewhere about a year and a few months,-the world has been filled with His eaching (De Prin. 4:1, 5). But the words so calculated to win did not win the congregation. They were fulfilled in their ears, but not in their hearts.1 A doubt at once acrose in their minds as to the congruity of such words with one whom they had known all His life as the son of Joseph the carpenter. Here has a contemptuous turn, as often (5:21, 7:39, 49, 15:2, 22:56, 59, etc): yet the vulg. in none of these places has iste, but hic. Is not this person Josephs son? What does he mean by using such language? Just as a single sentence is given as a summary of His discourse, so a single question is given as a summary of their scepticism.

While the and is in all three, the question as a whole differs. Mk. has , ; (6:3). Mt. has ; (13:55). Lk. ; And while the others mention Christs brothers and sisters in close connexion with His mother, Lk. mentions none of them. Lk. and Jn. seem to prefer the expression son of Joseph (Luk 3:23, Luk 3:4:22; Joh 1:45, Joh 6:42). Renan thinks that Marc ne connat pas Joseph (V. de J. p.71). But it may be that, as he does not record the virgin birth of Christ, he avoids the expression son of Joseph or the carpenters son, which those who have recorded thre virgin birth could use without risk of being misunderstood.

23. . At all events, assuredly, ye will say, etc: is used in strong affirmations (Act 21:22, Act 21:28:4, 1Co 9:10). Excepting Heb 9:9 and 11:19, occurs only in the Synoptic Gospels: in Joh 10:6 and 16:25, 29 as in 2Pe 2:22, the word used in . It nedd not be doubted that the notion of placing beside for the sake of comparison, rather than that of merely putting forth, lied at the root of . From the notion of (1) throwing beside come the further notions of (2) exposing and (3) comparing, all three of which are common meanings of . While the adj. represents the derived notion on the one side, the subst. represents that on the other side. A therefore is an utterance which invloves a comparison. Hence varoius meanings: 1. a complete parable or allegory (8:4, 13:6, etc.); 2. a single figurative saying, proverb, or illustration (here; 5:36, 6:39); 3 a saying of deeper meaning, which becomes intelligible through comparison, in which sense it is sometimes joined with (Pro 1:6), (Psa 59:5, Psa 78:2), and the like. In the teaching of Christ is commonly in the first sense, and is a means of making known the mysteries of the kingdom in a mixed audience; for it conceals from the unworthy what it reveals to the worthy (8:9, 10). See Crem. Lex. pp. 124, 657; Hatch, Bibl. Grk., p. 70; Hase, Gesch. Jesu, 63, p. 535, ed. 1891; Didon, Jsus Christ, ch. vi. p. 391, ed. 1891; Latham, Pastor Pastorum, ch. x.

, . Heal thine own lameness is the Hebrew form of the proverb. Similar sayings exist in other literatures: eg. a fragment of Euripides, , ; Ser. Sulpicius to Cicero, Neque imitare males medicos, qui in alienis morhis pro, fitentur tenere se medicines sdendam, ipsi se curare non passunt (Cic, Epp. ad diversos, 4:5). Hobart quotes from Galen, . Comp. Aesch. P. V. 469; Ov.Metam 7:561; and the other examples, Lightfoot and Wetst. It is remarkable that this saying of Christ is preserved only by the beloved physician. Its meaning is disputed. Some take the words which follow to be the explanation of it: Heal the ills of thine own town. Thus Corn Lap., Cure Thine own people and Thins own country, which should be as dear to Thee as Thyself. Similarly Beng. Alf. Sadler and others. It is thus made to mean much the same as Charity begins at home. But and ought to be interpreted of the same person or group; not one of a person and the other of his neighbours. Prophet, heal Thins own countrymen is not parallel to Physician, heal Thyself The saying plainly refers to the passage just read from Isaiah; and although Lk. omits the words to heal the brokenearted, yet Christ must have read them, and He had probably explained them. He professed to be the fulfilment of them, and to be healing the miseries of mankind. The people are supposed to tell Him to better His own condition before bettering that of others. He must make His own position more secure, and give evidence of His high mission before asserting it. He must make His own position more secure and give evidence of His high mission before asserting it. He must work convincing miracles, such as He is said ot have worked elsewhere. Comp. (23:39). Comp. also Logion 6:3

. They do not say wishing to leave it open whether the report may not be untrue. We learn from Joh 2:12 that after the miracle at Cana, Jesus was at Capernaum for a short time; and we know also that there were many unrecorded miracles. It is probably to reports of some of these that reference is here made. For the constr. comp. Act 7:12 and 24:10

. See on ver. 31.The readings vary between . ( B), . (D L), .(X), and (AK), The substitution of for , and the omission of the article between a preposition and a proper name, are obvious corrections by a later hand. The is not put for It maybe doubted whether these two prepositions are ever interchanged. Rather is used because of the idea of motion contained in come to pass. It is scarcely possible that contains the notion of to the advantage of, and indicates the petty jealousy of the people of Nazareth. We have the same constr. 1:44; Act 28:6 (comp. Luk 11:7); and in no case is there any idea of advantage. That the jealousy was a fact, and that the people of Nazareth were inclined to discount or discredit all that seemed to tell in favour of prosperous Capernaum, is probable; but there is no hint of this in the . What is said to have happened to Capernaum ought to happen here. Comp. the Cornish use of to for at. In N.T. is never thus, but either hither (9:41, 14:21, 14:27) or here (9:33, 22:38). The is epexegetic of , and means Thy native town, not the whole of Israel: comp. Mar 6:5; Mat 13:58.

24. . When these words occur between two utterances of Christ, they seem to indicate that there is an interval between what precedes and what follows. The report of what was said on this occasion is evidently very condensed. Comp. 6:39, 12:16, 15:11, 17:1, 22, 18:9, and see on 1:8. The is but (Cov.) rather thanand(all other English Version); ait autem (Vulg.). But, instead of gratifying them, Hesaid There are various proverbial sayings which declare that those who are close to what is great do not appreciate the greatness. Jesus declares that He is no exception to this rule, and implies that He will work no miracles to free Himself from its operation. In the wilderness He had resisted a similar suggestion that He should work a miracle of display, a mere (vv. 9-11). In this matter Nazareth is a type of the whole nation, which rejected Him because He did not conform to their own ideas of the Messiah. Their test resembles that of the hierarchy, He is the King of Israel; let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe on Him (Mat 27:42). For see p. 68.

25. But I am like the Prophets, not only in the treatment which I receive from My own people, but also in My principles of action. For they also bestowed their miraculous benefits upon outsiders, although there were many of their own people who would have been very glad of such blessings. Christ is here appealing to their knowledge of Scripture, not to any facts outside the O.T. Testatur hoc Dominus ex luce omniscienti su is not a legitimate inference. Arguments drawn from what was Known to Him, but not known to them, would not be likely to influence His audience, Note = when.

. On a basis of truth: comp. Mar 12:14. We have similar adverbial expressions in (sc. ), , .

. Jesus, like His brother James (Jam 5:17), follows Jewish tradition as to the duration of the famine. In 1Ki 18:1 we are told that the rain came in the third year, which would make the drought about two years and a half But ever since the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes, three and a half (=42 months =1260 days) had become the duration of times of great calamity (Dan 7:25, Dan 7:7:7; Rev 11:2, Rev 11:3, Rev 11:12:6, Rev 11:14, Rev 11:13:5). The Jews would regard in the year as covering three years, and would argue that the famine must have continued for some time after the rain came.

For c.acc. of duration of time (over, i.e. during), comp. Act 13:31, Act 13:19:10; Hdt 3:59:2, 6:101:3; Thuc. 2:25, 4.Heb 11:30. is different. In accordance with common usage is here masc; but in 15:14 and Act 11:28 it is fem. acc. to what is called Doric usage, as in the Megarean of Aristoph. Acharn. 743. But this usage occurs elsewhere in late Greek. It perhaps passed from the Doric into the : for examples see Wetst, and L. and S. Lex. In LXX perhaps only 1Ki 18:2.

. Here, as in Jam 5:17, only the land of Israel need be understood; but it is possible that in each case we have a popular hyperbole, and that the whole world is meant. Luk 21:23 and Rom 9:28 are not quite parallel, for there the context Plainly limits the meaning. Luk 23:44 is another doubtful case, and there AV. has earth and RV. Land. Both have land here.

26. The translation of in this and the following clauses by but only(RV.), sed (Beza), or sed tantum, is justifiable, because save (AV.) and nisi (Vulg.) seem to involve an absurdity which was not apparent to a Greek. It is not, however, correct to say that in such cases is put for , any more than in Mat 20:23 or Mar 4:22 it would be correct to say that is put for . Here and in Mat 12:4 (comp: Rom 14:14; 1Co 7:17, Gal 1:7, Gal 2:16) the question is not whether retains exceptive force, for this it seems always to do, but whether the exception refers to be whole clause or to the verb alone (Lft. on Gal 1:19): comp. Rev 21:27.-In , … we perhaps have a quotation from Lxx of 1Ki 17:9. There, as here, the reading vary between and (sc. or ). Here the latter is right, meaning the territory of in which Sarepta lay. Zarephath (in Syriac Tsarfah, in Greek , and ) is probably represented by the modern Srafend on the coast road between Tyre and Sidon.

27. . For this use of with a proper name to give a date, in the time of, comp. 3:2; Act 11:28; I Mac. 13:42, 14:27; 2 Mac. 15:22. The spelling is not well attested (WH. 2. App. P.159). For same of the many lepers comp. 2Ki 7:3, where we have four at the gate of Samaria. In N.T. is the only form of the adj. that is found, Viz. here and perpaps Mar 7:26; but , and occurs elsewhere (Hdt. ii. 104. 6; AeSch. Pers. 83; Theophr. C. P. ii. 17. 3).

28. . See on 1:66. They see the point of His illustrations; He has been comparing them to those aws who were judged less worthy of Divine Benefits than the heathen. It is this that infuriates them, just as it infuriated the Jews at Jerusalem to be told by S. Paul that the heathen would receive the blessings which they despised (Act 13:46, Act 13:50, Act 13:22:21, Act 13:22). Yet to this day the position remains the same; and Gentiles enjoy the Divine privileges of which the Jews have deprived themselves. His comparing Himself to such Prophets as Elijah and Elisha would add to the wrath of the Nazarenes. On the other hand, these early instances of Gods special blessings being conferred upon heathen would have peculiar interest for Lk.

29. . Tradition makes the scene of this attempt to be a precipice, varying from 80 to 300 feet in height, which exists some distance off to the S.E. of the town; and we read that they cast Him out of the town and led Him as far as the brow, etc. But modern writers think that a much smaller precipice close at hand is the spot. Van der Velde conjectures that it has crumbled away; Conder, that it is hidden under some of the houses. Stanley says that Nazareth is built upon, that is, on the side of, a mountain; but the brow is not beneath, but over the town, and such a cliff as is here implied is to be found, as all modern travellers describe, in the abrupt face of the limestone rock, about 30 or 40 feet high, overhanging the Maronite Convent at the S.W. corner of the town (Sin. & Pal. p. 367). So also Robinson (Res. in Psa_2. PP. 325, 330), Hacket (D.B. ii. P. 470), and Schulz in Herzog Pro 2:10. P. 447). The , of course, refers to not to Both AV. and RV., have the brow of the hill whereon, which might easily be misunderstood. The town is on the hill, but not on the brow of it: the brow is above the modern village. Nowhere else in N.T. does occur. Comp. Hom. il xx. 151; and , Il. xxii. 411, and Hdt. v. 92. 10, with other instances in Wetst. Supercilium is similarly used: Virg. Georg. i. 108; Liv. xxvii. 18, xxxiv. 29.

. The is not needed (1:22; Mat 2:2, Mat 2:22:28; Act 5:31); but it expresses more clearly the result which was intended. Comp. 20:20, where, as here, has been altered in some texts into the simpler , a Constr. which Lk. does not employ elsewhere. In 9:52 the true reading is perhaps ; but in Mat 10:1, Mat 23:24, Mat 27:1 there is no doubt about the . For (here only in N.T.) comp. 2Ch 25:12; 2Ch_2 Mac. 12:15, 14:43; 4 Mac. 4:25; Jos. Ant. vi. 6, 2, ix. 9, 1.

The whole attempt to put Jesus to death was perhaps an instance of the form of punishment which the Jews called the rebels beating, which was somewhat analogous to Lynch Law. The rebels beating was administered by the people, without trial and on the spot, when anyone was caught in what seemed to be a flagrant violation of some law or tradition. Comp. the attempts to stone Jesus (Joh 8:59, Joh 10:31). We have a similar attempt upon S. Pauls life (Act 21:31, Act 21:32). In S. Stephens case a formal trial seems to have ended in the rebels beating (Edersh. The Temple, p. 43).

30. . But He (in contrast to this attempt), after passing through the midst of them, went His way. The addition of is for emphasis, and seems to imply that there was something miraculous in His passing through the very midst of those who were intending to slay Him, and seemed to have Him entirely in their power. They had asked for a miracle, and this was the miracle granted to them. Those who think that it was His determined look or personal majesty which saved Him, have to explain why this did not prevent them from casting Him out of the synagogue.1 It seems better with Mever and ancient commentators to understand a miracle dependent on the will of Jesus: comp. Joh 18:6; Dan 6:22; In. Joh 8:59 is different: then Jesus hid Himself before escaping. For see on 2:15.

. Here used in its common signification of going on towards a goal: He went His way to Capernaum. And, so far as we know, He did not return to Nazareth. It had become a typical example of His own people receiving Him not (Joh 1:11); and apparently it had no other opportunity (but see Edersh. L. & T. 1. ch. xxvii.). If Mar 6:1-6 and Mat 13:53-58 refer to a different occasion, it probably preceded this. After the attempt on His life He would not be likely to return; and, if He did return, they could hardly, after this experience of Him, ask, Whence has this man this wisdom? or be astonished at His teaching.

Meyer (on Mat 13:53), Wieseler (Chron. Syn, iii. 2, Eng. tr. p. 258), Godet (l.c., Eng. tr. i. p. 240), Tischendorf (Synop. Evan. 29, 54), and others distinguish the two occasions. If with Caspari (Chron. Int. 100) we identify them, then Lk. is the more full and vivid, for the others omit the text of the discourse and the attempt to kill Him. In this case Strauss maybe right mi sup)sing that Lk. has placed the incident at the beginning of the ministry, although it took place later, because he saw how typical it was of the ministry as a whole (Leben Jesu, p. 121, 1864). That it was this attempt on His life which made Christ change His abode from Nazareth to Capernaurm is contradicted by ver. 16. Where He had been brought up implies that He had ceased to reside there: and from ver. 23 we infer that Capernaurn had already become His headquarters. Thither His Mother and brethren had also moved, while His sisters remained at Nazareth (Mat 13:56; Mar 6:3), very probably because they had married there.

31-44. The Stay at Capernaum: chiefly a Record of Miracles of Healing. See Wsctt. Characteristics of the Gospel Miracles, Macmillan, 1859; Introduction to the Study of the Gospels, App. E: A Classification of the Gospel Miracles, Macmillan, 1888.

31-37. The Healing of a Demoniac in the Synagogue at Capernaum. Mar 1:21-28. Both Lk. and Mk. place this first among Christs miracles; whereas Mt. puts the healing of a leper first (8:2-4). Marcion began his mutilated edition of Lk. at this point with the words . The earlier portion, which teaches the humanity of Christ, he omitted, excepting the first clause of 3:1 (Tert. Adv. Marc. iv. 7. 1).

31. . Nazareth is on higher ground than Capernaum, which was on the shore of the lake; and therefore went down or came down is the probable meaning. But it is possible that here and Act 18:5 it means returned, as often in class. Grk. (Hdt. iv. 4. 2, v. 30. 4; Thuc. viii. 68, 3). Excepting Jam 3:15, the verb occurs in N.T. only in Lk. (9:37 and twelve times in Acts).

. This is the correct spelling, Caphar-Nahum, of which is a Syrian corruption (WH. ii. App. p. 160). It was the chief Jewish town, as Tiberias was the chief Roman town, of the neighbourhood. It was therefore a good centre, especially as traders from all parts frequently met there (Mar 2:15, Mar 2:3:20, 32, etc.). It is not mentioned in O.T., and perhaps was not founded till after the Exile. Josephus mentions it only once, viz. in his description of the lake (B. J. iii. 10. 7, 8), and then not as a town but as a which irrigates the neighbourhood: but there is no doubt that the to which Josesphus was carried, when he was thrown from his horse in a skirmish with Roman troops, is Capernaurn (Vita, 72). The identification with the modem Tell Hm (Nau, Pococke, Burckhardt, Renan,1 Ritter, Rdiger, Ewald) is possible, but not certain. Many advocate the claims of Khan Minyeh, which is three miles to the south (Quaresmius, Keim, Robinson,Sepp, Stanley, Strauss, Wilson). For the chief arguments see Wilson in D. B.2 i. p. 530, and in Picturesque Palestine, ii. p. 81; Schulz in Herzog, Rev_2 vii. p. 501; Keim,jes,of Naz., Eng. tr. ii. p. 369; Andrews, Life of our Lord, pp. 221-239, ed. 1892. The doubts about the site show how completely the woes pronounced upon the place (Mat 11:23) have been fulfilled. But in any case left the seclusion of the mountains for a busy mercantile centre by the lake.

. Lk. adds this, because this is the first time that he mentions Capernaum in his narrative. The explanation could not be made ver. 23. It is another small indication that he is writing for those who are not familiar with the geography of Palestine: comp. 1:26, 2:4, 8:26.

. Some make vv. 31, 32 a general introduction, stating the habitual practice, of which vv. 33-37 gave a particular instance. In support of this they urge the analytical tense, , and the plur. : He used to teach them on the sabbath days. But in the parallel passage and are equivalent, and apparently refer to one occasion only (note the , Mar 1:22, Mar 1:23): and is often sing. in meaning (Mat 28:1; Col 2:16; Exo 20:10; Lev 22:32; Jos. Ant. i. 1, 1, iii. 6, 6, x. 1, Hor. Sat. i. 9. 69). Act 17:2 is the only place in N.T. in which is plur. in meaning, and there a numeral necessitates it, which, however, may mean for three weeks, and not for three Sabbaths. Syr-Sin. here has the sabbath days.

The Aramaic form of the word ends in a, the transliteration of which into Greek looked like a neut.plur. This idea was confirmed by the fact that Greek festivals am commonly neut. plur.: , , , … Hence may either mean a sabbath or Sabbaths or aweek. Here it is better to retain the sing. meaning, and refer the whole of 32-37 to One occasion. In N.T, is the usual form of the dat. plot., with as v:l. in some authorities (in B twice, Mat 12:1, Mat 12:12), In LXX prevails. Josephus uses both.

32. . This does not refer to the power which His words had over the demoniac, but to the authority with which they came home to the consciences of His hearers. The healing of the demoniac was not so much an example of this as evidence that He had a Divine commission to exercise it Lk. omits the comparison with the formal and ineffectual teaching of the scribes (Mar 1:22, Mar 1:22; Mar 7:29).

The means clothed in, invested with (1:17, 4:36, 11:15, 18, 19, 20, 22:2, 8; 1Co 2:4; Eph 6:2; 2Th 2:9). This use of is freq. in late Grk. Green, Gram. of N.T. p. 206.

33. . In the synagogue in which He was teaching on that sabbath; which confirms the view that ver. 31 refers to a particular occasion. We have already been told that it was His practice to teach in the synagogues. But in the synagogue may mean in the only one which Capernaum. possessed (7:5).

. The phrase is unique, and the exact analysis of it is uncertain. The gen. may be of apposition (2:41, 22:1; Joh 2:21, Joh 11:13, Joh 13:1), or of quality (see on ver. 22), or of possession, i.e. an influence which belonged to an unclean demon (Rev 16:14). As to the Evangelists use of the epithet , strange mistakes have been made. Wordsworth inaccurately says, Both St. Mark and St. Luke, writing for Gentiles, add the word to , which St Matthew, writing to Jews (for whom it was not necessary), never does. Alford in correcting him is himself inaccurate. He says, The real fact is, that St. Mark uses the word thirteen times, and never adds the epithet to it (his word here is only); St. Luke, eighteen times, and only adds it this once. So much for the accuracy of the data on which inferences of this kind are founded. Edersheirn is still more inaccurate in his statement of the facts (L. & T. 1. p. 479 n). Farrar has the strange misstatement that the word unclean is peculiar to St. Luke, who writes fur Gentiles. It occurs in Mt., Paul, and Apoc., as well as Mk. The facts are these. Mt. uses ten times, and has twice as an epithet of . Mk. has thirteen times, eleven times as an epithet of . Lk. in the Gospel has twenty-three times, with as an epithet, once of , and five times of ; and with twice as an epithet of . In the Acts he has once; and uses twice, and four times, as an epithet of . The fact, therefore, remains, that the two Evangelists who wrote for Gentiles (to whom demons or spirits were indifferent) add a distinctive epithet much more often than the one Who wrote for Jews (who distinguished evil spirits from good). Moreover, both Mk. and Lk. add this epithet the very first time that they mention these beings (Mar 1:23; Luk 4:33); whereas Mt. mentions them several times (7:22, 8:16, 9:33, 34) before he adds the (10:1). In this passage Lk. and Mk. describe the fact of possession in opposite ways. Here the man has the unclean spirit. There he is in the unclean spirits power, : with which we may compare the expression of Josephus, (Ant. viii. 2. 5). Similarly, we say of a man that he is out of his mind, or that his mind is gone out of him. That a man thus afflicted should be in the synagogue is surprising. He may have come in unobserved; or his malady may have been dormant so long as to have seemed to be cured. The presence of the Holy One of God provokes a crisis. For comp. Jos 6:5; 1Sa 4:5; and for see on 1:42. D.C.G. art.Demon..

34. . Probably not the imperative of , Let alone, leave me in peace, but an interjection of anger or dismay; common in Attic poetry, but rare in prose (Aesch. P. V. 298, 688; Eur. Hec. 501; P1ato, prot. 314 D). Here only in N.T. Comp. Job 4:19?, 15:16, 19:5, 25:6. Fritzsche on Mar 1:24 (where the word is an interpolation) and L. and S. Lex. regard the imperative as the origin of the interjection, which does not seem probable,

; Not What have we to contend about? a meaning which the phrase has nowhere in N.T. and perhaps only once, if at all, in O.T. (2Ch 35:21), but What have we in common? Comp. 8:28; Mat 8:29. Mat 8:29; Mar 1:24; Joh 2:4; Jdg 11:12; 1Ki 17:18; 2Ki 3:13; 2Sa 16:10; 2Sa_1 Esdr. 1:26; Epict. Diss. i. 1. 16, i. 27, 13, ii. 9. 16.

. This form of the adjective is found 24:19; Mar 1:24, Mar 1:10:47, Mar 1:14:67, Mar 1:16:6; but not in Mt. or Jn. or Acts. Its appearance here is no proof that Lk. is borrowing from Mk. occurs Luk 18:37. Mat 2:23, 26:71; Joh 18:5, Joh 18:7, Joh 18:19:19; Act 2:22, Act 2:3:6, Act 2:4:10, Act 2:6:14, Act 2:22:8, Act 2:26:9; but not in Mk. The adjective, esp. which is used in the title on the cross, sometimes his a tinge of contempt and with the article it may be rendered the Nazarene. Hence the early Christians were contemptuously called the Nazarenes (Act 24:5). Contrast (Mat 21:11; Mar 1:9; Joh 1:46; Act 10:38). which is a mere statement of fact. It is worth noting that this demoniac, who is a Jew, addresses Jews as of Nazareth, which the Gerasene, who was possibly a heathen, does not do (8:28).

; The and the preceding probably do not include the man, but rather other evil spirits. Communem inter se causam habent dmonia. (Beng.). It seems to be e to speculate as to the meaning of : apparently it is the same as (8:31).

, . In Mk. (?), which is more in harmony with and . Godet remarks that explains the knowledge It was instinctive, and therefore is more suitable than . Lantipathie nest pas moinsclairvoyante que la sympathie. In the unique holiness of Jesus the evil spirit felt an essentially hostile power. The expression occurs in the parallel in Mk. and Joh 6:69; but nowhere else: comp. Act 4:27; 1Jn 2:20; Rev 3:7. It may mean either consecrated to God or consecrated by God. In a lower sense priests and Prophets are called or (Psa 106:16). It was not in flattery (male adulans, as Tertullian says) that the evil spirit thus addressed Him, but in horror. From the Holy One he could expect nothing but destruction (Jam 2:19; comp. Mat 8:29).

35. . He rebuked the demon who had used the man as his mouth-piece. The verb is often used of rebuking violence (ver. 41, 8:24, 9:42; Mat 8:26, Mat 8:17:18; Mar 4:39; Jud 1:9); yet must not on that account be rendered restrain(Fritzsche on Mat 8:26, p. 325).

In N.T. has no other meaning than rebuke; but in class. Grk. it means-1. lay a value on, rate; 2. lay a penalty on, sentence; 3. chide, rate, rebuke. But while there is a real connexion between the first and third meanings of the Greek verb, in English we have a mere accident oflanguage:rate = value is a different word from rate = scold. Note that Christ required no faith from demoniacs.

. Lit. Stop thy mouth with a be muzzled: used literally 1Co 9:9; 1Ti 5:18; and as here, Mat 22:12; Mar 1:25, Mar 1:4:39; Jos. B. J. i, 22. 3. The peculiar infin. occurs 1Pe 2:15. Comp. (Heb 7:5); (Mat 13:32; Mar 4:32). The verb is probably a vernacular word: it is not found between Aristoph. (Nub. 592) and LXX (Kennedy, Sources of N.T. Grk. p. 41).

. This is the true reading. Other writers commonly have ; but Lk. prefers (ver. 41, 5:8, 8:2, 29, 33, 35, 38, 9:5, 11:24, etc.).

. Having thrown him down in convulsions ( Mk.) without (as one might have expected) having injured him at all. With we should have had a mere statement of fact. But in N.T. we commonly have with participles: comp. 11:24, 12:47, and see Win. Lev_5. , p. 607. For Mk. has . It was the convulsions and the loud cry which made the spectators suppose that the man had been injured. The malice of the demon made the healing of the man as painful as possible. Hobart Classes both and as medical words, the one being used of convulsions, the latter of injury to the system (Med. Lang. of Lk. p. 2).

36. . Mk. has ; but Lk. is fond of these periphrases with (1:65, 6:49, 8:17, 12:40, 13:2, 4, 18:23, etc.): see on 3:22. The word exrresses amazement akin to terror, and the subst. is peculiar to Lk (5:9; Act 3:10). Just as Christs doctrine amazed them in comparison with the formalism of the scribes, so His authority over demons in comparison with the attempts of the exorcists: all the more so, because a single word sufficed for Him, whereas the exorcists used incantations, charms, and much superstitious ceremonial (Tob. 8:1-3; Jos. Ant. viii. 2. 5; Justin, Apol. ii. 6; Try. lxxxv.)

. Not, Quid hoc rei est? What manner a thinge is this? (Beza, Luth. Tyn. Cran. Grotius), but Quod est hoc verbum ? What is this word? (Vulg. Wic Rhem. RV.). It is doubtful whether in N.T. has the meaning of event, occurrence, dead: but comp. 1:4 and Mar 1:45. Whether is here to be confined to the command given to the demon, or includes the previous teaching (ver, 32), is uncertain. Mar 1:27 is in favour of the latter. In this case we have an ambiguous to deal with; and once more because or for is more probable than that (see on 1:45). But if that be adopted, has the more limited meaning: What is this word that with authority? etc.

. , cui non potest contradici; , cui non potest resisti (Beng.). Mk. has only. The beloved physician is fond of esp. in the sense of inherent power of healing (5:17, 16:19, 8:46, 9:1; Act 3:12, Act 4:7, Act 6:8). Mk. has it only once in this sense (5:30), and Mt. not at all. The plural in the sense of manifestations of power, miracles(10:13, 19:37),is freq. in Mt. and Mk. See on Rom 1:16.

37. . In these sections attention is often directed to the impression which Jesus made on His audiences (vv. 20, 22, 32, 36) 26), and to the fame which spread abroad respecting Him (vv. 14, 15, 37, 40, 5:15, 17). () occurs only here, Act 2:2, and Heb 12:19. In 21:25, may be gen. of either or . But the existence of is doubtful. The more classical word is of which is a later form. Hobart classes it as a medical word, esp. for noises in the ears or the head (p. 64).

As already stated, this healing of a demoniac is recorded by Mk., but not by Mt. Ebrard and Holtzmann would have us believe that it is to compensate for this omission that Mt. gives two demoniacs among the Gadarenes, where Mk. and Lk. have only one.

In considering the question of demoniacal possession we must never lose sight of the indisputable fact, that our sources of information clearly, consistently, and repeatedly represent Christ as healing demoniacs by commanding demons to depart out of the afflicted persons. The Synoptic Gospels uniformly state that Jesus went through the form of casting out demons.

If the demons were there, and Christ expelled them and set their victims free, there is nothing to explain: the narrative is in harmony with the facts.

If the demons were not there, and demoniacal possession is a superstition, we must choose between three hypotheses.

1. Jesus did not employ this method of healing those who were believed to be possessed, but the Evangelists have erroneously attributed it to Him.

2. Jesus did employ this method and went through the form of casting out demons, although He knew that there were no demons there to be cast out.

3. Jesus did employ this method and went through me form of casting out demons, because in this matter He shared the erroneous belief of His contemporaries.

On the whole subject consult articles in D. B.2, Schaff-Herzog, Ency. Brit. on Demoniacs, Demons, Demonology; Trench, Miracles, No. 5; Caldwell, Contemp. Rev. Feb. 1876, vol. 28. PP. 369 ff. No explanation is satisfactory which does not account for the uniform and repeated testimony of the Evangelists.

38, 39. The Healing of Peters Mother-in-law. Mar 1:30.

It is quite beyond doubt that the relationship expressed bye is either wifes mother or husbands mother (12:53; Mat 8:14, Mat 8:10:35; Mar 1:30; Rth 1:14, Rth 1:2:11, Rth 1:18, Rth 1:19, 23; Mic 7:6; Dem. Plut. Lucian). so also is either wifes father or husbands father (Joh 18:13; Gen 38:13, Gen 38:25; Jdg 1:16; 1Sa 4:19, 1Sa 4:21). But for wifes father the more indefinite (a relation by marriage) is freq. in LXX (Exo 3:1, Exo 3:4:18; Num 10:29; Jdg 4:11, Jdg 4:19:4, Jdg 4:7, Jdg 4:9). In Greek there is a distinct term for stepmother, viz. the very common word (Ham. Hes. Hdt. AEsch. Plat. Plut.); and if Lk. had intended to designate the second wife of Peters father, he would have used this term. That he should have ignored a word in common use which would express his meaning, and employ another word which has quite a different meaning, is incredible. That peter was married is clear from 1Co 9:5. Clement of Alexandria says that Peters wife helped him in ministering to women,-an apostolic anticipation of Zenana missions (Strom. iii. 6, p. 536, ed. Potter). He also states that Peter and Philip had children, and that Philip gave his daughters in marriage (ibid. p. 535, ed Potter, quoted Eus. H. E. iii. 30. 1); but he gives no names. It is remarkable that nothing is known of any children of any one Apostle. This is the first mention of Peter by Lk., who treats him as a person too well known to need introduction. For other miracles of mercy on the sabbath see on 14:1.

38. . This may refer to Christs rising from His seat; but it is more natural to understand it of His leaving the synagogue. The verb is used where no sitting of lying is presupposed, and means no more than preparation for departure (1:39, 15:18, 20, 23:1; Act 10:20, Act 22:10): see on 1:39. Mk. has , the plur. including Simon and Andrew, James and John. Neither Lk. nor Mt. mention the presence of disciples, but Peter, and perhaps Andrew, may be understood among those who .

. Perhaps all three words are medical, and certainly occurs three times as often in Lk. as in the rest of N.T. Galen states that fevers were distinguished as great and slight, and (Hobart, p. 3). Comp. Plat. Gorg. 512 A. Note the analytical tense.

39. . Instead of this both Mt. and Mk. state that lie touched her hand. proximus accessus ostendebat, virtuti Jesu cedere morbum, neque ullum corpori ejus a murbo imminere periculum (Beng.). The of ver. 35 does not show that the use of the same word here is meant to imply than the fever is regarded as a personal agent. But comp. 13:11, 10; Mar 9:17, Mar 9:23. The , which is in all three narratives, harmonizes with either view In any case this unusual mode of healing would interest and impress a physician; and Lk.alone notices the suddenness with which her strength returned. For see on 5:25. Syr-Sin.omits the standing over her.

. Mt. has : the includes the disciples and others present. Her being able to minister to them proves the completeness of the cure. Recovery from fever is commonly attended by great weakness. And this seems to be fatal to the view of B. Weiss, that Christs cures were momentary effects produced by His touch, which, although the result was absolutely certain,, yet merely began a healing process that was completed in a perfectly natural way. What is gained by such an hypothesis?

The Attic form of the imperf. of is ; but is the reading of the MSS. in Eur. Cycl. 406 (Veitch, sv.). Comp. 8:3; Mat 4:11, Mat 4:8:15; Mar 1:13, Mar 1:31; Joh 12:2; 1Pe 1:12.

40, 41. Numerous Healings in the Evening. Nous rencontrons ici Un de ces moments dans la vie du Seigneur o la puissance miraculeuse se dployait avec une richesse particulire: 6:19 (Godet, i. p. 339). Comp. Mat 8:16, Mat 8:17; Mar 1:32-34. The healing of the demoniac (ver. 35), and of Peters mother-in-law, had proved that He could heal diseases both of mind and body. All three note the two kinds of healing; but the physician separates the two with special distinctness, and lends no support to the view that possession is merely a physical disorder.

40. . Mt. has while Mk. has , . We infer that here Mk. gives us the whole expression in the original tradition, of which all three make use; and that Mt. uses one half and Lk. the other half of it. See 5:13, 22:34, 23:38, for similar cases. Some infer that Mk. has combined the phrases used by the other two,and therefore must have written last of the three. But an analysis of the passages which all three have in common shows that this is incredible. The literary skill required for combining two narmtives, without adding much new material, would be immense; and Mk. does not possess it. It is much simpler to suppose that Mk. often gives the original tradition in full, and that the other two each give portions of it, and sometimes different portions. See E. A. Abbott, Ency. Brit. 9th ed. art. Gospels, and Abbott and Ushbrooke, The Common Tradition of the Syn. Gosp. p. x.

. When the sun was setting, or ere the sun was set, as the hymn gives it.1 The eagerness of the people was such the very moment the Sabbath was over they began to move the sick: comp. Joh 5:10. Note Lk.s. favourite .

. Lk. alone preserves this graphic detail, which emphasizes the laborious solicitude of the work. Sic singuli penitius commoti sunt ad fidem (Beng.). It does not apply to the demoniacs, who were healed , as Mt. states.

The action is a generally recognized symbol of trammission, especially in conferring a blessing (Gen 48:14; Lev 9:22, Lev 9:23; Mar 10:16). It is also used to symbolize the transmission of guilt (Lev 1:4, Lev 1:3:2, Lev 1:8:14, Lev 1:16:21, 22). The statement that our Lord healed at first by laying on of hands, but gradually passed over to the exclusive use of the word of power, in order that He might not encourage the popular idea that there was a necessary connexion between the laying on of hands and the cure, is not confirmed by Scripture. The noblemans son and the man at Bethesda were healed by a word (Joh 4:50, Joh 5:8); Malchus, by a touch. There was no necessity to use either word or touch. He could heal by an act of will, and at a distance from His person (7:10, 12:14; Joh 4:50). But He more often used means, possibly to aid the faith of those who needed healing (13:13, 14:4, Mat 8:3, Mat 8:9:29; Mar 7:33, Mar 7:8:23, Mar 7:25; Joh 9:6, Joh 9:6: comp. Mar 5:23, Mar 5:28, Mar 5:41, Mar 5:7:32, Mar 5:8:22). The fact that Jesus commonly used some action in healing made the Jews the more irate at His healing on the Sabbath. Excepting Act 17:25, in N.T. is always heal, cure, not merely serve, take care of. Like colere, it is used of service both to God and to men; and like curare, it is both to care for and to, cure. The imperfects, and , mark the continuarice and repetition of the actions.

41. . But demons also (as well as diseases) came out of many. For see on 3:9, and for see on ver. 35: both are characteristic of Lk. He alone mentions the of the demons. There is not much difference between here and in ver. 34. In both cases it is the presence of Divine holiness which is felt and proclaimed. Php 2:10 is here not to the point; for there probably does not mean devils.

, . He suffered them not to speak, because. Not, suffered them not to say that; which would require . In N.T. and are never confused; not even Rom 15:18; 2Co 11:17; 1Th 1:8. Excepting Mat 24:43 and 1Co 10:13, is peculiar to Lk. in N.T. (22:51, Act 14:16, Act 14:16:7, Act 14:19:30, Act 14:23:32, Act 14:27:32, 40, Act 14:28:4); and is the usual form of imperf.

Godets suggestion, that the demons wished to compromise Jesus by exciting a dangerous enthusiasm among the people, or to create a belief that there was a bond of connexion between their work and His, is gratuitous. Their cries are more like involuntary exclamations of dismay. That Jesus should not allow them to make Him known was natural, although Strauss condemns it as inconsistent. Nec tempus erat, nec hi pracones (Beng. on Mar 3:12). It was not meet that unclean demons should usurp the glory of the apostolic office (Cyril Alex.). Jesus had rejected the offered assistance of the evil one in the wilderness, and could not desire to be proclaimed as the Messiah by his ministers. Moreover, while the national ideas respecting the Messiah remained so erroneous, the time for such proclamation had not yet come. Comp. Joh 6:15.

42, 43. The Multitudes Pursuit of Him. Comp. Mar 1:35-39. Although Lk. has some features which Mk. has not, the latters account is more like that of an eye-witness.

42. . See on 6:13. Mk. has the strong expression . It was so early that it was still like night. This shows His anxiety to escape the multitude and secure time for refreshment of His spiritual nature by converse with God: Mk. adds . Jesus had probably passed the night in Simons house; and for Mk has , for as yet Jesus had no fixed disciples. Peter in telling Mk. of the incident would say, We went after Him.

. The multitudes kept seeking for Him. The – marks the direction of the search: comp. (ver. 17). They wanted more of His teaching and of His miraculous cures. See on 11:29. But neither this nor the in ver. 41 proves that there had not been time to heal all who came the previous evening. Would He have sent any empty away? Lk. is fond of recording the eagerness of the people to come to Christ (5:1, 19, 6:19, 8:19, 40, 12:1, 21:38 : Comp. 19:3 and 23:8).

, . They did not leave off seeking until they reached Him, and they tried to stay Him from going away from them.

This use of with a person is not classical: comp. (Act 9:38) and (1 Mac. 3:26). Of place (4:29, 10:15) or of time (23:44) is common enough.

With (imperf, of attempted or intended action) comp. (1:59). The is not Lk.s favourite construction to express purposes or result (see on 1:74), but the gen. after a verb of detention or prevention: comp. Rom 15:22. For the apparently superfluous negative comp. 24:16; Act 10:47, Act 14:18, Act 20:27. Win. 64:4. b, p. 409; 65:2. , p. 755. Blass, Gr. p. 250.

43. . Placed first for emphasis. To the other cities also (as well as to Capernaum) I must preach the good tidings. It is a rebuke to them for wishing to monopolize Him. It is not a rebuke for interrupting His preaching by requiring Him to work miracles. There is no evidence that He ever regarded these works of mercy as an interruption of His ministry, or as an unworthy lowering of it. On the contrary, they were an essential part of it; not as evidence of His Messiahship, but as the natural work of the great Healer of body and soul. They were, moreover, an important element in His teaching, for His miracles were parables. As evidence they did not prove His Messialiship, and He did not greatly value the faith which was produced by them (Joh 2:23, Joh 2:24). He Himself regarded them as merely auxiliary (Joh 14:11). He warned His disciples that false Christs and false prophets would work miracles (Mar 13:22), just as the O.T. had warned the Jews that a Prophet was not to be believed simply because he worked miracles (Deu 13:1-3). And, as a matter of fact, Christs miracles did not convince the Jews (Joh 12:37). Some thought that He was a Prophet (7:16, 9:8, 19; Mat 21:11; Joh 9:17), a view taken even by His disciples after the crucifixion (24:19); while others attributed His miracles to Satanic agency (Mat 12:24). On the other hand, the Baptist, although he wrought no miracles, was thought to be the Messiah (see on 3:15). The saying here recorded does not mean, there fore, You are mistaking My work. I came to preach the good tidings, not to do works of healing: but, You are selfish in your desires. I came to preach the good tidings and to do works of healing to all, and not to a favoured few. For See on 2:10.

. For the second time (2:49) Christ uses this word respecting. His own conduct. Comp. 9:22, 13:33, 17:25, 19:5, 22:37, 24:7, 26, 44. His work and His sufferings are ordered by Divine decree. The word is thus used of Christ throughout N.T. (Act 3:21, Act 3:17:3; 1Co 15:25).

. This is Lk.s first use of this frequent expression (6:20, 7:28, 8:1, 10, etc.), which Jn. employs twice (3:3, 5), Mt. four times (12:28, 19:24, 21:31, 43), Mk. often. For its import see Ewald, Hist. of Israel, vi., Eng. tr. pp. 201-210; Schaffs Herzog, art. Kingdom of God; Edersh. L. & T. 1. pp. 265-270. The refers to the whole of what precedes: For this end, viz. to preach the good tidings everywhere in the land. For this use of comp. 23:48 and Mat 26:50, It is quite classical (Xen. Anab. ii. 5, 22, 7:8, 4). For see on ver. 18. The evidence for it ( B C D L X) as against (A Q R) is overwhelming. Yet Godet says on peut hsiter. It refers to the mission from the Father, as does the of Mk. But it is possible to give the latter the inadequate interpretation of leaving the house at Caperuaum.

44. . This statement forms a conclusion to the section (14-44); and the analytical tense indicates that what is stated continued for some time.

Both Lk. and Mk. have , which in both cases has been altered into the easier . The may be explained as a pregn. constr., He went into the synagogues and preached there or as expressing the motion or direction of the preaching (Mar 4:15; Joh 8:26).Comp. (Thuc. 5:45, 1). It seems probable that the reading ( B C L Q R) is the original one, which has been corrected to (A D X ) on account of its difficulty. But, as in 1:5 and 7:17, Juda may here mean the whole country of the Jews, Palestine. Lk. often uses in this sense (23:5; Act 2:9, Act 2:10:37, Act 2:11:1, Act 2:29, Act 2:26:20; comp. Gal 1:22). Classic writers use the term in much the same manner. Strabo means by it all the region from Lebanon southwards. Syr-Sin. has of Juda..

1 Sympathy with the sinner in his trial does not depend on the experience of sin, but on the experience of the strength of the temptation to sin, which only the sinless can know in its full intensity. He who falls yields before the last strain (Wsctt. on Heb 2:18). See Neander, L. J. C. 46, 47, PP. 77, 78.

1 Le baptme et la tentation se succdent lun lautre dans la ralit de lhistoire, comme dans le rcit des Evanglistes. Ces deux faits insparables, qui sciairent en sopposant dans un contraste uigoreux, sont le urai prlude de la vie du Christ. Lun est la manifestation de l Esprit de Dieu, lautre, celle de lesprit du mal; lun nous montre la filiation divine de Jsus, lautre, sa nature humaine uoue la lutte et lpreuve; lun nous rule la force infinie avec laquelle il agira, lautre, lobstacle quil saura renverser; lun nous enseigne sa intime, lautre, la loi de son action (Didon, p. 225).

RV. Revised Version.

AV. Authorized Version.

Trench, Trench, New Testament Synonyms.

1 The fasts of Moses and Elijah were of similar duration (Deu 9:9; Deu_1 K. 19:8). The number forty in Scripture is connected with suffering. The Deluge lasted forty days and nights (Gen 7:4, Gen 7:12). The Israelites wandered for forty years (Num 14:33, Num 32:13). Egypt is to lie waste forty years (Eze 29:11). Ezekiel is to bear the iniquity of the house of Judah (i.e. the penalty for that iniquity) forty days, each day representing a year (4:6). Offenders received forty stripes as a maximum (Deu 25:3). A mother was unclean for forty days after childbirth (Lev 12:1-4). Perhaps we are to understand that the fast of the Ninevites lasted forty days.

1 Dubitavit de illo demonum princeps, eumque tentavit, an Christus esset explorans (De civ. Del, 9:21)

2 Latham, Pastor Pastorum, p. 113.

Win. Winer, Grammar of N.T. Greek (the page refers to Moultons edition).

1 Trench quotes from Ambrose: Non enim quasi Deus utitur potestare (quid enim mihi proderat), sed quasi homo commune sibi arcessit auxilium.

A A. Cod. Alexandrinus, sc. v. Once in the Patriarchal Library at Alexandria; sent by Cyril Lucar as a present to Charles 1. in 1628, and now in the British Museum. Complete.

D D. Cod. Bezae, sc. vi. Given by Beza to the University Library at Cambridge 1581. Greek and Latin. Contains the whole Gospel.

2 It is worth noting that A. V., which follows those texts that insert , in ver. 8, renders the words Get rhee behind Me, Satan. there, and Get rhee hence, Satan in Mt.

Jos. Josephus.

Wsctt. Westcott.

Beng. Bengel.

1 In this connexion a remark of Pre Didon is worth quoting. Of the traditional scene of the Temptation he says that there Christ avait sous les yeux ce chemin de jricho Jrusalem qil devait suivre, un iour, avec ses discibles, pour alley la mort (Jsus Christ Ch. iii. p. 209).

Eus. Eusebius of Csarea

1 See Edersh. L. & T. 1. p. 304; Latham, Pastor Pastorum, p.140.

WH. Westcott and Hort.

1 On synagogues see Edersh. L. & T. 1. pp. 430-450, Hist. of Jewish Nation, pp. 100-129, ed. 1896; Schrer, Jewish People in the T. of J.C. ii. 2, pp. 52-89; Hausrath, N. T. Times, 1. PP. 84-93; Plumptre in D.B.; Leyrer in Herzog, Pro_1; Strack in Herzog, Pro_2; and other authorities in Schrer.

1 We have no right to infer from this incident that the Hebrew Bible could still be understood by the people. Nothing is said about interpretation; but we cannot assume that it did not take place. Mar 15:34 is evidence of some knowledge of O.T. in Aramaic. See Classical Review, May 1894, p, 216,against Kautzsch, Grammatik des biblishen Aramaischen, p. 19.

2 Comp. (Philo, De Septenario, 6, ). See also the fragments a Philo in Eus. Prp Evang. 8:7, 12, 13, and 8:12:10 ed.Gaisford. These three passages give us Philos account of the Synagogus services.

Cod. Sinaiticus, sc. iv. Brought by Tischendorf from the Convent of St. Catherine on Mt. Sinai; now at St. Petersburg. Contains the whole Gospel complete.

B B. Cod. Vaticanus, sc. 4. In the Vatican Library certainly since 15331 (Batiffol, La Vaticane de Paul 3, etc., p. 86).

L L. Cod. Regius Parisiensis, sc. viii. National Library at Paris. Contains the whole Gospel.

1 Scrivener, int. to Crit. of N.T. 1. pp. 12, 13, 4th ed. The evidence against the clause here (in A Q of LXX ) is decisive. Itisomitted by B D L , 13-69, 33, most MSS. Of Lat. Vet. and best MSS, of Vulg., most MSS. of Bob. Aeth. Arm. Syr-Sin., Orig. Eus. etc., all the best editors and RV. See Sanday, App. ad N.T. p. 117.

Vulg. Vulgate.

1 On be uncertainty respecting the length of the ministry, and the contures respecting it made by early Christians, see Iren. Hr. 2:22; Eus. H.E. 1:10; Sanday in the Expositor, Ist series, 11. p. 16.

1 Jesus acknowledged the Old Testament in its full extent and its perfect sacredness. The Scripture cannot be broken, He says (Joh 10:35), and forthwith draws His argument from the wording of it. Of course He can only have meant by this the Scripture in the form in which it was handed down, and He must have regarded it exactly as His age did (comp. 11:51). Any kind of superior knowledge in these matters would merely have made Him incapable of placing Himself on a level with His hearers respecting the use of Scripture, or would have compelled Him to employ a far-reaching accommodation, the very idea of which involves internal untruthfulness. All, therefore, that is narrated in Scripture He accepted absolutely as actual history, and He regarded the several books as composed by the men to whom they were ascribed by tradition (B. Weiss, Leben Jesu, 1:3, 5, En g. tr. 2. pp. 62, 63).

1 Comp. Augustines descreption of his indifference to the preaching of Amborse,although charmed with his winning style: Rerum incuriosus et contemptor adstabam et delectabar suavitate sermonis (In Eze 33:32).

V. de J. Vie de Jsus.

Crem. Cremer, Lexicon of New Testament Greek.

Wetst. Wetstein.

Alf. Alford.

Cov. Coverdale.

L. and S. Liddell and Scott, Lexicon.

Sin. Sinaitic.

1 Even Godet is among these. La majestg de sa personae et la farmete de sa personne et la fermetdeson regard imposerent fes ses furieux. Lhistorieracante plusieurs traits semblables (i. p. 327, 3me ed.). Better Didon : Une force divine le gardait (p. 312, ed. 1891).See Hase, Gesch. Jesu, p. 445, ed. 1891.

Edersh. Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.

Tert. Tertullian.

1 Of the cinq petites villes dont l humanit parlera eternellementt autant que de Rome et d Athnes, Renan considers the identification of Magala (Medjdel) alone as certain. Of Caphamahum, Chorazin, Dalmanutha, and Bethsaida he says, Il est douteux quon arrive jamais sur ce sol profondement dvast, fixerles places o I humanit voudrait venir baiser l empreinte de ses pieds (Vie de Jsus, p.142,ed.1863).

D. B. Smiths Dictionary of the Bible, 2nd edition.

Syr Syriac.

Luth. Luther.

Tyn. Tyndale.

Rhem. Rheims (or Douay).

1 The form to be Ionic, but occurs once or twice in Attic prose (Veitch, s.v.). Except or in Mar 1:32, the word does not occur again in N.T. It is freq. in LXX (Jdg 14:18; 2Sa 2:24; 1Ki 22:36; 2Ch 18:34, etc.). It means sink into, enter, or the like being expressed or understood. Lk, never uses the unclassical (9:12, 22:14, 23:54, 24:29),which occurs often in Mt. and Mk. and twice in Jn.

C. Cod. Ephraemi Rescriptus, sc. 5. In the National Library at Paris. Contains the following portions of the Gospel: 1:2-2:5, 2:42-3:21, 4:25-6:4, 6:37-7:16, or 17, 8:28-12:3, 19:42-20:27, 21:21-22:19, 23:25-24:7, 24:46-53.

These four MSS. are parts of what were once complete Bibles, and are designated by the same letter throughout the LXX and N.T.

X X. Cod. Monacensis, sc. ix. In the University Library at Munich. Contains 1:1-37, 2:19-3:38, 4:21-10:37, 11:1-18:43, 20:46-24:53.

R R. Cod. Nitriensis Rescriptus, sc. 8. Brought from a convent in the Nitrian desert about 1847, and now in the British Museum. Contains 1:1-13, 1:69-2:4, 16-27, 4:38-5:5, 5:25-6:8, 18-36, 39, 6:49-7:22, 44, 46, 47, 8:5-15, 8:25-9:1, 12-43, 10:3-16, 11:5-27, 12:4-15, 40-52, 13:26-14:1, 14:12-15:1, 15:13-16:16, 17:21-18:10, 18:22-20:20, 20:33-47, 21:12-22:15, 42-56, 22:71-23:11, 38-51. By a second hand 15:19-21.

. Cod. Sangallensis, sc. ix. In the monastery of St. Gall in Switzerland. Greek and Latin. Contains the whole Gospel.

Fuente: International Critical Commentary New Testament

the Threefold Temptation

Luk 4:1-13

As the waters of Jordan bisect the Holy Land, so does our Lords baptism bisect His holy life. In that act He had identified Himself with the worlds sin; and now, as the High Priest who was to deal with sin and sinners, He must be in all points tempted and tested like as we are.

He took into the wilderness a perfect humanity of flesh and blood, made in all points like His brethren, though without sin. He elected to fight His great fight, not by the use of the divine attributes, but as Son of man. Where the first Adam fell, the second must stand.

First, He could not use His native power for His own gratification. Second, He would abide strictly within the limitations of the world He had entered, Heb 2:16-17. Third, He would win His kingdom by the Cross.

Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary

The Temptation Of Jesus — Luk 4:1-13

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days He did not eat anything: and when they were ended, He afterward hungered. And the devil said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. And the devil, taking Him up into an high mountain, showed unto Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto Him, All this power will I give Thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will give it. If Thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be Thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind Me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve. And he brought Him to Jerusalem, and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee: and in their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest at any time Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from Him for a season- Luk 4:1-13.

We have two separate accounts of the temptation of our Lord Jesus in the New Testament, Matthew and Luke both relating His experiences at that time. It has often been noticed that the order of the tests is not the same in each of these Gospels. This does not, however, imply any contradiction, but simply that in the one Gospel, Luke, we evidently have the moral order of the temptations, and in Matthew the historical. We are told that our blessed Lord was tempted in all points like as we are, apart from sin. Actually there are only three points on which anyone can be tempted. All temptation appeals either to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, or the pride of life. That is, there is the fleshly, the aesthetic, and the spiritual or intellectual temptation. It was in this way that Eve was tempted in the garden of Eden, and she capitulated on all points. She saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food; that was an appeal to the flesh: that it was pleasant to the eye; that was an aesthetic appeal: then that it was to be desired to make one wise; this, of course, was an appeal to spiritual pride. Our Lord resisted on every point and so demonstrated the fact that He was the sinless One.

He was born into the world as the holy One, and holiness repels evil. In Adam unfallen, we see humanity innocent; when fallen, humanity sinful. In our Lord Jesus Christ we have humanity holy. The question is often asked, Could our Lord have sinned? If not, why the temptation, and what was the virtue in His standing? The answer is clearly this: He was not tempted to find out if He could sin, but to prove that He was the sinless One. It was like the acid test for the gold, which demonstrates the purity of the metal. We need to remember that the Lord Jesus was God and Man in one Person. He was not two persons in one body. It is unthinkable that he could sin so far as Deity is concerned. God cannot be tempted with sin. Had He been only a man He might have been put on trial like Adam and failed. But because He was God and Man in one Person He could not sin. There was, of course, in Him no evil nature, but there was none in Adam before he yielded. If our Lord had inherited fallen human nature, if there had been in Him any tendency to sin, He would have needed a Saviour Himself. Because He was the absolutely sinless One He could offer Himself a ransom for our souls and so bring fallen humanity back to God.

We are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews that He suffered being tempted. On the other hand, Peter tells us, He that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin. These two passages bring out most vividly the difference between Christ and us. We suffer by resisting temptation and so are enabled to cease from sin, but temptation caused Him the keenest suffering. As the holy One He could not endure this contact with Satanic suggestion without suffering inward distress.

We are told that Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit, returned from Jordan; and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. This in itself is most suggestive. Acknowledged by the Father as His beloved Son in whom He had found all His delight, sealed by the Holy Spirit and thus marked out as the Messiah, the Anointed of Jehovah, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness of Quarantana, according to accepted tradition, in order that, through the temptation, it might be demonstrated that He was in very truth the holy One, who was thus suited to offer Himself a sacrifice on behalf of those who are unholy.

Standing in the ruins of the recently uncovered city of Jericho and looking up upon the bare, desolate mount of Quarantana, in the wilderness of Judaea, my own heart was deeply stirred some years ago, as I thought of my blessed Lord spending forty days there with the wild beasts of the wilderness and without food. What a contrast to Adam the First, who was placed in a garden of delight, with every creature subject to his will and provided with everything needful to sustain and strengthen him physically! Jesus stood every test, fasting in a wilderness among the wild beasts because He, the Last Adam, the Second Man, was Gods blessed, Eternal Son become flesh for our redemption.

We are told definitely that He was forty days tempted of the devil. Let me emphasize that. There are those today who deny the personality of the devil. They say that all the devil there is, is the evil of a mans own heart, his own wicked desires, his own evil thoughts. In one great religious system, which has been taken up by multitudes, the teaching is current that if you just cut the letter D out of the word Devil you will find what that word really represents. The devil is simply the personification of evil. Actually, they tell us, there is no personal devil. Have you ever thought what that implies? First of all, it implies this: all the wickedness, all the vile iniquity, all the abominable filth and the dreadful corruption that have characterized the most vicious men and women during the millenniums of history have come from their own hearts without any tempting spirit to incite to these excesses. That is the worst indictment of the human race that anyone ever dreamed of bringing against mankind: It implies that mans heart, in itself, is so utterly evil that it needs no outside incentive to produce the unbelievable vileness which has polluted the pages of human history. Surely, no stern, hyper-Calvinist of Reformation days ever brought as strong an indictment against humanity as that! And yet, because error is never consistent, the very people who teach this tell us that all men are children of God by natural birth, and deny the necessity of redemption and of regeneration!

But then there is more than this to be considered. The denial of the personality of the devil is positive blasphemy against our Lord Jesus Christ. Here we are told that He was led into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Dare we say that this means He was to be tempted by His own evil thoughts, by the wickedness of His own heart? We have already seen that there was no wickedness there. He was the pure and sinless One. Yet He was tempted of the devil. He Himself tells us elsewhere that the devil abode not in the truth, that he is a liar from the beginning, a murderer, and that there is no truth in him. Note these personal pronouns. Our Lord Jesus recognized in Satan a sinister personality, the foe of God and man.

The question may be asked, Why, then, did God create such an evil being? Why did He ever bring a devil into existence? He did not create him as an evil spirit but as a pure and innocent angel. He abode not in the truth. Like all the other angels, he was created in innocence, but temptation came, the temptation to exalt himself, and so he fell and became the enemy of God and man. His judgment has already been declared, but before it is carried out God has chosen to permit him a certain measure of power and liberty in order that men may be tested to find out whether they prefer Satans service or whether to live in loving devotion to the God who created them. You may take your choice, but if you choose Satan as your master here you must share his doom for eternity, for hell was prepared for the devil and his angels, that is, his messengers.

Now notice the order of the temptations as here given. Satan came to Jesus when He was hungry, when physically He was weakest. This was the opportunity to present to Him the appeal to the lust of the flesh, if there had been anything in Him contrary to the holiness of the Godhead. So the devil said to Him, If Thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. To have yielded would have been to accept a suggestion from Satan and thus to take Himself out of the hand of God. There was not the slightest tendency to do this. Jesus met the tempter with Scripture, saying, Man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live. There is something more important than bread to sustain the body, and that is the Word that sustains the spirit. So the Lord Jesus repudiated the suggestion of the devil. He had no word from the Father commanding Him to change stones into bread. He would not put forth such power in obedience to Satan.

Alas, how often have we who profess His name failed in similar circumstances. We have reached the place of grave extremity in some experience of life. Satan presents an opportunity to prosper through doing something that is a little bit off-color and that is not quite in keeping with the full Christian profession. How many a child of God has failed right there and has allowed himself to take up with something which even the world recognizes as shady or crooked, in order that he might procure more of the bread that perishes, only to find out at last that he breaks his teeth upon the very stones which he attempted thus to change into food. That is not Gods way. He does not call upon His people to make bread out of stones. He feeds us both naturally and spiritually as we labor day by day for that which is for our blessing. There is something more important than bread, and that is to do the will of God.

The second temptation was the attempted appeal to the lust of the eye. From a great and high mountain in marvelous vision Jesus looks over the whole world. Satan shows Him all the kingdoms of the earth in a moment of time. He declares that all this belongs to him; he is the god of the world; he is its prince; men have surrendered it to him, and he says, To whomsoever I will give it. If Thou wilt therefore worship me all shall be Thine. It was the offer of the kingdom without the cross; but there was no inward response on the part of the Saviour. He had come into the world not only to rule as King, but first to give His life a ransom for many, and Satans suggestion make no impression upon Him whatever. He replies, Get thee behind Me, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. He recognizes at once who the tempter is, calls him by name, spurns his suggestion and again triumphs through the Word.

The day will yet come when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and His Christ. In that day Satan himself will have to acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. All created intelligencies will prostrate themselves before Him, even though many of them will do it with weeping and gnashing of teeth because of the rebellion of their hearts.

The third test was an endeavor to appeal to the pride of the natural heart, something of which our blessed Lord knew nothing. He could ever say, I am meek and lowly in heart. We are told that Satan brought Him to Jerusalem and set Him on a pinnacle of the temple and said unto Him, If Thou be the Son of God cast Thyself down from hence. Impudently he quoted Scripture, a portion of the Ninety-first Psalm, as an assurance that if our blessed Lord did this He would be held up by angel hands and would not suffer death. Cunningly he omitted the most important part of the passage.

Try to imagine just what was here suggested. Think of a great throng of people gathered in the temple courts, and our Lord looking down upon that worshipping multitude from one of the highest heights of that noble building. Remember He has come to present Himself as the Messiah of Israel. Now Satan pretends to co-operate with Him and suggests: Here is your opportunity to prove to the people that you are really the Son of God and their promised Messiah. Leap off the pinnacle of the temple: let them see you being sustained in midair by angelic hands. Then they will know that you are what you profess to be. It did indeed seem from a natural standpoint to offer a remarkable occasion for the Lord to demonstrate His Messiah-ship. Notice exactly how Satan misquoted Scripture to back up his suggestion. He said, It is written, He shall give His angels charge over Thee, to keep Thee, and in their hands they shall bear Thee up lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Our Saviour recognized the misquotation at once and saw through the Satanic suggestion as an appeal to spiritual pride. The devil said, as it were, I am only asking you to do what Scripture warrants: leap from the pinnacle of the temple and count upon God to fulfil His own Word and to protect you from harm. But if we turn back to the Ninety-first Psalm we will find the passage actually says, He shall give His angels charge over Thee to keep Thee in all Thy ways. These last four words Satan cunningly omitted. It could never be part of the holy ways of the Son of God to try to put His Father to the test in such a manner as that suggested by Satan. Jesus, however, did not argue the question with the devil. He just met him with another saying of God. He answered, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. That is, it is never right to do anything just in order to see whether God will keep His Word or not. It is never necessary to do that. He can always be depended on to do as He has said. Had it been part of the ways of the Son of God as planned by the Father that He should leap from the pinnacle of the temple and be supported by angelic hands, Jesus would not have needed to get instruction from Satan. He came to do the Fathers will, and in doing that will He could always depend on the Fathers sustaining power.

As an illustration of tempting God, let me refer to some strange things that have taken place recently in our Southern Mountains. There is a sect of fanatical people down there who have sought to test God on a promise given by the Lord to His apostles that they should be able to tread upon serpents, and that the bite of a serpent would not harm them. So in weird meetings conducted by these ignorant people, many of whom could not read or write, the teaching was given out that if one was really a Christian the bite of a rattlesnake could not hurt him, as God had promised protection. A number of instances have occurred wherein live rattlesnakes were brought into the meetings and certain leaders actually permitted these writhing reptiles to bite them, and hoped thereby to demonstrate their invulnerability to serpent poison. Several died because of it, others suffered terribly, but were eventually freed of the poison through proper treatment. The Government had to interfere because of the folly of this sect. It was all a matter of trying to put God to a test, and, of course, God would not respond to anything of the kind.

But now contrast with this that which happened to the apostle Paul on the island of Melita. As the shipwrecked sailors were warming themselves around a fire, there came out a viper and fastened itself upon Pauls arm. The people expected him to fall down dead, but he threw the reptile off into the fire and was himself unharmed. God kept His Word, but Paul did not attempt to put Him to a test.

And so in our Lords temptation in the wilderness, Satan endeavored to trap Him on every point, but He proved Himself to be the holy One in whom was no inward desire to yield to any other direction than that given Him by the Father. Satan failed to make any impression whatever on the Son of God, and then we read, He departed from Him for a season. He returned again from time to time and sought through enraged and fanatical unbelievers to put Him to death before the cross, and in Gethsemane, and again when our Saviour was actually nailed to the cross, Satan sought once more to thwart the purpose of God, only to be defeated each time.

The great lesson for us is that our Lord Jesus, who was tempted in all points like as we are, apart from sin, lives in the glory today and is able to exert His mighty power on our behalf and to succor us when we are tempted. Whatever the trial or test we may have to face, let us remember that He stands ready to come to our relief, to give to us strength through the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may resist temptation and not dishonor our God and Father through our failures.

Fuente: Commentaries on the New Testament and Prophets

Luk 4:1-2

Victory over the Besetting Sin.

Our Lord, in defeating Satan’s temptations, taught us also how to overcome them: (1) by answering Satan at once; (2) by not vouchsafing to enter into his subtleties; (3) our Lord teaches us that there is an order in Satan’s temptations.

I. If thou canst not find out thy chief fault, apply thyself to any bad one. It is better to gather thyself to an earnest conflict with almost any one, than to lose thy time in debating which to grapple with. Whilst thou art engaged in earnest about one God will disclose to thee others. In this warfare there are some rules, alike for all sins; some special to each; some, which relate to self-knowledge; some, how to be on our guard; some, to help our repentance; some, whereby we may gain strength to fight. (1) It is of the very greatest moment to know the occasions of our sin, and the way in which it shows itself. To know the occasions, puts us on our guard to know how our sin shows itself, gives us the means of stopping it. (2) Even in graver sins, it is very needful to observe whether the temptation begins from within or from without. (3) We should try not only to abstain from sin, but also by God’s help to gain the opposite grace. If thou wouldest save thyself from falling backward, thou shouldest throw thyself forward. If thou wouldest not slip back into sin, thou must stretch forward to Christ and His holiness.

II. Look next at the method of this warfare. This is a practice by which some have in a few months gained more than in years before. First go into thyself; ask of God light to see thyself, bear to know thyself, and to know well what thy sins are; and resolve firmly by thy Saviour’s help to part with them, rather than with Him. Pray to persevere, and all the rest will be easier. Thinkest thou that it will be toilsome to thee, so day by day to remove every speck of sin? What is it, then, which it is so wearisome to cleanse? Is it something which concerns thee not, something for a time only, something for another? Truly it is for Another too. For it is for the All-Holy Trinity. It is that thine own soul, thine own self, thy very inmost self, may be enlarged to contain God and the love of God, that thy senses may desire nothing but what they have in that blessed-making sight of God, and have what overwhelms all their desire, to be blessed in His bliss, wise in His wisdom, good in His goodness, joyous in His joy, full of God, yet stretching forth to God; all thine which is God’s, save His infinity, and that will be for thee too, for thou canst never reach the bounds of His perfections and His goodness.

E. B. Pusey, Selected Occasional Sermons, p. 93.

Reference: Luk 4:1, Luk 4:2.-G. Huntington, Sermons for Holy Seasons, p. 129.

Luk 4:1-13

“Tempted like as we are.”.

The temptation, as is evident from the language employed, was in some way connected with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon our Lord; and we are thus taught that God, for their own and others’ good, may lead His people through trial. It behoved Jesus to be made like unto His brethren, therefore He was led up into the wilderness; and while it had a bearing on them, it was no less an advantage to Him, for it furnished Him at the outset of His public ministry with a kind of intensified specimen of the difficulties that lay before Him.

I. The tempter makes an appeal to appetite. It is here that temptation first and most strongly besets a youth. From the mysterious connection between the body and the soul, there are certain appetites created within us which, in themselves considered, are not sinful-on the contrary, they are implanted there for useful, nay, for God-glorifying purposes; but Satan comes, and will persuade the young to gratify them in a sinful manner. That you may know how to resist such assaults, see here how Jesus bore Himself when Satan besought Him to gratify His hunger in a forbidden way; He said, “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” That is to say, life does not consist in eating and drinking and enjoyment; life is not the gratification of the body in any shape, but the obedience of the soul to God.

II. The second appeal was made to ambition; and the same insidious temptation is, in one form or other, repeated in the case of every man; and for the most part in the commencement of his career he has to fight the battle, or to yield himself a captive. God’s way to honour and power and wealth is still steep and arduous and rugged; and the lesson we must learn is to avoid the devil’s short cuts, and to make the words of our Lord the motto of our lives: “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.”

III. The last onset on our Lord made an appeal to His faith; and it too was as insidious as the rest. Jesus had already repelled him by expressing His confidence in God and allegiance to His Father, and to that very principle the tempter addresses himself now; as if he had said, “Dost thou trust God? Come and I will place Thee in circumstances such as will make manifest to all His guardian care of Thee.” Jesus answered, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” We are not warranted to place ourselves in circumstances such as shall tempt the Lord. If we are in danger in God’s service, we may rely that He will be with us. But we have no right to imagine that He will suspend the law of gravitation, whenever we choose to leap over a precipice; or that He will suspend the spiritual laws which regulate the actions of our souls, whenever we put ourselves into the way of temptation.

W. M. Taylor, Life Truths, p. 147.

References: Luk 4:1-13.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 58; Expositor, 1st series, vol. iii., p. 321. Luk 4:1-15.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., 355; J. J. Murphy, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. iv., p. 312. Luk 4:1-33.-F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 49. Luk 4:3.-W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, p. 1.

Luk 4:4

Christian Fasting.

I. There is a kind of fasting which can be nothing but good for us to practise. Self-denial relates to something which belongs to ourselves, but yet is not our highest property; and this especially applies to our pleasure in bodily enjoyments. This pleasure is really natural, but it does not belong to our highest nature, and it is apt to overgrow that higher nature if not restrained. This restraining it is, then, the exact business of what we call self-denial. Now it is the manifest effect of self-denial thus understood to increase the pleasures of the higher part of our nature. We know that along with restraint of one kind of pleasure there comes the enjoyment of a pleasure of another sort-the pleasure of feeling that, so far as that one action goes, Christ approves of us; that we are so far the children of God, and at peace with God. I speak of this pleasure quite confidently, as of a thing which all understand, and feel to be more delightful than any other. He who never denies himself, never allows himself to feel it; he knows not what it is, and does not believe in its delightfulness.

II. Only observe that this highest pleasure only comes when we deny ourselves really on right motives. If anyone denies himself any indulgence for the sake of gaining credit for it from men, there cannot be in him that delightful sense of being approved of by God, and having so far followed Christ; because he knows that God does not approve such a motive, nor is he following Christ when acting upon it. So it was said in the Epistle of this day, that a man might give all his goods to feed the poor, and yet be without charity. He could not give away so largely without in some sense denying himself; he must cut off some of his pleasures by doing it; but if he does it for the sake of gaining credit for his liberality, he cannot gain that highest pleasure of which I have spoken-the pleasure of having pleased God, and therefore being loved by Him.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 90.

The Art of Conversation.

Could man be happy without speech, living like the animals in a kind of innocence, but deprived of any higher thought, or communion with his fellows? There have been philosophers who wanted to bring him back to a state of nature, who would deprive him of all philosophy and of all religion, who would have him give up the hardly won inheritance of ages in the hope that he might be without evil and without good. Such prophets of evil should begin, if this were possible, by taking from him language. Human speech is a Divine gift; the more we consider it the more wonderful and mysterious does it appear. We must not lose or impair this glorious inheritance. Consider what is needed to give conversation its true and nobler character.

I. First there is kindness. He is twice blessed who says a pleasing or a soothing word to the aged or stupid, to those who are troubled by some false shame, or who from inexperience feel themselves at a loss in society; for kindness has a wonderful power of transmuting and converting human beings, and if a man, instead of always in thought coming round to himself, were always getting away from himself, he would attain to great freedom and enjoyment of society.

II. A second element in a happy and healthy state of society is sincerity, and mutual confidence which is given by it. We want to be able to trust the society in which we habitually live. In speaking of persons we should be on our guard against many faults which easily beset us; against petty jealousy, or popular envy of the great which hears, not altogether displeased, of something to their disadvantage. “I said I will take heed unto my ways, that I offend not with my tongue.”

III. A third element may be described as an elevation above the lower interests of life. How is this higher tone to be attained? No definite answer can be given to this question, for superiority of manners must, for the most part, spring from superiority of character. Yet a few illustrations may realise to us what is meant? Why has one man weight and authority, and another not? Why does a single person so often exert such a spell or charm over a whole company? These are questions which it is instructive to ask, and everyone must answer them for himself, and in the answer to them he may perhaps find an antidote to his own weakness, or vanity, or unreality, or self-consciousness.

B. Jowett, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xv., p. 376.

References: Luk 4:4.-Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 337; G. Brooks, Five Hundred Outlines, p. 61. Luk 4:5.-G. Matheson, Moments on the Mount, p. 23. Luk 4:5, Luk 4:6.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xix., No. 1132. Luk 4:5-8.-A. Blomfield, Sermons in Town and Country, p. 72; W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, p. 16. Luk 4:6.-W. G. Horder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xix., p. 243.

Luk 4:7

I. When Jesus was offered the kingdoms of the world in return for an almost trivial act of homage, in His mind the proposal would assume the aspect of an expedient for advancing His kingdom, with the policies and prudences and compromises of this world; an expedient which must have been as fatal to the kingdom of the Gospel as any monstrous coalition between good and evil, between life and death. For surely we must look for something more considerable, as lying behind, and signified by that momentary act of homage to which the Saviour was invited; we can hardly contemplate a ceremonial and bodily prostration as being the first and last of what was proposed. By falling down and worshipping the spirit of the world I understand, lowering the ideal of Christ’s intended kingdom, and enlisting in its favour, and employing as agents in its extension and maintenance, the passions, the appetencies, and ambitions which might without harshness or ambition be included in the word “worldly-mindedness.”

II. Our Lord does not hesitate in His answer. He replies, “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” Thou shalt make Him no more co-ordinate than subordinate with any other object of worship. The Gospel of grace shall either triumph in all its purity over the sin that is in the world, or in all its purity it shall retire from the conflict, and regain its native heaven. It shall contract no contamination from an alliance with sin, or by a coalition with anything that deserves the name of worldliness. Might we but in every temptation to compromise the interests of truth and love, those two pillars on which leans the temple of Christ within the heart of man, remember that any arrangement, any compromise, any friendly understanding between the spiritual and the anti-spiritual is a dishonour to the Spirit. It is letting an enemy with many comrades into the fortress in the disguise and under the pretext of friendship, who will not be long before he does the work of a traitor upon the garrison who have been so disloyal to their King as to invite his alliance.

W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 262.

Luk 4:9

I. The spirit of temptation here presents himself in the character and with the accents and demeanour of an ally who desires nothing so ardently as the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom in its integrity, and is ready with a proposal to accelerate, nay, precipitate its inauguration, and to insure its unanimous reception by mankind. Here at Jerusalem let the Son of Man perform a wonder that shall at once compel the homage of mankind from the topmost pinnacle of the Temple, which from the loftiest escarpment of the city climbs sheer up into the sky; let Him launch Himself into the air, let Him plunge down to the very bottom of the abyss of the ravine of Jehoshaphat. Then let him alight unharmed. Would not this be a suitable, a proportionate, an appropriate, an effective inauguration of the kingdom of Christ upon earth? We ask

II. Was the Saviour’s mission of such a kind that an abrupt act of conspicuousness and of power would be likely to promote it? Is it conceivable, in short, that there was the smallest taint of ambition in the project of the Saviour? If so, then the expedient suggested by the evil one might have had some affinity with such a purpose. But if his purpose were something at the farthest possible distance from all this; if it were to give a new commandment to mankind, namely, that they should love one another; if his purpose were one which required a far longer time for its disclosure and development than the exhibition of a prodigy, it was indispensable that he should drain the cup of affliction to the dregs, and so step by step ascend to the culmination of suffering upon the Cross; and then, and not till then, and by this gate of tribulation, but by none easier and none other, enter finally into an exceeding glory. This was the prodigy, this was the portent, this was the self-manifestation that Messiah was predestined to achieve before the sons of men. The Saviour is come to gain mankind, not by His power but by His love. He is come, not to claim the surrender of conscience and intelligence, not to substitute arbitrary rule for inward convictions of duty. To have exposed the Gospel to such influences at its outset would have been, as Satan knew, to ensure its extinction; it would have been asking tyranny to be the nurse of freedom; it would have been inviting falsehood to be the guardian of truth; it would have been hiring death to rock the cradle of intellectual and spiritual life.

W. H. Brookfield, Sermons, p. 275.

References: Luk 4:9-12.-W. C. E. Newbolt, Counsels of Faith and Practice, p. 32. Luk 4:14, Luk 4:15.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 67. Luk 4:14-17.-Homiletic Magazine, vol. xiii., p. 73. Luk 4:14-32.-Expositor, 1st series, vol. iv., p. 430. Luk 4:16.-Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 401; E. Paxton Hood, Preacher’s Lantern, vol. iii., p. 720; J. Martineau, Hours of Thought, vol. ii., p. 1; H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 60. Luk 4:16-31.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 122. Luk 4:16-32.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 131. Luk 4:17, Luk 4:18.-H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxiv., p. 19. Luk 4:17-21.-Ibid., vol. vii., p. 358.

Luk 4:18

I. These words describe the part of our Lord’s work which was not to be confined to His own personal agency; and this invites us to consider that other parts of His work were to be confined to His own personal agency. This is so; the work of a perfect righteousness wrought by man in absolute conformity to all the requirements of the law of God, and justifying righteousness which can stand the scrutiny of the Divine judgment-this was His work, and His alone. We never find Him telling His followers to go and offer a sacrifice for sin; but we do find Him telling them to go and preach the glad tidings. The preparation was His, and His alone; the proclamation was His, but not His alone. We cannot work deliverance; we can but preach it. He wrought it, finished it, and left it for us to preach. It is a daring invasion of His office to presume to add to the preparation; and it is disobedience to His orders not to proclaim what He has prepared.

II. “Captives.” This captivity commenced in the fountain of the human family before any stream had flowed forth from it. The first man, before he had any offspring, had become the slave and captive to sin; he had incurred the consequences, the fatal consequences, of slavery. The great slave-holder is Satan, the enemy of God and man. He uses the world and the flesh, and see how he drags the captives through the mire. And in proportion as a man’s conscience is awakened, and his sin known to be unpardoned, he is a slave.

III. Where is deliverance? This is our glorious message; Jesus Christ alone has deliverance. And mark how it is applied. Captivity began by the violation of the law of God, which is sin. He that committeth sin becomes a slave. The deliverance commences by obedience to the law of God. A man disobeyed, and all men fell. God Himself must obey, or no man can rise again. Deliverance commences thus in perfect obedience by a man to the law of the living God. Now, this is just what our blessed Redeemer and Saviour did. As man, He perfectly obeyed the law of God. There is a righteousness, a perfect righteousness, wrought by Him that can stand the scrutiny of the judgment of Almighty God. That is the beginning of deliverance. The captivity had become fatal by reason of the penalty incurred by disobedience; there was a curse, and the deliverance must therefore proceed by the removal of the curse. The curse must be inflicted, for God is true; the penalty must be endured, for the truth of God endureth for ever. Here, again, Jesus Christ is the Deliverer. He took it upon Himself. This is the deliverance we have to preach. Preached, it is the testimony of God’s love to the world; believed, it is the renewal of every man that receives it; disbelieved, it is a witness against the man that he rejects the counsel of God.

H. McNeile, Penny Pulpit, No. 290.

Luk 4:18-19

Missionary Work.

I. If missionary enterprise were nothing more than one of the most remarkable characteristics of our time, it would well deserve a place in the thoughts of those who are brought up to become English citizens. Missionary work is becoming more and more a national undertaking, the expression of a deep national conviction. Any man, whether he be a statesman, a clergyman, or a layman, who shuts his eyes to this truth, is so far out of sympathy with the English nation, and suffers from that narrowness and isolation of heart which is sure to come upon those who look with contempt on national instincts. But missionary enterprise is something more than a marked phenomenon characteristic of our times. It is no transient phase, which may for a time interest philosophical minds, and then pass into obscurity, to be pierced only by the researches of future antiquarians. It is in its nature a lasting thing. If it pass away from England, it is not too much to say that the life of England will have departed.

II. “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me.” The missionary and the missionary society must be able to say this from the heart. There is great danger of forgetting this. This is an age of elaborate organisation, an age of societies. Beyond all question there is a most real danger that the great English religious societies may cover much that is hollow. The very fact that religious enterprises have become an established part of national enterprise is a reason for making us fear that the Spirit of God may be forgotten in the presence of the Spirit of the world. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is (1) liberty, (2) perfect integrity. Wherever the wants of Christ’s children are to be supplied, wherever there are captives needing deliverance, poor asking for tidings of their Father, broken-hearted to be healed, blind praying for, or at least needing, recovery so sight, there is needed one who may well feel that he if a labourer working at an infinite harvest, a shepherd feeding but too, scantily a countless flock of sheep and of lambs; and there, too is needed the mature counsel, the encouragement, and the warning of one who is but little disposed to be a lord over God’s heritage, and is willingly and affectionately accepted as a true Father in God.

H. M. Butler, Harrow Sermons, p. 38.

Christ the Emancipator.

I. All the world has been under one consciousness-namely, of limitation of power, either inherent in the individual, or caused by the restrictions of circumstances, or by oppression from without; and to be free has been the aspiration of the world. When the Saviour declared that His mission in this world was to open prison bonds, to set captives at liberty, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, He announced a doctrine with which the hearts of men were universally in sympathy. That was just what they wanted. Mankind want the restrictions and limitations about them to be destroyed.

II. The very first essay that the Saviour makes toward the enlargement of men’s liberty wears the appearance of the opposite. The very first blow which He strikes at tyranny is at the tyranny of sense and sensuousness in the individual. He introduces us to God as a Father; and if we go to the Father through Him, and if He is a living and loving presence to us, we, by being taught to be in sympathy with Jesus Christ, are under the same conduct, and under the same general instructive processes which we see employed in the lower sphere, and in a more limited way in our own households. We are brought to a sense of the beauty, the grace, the sweetness, the power of the superior life in the soul over all the elements and influences of the lower life.

III. But the deliverance from the thrall of appetite and from the infirmities of the flesh is only one single element of emancipation. Christ delivers us from our bondage to secular conditions. The light and the life that we receive by faith tend to make, often do make, might always make, a man superior to his circumstances. That this is true is pre-eminently shown, not so much by those who are most obvious in life, as by the poor, to whom the Saviour said He came to preach this Gospel. It is the peculiarity of the philosophy of antiquity that it came to the few who were enlightened, and left in the dark the great underclass; and it was the peculiarity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that it was designed to reach the great underclass. It is in hidden retreats and in secluded places that you see that disposition of Christ which makes men in the midst of all limitations and under adverse circumstances strong, steadfast, doing what the air-plants do, that, having no root in the soil, draw all their nutriment from the great air above them.

IV. The illumination that we derive from the Lord Jesus Christ is one that sets us free from ignorance, and in setting us free from ignorance it shuts the door out of which come the emissaries of mischief. Knowledge dominates ignorance, and all through society the strong tend to control the weak. But it is not merely the want of intellectual knowledge that makes a man weak; it is the want of that knowledge which comes by illumination through the Lord Jesus Christ.

H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ix., p. 313.

The Preaching of the Gospel.

The words of the text are descriptive of the offices of Christ. We shall place them before you in the strongest light if we employ the method of contrast; that is, if we examine other systems, such as the law and natural religion, showing what these can do towards healing the broken-hearted and delivering the captive.

I. The ceremonial law was but a system of rites which had no natural efficacy, or of observances which were themselves destitute of virtue. If there were truth in the ceremonial law, it was, as we know, truth derived exclusively from Christ. Moses cannot be said to have come to preach deliverance to the captives, nor the setting at liberty them that are bruised. Our text will not hold good of the legal dispensation. But let us ask whether it is in any way verified by natural religion.

II. There are many men who think that there is a sort of natural efficacy in repentance, so that sorrow for sin must ensure its pardon. But is it thus in human affairs? Does pardon follow at all necessarily upon repentance? When laws have been broken, whoever dreams of the criminal being forgiven just because he is contrite? Living, as we confessedly do, in our moral capacity, under a retributive government, we can surely have no right to suppose that what would be utterly ineffectual, had we broken the laws of man, must be necessarily efficacious when set against the infraction of the laws of God.

III. Consider how the disclosures in the Gospel provide for the deliverance of the captive and the recovering of sight to the blind. Bound by the prison-house of our selfish dispositions, bruised by our fall from original righteousness, we have but to believe in Christ, and close with Him as our Saviour, and lo! the fetters fall from us, and we spring into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The Gospel admits to liberty, but that liberty God’s service, which alone is freedom; it gives spiritual eyesight, but fixes the eyes on “whatsoever things are pure and lovely and of good report.”

H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 1,483.

The Christ as a Preacher.

I. Consider the substance of Christ’s preaching. Without doubt we have in the text the keynote to His entire teaching. The peculiar feature of this quotation from Isaiah, which Christ makes His own, is its doubleness. “The poor”-but men are poor in condition and in spirit. “The captives”-but men may be in bondage under masters or circumstances, and also under their own sin. “The blind”-but men may be blind of eye, and also in spiritual vision. “The bruised”-but men are bruised in the struggles of this rough world, and also by the havoc of their own evil passions. Which did Christ mean? Both, but chiefly the moral, for He always struck through the external forms of evil to the moral root from which it springs, and of whose condition it is the general exponent. Christ sets Himself as the Deliverer from each, the origin and the result, the sin and the root, and the misery which is its fruitage.

II. The philosophy of this preaching. It was a revelation of God. Those words in the Nazareth synagogue were but the idlest breath, except as they brought the delivering God before men. But when God is seen and known the whole nature of man leaps into joyful and harmonious activity. Under this revelation of Him our troubles shrink, our broken hearts are healed, our darkened minds are illuminated, our sins pass away in tears of shame and repentance, and our whole being springs up to meet Him who made us, and made us for Himself; the secret of existence is revealed, the end of destiny is achieved.

III. The remaining point is the power of this preaching. No one truth, unless it happens to be an all-embracing truth, and no number of truths, however clearly seen, have any inspiring or redeeming power until they are grounded in an eternal person. Mozley, in one of his sermons, asks, “Have we not, in our moral nature, a great deal to do with fragments?” Yes, and it is the weakness of human nature, when it under-takes to teach moral truth, that it has only fragments to deal with. It is because Christ did not see truth in a fragmentary way, and because there was in Himself nothing fragmentary, that He teaches with power. There is no capability in man of resisting perfect truth; when it is seen it conquers. The main thing, therefore, is to see; but men love darkness, and even when they begin to see it is in a half-blind way.

T. T. Munger, The Freedom of Faith, p. 151.

References: Luk 4:18.-Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. III., p. 164; Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 330; Expositor, 3rd series, vol. iii. p. 147; H. P. Liddon, Church of England Pulpit, vol. v., p. 293; Homilist, new series, vol. i., p. 136. Luk 4:18, Luk 4:19.-J. P. Chown. Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 49; Plain Sermons by Contributors to “Tracts for the Times,” vol. ix., p. 196; Christian World Pulpit, vol. xi., p. 212.

Luk 4:19-21

Jesus read the prophets’ testimony regarding God’s goodness, and then closed the book, hiding the severity under the parchment folds. He preached on one half of a clause; did He intend to conceal the harsher portion of prophecy-to cover with a veil the frowns that gather on the Father’s countenance, and permit only the smiles to shine through on men? No. He came not to destroy or mutilate the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not one jot or tittle of the word, till all be fulfilled. Let us try to find out why the omission was made, and what the omission means.

I. It is clear that Isaiah saw the justice as well as the mercy of God, and bare witness impartially of both. He stood afar off, and with an eye divinely opened for the purpose, looked down the avenue of the future, as one might stand upon a mountain far inland and look along a straight narrow estuary to the distant sea, dimly visible on the farthest horizon. At the extremity of the vista, and distant so far in time that to him they seemed to lie within eternity, he descried two lights, one behind the other, and both approaching. The foremost was Divine mercy, and the one behind it was Divine wrath. The faithful witness faithfully proclaimed from his watch-tower to his countrymen both facts-mercy and vengeance.

II. When that witness had served his generation, and fallen asleep, others were successively placed on the same watch-tower to re-duplicate the same warning from age to age. Last of all came Christ, in the fulness of the time. But now the foremost of the two lights had come up. It was abreast of the watchman. Turning to look full upon the one that had come, he sees not the one that is coming. In the lips of Jesus the testimony is not a prediction of what shall be, but a proclamation of what is. The mission of Christ was not to point to another, but to attract to Himself. He meant to present Himself to the people as the fulfilment of Isaiah’s prophecy, and therefore He could not include the day of vengeance; for on that day that part of the prophecy was not fulfilled. He came not to condemn the world, but to save; while He sat in the synagogue, and their eyes beheld Him, the day of vengeance had not come to them.

W. Arnot, The Anchor of the Soul, p. 260.

Luk 4:22

Christ’s words of love the reproof of detraction.

St. James is amazed at it, as against nature and one of the deepest aggravations of the sinfulness of sinful speaking, that the tongue, which was made to bless God, a harp to make sweet melody to Him, should also utter evil against God’s image-man. Nature is true to itself; man alone is untrue. The fountain sends forth one and the same stream, sweet or bitter. Man’s tongue alone would fain send forth both-sweet praises and blessings to God, bitter and hard and unloving thoughts of men.

I. Evil speaking, which God condemns, involves much besides. There is malice in all evil-speaking; yet it is not only to speak with conscious malice. There is falsehood in most evil-speaking; yet it is not at all to speak with conscious falsehood. Pride, envy, swell it up, waft it on, spread it from mouth to mouth; these aggravate its guilt, but its guilt is not in them. It has its own guilt without them. Its guilt is, that in every form and shape and degree it is a sin against love; and a sin against love is a sin against that which Almighty God, in His very nature, is and loves. Evil speaking springs from a deep, hidden fountain of unlove, gushing forth from the corruption of the human heart.

II. In the day of judgment evil, censorious, unloving words will be of far different account than even good men think here. Other wrong deeds, at most, hurt others’ souls only by evil example. Most other sins have something seemingly revolting in them. He who speaks an evil word may, in one word, as far as in him lies, slay countless souls. He sets rolling that which he cannot stop. You would count him a murderer who from a height let loose the fragment of a rock which should bound on and on, and fall among a multitude, although he knew not whom it would crush. Yet, even thus, the evil word let loose may slay love in the hearts of all who hear it, and on and on in all whom it reaches, and in whose hearts it finds consent.

III. The guilt of evil words is not with those only who speak them. Whoso listens to evil is an accomplice in it. Human law adjudges that the receiver is as guilty as the thief. If there were few receivers there would be few thieves. Evil-speaking has an evil conscience, which awakens as soon as it finds no response. “The ready hearer of detraction,” says a father, “is the steel to the flint.” Without him it is not drawn out. Since that is true, “Of every idle word thou shalt give account in the day of judgment,” how much more of biting, unjust, detracting, unloving, untrue words, which most detracting words are!

E. B. Pusey, Parochial and Cathedral Sermons, p. 215.

Reference: Luk 4:23.-L. D. Bevan, Christian World Pulpit, vol. i., p. 389.

Luk 4:26

(with 1Ki 17:9)

I. Faith precedes blessing. There are no blessed rays till we believe, till we have acted on our faith, and found the answer in the Father’s eternal love. I think the woman did not regret the day she met the strange man on the borders of the wilderness. In the land of idolatry there was trouble; on the borders of famishing and doubt there was a constant supply. Mysteriously the meal held out, and the cruse of oil did not run dry. Thus they continued together, two blessed strangers. God sends His servant not to a palace, but to a widow’s cottage, from the solitude of the wilderness, there to learn the humanities of society; from the cry of famine to rely on God, and there to learn the lessons of faith.

II. All great faith precedes great trial. One day, how hoarsely moaned the sea; the waves came murmuring wildly, and dashing on the rocks of Sarepta. The child was dead, and the sun looked down mistily on a distracted mother-distracted indeed, for she impeaches falsely her very blessings. “O thou man of God, art thou come to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?” If I had not entertained him, he had not died. But Elijah was faithless, too. How wildly he, who ought to have known better, calls upon God. Then comes the restoration and the confession. “By this I know that thou art a man of God.” Ah, how many proofs are necessary! If her son had continued dead her faith had been buried in his grave. But God helps our infirmities, and condescends to our fears, that He may work out our salvation. And in this He no doubt preached to the prophet not less than the prophet preached to the woman.

E. Paxton Hood, Sermons, p. 343.

References: Luk 4:27.-Preacher’s Monthly, vol. i., p. 129. Luk 4:28, Luk 4:29.-W. Wilkinson, Thursday Penny Pulpit, vol. viii., p. 53. Luk 4:28-30.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 753. Luk 4:33-44.-F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, p. 62. Luk 4:39.-Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1071. Luk 4:40.-New Outlines on the New Testament, p. 44. Luk 4:42-44.-W. Hanna, Our Lord’s Life on Earth, p. 127.

Fuente: The Sermon Bible

CHAPTER 4

CHAPTER 4:1-13

1. The Temptation in the Wilderness. (Luk 4:1-12.)

2. The Devil Defeated. (Luk 4:13.)

Luk 4:1-13

What interests us most is the different order in which the three temptations of the Lord are reported by Luke. The second temptation the devil brings to bear upon Him (in the high mountain) is the last in the Gospel of Matthew. Why did Luke change the order and put the second temptation last and the last temptation into the second place? Matthew gives, no doubt, the correct order. The Lords word to Satan, Get thee behind me, Satan, proves this. (These words must be omitted in the 8th verse. They are not found in the best manuscripts.) The order in Luke corresponds to the nature of man. Man is composed of Body, Soul and Spirit. The first temptation concerns the body; the second the soul, and the third the spirit. The temptations man has to go through in life are clearly seen here. In youth it is the lust of the flesh; in manhood the lust of the eyes, to possess and to enjoy; in old age the pride of life. The change in the order is made to correspond to this. But the holy thing, the holy Son of God, had nothing in Him which could ever respond to this trinity of evil. He did not sin, nor could He ever Sin. The devil departed from Him for a season.

Fuente: Gaebelein’s Annotated Bible (Commentary)

Chapter 22

The Temptation Of Christ

In order to save us from our sins the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, not only became a man so that he could die for us as our Substitute; but he humbled himself as a man. I am certain that we cannot fathom the depths of his humiliation. And I am equally certain that we should not try. In fact, everything I have heard or read by men attempting to explain the various aspects of our Lords humiliation, though done with the desire to honour him, has appeared to me to be a desecration of that which is most sacred.

Instead of trying to fathom the unfathomable, let us rather simply bow before the revelation of God in holy scripture and worship that One who, though he was rich, yet for our sake, became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich.

In order to redeem and save his people, the Lord Jesus Christ had to live in perfect obedience to God while enduring all the consequences of sin. He must triumph over Satan yet suffer the wrath of God to the full satisfaction of justice. He must bring in everlasting righteousness as a man.

One great part of our Masters obedience was his temptation in all points as a man and his overcoming temptation, his triumphing over Satan in temptation, that he might be for us a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God. This is what we have before us in Luk 4:1-13.

Real Temptation

Immediately after his baptism, Christ was harassed with the temptations of Satan. He suffered being tempted; and he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin (Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15). He was tried and tested with all sorts of temptations, just like we are. Yet, he had no sin and did no sin.

Satan tempted him, but not by stirring up some corruption, or provoking some lust in him, as he does when he tempts us to evil. David is an example of the way we are tempted. He was tempted, like we are, when Satan stirred up the lust of pride and vanity that was in him to number the people. But there was no sin, no corruption in Christ to be stirred. The old serpent found nothing in him with which to work.

Our Lord was not tempted by Satan putting any evil into him, as he put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot to betray his Lord, and put it into the hearts of Ananias and Sapphira to lie unto the Holy Ghost.

And Satan got no advantage over the Lord Jesus by any of his temptations, as he so often does us. Oh, no! Our Saviour triumphed over his adversary and ours in all things. The devil was forced to leave our Lord after these temptations in the wilderness, just as he was in the garden of Gethsemane. And, at last, our great Redeemer crushed the serpents head in complete victory at Calvary, and bound the dragon of hell in the chain of his omnipotence, that he should deceive the nations no more.

Thank God, he who is our tempter, our adversary, our accuser, he who is far too cunning and powerful a foe for us, has been bound by our Saviour. Our adversary the devil still goes about, walking up and down in the earth as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. But he is a bound lion. His fangs and claws have been removed. Insofar as Gods elect are concerned, all he can do is roar (Joh 12:31-33; Rev 12:10; Rev 20:1-3).

Yet, we must never fail to remember that these temptations of Christ were real. Our Lord Jesus was tempted in all points, just like we are. The lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life (1Jn 2:16), by which he got advantage over Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and by which he still deceives and overthrows many, are the very weapons Satan used against our Master.

Obedient, Yet Tempted

The Lord Jesus was tempted when he was full of the Holy Ghost (Luk 4:1). Luke tells us that our Lord was filled with the Holy Spirit when he was tempted. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us that he was led of the Spirit into the wilderness of temptation. These things are not written to fill up space. They are written for our learning. They tell us plainly that nothing shields a believer from Satans temptations. Nothing will prevent us from temptation, but the will of God. Nothing we do can keep the tempter away. No matter how fervent we are in prayer, no matter how completely we may walk in the Spirit, no matter how sensitive and submissive we are to the Spirits leading, we will still be tempted of the devil to do evil.

In fact, Matthew specifically informs us that Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. In other words, the temptations to which we are subjected are, like all other aspects of the believers life, according to the will of God and designed by him for our good. Like our Master, Gods people learn obedience by the things we suffer, even from the hands of our adversary the devil.

Our Lords temptations came in the wilderness. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell us that the temptations took place in the wilderness, where there was no one and nothing to support him. Mark tells us that he was there exposed to the wild beasts. Matthew and Luke tell us that his temptations came after he had been miraculously sustained by God through a period of forty days and nights of fasting. This, too, is important. Our Masters temptations came at a time when he was physically weak and hungry. Satan is a cunning, crafty adversary. He suits his temptations to the constitution of our nature, the circumstances we are in and the situations in which we are found.

Our Saviour was tempted just after his baptism. He had just come from a time of solemn worship and deliberate, consecrated obedience. He had just been baptized, in order to fulfil all righteousness (symbolically), as a pledge of his determination to obey his Fathers will unto death as our Substitute. Our Lord had just been highly, publicly honoured as the Son of God, in whom the Father is well pleased. He had just experienced the miraculous power of God in sustaining him in life without any natural means. He was sustained not by bread, but by the word (the decree) of God.

There is often only a step from great privileges and blessings to great trials and troubles. We must never forget this. Even in our most solemn frames and at the times of our greatest usefulness, we must watch and pray.

John Gill writes upon this, So it often is with his members; that as he was tempted, after his baptism, after the Spirit of God had descended upon him, and filled him with his gifts and graces without measure; and after he had had such a testimony from heaven of his divine Sonship: so his people, after they have had communion with God in ordinances, and have had some sealing testimonies of his love, fall into temptations, and fall by them; as the disciples of Christ after the supper, who, when tempted, all forsook him and fled, and one denied him.

Three Great Evils

All that is in the world, all our troubles, all our trials, all our temptations, all our rebellions, all the misery we bring to others, and all the woe we bring upon ourselves are the result of three great evils, as John describes them: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. These were, as I have already said, the ruin of Adam and Eve, and of our race in the Garden of Eden. And these are the areas wherein our Master was tempted of Satan. They have to do with unbelief, worldliness and presumption.

Three times we see our Saviour tempted of the devil, assaulted by the fiend of hell, as he cunningly attempted, with feigned politeness, to draw the holy One of God into sin. Each assault was the work of one who is a master in deceit. We will be wise to carefully observe both the subtlety of the serpent and the wisdom of our Saviour in each of these temptations.

Lust Of The Eye

First, Satan tempted the Lord Jesus to unbelief, to the lust of the eye.

And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Luk 4:3-4).

Here Satan tried to get the Lord Jesus to distrust his Fathers care, the care of him who had sustained him for forty days and nights without food. Our Saviour was hungry and weak. But he had just received a public declaration, by which his Father owned him as the Son of God. So the hissing serpent offers him a very kind, sensible suggestion. The sense of it is this: The devil picked up, or pointed to a rock and said, Since youre the Son of God, and you are hungry, why dont you just turn this rock into a loaf of bread and have a bite to eat?

Why should he wait? Why should the Creator of all things sit still and starve? Why not command the stone to become bread? What possible evil could there be in that? The answer is found in our Lords rely. Being familiar with the Old Testament scriptures, the Master resisted Satan and escaped his snare by quoting from Deu 8:3. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live.

Our Lord refused to turn the stone to bread, because he refused to live by carnal reason. He refused to walk by sight. He was determined to live by faith, trusting the word[8] of God. He would not turn the stone into bread, because it was not his Fathers will that the stone be turned into bread.

[8] The word of God, here and in the context of Deuteronomy, refers not to the scriptures, but to the oracle, purpose and decree of God.

Though our Lord performed countless miracles for the benefit of others, he never performed even one for his own benefit. He preferred to remain hungry than to violate his Fathers will. With the hunger pangs and physical weakness of going forty days and nights without food, the Lord Jesus in effect said to Satan, like Job of old, Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

If we would honour God, we must follow Christs example. Let us ever choose trusting him, believing him, walking by faith, rather than leaning on the arm of the flesh. Our Fathers will is always best; and he will provide everything we need as we walk in his will, in his way, trusting him.

There is another, obvious reason why he refused to turn the stone into bread. He was living on this earth as a man, as our Representative and Substitute, and you and I are not able to turn a rock into a loaf of bread. If he would live and die for us, as our Redeemer, he had to live and die as we must, as a man. If he would be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, he had to feel what we feel in the same circumstances.

I cannot help thinking that he may have had a third reason for refusing the devil, though he was terribly hungry. He refused to make sport for and entertain the fiend of hell. He had nothing to prove to himself or to the devil. He was and is the Son of God. He knew it. His Father had just declared it. And, though pride would jump at the chance to prove it by displaying it before the prince of darkness, our Master refused to gratify him. But the heart of the matter is this. Satan tried to get Christ not to trust his Fathers wise and good providence. When Apollyon persuades us to walk by sight, by the lust of the eye, rather than trust Gods providence, we have fallen victim to his devices.

Lust Of The Flesh

Second, Satan tried to entice the Holy One into sin by the lust of the flesh, by worldliness.[9] he tried to get the Lord Jesus to grasp worldly power by compromise.

[9] This was actually the third temptation in the successive order given in Matthew 4; but for some reason not revealed to us the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to place this temptation second. Perhaps it was done just to give the goats a can to chew. Obviously, there is no significance to the fact.

And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve (Luk 4:5-8).

The devil took the Lord Jesus by his permission up on top of one of those high mountains surrounding Jerusalem, and offered him all the kingdoms of the world, if he would just fall down and worship him.

Try to get a sense of the brazenness of the wicked one. He waved his hands, with a confident smile and, by a diabolical and false representation of things to the sight, he showed the Lord Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, alluring him with a promise that the whole world would fall down and worship him. Imagine that!

For Satan to promise these to Christ was hellishly impertinent. The whole world was his already! The earth is his, and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein. He made it all. He owns it all. Besides that, all power in heaven and earth is given our Lord as the God-man Mediator, to rule them, use them and dispose of them as he will. For Satan to pretend that these were his to give, that they were in his power to dispose of to whomsoever he pleased, was intolerable arrogance.

Understand this. There is nothing in this world, nothing in the universe which belongs to Satan, nothing over which he has power, except as Christ our God gives it to him. This is the same devil who, we are told in the Book of Job, cowers before Gods throne to give account of his doings, who could not wiggle his finger against Job without Gods permission. Why he could not even go into a herd of hogs, without the Lord Jesus giving him permission to do so. For him to propose to Christ that he should fall down and worship him was the height of insolence and impudence! But that is his nature. Never expect less from him or from those who dance by his lead.

Again, John Gill comments, This shows what the original sin of the devil was, affectation of Deity, and to be worshipped as God; hence he has usurped the title of the God of this world; and has prevailed upon the ignorant part of it, in some places, to give him worship: and, indeed, to sacrifice to idols, is to sacrifice to devils: but, not content with this, he sought to be worshipped by the Son of God himself; than which nothing could be more audacious and impious; wherefore Christ rejected his temptation with indignation and abhorrence; saying, Get thee behind me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

The devil here appeals to the Master to by-pass the misery and agony of the cross. He was promised the world as the reward for his obedience unto death, the throne of universal monarchy, upon his finishing the Fathers will as our sin-atoning Sacrifice. Satan was just offering him an easier way to get it all. All he required was what appears to be a small concession. He does not require that the Master cease to worship God, or to worship him above God, or even worship him permanently. He only demanded that he fall down and worship him, adore him, acknowledge him once, and that in private.

The concession seemed to be small. The promise was great. The way was easy. Why should he not take the easy way out? Why should he not grab such an enormous prize? Why shouldnt we? The answer is found in our Masters quotation of Deu 6:13. We are to worship God alone and serve him alone. The glory of God must be our dominant concern. For that, for the glory of God, we ought to gladly sacrifice anything.

Let us ever beware of worldliness, the love of the world (1Jn 2:15-17; Mat 6:31-33). Beware of covetousness, which is idolatry (Luk 12:15). May God the Holy Spirit give us grace ever to set our affection on our Saviour, not on this perishing world (Col 3:1-5).

Pride Of Life

Third, Satan tempted the Son of God with the pride of life, urging him to act in daring presumption.

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: For it is written, he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season (Luk 4:9-13).

This time the devil quotes scripture (Psa 91:11). In fact, one of Satans favourite weapons is the Bible. He takes the Holy Book of Inspiration and twists it, perverts it, misuses it and abuses it for his own devices. Again, the Lord Jesus referred the devil to Deuteronomy 6. This time he quoted Luk 4:16. Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God, as ye tempted him in Massah.

What a wonderful, public, undeniable proof it would be that he is indeed the Son of God and the Messiah, and a clear fulfilment of Psalms 91, if the Lord Jesus would dive off that high, high wall of the temple, with all the scribes, and Pharisees, and people watching, as the angels of God swept down from heaven and gave him a gentle landing. After all, this was the promise of the psalms. Surely, since God had not predestined his death at this time, he could not die by diving off the wall. Could he? For him to have heeded Satans allurement would have been an act of self-exaltation and pride, as well as an act of complete irresponsibility, tempting God by presuming upon his goodness. Our Saviour did not yield. The glory of his Father was more important to him than the fickle approval and applause of men. May the same ever be true of us!

The Lord Jesus Christ is just the Saviour and Great High Priest we need. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted (Heb 2:18).

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need (Heb 4:14-16).

As he foiled Satan in the wilderness and crushed his head at Calvary, so he knows how to deliver you and me out of our temptations; and blessed be his name, he will! And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

Fuente: Discovering Christ In Selected Books of the Bible

am 4031, ad 27

Jesus: Mat 4:1-11

full: Luk 4:14, Luk 4:18, Luk 3:22, Isa 11:2-4, Isa 61:1, Mat 3:16, Joh 1:32, Joh 3:34, Act 1:2, Act 10:38

and was: Luk 2:27, 1Ki 18:12, Eze 3:14, Mar 1:12, Mar 1:13, Act 8:39

wilderness: 1Ki 19:4, Mar 1:13

Reciprocal: Eze 37:1 – carried Luk 1:41 – was Act 2:4 – filled Rom 7:21 – evil Rom 11:2 – of Elias

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

CHRIST IN THE WILDERNES[1]

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, being forty days tempted of the devil.

Luk 4:1-2

[1] In the volume on Matthew, twenty-four pages are devoted to the Temptation. It seems convenient, therefore, that Lukes account should be treated more briefly.

Christ Jesus, in becoming man, voluntarily subjected Himself to the discipline of temptation.

I. Tempted of the devil.Christ became incarnate to redeem the world from sin, to restore the authority of God on earth, and to destroy the works of the devil. Is it then to be wondered at, that the devil, who had seduced man to sin, and whose rebel kingdom had been set up on earth, should rouse himself at the very outset of Christs mission for a desperate struggle to retain his authority?

II. Tempted as our Representative.Christ was the Head and Representative of the human race. It is in this light that the temptations of Christ reach their fullest significance. Christ came to restore a fallen race to its loyalty to God and, in the place of the usurped kingdom of Satan, to set up once more the everlasting Kingdom of Heaven. His first victory over the devil is at once the prophecy and pledge of His final triumph over sin, and of the redemption of His people.

III. A contrast.Adam was the first head and representative of our race, and as such he had to endure, as Christ had to endure, the temptation of the devil. But how different was Adams temptation from that of Christ! Adam was tempted in the midst of plenty, Christ in the midst of poverty. Adam was tempted once only, Christ was forty days tempted of the devil. Yet Adam fell, while Christ overcame! And this overcoming is the first act in the redemption of our race.

Rev. Canon Duncan.

Illustration

As great movements in human affairs have each their wilderness, so every individual life that is truly great has its times which are filled with what seem mere delays and hindrances, and which are really preparations. We mark this in the wanderings of Abraham, the long tuition of Jacob before he became Israel; in the captivity of Joseph in Egypt, and the exile of Moses, as in the persecuted youth of David. These are ancient examples; but the experience which they represent is never old. The lesson of the wilderness is written broadly over sacred history, and it is deeply marked in modern life as well.

(SECOND OUTLINE)

THE CONFLICT

From a position of honour and glory Christ passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians. From great privilege to great trial there will often be but a step. Mark:

I. The power and unwearied malice of the devil.If he cannot rob us of heaven, he will at any rate make our journey thither painful.

II. The Lords ability to sympathise with those that are tempted.This is a truth that stands out prominently in this passage. Jesus has been really and literally tempted Himself.

III. The exceeding subtlety of our great spiritual enemy, the devil.Three times we see him assaulting our Lord and trying to draw Him into sin. Unbelief, worldliness, and presumption are three grand engines which he is ever working against the soul of man, and by which he is ever enticing him to do what God forbids, and to run into sin. Let us remember this, and be on our guard.

IV. The manner in which our Lord resisted Satans temptation.Three times we see Him foiling and baffling the great enemy who assaulted Him. He Who was full of the Holy Ghost, was yet not ashamed to make the Holy Scripture His weapon of defence and His rule of action.

Bishop J. C. Ryle.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

OUR CHAPTER OPENS with Him returning from His baptism, full of the Holy Ghost. But before beginning His service He must for forty days be tempted of the devil. To this testing the Spirit led Him, and here we see the glorious contrast between the Second Man and the first.

When the first man was created God pronounced all to be very good, but Satan came promptly on the scene, tempted man and ruined him. The Second Man has appeared, and the Fathers voice has pronounced His excellence, so again Satan comes on the scene with promptness, but this time he meets Man, full of the Holy Ghost, who is impervious to his wiles. When the first man fell, he knew no pangs of hunger, for he dwelt in the fertile garden planted by his Creators hand. The Second Man victoriously stood, though the garden had been turned into a wilderness and He was an hungered.

Luke evidently gives us the temptations in the moral order and not the historical. Matthew gives us the historical order, and shows us that the end of the temptation was when the Lord bade Satan get behind Him, as recorded in verse Luk 4:8 of our chapter. The order here agrees with Johns analysis of the world in1 Joh 2:1-25. The first temptation was evidently designed to appeal to the lust of the flesh, the second to the lust of the eyes, and the third to the pride of life. But no such lust or pride had any place in our Lord, and the three testings only served to reveal His perfection in its details.

The Lord Jesus had become truly a Man, and in answer to the first temptation He took mans proper place of complete dependence upon God. Just as mans natural life hangs upon his assimilation of bread, so his spiritual life hangs upon his assimilation of, and obedience to, the Word of God. In answer to the second temptation was seen His whole-hearted devotedness to God. Power and glory and dominion in themselves were as nothing to Him; He was wholly set for the worship and service of God. He met the third temptation, in which He was urged to put Gods faithfulness to the test, by His unswerving confidence in God. The great adversary found no point of attack in Him. He trusted God without testing Him.

The three features thus brought so prominently into display-dependence, devotedness, confidence-are those which mark the perfect Man. They are very distinctly seen in Psa 16:1-11, which by the Spirit of prophecy sets forth Christ in His perfections as a Man.

Having been tested by Satan, and triumphed over him in the power of the Holy Ghost, the Lord Jesus returned to Galilee to begin His public ministry in the power of the same Spirit, and His first recorded utterance is in the synagogue at Nazareth, where he had been brought up. He read the opening words of Isa 61:1-11, stopping at the point where the prophecy passes from the first Advent to the second. The day of vengeance of our God has not yet come, but by stopping at the point He did, where in our Version only a comma appears, He was able to begin His sermon by saying, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. It presented Him as the One anointed by the Spirit of God, in whom was to be made known to men the fulness of the grace of God.

This presentation of Himself appears to be characteristic of Lukes Gospel. Though He was God in the fulness of His Person, yet He comes before us as the dependent Man full of the Holy Ghost, speaking and acting in the power of the Spirit, and flowing over with grace for men. What struck the hearers at Nazareth was, the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. The law of Moses had often been rehearsed within the walls of the synagogue, but never before had grace been thus proclaimed there. But it was not enough to proclaim grace in the abstract: He proceeded to illustrate grace in order that the people might realize what it involved. He cited two instances from their own Scriptures where the kindness of God had been shown, and in both cases the recipients of the grace were sinners of the Gentiles. The Sidonian widow was in a hopeless plight- without strength. The Syrian soldier was amongst the enemies of God and His people. Hence the two cases quite aptly illustrate Rom 5:6-10, for the woman was saved and sustained, and the man was cleansed and reconciled.

This beautiful presentation of grace in its practical working did not suit the people of Nazareth. Gracious words were all very nice in the abstract, but the moment they realized that grace presupposes nothing but demerit in those who receive it, they rose up in proud rebellion and great fury, and would have slain Jesus had He not passed from their midst. The good things that grace brings were acceptable enough, but they did not want them on the ground of grace, since it assumed they were no better than Gentile sinners. The modern mind would probably approve of grace being offered in the slum, while regarding it as an affront if preached in the synagogue. The Jewish mind would not even hear of it being exercised in the slum!

Thus in a very definite way there was a rejection of grace the very first time it was proclaimed, and this not in Jerusalem among scribes and Pharisees but in the humbler parts of Galilee in the very place where He had been brought up. Their familiarity with Him acted as a veil upon their hearts.

In the light of all this the closing section of the chapter is very beautiful. When men offer a kindness in the spirit of grace and it is spurned with contumely and violence they are offended, and turn away with disgust. It was not so with Jesus. If it had been so, where should we have been? He withdrew Himself from Nazareth but passed to Capernaum and there He preached. His teaching astonished them, doubtless because of the new note of grace that characterized it, and then also because of the Divine authority with which it was clothed.

In the synagogue He came into conflict with the powers of darkness. The synagogue was a dead affair, hence men possessed by demons could be present undetected. But instantly the Lord appeared the demon revealed himself, and also showed that he knew who He was, even if the people themselves were in ignorance. Jesus was indeed the Holy One of God, but instead of accepting the demons testimony He rebuked him and cast him out of his victim. Thus He proved the power of His word.

In verse Luk 4:36 we have both authority and power, the latter word meaning dynamic force. In verse Luk 4:32 the word is really authority. So we have the grace of His word in verse Luk 4:22, followed by the authority of His word, and the power of His word. No wonder that folk were saying, What a word is this! And we, who have in this day received the Gospel of the grace of God, have equal cause for such an ejaculation. What wonders of spiritual regeneration are being wrought by the Gospel today!

From the synagogue He passed to the home of Simon in which disease was holding sway. It vanished at His word. And then at eventide came that marvellous display of the power of God in the fulness of grace. All kinds of diseases and miseries were brought into his presence, and there was deliverance for all. He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them. Thus He exemplified the grace of God, for it is exactly the character of grace to go out to all irrespective of merit or demerit. On Gods side it is offered freely and for all. Verse Luk 4:40 inspired the hymn,

At even when the sun was set, and surely we all rejoice to sing that,

Thy touch has still its ancient power,

No word from Thee can fruitless fall.

But beautiful as that hymn is, the reality spoken of in verse Luk 4:40 is far more lovely. Such is the grace of our God.

And the grace that was displayed on that memorable evening was not exhausted by the display. He went forth elsewhere to preach the kingdom of God-a kingdom to be established not on the basis of the works of the law but on the basis which would be laid by grace as the fruit of His own work.

Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary

Peter the Son and Servant

Luk 4:1-11

INTRODUCTORY WORDS

We well remember a stained, art-glass window in which the artist had depicted Peter floundering in the sea of Galilee and half drowned. That Peter began to sink we know, but why emphasize it all the time and forget about how he walked on the water.

The fact that Peter cursed and swore and said, “I know not this Man of whom ye speak” is no reason why we should forget the wonderful deeds of greatness which he wrought. It is our joy to study the other side of Peter’s life.

1. His call. In Mat 4:18-19 we read. “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And He said unto them, Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” In this call, which came to Peter, there are two things worthy of note.

(1) The Lord did not mention the future failures and the false steps which would enter Peter’s life. He merely set forth that he was to be a fisher of men. That He knew Peter’s coming mistakes, we have no doubt. On one occasion Christ said, “Thou art Peter,” but the Lord saw Peter beyond the years of his preparation, as a Gibraltar rock, standing firm for the faith, even unto the death.

(2) Peter did not hesitate to obey. Thus, in the very beginning” of his discipleship, we see prompt and immediate obedience. Here was a man who with his heart, followed his Lord.

(3) Peter’s confession. There is a wonderful little touch in Luk 5:1-39 concerning Peter’s call. There were two ships standing by the lake as Jesus came by, but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. Christ entered into one of these ships which was Peter’s and asked him to thrust out from the land. There, for awhile, Christ sat and taught the people who were standing around on the shore.

When He had finished speaking, He said unto Simon, “Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.” Incidentally, the Lord was teaching that a kindness on Simon’s part in loaning the use of his ship should be repaid. Peter hesitated, saying, “Master, we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at Thy Word I will let down the net.” When they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.

As Peter saw what had happened, he fell down at Jesus’ knees saying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” To us this is one of the most beautiful manifestations of Peter’s character in the Bible. First, he was quick to obey; secondly, he was just as quick to confess his faults.

Withal, he never refused to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ.

2. His leaving all to follow Jesus. After the miraculous draught of fishes Jesus again said unto Simon the same words which we found in Matthew, “Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.” Then come the wonderful words, “And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed Him.”

God grant that every one, both young and old, will be as ready to leave their all, as was Peter and his comrade fisherman. This act on Peter’s part was never regretted. He never sought to turn his face back again, permanently, toward his home and his nets, and away from his call.

I. THE STORMY SEA (Mat 14:29)

1. Peter’s walking on the water. The story of the tempestuous sea and of the disparaging disciples with Christ coming to them walking upon the waves is found in Mat 14:1-36. In Mat 14:28 of that chapter we read: “Peter answered Him and said: Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water.” Peter seemed to be making a test as to whether it was a spirit and apparition of Christ walking upon the water, or whether it was Christ Himself. The Lord replied. Then Peter quickly responded and walked on the water to go to Jesus.

The fact that he began afterward to sink may mar but it does not obliterate the fact that he truly walked on the water. He did something that no other disciple and no other person in the wide world excepting his Lord had ever done. He showed us the truth of the statement, “According to your faith be it unto you.” He did that which could not naturally be done.

2. In walking upon the water, Peter demonstrated to us forever the better way to meet our troubles. The disciples pulled at the oars, but he walked the waves.

How many there are who meet their troubles by gritting their teeth and dogmatically saying, “I will pull myself through.” It is far better to take our eyes off of our own strength and to fix them on the Lord Jesus. “We can never, alone, successfully overcome.

“The way is dark, O Father,

And troubles linger nigh,

Reach from above, and take my hand,

Hear Thou my feeble cry.

“Take Thou my hand and lead me on,

Across the turbid wave,

I call for help, I look to Thee,

For Thou alone canst save.”

Thus Peter knew not only how to walk on the sea, but he also knew how to cry to Christ in the hour of his distress.

II. PETER’S GREAT CONFESSION (Mat 16:16)

1. The Lord’s question. The Lord Jesus came with His disciples to Caesarea Philippi. It was there that He said unto His own: “Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?” Immediately, the disciples responded: “Some say that Thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” This was what the people, the populace, said of Christ. The Lord then asked: “But whom say ye that I am?” “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

2. The glory of Peter’s response. Hidden away in Peter’s words, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” are two great considerations.

(1) There is the contrast between the worldly and the Christian conception of our Saviour. The world acknowledges Jesus as no more than a man. They will grant Him human greatness, they willingly enroll His Name with that of John the Baptist, and Jeremias, and other great religious leaders. However, they will not grant unto Him His own claims that He came forth from the Father, and that He was in every way equal with God.

To the contrary, the Christian with Peter, acknowledges Christ’s claims to Deity, and places upon His brow the coronet, Son of God, and God the Son. In the contrast of these two confessions concerning Christ, there is a chasm as deep and as wide as the gulf that separated Abraham and Lazarus from the rich man. The gulf is impassable.

(2) There is an inside look into Peter’s own heart throbs. He recognized Jesus both as the Messiah, and the Son of God. We will see more of the depth of the meaning of Peter’s confession as we proceed.

3. The Lord’s response to Peter’s confession.

(1) “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona.” Yea, and blessed is every man who makes this acknowledgment of Peter’s, his confession of faith.

(2) “Flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee.” The Lord immediately crowned Peter’s confession with the statement that it was Divinely inspired by His Father who is in Heaven. This meant that what Peter had said of Christ was what the Father had said at the baptism. The voice of the one was the voice of the other.

(3) “Upon this rock will I build My Church.” Peter’s confession was so glorious, so wonderful, so true, that the Lord Jesus immediately announced that such a confession was the rock upon which He would establish the Church.

Let the present day ecclesiasticism remember that, to the extent the Church denies that our Lord is the Christ the Son of the Living God, to that extent the Church is building upon the sand, and great shall be the fall thereof.

III. PETER’S RUSHING TO THE EMPTY SEPULCHER (Joh 20:3-6)

1. Peter’s denial was now behind him. The man who had denied his Lord with an oath had spent three miserable days. He had, after his denial, crept along to some point of vantage from whence he could stand and see Christ who was dying on the Tree. We know this, because he said that he was an eyewitness of the crucifixion. He had, no doubt, heard the Lord in the seven cries of the Cross, but he had heard no word of comfort to himself. Still brokenhearted because of his sin, still loving Christ unto the death, he stood there hoping, but hoping in vain, for some word of pardon from the lips of his dying Lord.

After Christ was dead it seemed to Peter that a chaos had entered his soul as deep and as dark as that which hung over the primeval earth.

2. Peter begotten to a lively hope. When Mary came to Simon Peter and to John announcing that the stone was gone from the sepulcher and that they knew not where they had laid the body of the Lord; Peter and John ran together. Their hearts were no doubt filled half with fear and half with hope. John did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulcher. Stooping down he saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Peter, following, came up to John, pushed by him, and went into the sepulcher. John followed after Peter. As they stood there together beholding the napkin not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself, they saw and believed.

To me this whole scene gives an insight into Peter’s character as does no other Scripture. There was nothing left in Peter of the desire to sulk. He was no longer up the miff tree, as he was when he followed afar off. There was nothing of the old self left within him, which desired to deny the Lord. He was still heavy-hearted because of his perfidy, but his heart was all aglow with love and expectant hope. Once more life seemed worth the while. A new light was kindled in his eye, a new ambition stirred his soul.

IV. PETER’S RECOMMISSION (Joh 21:19)

Three things stand out before us.

1. Peter had his work restored. To him Christ said, “Feed My lambs”; “feed My sheep”; “feed My sheep.” And how Peter did work. No task assigned to him by the Holy Spirit seemed too hard, no sacrifice too great. He spent himself in earnest toil.

2. Peter had his second call. To him Christ said once more, “Follow Me.” How meaningful were these words to Peter. Before Christ gave the call, He announced by what death Peter would glorify God; therefore Peter knew what it meant to follow on. Nevertheless, undaunted, he pressed on his way, until the prophesied martyrdom became his glorious privilege.

“I saw the martyr at the stake,

The flames did not his spirit shake,

Nor death, his soul appall;

I asked him whence his strength was given,

He looked triumphantly to Heaven,

And answered, Christ is All.”

Even so it was with Peter. He was faithful even unto death.

3. Peter strengthening his brethren. The Lord in speaking to Peter of his wanderings, added, but “when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” This is just what Peter did do. His two Epistles bear witness to his fidelity in this very thing. How illuminating are the opening words of the First Epistle-“Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ.” And he was an Apostle, one sent of God.

How noteworthy are the words, “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the Appearing of Jesus Christ.”

Thus did Peter ever hold before suffering saints the glory of Christ’s coming, as their reward and joy, supernal and eternal. Thus did Peter encourage the saints of his day, and thus does he encourage us to press on unto the end-unto the glory that shall be revealed.

V. HIS CONFESSION (Act 1:16)

1. In the upper room. How delightful it would have been could we have slipped into that upper room where abode both Peter and James and John, and the other disciples, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and the faithful women. How we would have listened, with ears alert, as Peter arose and said, “Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake.”

Who is this who makes so strong a statement about the Scriptures, their authorship and their certainty? It is Peter, the one who said once, “I know not the Man.” It is Peter the stalwart, but vacillating disciple of the three years past.

Peter quoted the Scripture with the conviction that their authority was final, and their meaning was sure.

2. On the day of Pentecost. How marvelous it would have been could we have stood with the crowds at Pentecost, as Peter sounded forth his words of faithful testimony. He had there no appearance of the man who had quailed before the Temple maids.

With courage undaunted and with a faith touched with fire, he heralded Christ as the Man, crucified, slain, raised, and seated at the right hand of God. With gripping power he thundered out the words, “Him, * * ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.” That day there stood a gaint in faith and boldness, declaring the whole counsel of God.

3. Under the test of persecution. It would have stirred our soul, if we could have slipped in among the people and could have heard the threatenings of the rulers, as Annas, with others, questioned the disciples asking, By what power and by what name, have ye healed the lame man who sat at the beautiful gate.

Now watch Peter! Without a tremor upon his breath, he lifts up his voice with all authority, and clothed with the Spirit he says: “If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; be it known unto you all, * * that by the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole.”

VI. PETER’S GREAT OBJECTIVE (Act 2:38-39)

Behold a man who once had sought a chief place, who had once thought of self! What was the passion of his heart as now he preached?

1. Behold him at Pentecost. First he sought to glorify Christ. He did this throughout his discourse. He emphasized Christ’s God-ordered death; His God-given resurrection; His God-accepted exaltation to the right hand of the Father; and His glorious anticipated return to reign on David’s throne.

Secondly, Peter sought to lead the people to repentance, conversion, the remission of sins, to water baptism, and to that great climactic-the receiving of the Holy Ghost. Peter, herein, set before us all, a ministry that remains most vital.

May we never cease to preach repentance, remission, baptism, and the filling or receiving of the Spirit. Study the Acts of the Apostles, and you will discover how faithfully and forcefully the Apostles always pressed this same testimony. They never failed withal, to enforce the definite receiving of the Spirit as the one chief need of all believers in life and service,

2. Behold him at Caesarea. When Peter was called by Cornelius God prepared him to go willingly and undaunted, by the letting down of the four-cornered sheet. While Peter was doubting in himself what the vision meant the men from Caesarea arrived, bringing the message from Cornelius. Peter therefore went doubting nothing.

How marvelous was the truth that Peter preached. It was a touch of the Pentecostal sermon over again. Once more Christ crucified and raised up was definitely set forth. The remission of sins was proclaimed, through the Name of Christ upon whomsoever believeth. As Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell upon all that heard the Word. Then Peter said: “Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?”

Thus’ we have seen two glimpses of Peter the mighty preacher of a mighty Gospel.

VII. A RESUME OF GOD’S MINISTRY AND MESSAGE THROUGH PETER (2Pe 3:17-18)

We have sought in this study to show Peter as the stalwart son and servant of his Lord. We believe this will be established in the minds of the students. Peter did begin to sink as he walked upon the waters. Let us, however, consider how Peter’s life and ministry following Pentecost radiated not only the glory of his own Christian integrity but the glory of his glorious Lord.

Perhaps it is in his Epistles which he wrote under inspiration of the Spirit that we can catch just a few glimpses of his great conceptions of the faith. These we will sum up under the following statements:

1. Peter proclaimed election as based on the foreknowledge of God the Father (1Pe 1:1).

2. Peter set forth the double security of the Christian’s inheritance in Heaven and of the believer kept by the power of God for that inheritance (1Pe 1:4-5).

3. Peter emphasized the martyr’s victorious entrance into the glory of his Lord (1Pe 1:6-7).

4. Peter asserted the inspiration of the Prophets and their own diligent study of their inspired prophecies (1Pe 1:10-11).

5. Peter emphasized redemption through the Blood of Christ (1Pe 1:18-20).

6. Peter set forth regeneration in unmistakable words (1Pe 1:23).

7. Peter told of the glory and endurance of the Word of God (1Pe 1:23, 1Pe 1:25).

8. Peter plead with saints to recognize in Christ the Living Stone (1Pe 2:6-8).

9. Peter pressed the call to saints to separation and holy living during their earthly pilgrimage (1Pe 2:9-12).

Thus we could go on. As we have studied the two Epistles of Peter we find that there is no realm of Divine truth which is overlooked. The great messages of the Bible were certainly accepted and preached by Simon, the son of Jonas.

We delight to see how the Apostle Peter got down where people lived. How he took them by the hand and led them along with every encouragement through the darkness of suffering and trial that beset them. We are rejoiced to behold Peter speaking to the elders of the Churches as he exhorts them to be faithful shepherds abstaining from the love of money and from becoming lords over God’s heritage.

In all of Peter’s writings the 1st chapter of the Second Epistle will remain with us as his epochal message.

1. He urges saints to add every Christian virtue to their faith.

2. He tells them that by so doing they will obtain an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour.

3. With glowing and ascending beauty he sets forth the Second Coming of Christ urging saints to study the more sure Word of prophecy.

4. Peter finally warns concerning false prophets and urges saints in spite of the scoffers of the last days to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

5. Peter’s final word is concerning Jesus Christ his Lord and Saviour to whom he ascribes glory both now and forever.

AN ILLUSTRATION

A little girl in a Chinese village where a China inland missionary lived watched this man as he went about his Master’s work. She saw him going to the homes where there were sickness, death, and sorrow; and she watched him as he moved about that village. She never heard him speak in public. One day she went to another village, and followed some girls into a mission school. There she heard a lady talking to them, in Chinese, about some one full of gentleness and sympathy and kindness, some one to whom little children came. One of the little girls asked the visitor: “Do you know who it was?” “Yes,” she replied, “she was talking about the missionary that lives in our village.” She had never heard about Jesus Christ, and when the teacher described the beautiful life of Jesus Christ she thought she was describing the missionary.

That missionary was a living witness for Christ, a walking Bible. Or, to change the figure, he was bearing the Christ-fruit, so the little girl knew he was a Christian. All who saw him knew he was a Christian because he acted like one.

It is the duty of every Christian to be a living witness for Christ. The testimony can be of two kinds, Up testimony and life testimony. We must both “by our lips and lives express the holy Gospel we profess.”-H.

Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water

This paragraph is really a repetition of Matthew 4 1-11, and to conserve space I shall request the reader to see that place in connection with this group.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness.

[Was led by the Spirit.] In St. Matthew it is, was led up of the Spirit. By which I would suppose our Saviour caught up by the Holy Spirit into the air, and so carried into the wilderness. The reasons of this conjecture are, I. Because we read of the like thing done to Philip, Act 8:39-40. The same also is supposed concerning Elijah, 1Ki 18:12; 2Ki 2:16. II. It is probable the devil also might snatch Jesus up into the air, having this occasion to pretend himself no other than the Holy Ghost, who had caught him up and brought him already into the wilderness: and under this notion he might require that worship from him, as if he himself was indeed the Holy Ghost. III. We must not pass by the method which St. Luke takes in describing the order of the temptations, somewhat different from that of St. Matthew. The temptation upon the pinnacle of the Temple is mentioned by St. Matthew, and that most truly, the second in order: but in St. Luke it is reckoned the third; adding, that “when the devil had ended all his temptation, he departed from him for a season.” But now, according to St. Luke, how did Christ get down from the pinnacle again? He tells us, that he was carried up thither by the devil, and there (according to his method in the story) the temptation was ended: how then did Christ get down again? Observe but what follows; Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee; and then join the stories as they are joined in St. Luke: the devil set him on the pinnacle of the Temple, and there urgeth him to cast himself down; but when he could not persuade him, he leaves him standing on the pinnacle, and all the temptation was ended; and Jesus, by the power of the Spirit returned into Galilee. May we not suppose that the evangelist would by this give us to understand, that Christ, after the temptation was ended, was carried through the air by the Holy Ghost into Galilee, as he had been caught up before by him, and been brought into the wilderness, yea, and under that pretence [or upon that occasion], had been snatched up by the devil himself to the pinnacle of the Temple, and to a very high mountain?

Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels

THE first event recorded in our Lord’s history, after His baptism, is His temptation by the devil. From a season of honor and glory he passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. First came the testimony of God the Father, “Thou art my beloved Son.” Then came the sneering suggestion of Satan, “If thou be the Son of God.” The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians. From great privilege to great trial there will often be but a step.

Let us first mark in this passage, the power and unwearied malice of the devil.

That old serpent who tempted Adam to sin in Paradise, was not afraid to assault the second Adam, the Son of God. Whether he understood that Jesus was “God manifest in the flesh” may perhaps be doubted. But that he saw in Jesus One who had come into the world to overthrow his kingdom, is clear and plain. He had seen what happened at our Lord’s baptism. He had heard the marvelous words from heaven. He felt that the great Friend of man was come, and that his own dominion was in peril. The Redeemer had come. The prison door was about to be thrown open. The lawful captives were about to be set free. All this, we need not doubt, Satan saw, and resolved to fight for his own. The prince of this world would not give way to the Prince of peace without a mighty struggle. He had overcome the first Adam in the garden of Eden;-why should he not overcome the second Adam in the wilderness? He had spoiled man once of Paradise;-why should he not spoil him of the kingdom of God.

Let it never surprise us, if we are tempted by the devil. Let us rather expect it, as a matter of course, if we are living members of Christ. The Master’s lot will be the lot of His disciples. That mighty spirit who did not fear to attack Jesus himself, is still going about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. That murderer and liar who vexed Job, and overthrew David and Peter, still lives, and is not yet bound. If he cannot rob us of heaven, he will at any rate make our journey thither painful. If he cannot destroy our souls, he will at least bruise our heels. (Gen 3:15.) Let us beware of despising him, or thinking lightly of his power. Let us rather put on the whole armor of God, and cry to the strong for strength. “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (Jam 4:7.)

Let us mark, secondly, our Lord Jesus Christ’s ability to sympathize with those that are tempted. This is a truth that stands out prominently in this passage. Jesus has been really and literally tempted Himself.

It was meet that He who came “to destroy the works of the devil,” should begin His own work by a special conflict with Satan. It was meet that the great Shepherd and bishop of souls should be fitted for His earthly ministry by strong temptation, as well as by the word of God and prayer. But above all, it was meet that the great High Priest and advocate of sinners should be one who has had personal experience of conflict, and has known what it is to be in the fire. And this was the case with Jesus, It is written that “He suffered being tempted.” (Heb 2:18.) How much He “suffered,” we cannot tell. But that His pure and spotless nature did suffer intensely, we may be sure.

Let all true Christians take comfort in the thought that they have a Friend in heaven, who can be touched with the feeling of their infirmities. (Heb 4:15.) When they pour out their hearts before the throne of grace, and groan under the burden that daily harasses them, there is One making intercession who knows their sorrows. Let us take courage. The Lord Jesus is not an “austere man.” He knows what we mean when we complain of temptation, and is both able and willing to give us help.

Let us mark, thirdly, the exceeding subtlety of our great spiritual enemy, the devil. Three times we see him assaulting our Lord, and trying to draw Him into sin. Each assault showed the hand of a master in the art of temptation. Each assault was the work of one acquainted by long experience with every weak point in human nature. Each deserves an attentive study.

Satan’s first device was to persuade our Lord to distrust his Father’s providential care. He comes to Him, when weak and exhausted with forty days’ hunger, and suggests to Him to work a miracle, in order to gratify a carnal appetite. Why should He wait any longer? Why should the Son of God sit still and starve? Why not “command this stone to become bread”?

Satan’s second device was to persuade our Lord to grasp at worldly power by unlawful means. He takes Him to the top of a mountain and shows Him “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” All these he promises to give Him, if He will but “fall down and worship him.” The concession was small. The promise was large. Why not by a little momentary act, obtain an enormous gain?

Satan’s last device was to persuade our Lord to an act of presumption. He takes Him to a pinnacle of the temple and suggests to Him to “cast Himself down.” By so doing he would give public proof that He was one sent by God. In so doing He might even depend on being kept from harm. Was there not a text of Scripture, which specially applied to the Son of God, in such a position? Was it not written that “angels should bear Him up”?

On each of these three temptations it would be easy to write much. Let it be sufficient to remind ourselves, that we see in them the three favorite weapons of the devil. Unbelief, worldliness, and presumption are three grand engines which he is ever working against the soul of man, and by which he is ever enticing him to do what God forbids, and to run into sin. Let us remember this, and be on our guard. The acts that Satan suggests to us to do, are often in appearance trifling and unimportant. But the principle involved in each of these little acts, we may be sure, is nothing short of rebellion against God. Let us not be ignorant of Satan’s devices.

Let us mark lastly, the manner in which our Lord resisted Satan’s temptations. Three times we see Him foiling and baffling the great enemy who assaulted Him. He does not yield a hair’s breadth to him. He does not give him a moment’s advantage. Three times we see Him using the same weapon, in reply to his temptations;-“the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (Eph 6:17.) He who was “full of the Holy Ghost,” was yet not ashamed to make the Holy Scripture His weapon of defense, and His rule of action.

Let us learn from this single fact, if we learn nothing else from this wondrous history, the high authority of the Bible, and the immense value of a knowledge of its contents. Let us read it, search into it, pray over it, diligently, perseveringly, unweariedly. Let us strive to be so thoroughly acquainted with its pages, that its text may abide in our memories, and stand ready at our right hand in the day of need. Let us be able to appeal from every perversion and false interpretation of its meaning, to those thousand plain passages, which are written as it were with a sunbeam. The Bible is indeed a sword, but we must take heed that we know it well, if we would use it with effect.

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Notes-

v1.-[Led by the Spirit.] The word translated “led,” is the same that we find in Rom 8:14, Gal 5:18, applied to the influence of the Holy Ghost on the hearts of believers. Our Lord, be it noted, did not seek conflict with the devil, but was “led” to it.

[the wilderness.] We are not told where this wilderness was. Some have conjectured that it was the wilderness near Sinai, through which Israel journeyed. There seems no foundation for this idea. It is more probable that it was that uninhabited part of Judaea where John the Baptist’s ministry began.

v2.-[forty days tempted of the devil.] This part of our Lord’s temptation, we may suppose, was mental and spiritual. The length of time mentioned is the same as that recorded in the history of the fast of Moses and Elijah.

v3.-[The devil said.] It is plain that Satan now appeared to our Lord in a visible form. In what form we are not told. Some have supposed that he appeared as an angel of light; some that he came as an aged hermit, or as a Scribe or Pharisee. All this is mere conjecture. We need not doubt that he, who appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent, chose that form, which was most likely to serve his purpose, in appearing to our Lord.

The question has often been asked, whether the whole temptation of our Lord was a real thing or only a vision. That it was a real temptation appears clear from every expression in the history of it. Curious speculations have been raised as to the manner in which our Lord was taken to “the top of a mountain,” and brought to “the pinnacle of the temple.” These are matters which we cannot explain. Let it suffice us to believe that the circumstances related, really, literally, and actually took place.

[That it may be made bread.] Let it be noted that the first temptation contained an appeal to a fleshly appetite, like the temptation in Eden. Adam and Eve were tempted to eat unlawfully, and so also was our Lord.

v4.-[It is written.] This text, we should mark, as well as the two others quoted by our Lord in reply to the devil, were taken from the Pentateuch. All three texts were from one book, Deuteronomy,-and two from one chapter, the sixth.

[By every word.] The meaning here is not strictly “by every spoken or written word,” but by every thing which God is pleased to create, or command, or appoint, for man’s sustenance, just as quails were commanded to come, and manna appointed to fall from heaven, to feed Israel. The Greek word translated “word,” is in three places translated “thing.” (Luk 1:37; Luk 2:15, Luk 2:19.)

v5.-[All the kingdoms of the world.] This expression must probably be taken with large qualifications, unless we take “the world” in the limited sense of Palestine and the adjacent countries. From no single mountain could all the kingdoms of the world be literally seen at once. If our Lord did really see them, it must have been by means of a vision made to pass before His eyes. This however seems very improbable.

[A moment of time.] Lightfoot quotes a Rabbinical definition of a moment. The Rabbins consider it to be “the 58,888th part of an hour.”

v6.-[This power will I give Thee.] Let it be noted, that as the devil promised liberally to Eve, “Ye shall be as Gods,” so he promised liberally to our Lord. But as his promise to Eve was a lie, so his promise to our Lord was a deception. He promised that which he had no power to give. He is undoubtedly called “prince of this world,” but he has no power to give dominion over it without God’s permission.

v7.-[Worship me.] The marginal reading seems to give the sense of the word more fully,-“fall down before me,” that is, “fall down and worship.”

v8.-[Get thee behind me, Satan.] These are precisely the words, let it be noted, which our Lord addressed to Simon Peter, when Peter would fain have dissuaded Him from the cross. (Mat 16:23.) It may be observed, while remarking on this expression, that the temptation which Luke relates second, is related by Matthew as occurring last. It seems probable that the order of Matthew is that in which the several temptations occurred, and the expression of our Lord to Satan appears strong internal evidence of this.

For what reason Luke departs from the order observed by Matthew we do not know. Spanheim, in his Dubia Evangelica, discusses the question, but throws little light on it.

v9.-[Pinnacle of the temple.] This is supposed to have been a turret, or high part of the temple-building, overhanging a deep valley. Josephus describes the place, and says, that “if any looked down, his eyes would grow dizzy, not being able to reach to so vast a depth.”

v10.-[It is written.] Let it be carefully noted, that the devil can quote Scripture, when it suits his purpose. There is no good thing which may not he abused.

[To keep thee.] From the earliest ages the comment has been made on these words, that Satan omitted the important expression which follows them, “In all thy ways;” and that the omission was intentional in order to favour his misapplication of the text. Perhaps more has been made of the omission than is quite warrantable. The quotations from the Old Testament in the New, even when made by holy and good men, are not always so full as we should have expected. At any rate, it is a striking fact that our Lord does not notice the misquotation, but simply quotes in reply another text.

Leighton’s remarks on this point are worth reading. “Our Saviour teaches us that our better way, either with perverse men, in asserting their errors, or with Satan in his assaulting us with misalleged scripture, is not so much to subtilize about the place or words abused. It may be so cunningly done sometimes, that we cannot well find it out; but this downright sure way beats off the sophistry with another place, clearly and plainly carrying that truth which he opposes and we adhere to. Though thou canst not clear the sense of an obscure text, thou shalt always find a sufficient guard in another that is clearer.”

v13.-[He departed from him.] Two things should always be remembered in reading the history of our Lord’s temptation.

For one thing, we have a clear proof of the personality of Satan. If the devil be not a person, judging from the whole history of the passage, there is no meaning in words. He “speaks,” he “takes,” he “shews,” he offers to “give,” he “brings,” he “sets,” he “departs.” These expressions can only be used about a person.

For another thing, we see the folly of labouring to make out, as some commentators do, the person who was present at each act in our Lord’s history, and supplied the four Gospel writers with the materials which they used in composing their narratives. Who, we may well ask, was present when all this temptation took place? From what source did Matthew and Luke obtain their information?-There is but one answer to these questions. They got it, like everything else which they wrote, from the inspiration of God. The theory that they were dependent on the reports of human witnesses in any part of their writings, is utterly unsatisfactory, and in the history of our Lord’s temptation, entirely breaks down.

Fuente: Ryle’s Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

Luk 4:1. Full of the Holy Spirit, which came upon Him at His baptism. Full of the Holy Spirit, He throughout this conflict wields victoriously the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

In The Spirit. Not quite the same as by the Spirit; the idea of His abiding in the Spirit as the element of His life is included.

In the wilderness. More correct than into, implying that the leading of the Spirit continued there, during forty days.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

At the twenty-second verse of the foregoing chapter, we find the Holy Ghost descending in a bodily shape like a dove upon our Saviour. In this verse we find the extraordinary effects and fruits of the Holy Ghost’s descent upon our Saviour: he was filled with all the gifts and graces of the blessed Spirit, to fit and furnish him for that ministerial service which he was now entering upon.

But observable it is, that before our Saviour undertook the ministerial office, he is led by the Spirit into the wilderness, and there furiously assaulted with Satan’s temptations. Temptation, meditation, and prayer, says Luther, make a minister: great temptations from Satan do fit us for greater services for God.

And whereas it is said, that Christ was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil by the Spirit, we must understand the Holy Spirit of God; for the devil, I think, is never called the spirit, but has always a brand of reproach annexed, as the evil spirit, the unclean spirit, and the like.

By his being led by the Spirit, (St. Mark says he was drove by the Spirit,) we may either understand a potent and efficacious persuasion, without any violent motion: or else, as the learned Dr. Lightfoot thinks, Christ was bodily caught up by the Holy Spirit into the air, and carried from Jordan, where he was baptized, into the wilderness, where he was tempted.

God had put great honour upon Christ at his baptism, declaring him to be his well-beloved Son, in whom he was well pleased; and the next news we hear is the devil assaulting him with his temptations.

Learn thence, that the more any are beloved of God, and dignified with more eminent testimonies of his favour, so much the more is the devil enraged, and maliciously bent against them.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Luk 4:1. And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, &c., was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, &c. Supposed by some to have been in Judea; by others to have been the great desert of Horeb, or Sinai, where the children of Israel were tried for forty years, and Moses and Elijah fasted forty days. Here we see that our blessed Lord began his ministry immediately after his baptism, not by going directly to Jerusalem, the seat of power, preceded by the Baptist, and with the divine glory surrounding his head, but by retiring into a wilderness, that, without interruption, he might prepare himself for his work by fasting, meditation, and prayer, and by sustaining temptations. Hence his journey to the wilderness is said to have been undertaken by the direction, or strong impulse, of the Spirit, by which Mark says he was driven. See note on Mar 1:12-13, and especially on Mat 4:1, where the nature and design of our Lords temptation are explained at large.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Fourth Narrative: The Temptation, Luk 4:1-13.

Every free creature, endowed with various faculties, must pass through a conflict, in which it decides either to use them for its own gratification, or to glorify God by devoting them to His service. The angels have passed through this trial; the first man underwent it; Jesus, being truly human, did not escape it. Our Syn. are unanimous upon this point. Their testimony as to the time when this conflict took place is no less accordant. All three place it immediately after His baptism, at the outset of His Messianic career. This date is important for determining the true meaning of this trial.

The temptation of the first man bore upon the use of the powers inherent in our nature. Jesus also experienced this kind of trial. How many times during His childhood and early manhood must He have been exposed to those temptations which address themselves to the instincts of the natural life! The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,these different forms of sin, separately or with united force, endeavoured to besiege His heart, subjugate His will, enslave His powers, and invade this pure being as they had invaded the innocent Adam. But on the battle-field on which Adam had succumbed Jesus remained a victor. The conscience without a scar, which He carried from the first part of His life into the second, assures us of this. The new trial He is now to undergo belongs to a higher domainthat of the spiritual life. It no longer respects the powers of the natural man, but His filial position, and the supernatural powers just conferred upon Him at His baptism. The powers of the Spirit are in themselves holy, but the history of the church of Corinth shows how they may be profaned when used in the service of egotism and self-love (1 Corinthians 12-14) This is that filthiness of the spirit (2Co 7:1), which is more subtle, and often more pernicious, than that of the flesh. The divine powers which Jesus had just received had therefore to be sanctified in His experience, that is, to receive from Him, in His inmost soul, their consecration to the service of God. In order to this, it was necessary that an opportunity to apply them either to His own use or to God’s service should be offered Him. His decision on this critical occasion would determine for ever the tendency and nature of His Messianic work. Christ or Antichrist was the alternative term of the two ways which were opening before Him. This trial is not therefore a repetition of that of Adam, the father of the old humanity; it is the special trial of the Head of the new humanity. And it is not simply a question here, as in our conflicts, whether a given individual shall form part of the kingdom of God; it is the very existence of this kingdom that is at stake. Its future sovereign, sent to found it, struggles in close combat with the sovereign of the hostile realm.

This narrative comprises1 st. A general view (Luk 4:1-2); 2 d. The first temptation (Luk 4:3-4); 3 d. The second (Luk 4:5-8); 4 th. The third (Luk 4:9-12); 5 th. An historical conclusion (Luk 4:13).

Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)

XIX.

JESUS TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS.

aMATT. IV. 1-11; bMARK I. 12, 13; cLUKE IV. 1-13.

c1 And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, b12 And straightway the Spirit driveth him forth cand a1 Then [Just after his baptism, with the glow of the descended Spirit still upon him, and the commending voice of the Father still ringing in his ears, Jesus is rushed into the suffering of temptation. Thus abrupt and violent are the changes of life. The spiritually exalted may expect these sharp contrasts. After being in the third heaven, Paul had a messenger of Satan to buffet him– 2Co 12:7] was Jesus led up [The two expressions “driveth” and “led up” show that Jesus was drawn to the wilderness by an irresistible impulse, and did not go hither of his own volition ( Eze 40:2). He was brought into temptation, but did not seek it. He was led of God into temptation, but was not tempted of God. God [87] may bring us into temptation ( Mat 6:13, Mat 26:41, Job 1:12, Job 2:6), and may make temptation a blessing unto us, tempering it to our strength, and making us stronger by the victory over it ( 1Co 10:13, Jam 1:2, Jam 1:12), but God himself never tempts us– Jam 1:13] of the Spirit into the wilderness [The wilderness sets in back of Jericho and extends thence along the whole western shore of the Dead Sea. The northern end of this region is in full view from the Jordan as one looks westward, and a more desolate and forbidding landscape it would be hard to find. It is vain to locate the temptation in any particular part of it. Jesus may have wandered about over nearly all of it] to be tempted of the devil [As a second David, Jesus went forth to meet that Goliath who had so long vaunted himself against all who sought to serve God, and had as yet found none to vanquish him. The account of the temptation must have been given to the disciples by Jesus himself, and as it pleased him to give it to us as an actual history of real facts, it behooves us to accept it without being presumptuously inquisitive. Of course, it has supernatural features, but the supernatural confronts us all through the life of Jesus, so there is nothing strange about it here. Jesus had taken upon him our flesh, and hence he could be tempted, with a possibility of falling. But his divinity insured his victory over temptation. He became like us in ability to fall, that he might make us like unto himself in power to resist. It behooved him to be tempted, and thus sharing our nature with its weakness and temptation he might bring us to share his nature with its strength and sinlessness ( Heb 2:17, Heb 2:18, Heb 4:15, Heb 4:16). Sinlessness does not preclude temptation, else Adam could not have been tempted, nor could Satan himself have fallen. Moreover, temptation is in so sense sin. It is the yielding of the will to temptation which constitutes sin. The spiritual history of humanity revolves around two persons; namely, the first and the second Adam. The temptation of Christ was as real as that of Adam. He had taken upon himself our temptable nature ( Phi 2:7, Phi 2:8), and he was tempted not as a private soldier, but as the second Adam, the Captain of [88] our salvation ( Heb 2:10-18). The failure of the first Adam brought sorrow, darkness and death; the success of the second Adam brought joy, light and immortality. One of the tenets of modern infidelity is the denial of the personality of the devil. It is asserted that the idea of a devil was not known to the early Hebrews, but was borrow from Persian dualism. The Persians held that there were two contending deities–a good one and a bad one; and the Hebrews, according to these critics, learned this doctrine from the Persians during the days of their Babylonian captivity, and modified it so that the god of evil became the devil. But such a theory is based upon the absurd notion that all the books of the Old Testament were written after the return of the Jews from Babylon. Their theory requires this notion, for the books of Genesis and Job, which were written centuries before the captivity, both show a knowledge of this being, and the first connects him and his work with the very beginning of human history. Those who believe in the inspiration of the Scriptures must also believe in the personality of the devil, for they plainly teach it. The devil is a fallen angel ( Jud 1:6, 2Pe 2:4). This doctrine need startle no one, for as there are good and bad spirits in the body, so there are good and bad spirits out of the body. Since God permits sinful spirits in the body, why should he not also permit them out of the body? If there can be a Herod, a Nero, a Judas, among men, why may there not be a Satan among evil spirits? Being but an angel, Satan is neither omnipresent, omniscient nor omnipotent. He is only a tolerated rebel, as we are tolerated rebels. He was the first sinner ( 1Jo 3:8), and was the originator of sin ( Joh 8:44). He is the perpetual tempter of mankind ( Rev 20:2, Rev 20:8), but he shall be conquered by the Redeemer ( Joh 12:31, Rev 12:9), and may be conquered by us also through the grace of Christ ( 1Pe 5:8, 1Pe 5:9, Jam 4:7); but is, nevertheless, dangerous ( Rev 2:10, Rev 3:9). Jesus, therefore, teaches us to pray for deliverance from him ( Mat 6:13, R.V.). Jesus will destroy the works of Satan ( 1Jo 3:8), and Satan himself shall suffer eternal punishment [89] ( Rev 20:10). There is but one devil in the spirit world. The word which our King James Version translates “devils” should be translated “demons.” The word “devil” means false accuser or slanderer, and the word in the plural is twice applied, metaphorically, to men and women ( 2Ti 3:3, 1Ti 3:11). The devil is called slanderer because he speaks against men ( Rev 12:10-12) and against God ( Gen 3:1-5). The word “devil” is Greek. The word “Satan” is Hebrew, and means adversary ( Job 2:1). Satan is referred to under many other terms, such as Beelzebub ( Mat 12:24); serpent ( Rev 12:9); prince of the powers of the air ( Eph 2:2); Abaddon (Hebrew) and Apollyon (Greek), meaning destroyer ( Rev 9:11); Belial, meaning good for nothing ( 2Co 6:15); murderer and liar ( Joh 8:44); prince of this world ( Joh 12:31); god of this world ( 2Co 4:4); and the dragon ( Rev 12:7). These terms are always used in the Bible to designate an actual person; they are never used merely to personify evil. The devil may have appeared to Jesus in bodily form, or he may have come insensibly as he does to us. Our Lord’s temptation makes the personality of the tempter essential, else Christ’s own heart must have suggested evil to him, which is incompatible with his perfect holiness.] b13 And he was cled in the Spirit [that is, under the power of the Spirit] in the wilderness [Isolation from humanity is no security from temptation. In fact, our present passage of Scripture shows that it is highly favorable to temptation. The experience of all hermits shows that loneliness is the mother of a multitude of evil desires] 2 during forty days [Matthew speaks of the temptation as coming “after” forty days. Evidently Mark and Luke regard the long fast as part of the process of temptation, seeing that without it the first temptation would have been without force. There is no evidence of any other specific temptations before the three], being tempted of bSatan; cthe devil, band he was with the wild beasts [A graphic touch, showing the dreariness and desolation of the wilderness, and indicating its peril. Lions, [90] wolves, leopards and serpents have been found in the Judan wilderness]; cAnd he did eat nothing [It used to be thought that a forty days’ absolute fast was a practical impossibility, and Luke’s words were therefore modified to mean that he ate very little. But as a forty days’ fast has been safely accomplished in modern times, and as it was Jesus who fasted, we see no reason why we should not take Luke’s statement literally, as indicating an absolute fast] in those days: and when they were completed. a2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights [A forty days’ fast was accomplished by Moses ( Exo 34:28, Deu 9:18), and by Elijah ( 1Ki 19:8), and it is a significant fact in this connection that these two men appeared with Christ at his transfiguration ( Mat 17:3). Those who share Christ’s sufferings shall also share his glorification ( Rom 8:17, 2Ti 2:11, 2Ti 2:12). The forty days’ fast became a basis for the temptation. We are told that temptation results from the excitement of desire ( Jam 1:14), and, as a rule, the greater the desire the greater the temptation. Viewed from this standpoint the temptation of the second Adam greatly exceeded in strength that of the first, for Adam abstained as to a particular fruit, but Christ fasted as to all things edible], he afterward hungered. [Here, for the first time, our Lord is shown as sharing our physical needs. We should note for our comfort that one may lack bread and suffer want, and still be infinitely beloved in heaven.] 3 And the tempter came [Satan is pre-eminently the tempter, for other tempters are his agents. He may possibly have appeared as an angel of light ( 2Co 11:14), but the purpose of his coming is more important than the manner of it. He came to produce sin in Jesus, for sin would render him forever incapable of becoming our Saviour–a sacrifice for the sins of others] c3 And the devil said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it {acommand that these stones} become bread. [The devil’s “if” strikes at the faith of Christ, and faith is the bond of union and accord between man and God. The main sin of this temptation was therefore distrust, though [91] it had other sinful phases. The Father’s voice had just declared the Sonship of Jesus, and Satan here boldly questions the truth of God’s words, just as he did in the beginning ( Gen 3:3-5). The temptation smacks of curiosity, and curiosity is the mother of many sins. Though Satan so glibly questioned the divinity of Christ, his kingdom soon began to feel the power of that divinity ( Luk 4:34-41), and shall continue to feel it until his kingdom is destroyed ( Heb 2:14, 1Jo 3:8). This temptation appealed to the present appetite, the impulse of the moment, as many of our temptations do. It has been quaintly said of the tempter that “he had sped so successfully to his own mind by a temptation about a matter of eating with the first Adam, that he practiced the old manner of trading with the second.” This first temptation is still Satan’s favorite with the poor. He suggests to them that if they were really the beloved objects of God’s care, their condition would be otherwise. We should note that Jesus wrought no selfish miracle. Such an act would have been contrary to all Scripture precedent. Paul did not heal himself ( 1Co 12:7-9, Gal 4:13, Col 4:14), nor Epaphroditus, ( Phi 2:25-27), nor Trophimus ( 2Ti 4:20). Denying himself the right to make bread in the wilderness, Christ freely used his miraculous power to feed others in the desert ( Mat 14:15-21), and merited as just praise those words which were meant as a bitter taunt– Mat 27:42.] 4 But he {c4 And Jesus} aanswered and said, cunto him, It is written [Jesus quotes Deu 8:3. It is a saying relative to the times when Israel was sustained by manna in the wilderness. The case of Jesus was now similar to that of Israel. He was in a foodless wilderness, but he trusted that as God had provided for Israel in its helplessness, so would he now provide for him. Israel sinned by doubt and murmuring, and proposing to obtain bread in its own way–that is, by returning to Egypt ( Exo 16:1-9). Jesus avoided a like sin. We should note the use which our Lord made of Scripture: in his hour of trial he did not look to visions and voices and special revelation for guidance, but used the written Word as the lamp [92] for his feet ( Psa 119:105); in the conflict of temptation he did not defend himself by his own divine wisdom, but used that wisdom which God had revealed to all Israel through his prophets. Jesus fought as a man ( Phi 2:6, Phi 2:7), and used that weapon which, as God, he had given to man ( Eph 6:17). Jesus used the Scripture as of final, argument-ending authority. Eve also started with “God hath said” ( Gen 3:3); but she was not constant in her adherence to God’s word. Jesus permitted Satan neither to question nor pervert the Scripture], Man [In using the word “man” Jesus takes his stand with us as a human being] shall not live by bread alone [Called out of Egypt as God’s Son ( Mat 2:15), Jesus could well expect that he would be fed with manna after his forty days’ fast. He trusted that God could furnish a table in the wilderness ( Psa 78:19). We, too, have abundant reason for a like trust. God gave us our lives, and gave his Son to redeem them from sin. He may let us suffer, but we can not perish is we trust him. Let us live by his word rather than by bread. It is better to die for righteousness than to live by sin. God fed Israel with supernatural bread, to show the people that they lived thus, and not by what they were pleased to call natural means. The stomach is a useful agent, but it is not the source of life, nor even the life sustainer. Those who think that the securing of bread is the first essential to the sustaining of life, will fail to seek any diviner food, and so will eventually starve with hunger–soul hunger.] abut by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God [To satisfy our sense of duty is often more pleasant than to appease the pangs of hunger ( Joh 4:32-34, Job 23:12, Jer 15:16). The trust of Jesus that God would speak in his behalf and save him, was like that of Job ( Job 13:15). God can sustain our lives without food if he chooses. We shall live if God wills it, bread or no bread; and we shall likewise die at his word ( Mat 6:25, Joh 6:47-58, Act 17:28). God can support our lives independent of our body– Mat 10:28.] 5 Then the devil taketh him [Matthew emphasizes the [93] compulsory companionship of Satan. Jesus was in the hands of Satan as was Job ( Job 2:5, Job 2:6); but in Jesus’ case Satan had the power of life and death, and he eventually took Jesus to the cross and slew him there] into the holy city [A common name for Jerusalem. The inscription on Jewish coins was “Jerusalem the Holy.” Arabs to-day call it “el Kuds,” “the Holy.” The Holy City did not exclude the tempter nor temptations. The church may be the scene of man’s sorest trial to resist wrong. But in the Holy City which is to come there will be no temptation]; c9 And he led him to Jerusalem, aand set him [The two verbs “taketh” and “setting” imply that Satan exercised a control over the bodily person of our Lord] on the pinnacle of the temple [It is not known exactly what spot is indicated by the word “pinnacle.” Hence three places have been contended for the proper locality: 1. The apex of the temple structure itself. 2. The top of Solomon’s porch. 3. The top of Herod’s royal portico. As to the temple itself, Josephus tells us that its roof was covered with spikes of gold, to prevent even birds from alighting upon it, and, if so, men could not stand upon it. Solomon’s porch, or the eastern portico, faced the Mount of Olives, and has been fixed upon by tradition as the place from which James, the Lord’s brother, was hurled. The royal portico of Herod was at the southeast corner of the temple enclosure, and overlooked the valley of Kidron. Here was then, and is yet, the greatest height about the temple, and it was, therefore, the most suitable place for Satan’s proposal], 6 and saith {csaid} aunto him, If [Godly life rests on faith. The life the devil would have us lead rests on ifs and uncertainties, on doubt and skepticism. We should note that foolish men doubt the divinity of Jesus, but the temptations of our Lord show how positively Satan was convinced of it. The opening scenes of Christ’s ministry are redolent with his divinity. The Baptist asserted his purity and might, the Spirit visibly acknowledged his worthiness, the Father audibly testified to his Sonship, and the devil twice assaulted him as the divine champion] thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down [94] [The first temptation was to under-confidence; the second to over-trust and presumption–two very dangerous conditions of the soul. Men begin by disparagingly doubting that Jesus can save them from their sins, and end by recklessly presuming that he will save them in their sins. Comparing this with Eve’s temptation, we find that she was vainly curious to see if she might be like God ( Gen 3:5), but Christ resisted such curiously. It is urged by some as to this temptation that there is no hint of vainglory or display, because nothing is said about casting himself down in the presence of the people, and that Jesus was merely taken to the temple because the sacred locality would tend to heighten his trust in the protecting promise which Satan quoted. But this ground is not well taken, for 1. The temple presumes a crowd. 2. We have a right to presume that this temptation would be like others to which Jesus was subjected. He was frequently invited to work miracles to satisfy curiosity, and he invariably refused to do so]: cfrom hence: 10 for it is written [This quotation is taken from Psa 91:11, Psa 91:12, and applies to man generally. Note 1. The devil’s head is full of Scripture, but to no profit, for his heart is empty of it. 2. By quoting it he shows a sense of its power which modern rationalism would do well to consider. 3. Satan’s abuse of Scripture did not discourage Christ’s use of it], He shall give his angels charge concerning thee [Regarding Satan’s words as a quotation, we are struck with the fact that his knowledge of this particular passage was based upon his personal experience. He had been confronted by the presence of the guardian angels and had fretted at it ( Job 1:10, 2Ki 6:8, 2Ki 6:17, Psa 34:7, Jud 1:9). As a temptation, Satan’s words appeal to Jesus to be more religious; to put more trust and reliance upon the promises of the Father; and he puts him in the place–the temple–where he might argue that God could least afford to let his promise fail], to guard thee: 11 and, On their hands they shall bear thee up [All who love pomp, display of artistic taste, gaieties of fashion, intoxication of fame, etc., fall by this temptation. Those who truly rest on God’s promises, stand on a sure [95] foundation, but those who rise on bubbles must come down when they burst], Lest haply thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12 And Jesus answering, said unto him, aagain it is written {csaid,} [“Written,” “said”; the writings of Scripture are in general the sayings of God. But the Bible is not made up of isolated texts. To get a right understanding we must compare Scripture with Scripture. We could have no higher indorsement of the Old Testament than this use of it by Christ. It was sufficient for him in his temptations, and with the addition of the New Testament, it is sufficient for us in all things– 2Ti 3:16, 2Ti 3:17, Col 3:3-16], aThou shalt not make trial [Make experiment upon God, set traps for him, put one’s self in dangerous situations, hoping thereby to draw forth some show of loving deliverance. Had Jesus cast himself down, he would have demanded of the Father a needless miracle to prove his Sonship, and would thereby have put the love of God to an unnecessary trial. All who jeopardize themselves without any command of God or call of duty, make trial of his love] of the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him [whether naturally or supernaturally, “whether in the body or out of the body” ( 2Co 12:2-4), we can not tell. But it was a real, practical trial and temptation] unto an exceeding high mountain [it is immaterial which mountain this was; for from no mountain could one see the whole earth with the natural eye], c5 And he led him up, aAnd showeth {cshowed} ahim [It is not said by either evangelist that Jesus saw the kingdoms from the mountain-top, but that Satan showed them to him. From any high Judan mountain it would be easy for him to locate Rome, Greece, Egypt, Persia and Assyria, and as he pointed out their locality a few brief words of description would picture them to the imagination of Jesus, and cause their glories to move before his eyes. But it is very likely that to this description some sort of supernatural vision was added. It tempted the eye of Jesus as the luscious fruit did the eye of Eve– Gen 3:6] all the kingdoms of the world [It tempted Jesus to realize the dreams [96] which the Jewish nation entertained. It was an appeal to him to reveal himself in the fullness of his power and authority as above generals, princes, kings, and all beings of all ages. An appeal to obtain by physical rather than by spiritual power; by the short-cut path of policy rather than by the long road of suffering and martyrdom. Jesus came to obtain the kingdoms of the world. He was born King of the Jews, and confessed himself to be a King before Pilate. All authority is now given to him, and he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet, and until all the kingdoms of the world become his kingdom. Satan’s way to obtain this kingdom differed from God’s way. He might obtain it by doing Satan’s will and becoming his worshiper, or by worshiping God and doing his will. Satan would give the speedier possession, but God the more lasting. We also strive for a kingdom; but let us obtain ours as Christ did his], and the glory of them [That is, all their resources as well as their magnificence. Their cities, lands and people, their armies, treasures and temples, etc. Many parents, in encouraging their children to seek earthly glory and distinction, unconsciously assist Satan in urging this temptation]; cin a moment of time [These words strongly indicate that the prospect must have been supernaturally presented. The suddenness of the vision added greatly to the power of the temptation]; a9 and he cthe devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority {aAll these things will I give thee,} [From the standpoint of Christ’s humanity, how overwhelming the temptation! It was the world’s honors to one who had for thirty years led the life of a village carpenter; it was the world’s riches to him who had not where to lay his head. From the standpoint of Jesus’ divinity the temptation was repulsive. It was a large offer in the sight of Satan, but a small one in the sight of him who made all the worlds. Such offers are large to the children of the world, but small to those who are by faith joint-heirs with Christ ( Rom 8:17, Phi 3:7, Phi 3:8). But the temptation was, nevertheless, very specious and plausible. The power of Jesus linked with that of Satan, and [97] operating through Jewish fanaticism and pagan expectation would, in a few months, have brought the whole earth into one temporal kingdom, with Jesus as its head. But the kingdom of Christ rested upon a surer promise ( Psa 2:8) than that here given by the “father of lies.” God had promised, and, despite the pretensions of Satan, God had not yet retired from the government of the world. It was true that Satan and his emissaries had, by usurpation, gained an apparent possession of the world, but Jesus had right to it as the heir of God ( Mat 21:33-43). Being stronger than Satan, he had come to regain his kingdom, not by treaty, but by conquest ( Luk 11:19-22). Moreover, he would obtain it as a spiritual and not as a carnal kingdom. Servants of Christ should remember this. Every attempt to establish Messiah’s kingdom as an outward, worldly dominion is an effort to convert the kingdom of heaven into the kingdom of the devil. God’s kingdom can not be secularized. It should be noted also that Satan omits the words “if thou art the Son of God” in this instance, for their presence would have marred the force of the temptation. Note also that this was the only temptation wherein Satan evinced any show of generosity. He is slow to give anything, and most of us sell out to him for nothing– Isa 52:3], and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me [Satan does not claim an absolute but a derivative right, and his claim is not wholly unfounded ( Joh 12:31, Joh 14:30, Joh 16:11). But the kingdom has been delivered unto him by men rather than by God ( Eph 2:2). How much more quickly Jesus would have obtained power, had he received it from men by consenting to co-operate with them in their sinful practices as does Satan]; and to whomsoever I will [Not so Jesus. His giving is according to the Father’s will– Mat 9:23] I give it [The Emperor Tiberius then held it in the fullest sense ambition ever realized. Yet he was the most miserable and degraded of men. Satan knows how to take full toll for all that he gives.] 7 If [In the temptations Satan uses three “ifs.” The first “if” is one of despairing doubt; the second, one of vainglorious speculation; the third, one of moral and [98] spiritual compromise] thou therefore wilt afall down and worship cbefore me [Satan and God each seek the worship of man, but from very different motives. God is holiness and goodness, and we are invited to worship him that we may thereby be induced to grow like him. But Satan seeks worship for vanity’s sake. How vast the vanity which would give so great a reward for one act of worship! Verily the devil is fond of it. He gives nothing unless he obtains it, and all his generosity is selfishness. Worshiping before Satan is the bending of the soul rather than of the body. He holds before each of us some crown of success, and says: “Bend just a little; slightly compromise your conscience. Accept the help of Pharisee and Sadducee, and keep silent as to their sins. Mix a little diplomacy with your righteousness. Stoop just a little. If you do, I will aid you and insure your success. If you do not, I will defeat you and laugh at your failures.” It is Satan’s sin to make such suggestions, but it is not our sin until we comply with them. We may more quickly obtain by his wrong way, but more surely by God’s right way. Let no Christian be humiliated or discouraged by gross temptation, since even the Son of God was tempted to worship the devil. What Jesus would not do, the Beast has done, and has received the kingdoms for a season ( Rev 13:1-9). Note, too, that it is all one whether we worship Satan, or mammon, the gift which he offers– Mat 6:24], it shall all be thine. 8 And a10 Then cJesus answered and said {asaith} cunto him, aGet thee hence [The passionate utterance of an aroused soul. Indignation is as divine as patience ( Eph 4:26). Satan’s sweetest temptation was most disgusting to Christ, for its sin was so grossly apparent. It ran counter to the very first of the ten commandments. Jesus would give it no room in his thoughts; he spurned it, as being as heinous as the law describes it ( Deu 5:6-11). Temptation must be peremptorily rejected. Jesus did not stop to weigh the worthiness of Satan; it was sufficient that God only is to be worshiped. As God, Jesus was himself an object of worship; but as man he worshiped the Father privately and publicly. Satan [99] sought to command Jesus, but was commanded of him. Step by step Satan has obeyed this command, and foot after foot, earth’s spiritual world has been yielded by his departing presence], Satan [The first and second temptations were so subtle and covert, and their sin so skillfully disguised, as to suggest that Satan himself was disguised. If so, his pride and vanity, revealed in this last temptation, betrayed him so that Jesus tore off his mask and called him by his right name. When he tempted him in a somewhat similar matter, Jesus called Simon Peter by this name ( Mat 16:23), but he laid a different command upon each of them. To Satan he spoke as an enemy, saying, “Get thee hence.” He ordered Satan from his presence, for he had no proper place there. To Peter he spoke as to a presumptuous disciple, saying, “Get thee behind me.” The disciple is a follower of his master, and his proper place is in the rear]: for it is written [Jesus gives a free translation of Deu 6:13. He substitutes the word “worship” for the word “fears.” Fear prohibits false and induces true worship, and loving worship is the source of all acceptable service. The three Scripture quotations used by Jesus are all from the book of Deuteronomy. He struck Satan with that very part of the Spirit’s sword which modern critical infidelity, in the name of religion, and often aided by so-called religious organizations, seeks to persuade us to cast away], Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. [By serving God, Jesus obtained all the earthly authority which the devil offered him, and heavenly authority in addition thereto ( Mat 28:18). So much better are the rewards of God than Satan’s.] c13 And when the devil had completed every temptation. a11 Then the devil leaveth {che departeth from} him for a season. [See Jam 4:7. But Satan left to return many times. Here was the first being endowed with human nature who had defeated Satan under all circumstances for thirty years. This was Satan’s first defeat under Christ’s ministry. His last is yet to come, and it shall come by this same Christ. Temptations are battles. They leave the victor stronger and the [100] vanquished weaker. Hence Satan when resisted is represented as fleeing. But he only flees for a season. He never despairs of the conflict so long as man is on the earth. Christ was constantly tempted by the returning devil ( Luk 22:28). As Jesus hung upon the cross, all these three temptations with their accompanying “ifs” were spread out before him– Mat 27:39-43] aand behold, angels came [They had probably witnessed the contest. Compare 1Co 4:9, 1Ti 3:16. Angels do not appear again visibly ministering unto Jesus until we find him in Gethsemane ( Luk 22:43). When Satan finally departs from us, we, too, shall find ourselves in the presence of angels– Luk 16:22] and ministered unto him. [Jesus was probably fed by the angels, as was Elijah by one of them ( 1Ki 19:4-7). Satan and suffering first, then angels, refreshment and rest. God had indeed given his angels charge, and they came to him who refused to put the father to the test. But they did not succor Jesus during his temptation, for that was to be resisted by himself alone– Isa 63:3.]

[FFG 87-101]

Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)

Luke Chapter 4

The unknown Son of God on earth, Jesus, is led (chap. 4) into the wilderness by the Holy Ghost, with whom He had been sealed, to undergo the temptation of the enemy, beneath which Adam fell. But Jesus endured this temptation in the circumstances in which we stand, not those in which Adam stood; that is to say, He felt it in all the difficulties of the life of faith, tempted in all points like as we are, sin excepted. Take notice here that it is no question of bondage to sin, but of conflict. When it is a question of bondage, it is a question of deliverance, not of conflict. It was in Canaan that Israel fought. They were delivered out of Egypt; they did not fight there.

In Luke the temptations are arranged according to their moral order: first, that which bodily need required; second, the world; third, spiritual subtlety. In each the Lord maintains the position of obedience and of dependence, giving God andHis communications to man-His word-their true place. Simple principle, which shelters us in every attack, but which, by its very simplicity, is perfection! Nevertheless let us remember that this is the case; for raising ourselves to marvellous heights is not the thing required of us, but the following that which applies to our human condition as the normal rule for its guidance. It is obedience, dependence-doing nothing except as God wills it, and reliance on Him. This walk supposes the word. But the word is the expression of the will, the goodness, and the authority of God, applicable to all the circumstances of man as he is.-It shews that God interests Himself in all that regards him: why then should man act of himself without looking to God and to His word? Alas! speaking of men in general, they are self-willed. To submit and be dependent is precisely that which they will not. They have too much enmity to God to trust in Him. It was this, therefore, which distinguished the Lord. The power to work a miracle God could bestow on whom He would. But an obedient man, who had no will to do anything with respect to which the will of God was not expressed, a man who lived by the word, a man who lived in complete dependence upon God and had a perfect trust, which required no other proof of Gods faithfulness than His word, no other means of certainty that He would intervene than His promise of so doing, and who waited for that intervention in the path of His will-here was something more than power. This was the perfection of man, in the place where man stood (not simply innocence, for innocence has no need of trusting God in the midst of difficulties, and sorrows, and questions raised by sin, and the knowledge of good and evil), and a perfection which sheltered one who possessed it from every attack Satan could make upon him; for what could he do to one who never went beyond the will of God, and to whom that will was the only motive for action? Moreover, the power of the Spirit of God was there Accordingly we find that simple obedience directed by the word is the only weapon employed by Jesus. This obedience requires dependence on God, and trust in God, in order to accomplish it.

He lives by the word: this is dependence. He will not tempt (that is, put God to the test) to see if He is faithful: this is trust.

He acts when God wills, and because He wills, and does that which God wills. All the rest He leaves with God. This is obedience; and, remark, not obedience as submission to Gods will where there was an adverse one, but where Gods will was the one motive for action. We are sanctified to the obedience of Christ.

Satan is overcome and powerless before this last Adam, who acts according to the power of the Spirit, in the place where man is found, by the means which God has given to man, and in the circumstances in which Satan exercises his power. Sin there was none, or it would have been to yield, not to conquer. It was shut out by obedience. But Satan is overcome in the circumstances of temptation in which man is found. Bodily need, which would have become lust if self-will had entered into it, instead of dependence on the will of God; the world and all its glory, which, so far as it is the object of mans covetousness, is in fact the kingdom of Satan (and it was on that ground that Satan tried to bring Jesus, and shewed himself to be Satan in so doing); and, lastly, self-exaltation in a religious way through the things which God has given us-these were the points of the enemys attack. But there was no self-seeking in Jesus.

We have found, then, in these things which we have been looking at, a man filled with the Holy Ghost, and born of the Holy Ghost on earth, perfectly well-pleasing to God and the object of His affection, His beloved Son, in the position of dependence; and a man, the conqueror of Satan amid those temptations by which he usually gains advantage over man-conqueror in the power of the Holy Ghost, and by making use of the word, as dependent, obedient, and trusting in God in the ordinary circumstances ofman. In the first position, Jesus stood with the remnant; in the second, alone-as in Gethsemane and on the cross. Nevertheless, it was for us; and, accepted as Jesus, we have in a certain sense the enemy to overcome. But it is a conquered enemy whom we resist in the strength of the Holy Ghost, who is given unto us in virtue of redemption. If we resist him, he flees; for he has met his conqueror. The flesh does not resist him. He finds Christ in us. Resistance in the flesh does not lead to victory.

Jesus conquered the strong man and then spoiled his goods; but it was in temptation, obedience, having no will but that of God, dependence, the use of the word, abiding in subjection to God, that Jesus gained the victory over him. In all this the first Adam failed. After Christs victory, we also as servants of Christ gain actual victories, or rather the fruits of the victory already gained in the presence of God.

The Lord has now taken His place, so to speak, for the work of the last Adam-the man in whom is the Spirit without measure, the Son of God in this world by His birth. He has taken it as the seed of the woman (nevertheless, conceived of the Holy Ghost); He has taken it as the Son of God perfectly well-pleasing to God in His Person as man here below; and He has taken it as the conqueror of Satan. Owned to be the Son of God, and sealed with the Holy Ghost by the Father, heaven being open to Him as man, His genealogy is, however, traced up to Adam; and, the descendant of Adam, without sin, full of the Holy Ghost, He conquers Satan (as the obedient man, having no motive but the will of God), and sets Himself to accomplish the work which God His Father committed to Him in this world, and that as man, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

He returns, in the power of the Spirit, into Galilee, [12] and His fame spreads through all the region round about.

He presents Himself in this character: The Spirit of Jehovah is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, … to preach the acceptable year of Jehovah. Here He stops. That which follows in the prophet, respecting the deliverance of Israel by the judgment which avenges them of their enemies, is omitted by the Lord.

Now Jesus does not announce promises, but their fulfilment in grace by His own presence. The Spirit is upon this man, full of grace; and the God of grace in Him manifests His goodness. The time of deliverance is come; the vessel of His favour to Israel is there in their midst.

The examination of the prophecy renders this testimony so much the more remarkable, that the Spirit, having declared the sin of the people and their judgment, in the chapters that precede these words, speaks (when introducing the Christ, the Anointed) only of grace and blessing to Israel: if there is vengeance, it should be executed upon their enemies for the deliverance of Israel.

But here it is grace in His Person, this man, the Son of God, full of the Holy Ghost, in order to proclaim the mercy of a God who is faithful to His promises, and to comfort and lift up the bruised and the poor in spirit. Blessing was there, presenting itself before them. They could not misunderstand it, but they do not recognise the Son of God. Is not this Josephs son? We have here the whole history of Christ-the perfect manifestation of grace in the midst of Israel, His land, and His people; and they knew Him not. No prophet is accepted in his own country.

But this rejection opened the way to a grace which went beyond the limits that a rebellious people would set to it. The woman of Sarepta, and Naaman, were testimonies of this grace.

Wrath fills the heart of those who reject grace. Unbelieving, and incapable of discerning the blessing that had visited them, they will not have it go elsewhere. The pride which rendered them unable to appreciate grace would not hear of its communication to others.

They seek to destroy Jesus, but He goes on His way. Here is the whole history of Jesus among the people traced beforehand.

He went His way; and the Spirit preserves to us the acts and the cures which characterise His ministry in the aspect of the efficacy of grace, and of its extension to others besides Israel.

Power was in Him whose grace was rejected. Acknowledged by devils, if not by Israel, He expels them by a word. He heals the sick. All the power of the enemy, all the sad outward effects of sin, disappear before Him. He heals, He withdraws; and when entreated to remain (the effect of His works that procured Him that honour from the people which He did not seek), He goes away to labour elsewhere in the testimony committed to Him. He seeks to accomplish His work, and not to be honoured.

He preaches everywhere among the people. He casts out the enemy, He removes sufferings, and proclaims the goodness of God to the poor.

Footnotes for Luke Chapter 4

12: And here note, as anointed with the Holy Ghost and led by Him He goes to be tempted, and returns in the power of it. None was lost, and this power was as much shewn in the apparently negative result of overcoming, as in the miraculous manifestation of power afterwards on men.

Fuente: John Darby’s Synopsis of the New Testament

THE TEMPTATION

Mat 4:1-11; Mar 1:12-13; Luk 4:1-13. Matthew says that He was led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil. Mark says: The Spirit immediately impels Him away into the desert. And He was there in the desert forty days, being tempted by the devil; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels continued to minister unto Him. Luke says: Jesus, full of the Holy Ghost, went away from the Jordan; and was led by the Spirit into the desert, being tempted by the devil forty days. And He ate nothing during those days; and they being completed, He was afterward hungry. I have gazed much upon the Mount of Temptation, lifting his bleak, rugged summit immediately west of Old Jericho, whose walls fell down responsive to the shouts of Israel, and about twenty miles from the ford of the Jordan where Jesus was baptized. It is a bleak, desolate, rugged, dreary region, inhabited only by wild beasts and robbers, unless the Bedoum, in his wanderings, here pitches his tent. The fact that Matthew and Luke positively state that He became hungry after the forty days, and Mark certifies that the angels were ministering unto Him throughout these forty days, involves the conclusion that He was supernaturally kept, in a state of spiritual rhapsody, like Moses and Elijah, during the forty days, so that He did not realize the sensation of hunger until after their expiration; and the ministering angels retiring, the natural, physical condition returns, and with it an intense sensation of hunger, as He had been forty days entirely without physical nutriment. Mark and Luke both state that the temptation was going on during the forty days, while Matthew states that after the forty days, the tempter coming to Him, said, If Thou art the Son of God, say that these stones Mark, and Luke, we conclude that during the forty days He was undergoing a temptation by the combined minions of perdition, and the powers of darkness turned loose against Him; meanwhile, the angels are present with Him, and through their sympathetic and consolatory ministrations, He enjoys a heavenly prelibation to such an extent as to fill His spirit with an unearthly rapture, the indwelling Holy Spirit, whom He had received when He descended on Him at the Jordan, so thrilling Him with heavenly ecstasy as to supersede and hold in suspense the physical appetites, so as to suspend the sensation of hunger during the forty days of angelic ministration. During this period, while evidently the powers of darkness are turned loose against Him, and doubtless the monsters of the pit swarm around Him, their hideous howling commingling with the growl and the roar of the wild beasts, yet, amid all, He enjoys a glorious victory, so that His spiritual rapture enables Him so to triumph over the physical destitution and depletion as to utterly suspend the sensation of hunger. At the expiration of forty days, the angels having retreated away, and the roar of the hell-hounds, the hissing of reptiles, and the ferocity of the wild beasts all combine to augment the dismal solitude and the awful peril of the situation, suddenly King Diabolus, having vacated his ebony throne in the Pandemonium, and assuming the form of a great and mighty man, like Napoleon Bonaparte or Alexander the Great, dressed in all the pompous costume of royal majesty, approaches Him, and enters upon a personal interview. The ministering angels have retreated away; His spiritual rhapsody no longer holding in suspense the physical functions, a fearful collapse of exhausted nature now supervenes, the intensity of His hunger, after a fast of forty days, being utterly inconceivable. Here we see Jesus at the greatest possible disadvantage.

(a) He is in the enemys territory, surrounded by desolation and horror; the ferocious wild beasts ready to devour Him, and more ferocious demons and hellish monsters on all sides, every angel having retreated away, and the bright glory of heaven mantled in dark eclipse, with the awful intensity of hunger, super induced by a forty days fast.

(b) In addition to all this, the prince of the Pandemonium, with the cultured intelligence of an archangel, now meets Him, with a personal order to satisfy His poor body with bread.

We must remember that, as Jesus was free from infirmity and from all physical ailment, which so frequently, in our case, suspends the appetite for food, His hunger subsequently to the expiration of the forty days and the angelic ministry was unutterably intense. While the Divinity of Christ could not be tempted, His humanity was tempted, in all the three great departments constituent to our being; i.e., the physical, spiritual, and intellectual.

(c) You observe from the inspired narrative that Satan made his first assault against the physical nature of Jesus, availing himself of the most superlative case of intensified hunger in order to induce Him to satisfy it by resorting to a miracle, which would be out of harmony with the Divine economy, because in probationary life we must be true to providence as well as grace, the former appertaining to the body, and the latter the soul; hence it was pertinent that Jesus, like every other man, should await the providence of God to satisfy His hunger.

In the case of Adam the First, Satan began with the physical, as now in the temptation of Jesus, it so turned out that he economized two thirds of his ammunition, achieving a complete victory in his first assault; i.e., slaying Adam on the first round. If he had failed in the temptation of his body with the fruit, he would then have proceeded to carry the war with all possible expedition into the dominion of spirit and intellect. Not so in the case of Adam the Second; there, Satan used all of his ammunition and lost it all.

(d) You see here the simple method by which Jesus defeated the devil:

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth through the mouth of God. He is our Infallible Example, who alone has a right to teach the Christian soldier how to fight. If we will follow His example, we are certain to always have victory. You may fight the devil with your creed, and he will run over you rough-shod. Fight him with the plain, simple Word of God, and, like the Salvation Army song,

If you want to see the devil run, Always shoot him with a gospel gun.

(e) Then the devil taketh Him into the holy city, and places Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and says to Him, if Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself down; for it has been written, He gives His angels charge over Thee, to hear Thee up, lest Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. (Psa 91:2)

Satan is a great Scriptorian, always ready to quote it; but never giving it correctly. So you find Satans preachers, always twisting and turning the Word of the Lord to suit their creed. In this quotation, Diabolus very adroitly omits the clause, In all Thy ways. We can perfectly rely upon the keeping power of God, so long as we are in the Divine order; but when we get out, then the devil drops a lasso round our necks. In this assault i.e., Satans second campaign against Jesus he directs his ammunition against the citadel of His human spirit, the receptacle of Divine grace and keeping-power through faith. Consequently the enemy makes a gattling- gun attack on His faith, using all of his chicanery to vitiate it, by turning it into presumption, which is the devils counterfeit for faith. O how Satan manipulates to supply the pulpits and the pews with this counterfeit at which is but a trap-door to let them fall into hell! The people believe their creed and support their Church, and presume that they are Christians, while experimentally ignorant of that faith which alone can move the mountains of sin out of their hearts. Again, Jesus uses the Sword of the Spirit, responding to Satan, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. (Deu 6:16.) This consummates the second victory which Jesus won in that memorable wilderness battle. The holy city here, as revealed by Luke, was Jerusalem, whose magnificent temple, so splendidly and artistically built and repaired by Herod the Great, had several lofty towers, to the highest of which Satan now leads Jesus, and having Him now in position and plight to leap away and take chances on the stone pavement several hundred feet below, he makes the bold challenge. It is about twenty-five miles away from the Mount of Temptation in Judea to Jerusalem. I trow, Satan, in gaudy sacerdotal robes, or perhaps royal regalia, in human incarnation, actually became the concomitant of Jesus for a period of time not here specified, but beginning at the end of the forty days. shows Him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of the same, and says to Him, All these will I give unto Thee if, falling down, You may worship before me. Luke states, Because it has been given unto me, and I give it to whom I wish.

Here we see that Satan resorts to a positive and unequivocal falsehood; though he has a false claim on the world, and a dominion over it which he has usurped, and for the time being for reasons not well known to us, but doubtless lying deep in the probationary economy he is permitted, in a sense, to reign over the world during the present evil age. (2Co 4:4.) Where E.V. represents God as calling the devil the god of this world, the true reading is the god of this age, as the world is to be gloriously redeemed after the Satanic age has come to an end. This is peculiar to Satans method of lying, especially to the people of God. While it is a substantial falsehood, it exhibits a phase of truth, in the simple fact of his usurped and temporarily permitted dominion over this world, which, even in the most plausible aspect, is subordinated to the sovereign, discriminating providence of God. We have no specification here as to what mountain this was. Mt. Olivet, east of Jerusalem, is the highest in all Southern Palestine. Mt. Pisgah, in full view, in the Land of Moab, east of the Dead Sea, is the highest in all that region. Mt. Hermon, two hundred miles north, ten thousand feet high, is actually the highest in all the Land of Canaan. As Luke says Satan showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, he must have resorted to a panorama, in which he exhibited before the eye of Jesus all the time-honored kingdoms and mighty empires possessing and ruling the world at that time. This temptation was an assault against the powerful, unfallen intellect of Jesus. The greatest minds the ages have ever known, have all been embargoed, darkened, and paralyzed by the fall. As an Intellectualist, the Man Jesus stands alone in the world. Do you not see in His life how all the genius and the learning of the world and the fallen Church were laid under contribution to confuse, tangle up, and perplex Him? In all the histories of the ages, no other absolutely imperturbable man has ever been found. All the sophistry of priests, theologians, and politicians combined, signally failed in any case to embarrass or confuse Him. This final assault of the enemy, on the line of human ambition, appeals to His wonderful intellect. Nebuchadnezzar, order to conquer and possess it. These were all powerful intellectualists. The greater the intellect, the more incorrigible the ambition. The Greek proskuneses not only means worship, in the sense of adoration offered to a god, hut it means that homage and civility which we extend to persons of royal rank and dignity.

(g) You must remember that Satan before his fall was a great archangel, one of the brightest that ever shone around the effulgent Throne.

The Son of God is uncreated and co-eternal with the Father. Doubtless, during this interview, which was probably more prolix than we generally think, Satan adverted to their old friendship in the regions of fadeless bliss, and perhaps appealed to His sympathies; as amid those terrible troubles which had already resulted in his ejectment from heaven, he had resorted to an effort to enlarge his dominions by the accession of this world to the contracted regions of woe; and now, O Son of God, that You have come to dispute my claim to the planet Earth, I propose to compromise the whole matter by surrendering up to You the sole and exclusive dominion of this controverted territory, with the understanding that You shall have it and reign over it forever, while I will reign in the dominion of Hades; meanwhile, I shall enjoin but one condition on Your part, and that is, that You and I shall be friends again, as in bygone ages in celestial worlds. Of course, any complicity with Satan would have abducted the humanity from the Divinity, which, in that case, would have returned back to heaven, the plan of salvation collapsing forever. Then Jesus says to him, Get behind Me, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord God; Him only shalt thou serve. (Deu 6:13.) Then Satan leaves Him, as Luke says, for a season.

Behold, the angels came and continued to minister unto Him. Here you see that a single stroke with the Sword of the Spirit repels Satan, and consummates the victory. There is now good reason for his final and utter withdrawal from the battle-field. Every army retreats the moment their ammunition is all expended. As Satan had no possible access to the Divinity, he could only work on the humanity, which, pursuant to the Divine similitude in which man was created, has but three entities i.e., the physical, spiritual, and intellectual. When Satan had turned all the battering rams of hell against these three towers of Mansoul, and in every case suffered signal defeat, he could do nothing more than retreat from the field, crestfallen and hopelessly defeated. What a decisive contrast with his first battle against humanity in Eden, where he saved two thirds of his ammunition, Adam falling on the first assault! But now, in his campaign against Adam the Second, you see he used all of his ammunition, and lost it all. Glorious victory for you and me, and all who, through evangelical repentance and humble faith, will receive it!

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Luk 4:2. Being tempted forty days he afterward hungered. During this space he lived like Moses on the mount, conversing with the Father in all the glories of his kingdom. His humanity was renovated, the glory of the only begotten shone through all his person. He was here prepared in body and in mind for the godlike sphere in which he was called to move, and in which he developed his character to be what the demons called him, the Holy One of God. Young men entering on the ministry should meditate on the Saviours example, but not by a sham fast of forty days.

Luk 4:5. The devil taking him to a high mountain. Obadiah adverted to a case in which Elijah had been carried away by the Spirit of the Lord. 1Ki 18:12. Another like case occurred to Philip. Act 8:40.

Luk 4:13. The devil departed for a season, waiting a fit opportunity to return to the charge. That occurred especially when he found Judas, a willing instrument to betray his Lord.

Luk 4:16. He came to Nazareth where he had been brought up; and a prophet is not without honour save in his own country, as stated on Mar 6:4.

Luk 4:17. There was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the rulers of the synagogue at Antioch desired Paul and his colleagues to speak to the people. Act 13:15. The law, comprising the five books of Moses, was divided into fifty four parashoth or sections, one for every sabbath in the year; and by reading two parashoth on convenient times they read the law once a year, besides short portions in others parts of the service.

After Ezras time, and when new editions of the scriptures had been made, and when the profane Antiochus had forbidden the reading of the law, the rabbins contrived to read the prophets, which continued ever after in the public service. It is likely therefore, when they handed our Saviour the book of the prophets, that the law and the usual service had been read, and that he was called upon to expound impromptu, as above, in the synagogue of Antioch. After opportunely reading Isa 61:1-3, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, he, full of wisdom, full of grace, expounded this most appropriate prophecy to the admiration of all who were well- disposed. But this applause was insupportable to the rulers; and as there had existed already a jealousy and murmuring in the town, that Jesus should perform distinguished miracles in other cities, and slight his own friends, they most invidiously availed themselves of it to ask, as in the next words:

Luk 4:22. Is not this Josephs son? The pride of the rulers could not brook the Saviours popularity; they saw the people pay him a reverence never shown to them. They asked for miracles with contempt and unbelief. Nay, their indignation boiled to thoughts of murder; the vociferations were, throw him over the precipice. Envy is a worm of the genus of serpents. How many aged ministers have I seen, in my extensive knowledge of the religious world, so envious at the popularity of young men called to help them, that they have ruined themselves by seeking to degrade and slander them, instead of rejoicing over them as sons in the gospel, and as the hopes of the church.

Luk 4:23-27. Ye will surely say to me Physician, heal thyself. But I tell you the truth, the truth out of your own scriptures; it was the Spirit that led me in course to other towns; and what can prophets do against the Spirit of the Lord? In the time of drought, there were many widows in Israel; yet Elijah was sent to feed a poor gentile widow of Zarepta, a city of Sidonia. Likewise, there were many lepers in Israel in the days of Elisha, yet none of them were cleansed, save Naaman the Syrian. Your absolute claims of grace and exclusive privileges are unauthorized, even by your greatest prophets.

Luk 4:28-30. And all they in the synagogue were filled with wrath. Nathaniels question, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth, is no encomium on the moral state of that town. And now the demon appeared the moment their presumption met with a fair and just rebuke. The Saviour, regardless of their anger, boldly declared the truth. In their fury against him, they made no calculation on the consequences of imbruing their hands in the blood of a prophet. They sought to take and destroy him, but he walked securely through the crowd; the majesty of his presence paralyzed their arm. He called for no visitations on the town, the loss of grace and mercy was no small punishment.

Luk 4:31. He came down to Capernaum, called in Hebrew Caphar Carnaim, or village Carnaim; a town of Galilee, near the sea of Galilee, now populous, and mostly inhabited by gentiles.

Luk 4:32. His word was with power. The officers of the temple said, never man spake like this man. When he talked of divine things, he talked of his own things: all was nature, all was ease, the sweetness of heaven accompanied his words. In simplicity, he surpassed the flowery prophets. His comments on the law were luminous and conclusive. His figures were the eloquence of nature, and most instructive in character. His climaxes, (as in the beatitudes, and in the questions, what went ye out into the wilderness to see; a reed, a courtier, a prophet, more than a prophet) are the perfection of beauty. In parable, his narration was simple, and all his portraits left their image behind. In disputations, he was conclusive, and covered sophistry with silence. When he struck at vice, his words were clothed with majesty; but when he reproved the sins of the sanctuary, his sword was doubly sharp. To no class of men did he ever concede the truths of God, nor did he ever temporize with the wicked. His heart spoke with his voice, varying his tones with his subject, while his aspect confirmed all his words. In fine, he so spake, and so lived, as to say to all, Learn of me. He surpassed all prophets and all apostles in eloquence, because he surpassed them in simplicity.

Luk 4:33-35. In the synagogue there was a man which bad a spirit of an unclean devil. Greek, a demon. And Jesus rebuked him, saying, hold thy peace. The paroxysm into which the man was thrown, and the horror of his language were the proofs of demoniacy. The Lord rebuked and ejected this unclean demon, and would not receive a confession of faith from an unclean spirit. See on Mat 4:13. Mar 1:21.

REFLECTIONS.

The opening of our Saviours ministry was full of grace, full of glory, full of power. Let us follow him like the crowds, and in courses of daily reading see the days of the Son of man. The cloud of his presence watered every city whither he went. The hand of faith gathered harvests of gleanings from his gracious words and wonderous works. The little town of Nazareth formed the only exception. There, like our socinians, they knew Christ after the flesh. But now, says Paul, we know him no more after the flesh, the touch of our infirmity being swallowed up of glory.

While Christ and the gospel were rejected at Nazareth, we see the truth embraced by many in Capernaum. Here, and in the vicinity, he taught for several sabbaths. Yea, and gave the people proof of what the gospel would do for their souls, by what his power did for the poor demoniac. He walked with dignity from the tumult at Nazareth, but his departure from Capernaum was an escape from the bonds of love; he forced himself away to preach to other cities. Let us, like the two disciples at Emmaus; press him to stay with us, and to leave a blessing behind. The Saviours presence is alike the rest and the joy of the church.

Fuente: Sutcliffe’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Luk 4:1-13. The Temptation (Mar 11:21.*, Mat 4:1-11*).In the order of the episodes Lk. follows a geographical (rather than a psychological) sequence, putting the Jerusalem incident last. The other divergences from Mt. are of no moment, but we may note Lk.s stress on the inspiration of Jesus (Luk 4:1, cf. Luk 4:14), and the apt saying that the devil left Him only for a season (cf. Luk 22:28, Mat 16:23, Joh 6:15; Joh 14:30). For a good study of the Temptation see Seeleys Ecce Homo, ch. ii.

Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible

TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL

(vs.1-13)

The Father having pronounced His delight in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus was led by the Spirit of God into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. In Mar 1:12 it is said the Spirit “drove” Him for Mark speaks of His servant character, and Mat 4:1 interestingly reads that He was “carried” by the Spirit (JND trans.), for Matthew considers Him as King, therefore as it were carried as a king in triumph. But as the Man Christ Jesus He was “led,” for He is here willingly dependent on the leading of His God and Father

This temptation (or test) by the devil was to prove who He really is, for there could be no doubt that He would triumph perfectly over such temptation: this had been settled by the Father’s approval of Him beforehand: He is His own Son. But as the test of fire proves the reality of pure gold, so this test proved the Lord Jesus to be absolutely without dross, without sin. Satan’s temptation may cause in us a struggle because there is in us an inclination to succumb. But in Christ there was no such thing. “In Him is no sin,” no inclination to do evil, therefore no struggle, but firm decision against temptation. “The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do” (Joh 5:19). It is impossible for Him to do anything other than the Father does, therefore certainly it was impossible for Him to sin.

Observe the contrast here between Adam and the Lord Jesus. Adam was in circumstances of beauty and plenty in the Garden of Eden. Nothing was lacking to him, yet he quickly gave in to temptation. Christ was alone amid desolation, having eaten nothing for forty days, and was hungry. Yet Satan temptations found not the slightest tendency of yielding on His part. Satan’s first temptation (v.3) is subtle. It is an appeal to pride, yet also to need, for it questions whether Christ is really the Son of God and urges Him, if so, to ease His hunger by turning a stone into bread. This may sound reasonable enough if one decides to live by his own reason. But it was by the Word of God that the Lord Jesus lived and by which all men ought live. He quoted Deu 8:3 to show this. He would certainly do nothing as directed by Satan: it was His very nature to live only by the authority of God’s Word.

The second temptation (vv. 6-7) is also an appeal to pride as well as an appeal to greed, but again there is no inclination in the Lord to succumb to this. From a mountain top the devil shows Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. (Indeed, the length of time all these kingdoms will exist is virtually “but for a moment.”) Satan can show all he has in a moment of time, but the Lord will take eternity to show us the riches of His possession. It is true enough that all these kingdoms have been delivered to Satan: he is a usurper who deceitfully prevailed upon Adam to yield the world’s authority to him. So he tries also to bring Christ under his authority by his false offer of all these kingdoms, if Christ will only worship him! Of course the Lord knew well the cunning wickedness that moved Satan, but He does not refer to this. Rather He quotes again from Deuteronomy (ch.6:13), that worship is allowed only to the Lord God. He is the one Man of true, unswerving faith, dependent only upon God.

The supernatural power that Satan has in both taking Christ from the wilderness to a high mountain and in taking Him to a pinnacle of the temple is a matter of wonderment. But this was allowed by God to demonstrate the superior moral power of total obedience to God on the part of the sinless Son of Man. Satan was defeated.

In the third temptation the devil again quotes Scripture in an effort to induce the Lord Jesus to act in self-reliance to prove He is the Son of God. This temptation also was an appeal to pride, but with the subtle inference that the Lord could prove Scripture true by this act. But Satan left out four words in quoting Psa 91:11-12, where it is said, “to keep You in all Your ways” (not in Satan’s ways). The Lord does not mention this, but there is nothing in Him to respond to Satan’s temptations. The Lord quotes again from Deuteronomy (ch.6:6), ” You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Thus He perfectly kept the place of dependent Manhood, living simply by the Word of God, not arguing with Satan, but silencing him with nothing but the written Word of God. The devil then left him for a season. Satan’s withdrawing does not mean his giving up: he would return again before the cross (Joh 14:30), but again would find no inclination in Christ to succumb to his oppression, any more than to his temptation.

MINISTRY IN GALILEE INCLUDING NAZARETH

(vs.14-30)

Only John’s Gospel speaks of the Lord’s ministry in Jerusalem before He returned to Galilee, and no public preaching is mentioned, though individuals were drawn in faith to Him (Joh 1:38-51). In Galilee news of Him began to spread and He taught in the power of the Spirit of God in the synagogues. It is evident too that He made another visit to Jerusalem before John was put in prison (Joh 2:13) and from there into the Judean countryside (Joh 3:22-24).

Whether the Lord came to Nazareth again before or after this Jerusalem visit we cannot say, for Luke is not interested in fixing the time of events, but in their moral significance and order. In the Lord’s home city He entered the synagogue and stood up to read the Word of God. It is not said that He asked for the book of Isaiah, but this was handed to Him, certainly by divine guidance. He opened the book to Chapter 61:1-2, a most lovely prophecy of the Messiah (vs.17-19). It was in Judea that the Spirit of God had publicly come upon Him, anointing Him for the marvelous service of grace: now when He returned it was the perfect time to read this Scripture. He was first to preach the gospel to the poor, and “the common people heard Him gladly.” He manifestly came for the help of those in need, not to seek the patronage of the rich. The broken hearted, the captives, the blind, those who were bruised — these were the subjects of His gracious ministry. The bruised speak of those suffering under oppression.

He concludes His reading with the words, “to preach the acceptable year of the Lord,” and closed the book in the middle of a sentence, for in Isaiah it is added, “and the day of vengeance of our God.” In this way He separated the two events very pointedly. Sitting down, He told His audience, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (v.21). This prophecy of Isaiah could be true only of the Messiah; therefore it is absolutely true that the Lord Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. Anyone falsely making this claim would be a wicked imposter. But the day of vengeance was not to be fulfilled yet. Old Testament Scripture had not indicated that grace would be preached for a long time before the day of vengeance took place, but it has continued for nearly 2000 years, He who has closed the Old Testament book of prophecy for the time being will Himself be the One to open the book again to disclose the day of vengeance. Thus the whole dispensation of the grace of God intervenes at the present time, which includes the birth of the Assembly, the Church of God, at Pentecost and the rapture of the Church to glory at the coming of the Lord.

The Lord’s gracious words cause His hearers to marvel. Because He was well – known since he was brought up in their city, they could not understand such words proceeding from His mouth. He had not learned these things in the schools of the rabbis. He was not of the priestly tribe and had not been given credentials by the priests to allow Him to speak like this. Was He not Joseph’s son, son only of a lowly carpenter? But He did have these things: why did they not seriously enquire so they might find that God, not man, was the Author of what He spoke?

The Lord knew their hearts and that they were ready to accuse Him of mere words without power. They had heard of His miracles in Capernaum and were interested, not in His words, but in seeing miracles. He anticipated therefore what they would have to say, and therefore adds that “no prophet is accepted in his own country” (vs.23-24). Such is the pathetic condition of people’s hearts that they do not want a prophet who might know them too well.

He then gave two Old Testament examples of God’s pure grace, not shown to the proud nation Israel, but to Gentiles at a time when the need was deeply felt. First, though there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah the prophet, yet in time of need Elijah was sent to none of them, but to a Gentile woman in Sidon (vs.25-26). She was blessed through this and saved from dying from hunger. The second example was of Naaman the Syrian who came to Elisha at a time when there were many lepers in Israel. Again, no Israelite was healed, but Naaman received this great blessing (v.27). This is the Word of God which was in Israel’s possession, and both cases are most striking in the fact of grace being shown to Gentiles.

Yet the very reminder is intolerable to the Jews of Nazareth. It offends their religious pride and racial dignity, for does it not reduce Jews to the level of requiring grace? But law, not grace, is the principle they want, though they, with all Israel, were guilty of breaking the law and desperately needed the grace of which Isa 61:1-11 had spoken, just as they needed the Messiah who had spoken to them. Filled with anger, they have no hesitation in further violating their own law by the attempted murder of God’s prophet by taking Him to a cliff to throw Him over. They would consider He was not loyal to His own nation, but men’s thoughts of loyalty are too often merely selfish sectarianism which in this case was so intense as to resort to cruel and violent murder. But He simply passed untouched through the midst of them (v.30). Here is the protection of the power of God on behalf of the obedient Man. He shows no supernatural display of power, but rather God rendered His enemies powerless to carry out their intentions. This same power is often exerted, completely unknown in most cases, for the protection of believers who depend in faith on His sovereign grace.

MIRACLES IN CAPERNAUM

(vs.31-44)

The Lord returned to Capernaum on the coast of the Sea of Galilee. The emphasis is placed upon His preaching there, which He did on the sabbath days. People were astonished at His doctrine (as in Nazareth, but there resented), for there was manifest power in the words He spoke. Such power necessarily faces people with a decision to make: will they bow to that word or will they refuse it? No indifference can be allowed.

His words were also backed up by miraculous powers. In the place of the profession of God’s name, the synagogue, there was a man possessed by a demon (v.33). What a comment on Israel’s spiritual condition! He cried out loudly, “Let us alone,” for it was the demon within him who was disturbed by the presence of the Son of God. The man spoke almost as though the Lord was encroaching on their property. Though knowing Him to be the Holy One of God, the demon used the expression “Jesus of Nazareth,” a designation commonly used to infer something inferior in men’s minds. He questions if the Lord had come to destroy them, that is, the demons. For they can understand nothing of grace.

Rebuking the demon, the Lord orders him to come out of the man, which order the demon must obey, but not without one last, vicious thrust, throwing the man down in the midst. Fourteen times in Luke the words “the midst” appear, indicating the place of central attraction (not always translated this way in the New King James Version, but the same Greek expression, if the Englishman’s Greek Concordance of the New Testament, by G.V.Wigram, is consulted).

People were amazed, not only at the power of the miracle, but more importantly by the authority and power of the word spoken by the Lord Jesus (v.36). Every miracle was intended to draw attention to the authority of His word so people might believe Him and submit to His word. His fame spread into the surrounding area so whatever people thought of Him, they could not ignore Him. There is fullest public testimony to the power of His word, as in fact there is to the grace and truth of that word.

It appears that Simon’s house was always available (as ours ought to be), and such a house will receive blessing from the Lord’s hand. In answer to the prayers of loved ones, the Lord stood over Peter’s wife’s mother (for Peter was married (1Co 9:5) to immediately dispel a high fever that afflicted her (vs.38-39). Such immdediate results are certainly miraculous. In fact, after a high fever subsides, one is generally left weak for a time, but she rose immediately and ministered to the Lord and to others. How lovely is the affection and energy that grace awakens in a believer!

The unwearied labors of the Lord continued until the setting of the sun, with large numbers coming to be healed of various diseases (vs.40-41). He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them. The laying on of hands is consistent with the character of Luke’s Gospel, for the Son of Man has come in grace to identify Himself with the sorrows and trials of His people, indeed to feel these things Himself and to sympathize with those in need, as He met their needs by His grace. Not one was turned away. Present day so-called “healers” may profess great power in healing, but they would not even claim to heal all who come to them. In fact, when the people find they are not healed, the healer will blame this on their lack of faith! Such healers thrive on neurotic cases, who, by the power of suggestion, claim to be healed, but such were not the miraculous healings of the Lord Jesus. In Him there is pure, living reality, not a mere religious show.

All of this is a little shining forth of the eventual great blessing that earth will receive when the Millennium is introduced. It is He alone who can bring this. Still it is only a sample, for He had not come to reign. When demons, being cast out of many victims, cried out that he was Christ, the Son of God (which of course is true), He silenced them. His great power and glory as the Messiah must wait, for He came to suffer and die first.

He sought no flattery from man, nor would He remain to take advantage of the excitement that had been awakened. Early the next day He withdrew to a deserted area (v.42). Every servant of the Lord also must learn that he cannot live always before the public eye, for he needs the quietness of the presence of God.

The people followed Him and urged Him to remain, but with calm, firm decisions He told them He must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also (v.43). His Father had sent Him for this and He would fully obey. Popular opinion and natural feelings would not influence Him otherwise. Nor would He be turned from His blessed work of preaching the Word of God, for He made it clear that His miracles were intended simply to draw attention to the vital truth of that Word. If people made miracles an object, they lost the true blessing. The kingdom of God is that in which the authority of God is dominant, and this kingdom had to be established even before the gospel of the grace of God was declared following the death and resurrection of the Lord. Paul preached both (Act 20:24-25). It is not that there are two gospels, but the kingdom speaks of the authority of God established over subjects. The grace of God is vital too, for authority and grace are complements of one another.

Fuente: Grant’s Commentary on the Bible

CHAPTER 4

Ver. 1.-And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, having been there baptized by John a little time before, and having visibly received the Holy Spirit, whose fulness He had already obtained invisibly in the first instant of His conception.

Ver. 2.-Tempted of the devil. In the Greek , suffering or sustaining temptation by the devil. See Commentary on Mat 4:5.

Ver. 5.-ln a moment of time. S. Ambrose says, “It is not so much the quickness of the view which is indicated, as the fleeting frailty of power which is expressed. For in a moment they all pass away. And often the honour of the world is gone ere it is come. For what can be lasting in the world when the worlds themselves are not lasting.”

Ver. 14.-And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. In the Greek , in the power, strength, or force of the Spirit. Under a strong impulse of the Spirit, Jesus returned to Galilee. For the Holy Ghost was moving Him, and powerfully impelling Him to put forth at this time that spiritual power which He had received from the beginning of His conception, but which He had hitherto shut up and hidden within Himself, and to begin in Galilee with immense ardour and zeal, His ministry of preaching, and, confirm it by His admirable holiness of life and His stupendous miracles. Hence Theophylact renders it ,driven and urged on by the enthusiasm and Divine afflatus of the Holy Ghost.

Ver. 16.–And He came to Nazareth. Note here that while Christ is said, in v. 14, to have gone into Galilee, He is not said to have entered Nazareth which is situated there, as S. Matthew (Mat 4:13) has it, but Capernaum, and there to have done the things which S. Matthew relates in iv. to xiii., all of which S. Luke passes over here, and then He is said to have come to Nazareth. S. Luke wished at the very outset to state the reason why Christ would not teach in Nazareth, namely, that He was despised by His fellow-townsmen as being the son of a carpenter. And though this only happened subsequently, yet Christ foresaw that it would be the case, and therefore turned aside from Nazareth and went to Capernaum, which He made the seat of His ministry, as S. Matthew relates in (Mat 4:13).

And stood up for to read. It was (and still is) the custom among the Jews that each one should read the Hebrew books of Holy Scripture in the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, both that he might learn the law of God from it, and also that he might be stirred up to the worship, love, and service of God. Moreover, it was the part of the Rabbin and the teachers, such as Jesus was, to read the Holy Scripture publicly, to interpret it, to preach, and to teach.

Ver. 17.-And there was delivered unto Him (by the attendant) the book of the prophet Esaias. This was done by the counsel and direction of God, that Jesus might show from Isaiah that He was the-Messiah described by that prophet.

And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written (Isa. lxi. i). Christ seems so to have opened the book that, without looking for it, He lighted upon this passage of Isaiah by the will and guidance of God. The Vulgate, “as He unrolled the book,” is better; and Vatablus, “when He had unfolded;” others, “when He had spread out,” for this is the meaning of the Greek . For the books of the Hebrews were not divided into leaves, but consisted of one long piece of parchment which was rolled round a cylinder from beginning to end, as maps are nowadays. In order to read this parchment it was therefore necessary to unroll it, and spread it out.

Ver. 18.-The Spirit of the Lord is upon me: because He hath anointed me. The Holy Spirit, who was in Me from the beginning, descending upon Me here in the baptism which I have now received from John the Baptist, descending visibly in the form of a dove, while the voice of God the Father spoke forth in thunder, “This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him,” has by this sign, as by a visible anointing, publicly declared, authorised, and, as it were, consecrated Me as the Teacher, Prophet, Saviour, and Lawgiver of the world, and especially of the Jews to whom I was promised, and therefore-

He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor, for the rich Scribes and Pharisees despise My lowliness and My poverty.

Observe the words “hath anointed me;” for in Hebrew “Messiah,” and in Greek , mean “anointed.” This anointing of Christ was accomplished secretly in the Incarnation-

(1.) By the grace of the hypostatic union, which made Him in the highest degree holy and divine-nay, made Him God.

(2.) By the plenitude of graces which flowed from this union. For other saints are said to be anointed with the grace and the gifts of the Holy Ghost, but Christ was anointed with the Holy Ghost Himself, as though with the very fountain and plenitude of all graces, that the Man Christ might become a superabundant fountain pouring forth its grace into all the apostles, martyrs, virgins, and confessors, so says Basil (de Spiritu Sancto, ch. xxvi.). Christ was, as I have said, publicly anointed in His baptism, to heal them that are brokenhearted-heal and console those who, by reason of their sins, and the burden of the law of Moses, as well as their ignorance of the things of God, are afflicted in spirit, and pant for the knowledge of God, His pardon, His grace, and His salvation, and who, therefore, look for the Messiah. Hence Symmachus and Theodotus render it; so S. Jerome tells us in his Commentary on Isa. lxi., “to bind up the wounds of sinners.”

To preach deliverance to the captives-that I may preach, announce, and bring freedom, through penance and My grace, to those who are held captive by sin and the devil.

And recovering of sight to the blind. The Hebrew and Chaldee versions of Isaiah give “open to those bound,” i.e., as Symmachus has it, “loosening of those bound.” But the Septuagint, and S. Luke following them, render it in the Greek , “looking again,” that they may see again. For the Hebrews call those that are blind bound, or shut, like the Latin idiom, “Moses seized in their eyes,” and consequently they call the illumination by which the eyes of the blind are opened “opening.” The meaning, therefore, is, Christ shall both restore sight to those who are physically, and illumine those who are spiritually, blind, and are ignorant of God and of the way of salvation. He shall teach them the knowledge of God and the way to save their souls. This was what Isaiah (Isa 42:7) clearly foretold that the Messiah should do: “I will give Thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the eyes of the blind.” And hence it is plain that Isaiah in ch. xlii., is not speaking literally of the deliverance from the Babylonian captivity wrought by Cyrus, as Toletus would have it, but of the deliverance from the captivity of sin and of the devil wrought by Christ; for Cyrus restored sight to no one, but Christ to many. I confess, however, that there is an allusion to Cyrus, he being a type of Christ. To the Hebrews in Babylon who were “bound” he gave “opening and loosening,” as the Hebrew version has it, when he freed them from captivity and sent them back into Juda.

To set at liberty them that are bruised-intoliberty and health. The Arabic has “to send thee bound into remission.” Pagninus, “that I may send forth the broken by remission.” So also Vatablus. These words are not in Isaiah lxi 1. in the Hebrew; they have been added paraphrastically by S. Luke or his interpreter, and seem to form another explanation of “to heal them that are brokenhearted.” So Forerius on Isaiah lxi., and Francis Lucas on this passage. Origen omits “to heal them that are brokenhearted,” and reads instead, “to send forth the broken into liberty;” and he adds, “What was so broken or shattered as the man who, when sent away by Jesus, was healed?”

For “broken” the Greek has , which Vatablus and others translate “broken.”

Ver. 19.–To preach the acceptable year of the Lord-the pleasing year-in Hebrew, scenat raston; in the Septuagint , that is, as S. Jerome renders it, “the placable year,” or, as others with propriety, “the year of the good pleasure,” of divine benevolence and liberality, such as was the year of the jubilee to which he here alludes. For the year of the jubilee was the type and figure of this evangelical year which Christ brought. So the whole time of the preaching of Christ, and thenceforward all the time of Christianity, is a year of jubilee to those who obey Christ and accept His liberty-a year of grace, mercy, peace, remission, liberality, and salvation, in which, after God’s long anger against us, we are restored to His grace, His favour, His heirship, His glory, and all the former blessings which we had in Paradise in the state of innocence. This is what S. Paul says in 2Co 6:2, “Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”

The Vulgate adds, and the day of retribution, of vengeance. The year of the jubilee, that is, the time of Christianity, shall be to the enemies of Christ a time of vengeance, when God shall avenge the human race on its enemies and oppressors, the demons that oppress it; for Christ shall deliver men from the devils, and shall cast them down, according to Isa 35:4, “Say unto the timid, Be comforted, and fear not; behold, your God shall bring the vengeance of retribution. God Himself shall come and shall save you.” Vulgate. And Christ says, in Joh 12:31, “Now is the judgment of the world, now shall the prince of this world be cast forth.”

Ver. 20.–And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on Him. “That they might hear,” says Euthymius, “how He interpreted what He had read.” For already the fame of what He had said and done at Capernaum had been noised abroad everywhere, so that many held Him to be the Messiah; and they especially desired to hear this from Christ. For they knew that the passage of Isaiah read by Him was a prophecy of the Messiah, and so they listened with eagerness to Him while He explained it.

Ver. 21.–And He began to say unto them, This day is this Scripture (“which has sounded,” says Euthymius, and the Syriac version), fulfilled in your ears. This day is fulfilled in your hearing this prophecy of Isaiah, while you hear me preaching to you and to the rest of the poor of Galilee the year of full remission, and I am prepared to do, nay, I have already done in Capernaum, all that Isaiah has here foretold. I am the Messiah of whom Isaiah there prophesies, whom you, in accordance with the predictions of Jacob and Daniel, are already eagerly expecting every moment. For, though Jesus does not clearly say that He is the Messiah, yet He tacitly implies it.

Ver. 22.-And all bare Him witness, and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, Is not this Joseph’s son? “Words of grace,” he calls them (1) gracious, beautiful, suave, and pleasant; (2) full of grace and the Holy Spirit; (3) efficacious to move and persuade; (4) full of wisdom and eloquence, so as to convince those that heard them. For Christ spoke with a tongue that was more than human. “He was teaching them as one having power, and not as the Scribes,” Mat 7:29.

Bore Him testimony-thatHe spoke well, not that He was the Messiah. Hence they call Him “the son of Joseph;” and, a little after, when they were rebuked by Him, they despised Him and wished to cast Him down headlong. So, nowadays, many people praise a preacher so long as he says to them what is pleasing and elegant, but when he attacks their vices they abuse and persecute him. Such is the way of the fickle multitude, who love themselves and their own desires. However, Bede takes this as meaning that they bore witness that He was the Messiah of whom Isaiah had prophesied these things; and he adds:-“How great their blindness, when, only on account of their knowledge of His origin, and because they had seen Him nourished, and that He had developed, through the stages of life among themselves, they set Him at nought whom, by his words and works, they knew to be Christ.”

Ver. 23.–And He said unto them. ye will surely say unto Me this proverb (in the Greek -parable, proverb, or adage, in common use), Physician, heal thyself-thatis, cure Thine own people and Thine own country, which should be as dear to Thee as Thyself; cure Thy fellow Nazarenes as Thou hast cured or art said to have cured the Capernaites. Thus it was that Christ presently explains it, He, by His Divine Spirit, seeing the hidden thoughts of the Nazarenes, and that they were wishing in their hearts for that which He now said. Anticipating their secret thought, He meets and answers it. “It was common among the Jews,” says Titus, “to taunt physicians who had caught any disease with this impudent and ironical saying, Physician, heal thyself.” For the common sense of mankind holds, and reason favours the opinion, that he who cannot cure himself, or neglects to do so, cannot cure others or should not attempt it. In point of fact, however, experience not seldom shows that the physician who cures others is unable to effect his own cure, but hands himself over to other physicians to be treated, because appetite often blinds the reason, and diseases obscure one’s scientific knowledge. Hence we judge better and more safely about the diseases of others than about our own. Self-love often perverts our judgment, so that Solomon warns us with the words, “Lean not unto thine own understanding,” Pro 3:5.

Tropologically, S. Anthony thus expounded the saying “Physician, heal thyself;” He that will cure the faults of others let him first cure his own. For they that will help others before they cure themselves shall relapse into their own faults. Indeed experience teaches us that they who remedy any fault in themselves easily cure it in others.

Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country. Hence it is, plain that these events took place in Nazareth after Jesus had preached and worked many miracles in the city of Capernaum, as has been said at v. 16, and S. Augustine (De Consensu, bk. ii. cap. 42) observes. The Gloss interprets, “We do not believe what a vague rumour has published, seeing that among us, on whom favours of the kind would have been more fittingly conferred, Thou hast done no such work.” Here in Nazareth, Thy fatherland which conceived Thee, nourished Thee, and brought Thee unto manhood, Thou hast brethren, sisters, kinsfolk, and neighbours, some rich, others poor, some sick, others suffering in other respects. Why then dost Thou not miraculously succour these Thine own people, to whom Thou art bound by blood, by love of home, and by natural affection?

Ver. 24.-And He said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. Ye, 0 Nazarenes, despise Me as your fellow-townsman, and the son of a carpenter; wherefore you are unworthy that I should confer benefits upon you., Therefore (says the Interlinear), I work not among you, not because I hate my own country, but because you are incredulous. S. Cyril adds that a citizen, being always near to his fellow-citizens, is deprived of the reverence which is his due at the hands of those who know him.

Thirdly, S. Chrysostom says, “Christ had abstained from miracles among the Nazarenes that He might not provoke them to envy.” For, as S. Ambrose says, God is a despiser of the envious; and the Gloss remarks that it is almost natural for fellow-citizens to envy one another; nor do they take account of merit, but call to mind a man’s frail childhood.

Chrysologus (Serm. 48, at the end,) remarks, “To be powerful is, among one’s own people, a biting and a burning; to be eminent among one’s fellow-citizens and neighbours burns up one’s neighbours’ glory; and if neighbours owe honour to a neighbour they count it slavery.” There is an amusing apologue of a parrot, which touches this subject. A parrot, brought from the East to the West, where birds of this kind are not common, wondered that he was held in greater esteem and honour than he had been accustomed to in his own country. He occupied an ivory cage plaited with silver wire, and fed on the daintiest viands, such as did not fall to the share of the others, which were only western birds, but inferior to himself neither in beauty nor in the power of imitating the human voice. Then says a turtle-dove, shut up in the same cage with him, “There is nothing wonderful in this, for no one receives in his own country the honour which is his due.”

Tropologically, Christ here teaches the faithful, particularly men devoted to the Apostolic calling, that they ought to curb or to divert themselves of all excessive affection for their own country and kinsfolk, that they may be useful to all men-

“The fishes’ native country is the boundless sea;

Let the wide earth the brave man’s country be.”

S. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xviii.) says very well, “For great and noble men there is one country-that Jerusalem which is perceived by the mind, not those countries which we see here, now inhabited by one race of men, now by another.” And again (Orat. xxv.) “These earthly fatherlands, these differences of race, are the scenes, the illusions, of this our short fleeting life. For whatsoever country each one has previously got possession of, whether by injustice or by misfortune, that is called his country, while we are all alike strangers and sojourners, however much we may play upon the meaning of words.” Such was S. Basil, of whom S. Gregory of Nyssa, in his life, writes, “Basil the Great was free from the fear of exile, because he held that the only fatherland of men was Paradise, and regarded all the earth as nature’s common place of exile.”

Vers. 25 and 26.-But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. Three years and six months-This does not appear in the Old Testatment, but Jesus, as God, knew it, and revealed it to S. James, Ep. v. x7, for as to what is said in 1Ki 18:1, “The word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying, Go and show thyself to Ahab that I may give rain upon the face of the earth.” This third year is not to be taken from the beginning of the drought, but as from the sojourn of Elias in Sarepta.

In all the land-Israel and the neighbouring region, such as Sidon, and Sarepta, where this widow was.

The sense is that, as Elias, in the time of the famine, procured food for no Israelite, but only for the widow of Sarepta, a Sidonian, a Gentile, and a foreigner, because, valuing the prophet very highly, and believing him that God would provide for her hunger according to his word, she gave him the little oil and meal which she had, postponing her own and her children’s wants to his; so Christ, in like manner, puts the Capernaites before the Nazarenes, His own fellow-citizens, because the former hear Him as a Teacher sent from Heaven, honour Him and pay Him respect, but the latter despise Him as a carpenter, and their own fellow-townsman; and so He imparts to the former the spiritual bread of heavenly doctrine and miracles, but leaves the latter in their spiritual want. For Elias was the type and precursor of Christ, and the widow of Sarepta the type and first-fruits of the Gentiles whom Christ preferred before the Jews, His fellow-countrymen. Bede says that “Sidon” in Hebrew signifies “useless hunting;” “Sarepta,” “conflagration” or “neediness”-namely, of bread; that is, the Gentile world given up to the pursuit of worldly things, and suffering from the conflagration of their carnal passions and the want of spiritual bread. Elias is the prophetic, word, which, being received, feeds the hearts of them that believe.

Ver. 27.-And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed saving Naaman the Syrian, a foreigner and a Gentile. As Elisha, following his master Elias, did not prophecy to the Jews, his own people, but to foreigners, and did not therefore heal the lepers that were in Juda, but Naaman the Gentile, by reason of his faith and their incredulity; so I preach and work miracles among these Capernaite strangers, on account of their faith, reverence, and good-will towards Me, but I leave you Nazarenes alone for your infidelity, your irreverence, and your contempt of Me. For Elisha, like Elias, was a type and forerunner of Christ; and Naaman the Gentile, a type of the Gentiles to whom Christ, leaving the Jews, would, by the apostles, transfer His faith, His church, and His grace. So Bede, Titus, Theophylact, Euthymius, Jansenius, Toletus, and others.

Ver. 28.-And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath-because they knew that they were touched by these two examples of the widow and Naaman, as being incredulous, and that a slur was cast upon them as being unworthy of the miracles of Jesus; and again because they were indignant that Jesus, their fellow-townsman and equal, should compare Himself with, and place Himself before, Elias and Elisha, nay, make Himself out the Messiah, from the prophecy of Isaiah; and, lastly, because Christ hinted that He would transfer His gifts from the Jews to the Gentiles. So S. Thomas, Toletus, Francis Lucas, and others.

Ver. 29.–And rose up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong-“led him”-dragged Him, as it seemed to them, by violence, but, in reality, Christ of His own accord allowed Himself to be led and dragged.

That they might cast him down headlong-fromthe top of the hill to the bottom, and so kill Him, as one who had defamed his own native place, and inflicted injury and insult upon it; and therefore they brought Him forth outside of the city, as being unworthy of it, that they might cast Him from the top of the mountain, dash Him down upon the rocks, and break His whole body to pieces. This was a grievous piece of violence on the part of the Nazarenes against Christ, their fellow-citizen, and thus, as Euthymius observes, they confirmed in act, what He had spoken in words, namely, that a prophet is not held in honour in his own country, but dishonoured, nay, slain; and that therefore the Nazarenes were unworthy of the preaching and miracles of Christ.

S. Bonaventure, Toletus, and others add, that they took Christ out of the city to the top of the hill that they might slay Him as a blasphemer, because He had made Himself the Messiah. For though, by the law, the blasphemer was to be stoned, still they wished to cast Christ headlong upon the rocks and stones, because this is the same as if they had stoned Him. Whether the stones are cast at the man, or the man hurled headlong upon the stones, is all one; indeed, the latter is more cruel and terrible. So it was that they cast S. Stephen out of Jerusalem as a blasphemer, and stoned him; and S. James, the first Bishop of Jerusalem, was hurled down from a pinnacle of the Temple as a blasphemer, because He taught that Christ was the Messiah.

S. Ambrose points out that these men were worse than the devil, who did but set Christ upon a pinnacle of the Temple, and say to Him, “Cast thyself down,” while these did their best to hurl Him down by force. “The heritage of the disciples,” he says, “is worse than that of the master – he tempts the Lord by word, they attempt His life by their act-he says, ‘Cast thyself down,’ they do Him violence in order to cast Him down.”

Ver. 30.-But He passing through the midst of them went His way. Maldonatus thinks that Christ here made Himself invisible, S. Ambrose and Bede that He changed their wills, so that they consented to let Him go. Others hold the better opinion that Christ turned away their imagination or their eyes, or suspended their consciousness and held their hands and feet, so that, like men bereft of their senses, though they saw Him they could not or dared not lay hold of Him. Wherefore Christ here manifested His Godhead. S. Ambrose says, “Behold! the minds of these furious men, being suddenly changed, or stupefied, He goes down through the midst of them.” And he adds the reason, “For when He wills He is taken; when He wills He slips away; when He wills He is slain; because His hour had not yet come,” John vii. 30. For as yet he must preach, and at last be crucified at Jerusalem by the Father’s decree, but not cast down headlong in Nazareth. So Bede, S. Chrysostom, Euthymius, and others. Brocardus, in his “Description of the Holy Land,” gives the tradition that Christ glided away from out of the hands of the Jews, and suddenly appeared on the opposite side of the mountain, and that therefore the place is called “the Leap of the Lord.” N. de Lyra adds that the rock on which Christ stood yielded, and received like wax the impress of His feet, just as, when ascending into heaven from Mount Olivet, He left the marks of His feet there. This is what Adrichomius says, in his “Description of the Holy Land,” on the word “the Leap of the Lord:” “The tradition is that Christ fled to a high mountain, which is called from that circumstance ‘the Leap of the Lord,’ and that, at the touch of His garment, the rock flowed, and being melted and loosened like wax, made a kind of hollow for the Lord’s body to be received in and protected, a hollow of a capacity equal to the quantity of the Lord’s body. And in this, even at the present day, the lineaments and folds of the garment on the Lord’s back, and the marks of His feet are preserved, marked out as though by the hand of a sculptor.” This, however, lacks confirmation.

On verse 32 see what I have said on Mat 13:5, Mat 8:14; on verse 33 see Mar 1:23.

Fuente: Cornelius Lapide Commentary

4:1 And {1} Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

(1) Christ, being carried away (as it were out of the world) into the desert, comes suddenly as if from heaven, having fasted for forty days and overcoming Satan three times, and thus begins his office.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

D. The temptation of Jesus 4:1-13 (cf. Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13)

Luke stressed how the Spirit who had come upon Jesus at His baptism guided and empowered Him in His temptation and how Jesus, God’s approved Son, pleased His Father by His obedience. Jesus overcame the devil, who opposed God’s plans. This story is also edifying because it helps believers understand how to recognize and overcome Satan’s attacks. We do so as Jesus did by obeying God’s will as revealed in Scripture. Jesus drew His responses to Satan from Old Testament passages that relate to Israel in the wilderness (Deu 8:3; Deu 6:13; Deu 6:16). Jesus succeeded, in the wilderness no less, where Israel had failed. [Note: See R. T. France, Jesus and the Old Testament, pp. 50-53; G. H. P. Thompson, "Called – Proved – Obedient," Journal of Theological Studies NS11 (1960):1-12; and B. Gerhardsson, The Testing of God’s Son.]

Luke recorded the same three temptations as Matthew did, but he reversed the order of the second and third incidents. Apparently Luke rearranged the order to stress Jesus’ victory in Jerusalem. Luke viewed Jerusalem as the center toward which Jesus moved in this Gospel and the center from which the gospel radiated to the uttermost part of the earth in Acts (Act 1:8). Matthew, on the other hand, concluded his account of the temptation with a reference to the kingdom, his particular interest.

Greek readers had an interest in the idea of the Son of God, explicitly present in two of the temptations. They also had an interest in miracles, which appear in one if not two of them, and Satan, who appears in all three.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Reference to Jesus’ fullness with the Spirit links this incident with Jesus’ baptism (Luk 3:22). There seems to be a deliberate comparison between Israel as God’s Son (Exo 4:22-23; Hos 11:1) and Jesus as the Son of God in this story. Both sons experienced temptation in the wilderness for 40 periods of time, Israel for 40 years and Jesus for 40 days (cf. Gen 7:4; Exo 24:18; 1Ki 19:8; Jon 3:4). Perhaps God regarded a period of days as the appropriate counterpart for a man compared to years for a nation. [Note: Ibid., pp. 41-42.] Moses also went without food for 40 days in the wilderness (Deu 9:9). Israel failed, but Jesus succeeded. God led Israel into the wilderness, and God’s Spirit led Jesus there. God tested Israel there, and God allowed the devil to test Jesus there.

Satan tempts people to depart from God’s will, but God never does this (Jas 1:13). People tempt God by making unreasonable demands on Him (Num 14:22; Deu 6:16; Psa 106:14). God tests, but does not tempt, people (Exo 16:4; Exo 20:20; Deu 8:2; Deu 13:1-3; Jdg 2:22; Jdg 3:4; 2Ch 32:31). All three types of testing occurred in Israel’s temptation in the wilderness and in Jesus’ temptation there. [Note: Liefeld, p. 863.]

Jesus proved completely pleasing to God in His trials, but Satan was displeasing to Him. Jesus, filled with the Spirit, sided with God, whereas Satan, not filled with the Spirit, opposed Him. [Note: See Sydney H. T. Page, "Satan: God’s Servant," Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 50:3 (September 2007):449-65.] Jesus was physically hungry, but He was full of the Spirit. Thus the importance of Spirit control is obvious in this passage as is the importance of familiarity with and fidelity to the Scriptures. Jesus had been fasting (Mat 4:2; cf. Exo 34:28; Deu 9:9). Evidently Jesus experienced temptation all 40 days, but the three instances Luke recorded happened at the end of that period (cf. Mar 1:13).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

Chapter 7

THE TEMPTATION.

THE waters of the Jordan do not more effectually divide the Holy Land than they bisect the Holy Life. The thirty years of Nazareth were quiet enough, amid the seclusions of nature and the attractions of home; but the double baptism by the Jordan now remits that sweet idyll to the past. The I AM of the New Testament moves forward from the passive to the active voice; the long peace is exchanged for the conflict whose consummation will be the Divine Passion.

The subject of our Lords temptation is mysterious, and therefore difficult. Lying in part within the domain of human consciousness and experience, it stretches far beyond our sight, throwing its dark projections into the realm of spirit, that realm, “dusk with horrid shade,” which Reason may not traverse, and which Revelation itself has not illumined, save by occasional lines of light, thrown into, rather than across it. We cannot, perhaps, hope to have a perfect understanding of it, for in a subject so wide and deep there is room for the play of many hypotheses; but inspiration would not have recorded the event so minutely had it not a direct bearing upon the whole of the Divine Life, and were it not full of pregnant lessons for all times. To Him who suffered within it, it was a wilderness indeed; but to us “the wilderness and the solitary place” have become “glad, and the desert blossoms as the rose.” Let us, then, seek the wilderness reverently yet hopefully, and in doing so let us carry in our minds these two guiding thoughts-they will prove a silken thread for the labyrinth-first, that Jesus was tempted as man; and second, that Jesus was tempted as the Son of man.

Jesus was tempted as man. It is true that in His Person the human and the Divine natures were in some mysterious way united; that in His flesh was the great mystery, the manifestation of God; but now we must regard Him as divested of these dignities and Divinities. They are laid aside, with all other pre-mundane glories; and whatever His miraculous power, for the present it is as if it were not. Jesus takes with Him into the wilderness our manhood, a perfect humanity of flesh and blood, of bone and nerve; no Docetic shadow, but a real body, “made in all things like unto His brethren”; and He goes into the wilderness, to be tempted, not in some unearthly way, as one spirit might be tempted of another, but to be “tempted in all points like as we are,” in a fashion perfectly human. Then, too, Jesus was tempted as the Son of man, not only as the perfect Man, but as the representative Man. As the first Adam, by disobedience, fell, and fallen, was driven forth into the wilderness, so the second Adam comes to take the place of the first. Tracking the steps of the first Adam, He too goes out into the wilderness, that He may spoil the spoiler, and that by His perfect obedience He may lead a fallen but redeemed humanity back again to Paradise, reversing the whole drift of the Fall, and turning it into a “rising again for many.” And so Jesus goes, as the Representative Man, to do battle for humanity, and to receive in His own Person, not one form of temptation, as the first Adam did, but every form that malignant Evil can devise, or that humanity can know. Bearing these two facts in mind, we will consider-

(1) the circumstances of the Temptation, and

(2) the nature of the Temptation.

1. The circumstances of the Temptation. “And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” The Temptation, then, occurred immediately after the twofold baptism; or, as St. Mark expresses it, using his characteristic word, “And straightway the Spirit driveth Him forth into the wilderness,” {Mar 1:12} Evidently there is some connection between the Jordan and the wilderness, and there were Divine reasons why the test should be placed directly after the baptism. Those Jordan waters were the inauguration for His mission-a kind of Beautiful Gate, leading up to the different courts and courses of His public ministry, and then up to the altar of sacrifice. The baptism of the Spirit was His anointing for that ministry, and borrowing our light from the after Pentecostal days, His endowment of power for that ministry. The Divine purpose, which had been gradually shaping itself in His mind, now opens in one vivid revelation. The veil of mist in which that purpose had been enwrapped is swept away by the Spirits breath, disclosing to His view the path redeeming Love must take, even the way of the cross. It is probable, too, that He received at the same time, if not the endowment, at least the consciousness of miraculous power; for St. John, with one stroke of his pen, brushes away those glossy webs that later tradition has spun, the miracles of the Childhood. The Scriptures do not represent Jesus as any prodigy. His childhood, youth, and manhood were like the corresponding phases of other lives; and the Gospels certainly put no aureole about His head-that was the afterglow of traditional fancy: Now, however, as He leaves the wilderness, He goes to open His mission at Cans, where He works His first miracle, turning, by a look, the water into wine. The whole Temptation, as we shall see, was one prolonged attack upon His miraculous power, seeking to divert it into unlawful channels; which makes it more than probable that this power was first consciously received at the baptism-the second baptism of fire; it was a part of the anointing of the Lord He then experienced.

We read that Jesus now was “full of the Holy Spirit.” It is an expression not infrequent in the pages of the New Testament, for we have already met with it in connection with Zacharias and Elisabeth; and St. Luke makes use of it several times in his later treatise on the “Acts.” In these cases, however, it generally marked some special and sudden illumination or inspiration, which was more or less temporary, the inspiration passing away when its purpose was served. But whether this “filling of the Spirit” was temporary, or permanent, as in the case of Stephen and Barnabas, the expression always marked the highest elevation of human life, when the human spirit was in entire subordination to the Divine. To Jesus, now, the Holy Spirit is given without measure; and we, who in our far-off experiences can recall moments of Divine baptisms, when our spirits seemed for the time to be caught up into Paradise, hearing voices and beholding visions we might not utter, even we may understand in part-though but in part-what must have been the emotions and ecstasies of that memorable hour by the Jordan. How much the opened heavens would mean to Him, to whom they had been so long and strangely closed! How the Voice that declared His heavenly Sonship, “This is My beloved Son,” must have sent its vibrations quivering through soul and spirit, almost causing the tabernacle of His flesh to tremble with new excitements! Mysterious though it may seem to us, who ask impotently, How can these things be? Yet unless we strip the heavenly baptism of all reality, reducing it to a mere play of words, we must suppose that Jesus, who now becomes Jesus Christ, was henceforth more directly and completely than before under the conscious inspiration of the Holy Spirit. What was an atmosphere enswathing the young life, bringing to that life its treasures of grace, beauty, and strength, now becomes a breath, or rather a rushing wind, of God, carrying that life forward upon its mission and upward to its goal. And so we read, He was led by the Spirit in the wilderness.” The verb generally implies pressure, constraint; it is the enforced leading of the weaker by the stronger. In this case, however, the pressure was not upon a resisting, but a yielding medium. The will of Jesus swung round instantly and easily, moving like a vane only in the direction of the Higher Will. The narrative would imply that His own thought and purpose had been to return to Galilee; but the Divine Spirit moves upon Him with such clearness and force-“driveth” is St. Marks expressive word-that He yields Himself up to the higher impulse, and allows Himself to be carried, not exactly as the heath is swept before the wind, but in a passive-active way, into the wilderness. The wilderness was thus a Divine interjection, thrown across the path of the Son of God and Son of man.

Where it was is a point of no great moment. That it was in the Desert of Sinai, as some suppose, is most unlikely. Jesus did not so venerate places; nor was it like Him to make distant excursions to put Himself in the track of Moses or Elijah. He beckons them to Him. He does not go to them, not even to make historical repetitions. There is no reason why we may not accept the traditional site of the Quarantania, the wild, mountainous region, intersected by deep, dark gorges, that sweeps westward from Jericho. It is enough to know that it was a wilderness indeed, a wildness, un-softened by the touch of human strength or skill; a still, vacant solitude, where only the “wild beasts,” preying upon each other, or prowling outward to the fringe of civilization, could survive.

In the narrative of the Transfiguration we read that Moses and Elias appeared on the holy mount “talking with Jesus”; and that these two only, of all departed saints, should be allowed that privilege-the one representing the Law, and the other the Prophets-shows that there was some intimate connection between their several missions. At any rate, we know that the emancipator and the generator of Israel were specially commissioned to bear Heavens salutation to the Redeemer. It would be an interesting study, did it lie within the scope of our subject, to trace out the many resemblances between the three. We may, however, notice how in the three lives the same prolonged fast occurs, in each case covering the same period of forty days; for though the expression of St. Matthew would not of necessity imply a total abstention from food, the more concise statement of St. Luke removes all doubt, for we read, “He did eat nothing in those days.” Why there should be this fast is more difficult to answer, and our so-called reasons can be only guesses. We know, however, that the flesh and the spirit, though closely associated, have but few things in common. Like the centripetal and the centrifugal forces in nature, their tendencies and propulsions are in different and opposite directions. The one looks earthward, the other heavenward. Let the flesh prevail, and the life gravitates downwards, the sensual takes the place of the spiritual. Let the flesh be placed under restraint and control, taught its subordinate position, and there is a general uplift to the life, the untrammeled spirit moving upwards toward heaven and God. And so in the Scriptures we find the duty of fasting prescribed; and though the Rabbis have treated it in an ad absurdura fashion, bringing it into disrepute, still the duty has not ceased, though the practice may be well-nigh obsolete. And so we find in Apostolic days that prayer was often joined to fasting, especially when a question of importance was under consideration. The hours of fasting, too, as we may learn from the cases of the centurion and of Peter, were the perihelion of the Christian life, when it swung up in its nearest approaches to heaven, getting amid the circles of the angels and of celestial visions. Possibly in the case before us there was such an absorption of spirit, such rapture (using the word in its etymological, rather than in its derived meaning), that the claims of the body were utterly forgotten, and its ordinary functions were temporarily suspended; for to the spirit caught up into Paradise it matters little whether in the body or out of it.

Then, too, the fast was closely related to the temptation; it was the preparation for it. If Jesus is tempted as the Son of man, it must be our humanity, not at its strongest, but at its weakest. It must be under conditions so hard, no other man could have them harder. As an athlete, before the contest, trains up his body, bringing each muscle and nerve to its very best, so Jesus, before meeting the great adversary in single combat, trains dozen Has body, reducing its physical strength, until it touches the lowest point of human weakness. And so, fighting the battle of humanity, He gives the adversary every advantage. He allows him choice of place, of time, of weapons and conditions, so that His victory may be more complete. Alone in the wild, dreary solitude, cut off from all human sympathies, weak and emaciated with the long fast, the Second Adam waits the attack of the tempter, who found the first Adam too easy a prey.

2. The nature of the Temptation. In what form the tempter came to Him, or whether he came in any form at all, we cannot tell. Scripture observes a prudent silence, a silence which has been made the occasion of much speculative and random speech on the part of its would-be interpreters. It will serve no good purpose even to enumerate the different forms the tempter is said to have assumed; for what need can there be for any incarnation of the evil spirit? And why clamor for the supernatural when the natural will suffice? If Jesus was tempted “as we are,” will not our experiences throw the truest light on His? We see no shape. The evil one confronts us; he presents thoughts to our minds; he injects some proud or evil imagination; but he himself is masked, unseen, even when we are distinctly conscious of his presence. Just so we may suppose the tempter came to Him. Recalling the declaration made at the baptism, the announcement of His Divine Sonship, the devil says, “If” (or rather “Since,” for the tempter is too wary to suggest a doubt as to His relationship to God) “Thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread.” It is as if he said, “You are a-hungered, exhausted, Your strength worn away by Your long fast. This desert, as You see, is wild and sterile; it can offer You nothing with which to supply Your physical wants; but You have the remedy in Your own hands. The heavenly Voice proclaimed You as Gods Son-nay, His beloved Son. You were invested, too, not simply with Divine dignities, but with Divine powers, with authority, supreme and absolute, over all creatures. Make use now of this newly given power. Speak in these newly learned tones of Divine authority, and command this stone that it become bread.” Such was the thought suddenly suggested to the mind of Jesus, and which would have found a ready response from the shrinking flesh, had it been allowed to speak. And was not the thought fair and reasonable, to our thinking, all innocent of wrong? Suppose Jesus should command the stone into bread, is it any more marvelous than commanding the water into wine? Is not all bread stone, dead earth transformed by the touch of life? If Jesus can make use of His miraculous power for the benefit of others, why should He not use it in the emergencies of His own life? The thought seemed reasonable and specious enough; and at first glance we do not see how the wings of this dove are tipped, not with silver, but with soot from the “pots.” But stop. What does this thought of Satan mean? Is it as guileless and guiltless as it seems? Not quite; for it means that Jesus shall be no longer the Son of man. Hitherto His life has been a purely human life. “Made in all things like unto His brethren,” from His helpless infancy, through the gleefulness of childhood, the discipline of youth, and the toil of manhood, His life has been nourished from purely human sources. His “brooks in the way” have been no secret springs, flowing for Himself alone; they have been the common brooks, open and free to all, and where any other child of man might drink. But now Satan tempts Him to break with the past, to throw up His Son-of-manhood, and to fall back upon His miraculous power in this, and so in every other emergency of life. Had Satan succeeded, and had Jesus wrought this miracle for Himself, putting around His human nature the shield of His Divinity, then Jesus would have ceased to be man. He would have forsaken the plane of human life for celestial altitudes, with a wide gulf-and oh, how wide!-between Himself and those He had come to redeem. And let the perfect humanity go, and the redemption goes with it; for if Jesus, just by an appeal to His miraculous power, can surmount every difficulty, escape any danger, then you leave no room for the Passion, and no ground on which the cross may rest.

Again, the suggestion of Satan was a temptation to distrust. The emphasis lay upon the title, “Son of God.” “The Voice proclaimed You, in a peculiar sense, the beloved Son of God; but where have been the marks of that special love? Where are the honors, the heritage of joy, the Son should have? Instead of that, He gives You a wilderness of solitude and privation; and He who rained manna upon Israel, and who sent an angel to prepare a cake for Elias, leaves You to pine and hunger. Why wait longer for help which has already tarried too long? Act now for Yourself. Your resources are ample; use them in commanding the stone into bread.” Such was the drift of the tempters words; it was to make Jesus doubt the Fathers love and care, to lead Him to act, not in opposition to, but independently of, the Fathers will. It was an artful endeavor to throw the will of Jesus out of gear with the Higher Will, and to set it revolving around its own self-center. It was, in reality, the same temptation, in a slightly altered form, which had been only too successful with the first Adam.

The thought, however, was no sooner suggested than it was rejected; for Jesus had a wonderful power of reading thought, of looking into its very heart; and He meets the evil suggestion, not with an answer of His own, but with a singularly apt quotation from the Old Testament: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.” The reference is to a parallel experience in the history of Israel, a narrative from which doubtless Jesus had drawn both strength and solace during His prolonged desert fast. Had not the Divine Voice adopted Israel to a special relationship and privilege, announcing within the palace of Pharaoh, “Israel is My Son, My firstborn?” {Exo 4:22} And yet had not God led Israel for forty years through the desert, suffering him to hunger, that He might humble and prove him, and show him that men are-

“Better than sheep and goats, That nourish a blind life within the brain”;

that man has a nature, a life, that cannot live on bread, but-as St. Matthew completes the quotation-“by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God?” Some have supposed that by “bread alone” Jesus refers to the manifold provision God has made for mans physical sustenance; that He is not limited to one course, but that He can just as easily supply flesh, or manna, or a thousand things besides. But evidently such is not the meaning of Jesus. It was not His wont to speak in such literal, commonplace ways. His thought moved in higher circles than His speech, and we must look upward through the letter to find the higher spirit. “I have meat to eat that ye know not of,” said Jesus to His disciples; and when He caught the undertone of their literalistic questions He explained His meaning in words that will interpret His answer to the tempter: “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me.” So now it is as if He said, “The Will of God is My meat. That Will brought Me hither; that Will detains Me here. Nay, that Will commands Me to fast and hunger, and so abstinence from food is itself My food. I do not fear. This wilderness is but the stone-paved court of My Fathers house, whose many chambers are filled with treasures, bread enough and to spare, and can I perish with hunger? I wait His time; I accept His will; nor will I taste of bread that is not of His sending.”

The tempter was foiled. The specious temptation fell upon the mind of Jesus like a spark in the sea, to be quenched, instantly and utterly; and though Satan found a powerful lever in the pinch of the terrible hunger-one of the sorest pains our human nature can feel-yet even then he could not wrench the will of Jesus from the will of God. The first Adam doubted, and then disobeyed, the Second Adam rests in Gods will and word; “and like the limpet on the rocks, washed by angry waves, the pressure of the outward storm” only unites His will more firmly to the Fathers; nor does it for one moment break in upon that rest of soul. And Jesus never did make use of His miraculous power solely for His own benefit. He would live as a man among men, feeling-probably more intensely than we do-all the weaknesses and pains of humanity, that He might be more truly the Son of man, the sympathizing High Priest, the perfect Savior. He became in all points-sin excepted-one with us, so that we might become one with Him, sharing with Him the Fathers love on earth, and then sharing His heavenly joys.

Baffled, but not confessing himself beaten, the tempter returns to the charge. St. Luke here inverts the order of St. Matthew, giving as the second temptation what St. Matthew places last. We prefer the order of St. Luke, not only because in general he is more observant of chronology, but because there is in the three temptations what we might call a certain seriality, which demands the second place for the mountain temptation. It is not necessary that we put a literal stress upon the narrative, supposing that Jesus was transported bodily to the “exceeding high mountain.” Not only has such a supposition an air of the incredulous about it, but it is set aside by the terms of the narrative itself; for the expression he “showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” cannot be forced into a literalistic mould. It is easier and more natural to suppose that this and the succeeding temptation were presented only to the spirit of Jesus, without any physical accessories; for after all, it is not the eye that sees, but the soul. The bodily eye had not seen the “great sheet let down from heaven,” but it was a real vision, nevertheless, leading to very practical results-the readjustment of Peters views of duty, and the opening of the door of grace and privilege to the Gentiles. It was but a mental picture, as the “man of Macedonia” appeared to Paul, but the vision was intensely real-more real, if that were possible, than the leagues of intervening sea; and louder to him than all the voices of the deep-of winds, and waves, and storm-was the voice, “Come over and help us,” the cry which only the ear of the soul had heard. It was in a similar manner, probably, that the second temptation was presented to Jesus.

He finds Himself upon a lofty eminence, when suddenly, “in a moment of time,” as St. Luke expresses it, the world lies unveiled at His feet. Here are fields white with ripened harvests, vineyards red with clustering grapes, groves of olives shimmering in the sunlight like frosted silver, rivers threading their way through a sea of green; here are cities on cities innumerable, quivering with the tread of uncounted millions, streets set with statues, and adorned with temples, palaces, and parks; here are the flagged Roman roads, all pointing to the worlds great center, thronged with chariots and horsemen, the legions of war, and the caravans of trade. Beyond are seas where a thousand ships are skimming over the blue; while still beyond, all environed with temples, is the palace of the Caesars, the marble pivot around which the world revolves.

Such was the splendid scene set before the mind of Jesus. “All this is mine,” said Satan, speaking a half-truth which is often but a whole lie; for he was indeed the “prince of the power of the air,” ruling, however, not in absolute kingship, but as a pretender, a usurper; “and I give it to whom I will. Only worship me (or rather, do homage to me as Your superior), and all shall be thine.” Amplified, the temptation was this: “You are the Son of God, the Messiah-King, but a King without a retinue, without a throne. I know well all the devious, somewhat slippery ways to royalty; and if You will but assent to my plan, and work on my lines, I can assure You of a throne that is higher, and of a realm that is vaster, than that of Caesar. To begin with: You have powers not given to other mortals, miraculous powers. You can command nature as easily as You can obey her. Trade with these at first, freely. Startle men with prodigies, and so create a name and gain a following. Then, when that is sufficiently large, set up the standard of revolt. The priesthood and the people will flock to it; Pharisees and Sadducees, giving up their paper-chases after phantoms, shadows, will forget their strife in the peace of a common war, and before a united people Romes legions must retire. Then, pushing out Your borders, and avoiding reverse and disaster by a continual appeal to Your miraculous powers, one after another You will make the neighboring nations dependent and tributary. So, little by little, You will hem in the might of Rome, until by one desperate struggle You will vanquish the Empire. The lines of history will then be all reversed. Jerusalem will become the mistress, the capital of the world; along all these roads swift messengers shall carry Your decrees; Your word shall be law, and Your will over all human wills shall be supreme.”

Such was the meaning of the second temptation. It was the chord of ambition Satan sought to strike, a chord whose vibrations are so powerful in the human heart, often drowning or deafening other and sweeter voices. He put before Jesus the highest possible goal, that of universal empire, and showed how that goal was comparatively easy of attainment, if Jesus would only follow his directions and work on his plans. The objective point at which the tempter aimed was, as in the first temptation, to shift Jesus from the Divine purpose, to detach His will from the Fathers will, and to induce Him to set up a sort of independence. The life of Jesus, instead of moving on steadily around its Divine center, striking in with absolute precision to the beat of the Divine purpose, should revolve only around the center of its narrower self, exchanging its grander, heavenlier sweep for certain intermittent, eccentric motions of its own. If Satan could not prevent the founding of “the kingdom,” he would, if it were possible, change its character. It should not be the kingdom of heaven, but a kingdom of earth, pure and simple, under earthly conditions and earthly laws. Might should take the place of right, and force the place of love. He would set Jesus after gaining the whole world, that so He might forget that His mission was to save it. Instead of a Savior, they should have a Sovereign, decked with this worlds glory and the pomps of earthly empire.

It is easy to see that if Jesus had been merely man the temptation would have been most subtle and most powerful; for how many of the sons of men, alas, have been led astray from the Divine purpose with a far less bait than a whole world! A momentary pleasure, a handful of glittering dust the more, some dream of place or fame-these are more than enough to tempt men to break with God. But while Jesus was man, the Perfect Man, He was more. The Holy Spirit was now given to Him without measure. From the beginning His will had been subordinate to the Fathers, growing up within it and configuring itself to it, even as the ductile metal receives the shape of the mould. The Divine purpose, too, had now been revealed to Him in the vivid enlightenment of the Baptism; for the shadow of the cross was thrown back over His life, at any rate as far as the Jordan. And so the second temptation fell harmless as the first. The chord of ambition Satan sought to strike was not found in the pure soul of Jesus, and all these visions of victory and empire awoke no response in His heart, any more than the flower-wreaths laid upon the breast of the dead can quicken the beat of the now silent heart.

The answer of Jesus was prompt and decisive. Not deigning to use any words of His own, or to hold any parley, even the shortest, He meets the word of the tempter with a Divine word: “It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve.” The tempting thought is something foreign to the mind of Jesus, something unwelcome, repulsive, and it is rejected instantly. Instead of allowing Himself to be diverted from the Divine purpose, His will detached from the Fathers will, He turns to that will and word at once. It is His refuge, His home. The thought of Jesus cannot pass beyond the circle of that will, any more than a dove can pass beyond the over-arching sky. He sees the throne that is above all thrones, and gazing upon that, worshipping only the Great King, who is over all and in all, the thrones and crowns of earthly dominions are but as motes of the air. The victory was complete. Quickly as it came, the splendid vision conjured up by the tempter disappeared, and Jesus turned away from the path of earthly glory, where power without measure and honors without number awaited Him, to tread the solitary, lowly path of submission and of sacrifice, the path that had a crucifixion, and not a coronation, as its goal.

Twice baffled, the enemy comes once again to the charge, completing the series with the pinnacle temptation, to which St. Luke naturally, and as we think rightly, gives the third place. It follows the other two in orderly sequence, and it cannot well be placed second, as in St. Matthew, without a certain overlapping of thought. If we must adhere to the literalistic interpretation, and Suppose Jesus led up to Jerusalem bodily, then, perhaps, St. Matthews order would be more natural, as that would not necessitate a return to the wilderness. But that is an interpretation to which we are not bound. Neither the words of the narrative nor the conditions of the temptation require it; and when art represents Jesus as flying with the tempter through the air it is a representation both grotesque and gratuitous. Thus far, in his temptations, Satan has been foiled by the faith of Jesus, the implicit trust He reposed in the Father; but if he cannot break in upon that trust, causing it to doubt or disobey, may he not push the virtue too far, goading Him “to sin in loving virtue?” If the mind and heart of Jesus are so grooved in with the lines of the Divine will that he cannot throw them off the metals, or make them reverse their wheels, perhaps he may push them forward so fast and so far as to bring about the collision he seeks-the clash of the two wills. It is the only chance left him, a forlorn hope, it is true, but still a hope, and Satan moves forward, if perchance he may realize it.

As in the second temptation, the wilderness fades out of sight. Suddenly Jesus finds Himself standing on the pinnacle of the Temple, probably the eastern corner of the royal portico. On the one side, deep below, were the Temple courts, crowded with throngs of worshippers; on the other lay the gorge of the Kedron, a giddy depth, which made the eye of the down-looker to swim, and the brain to reel. “If (or rather Since) said Satan, Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself down from hence; for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning Thee, to guard Thee; on their hands they shall bear Thee up, lest haply Thou dash Thy foot against a stone.” It is as if he said, “You are the Son of God, in a special, favored sense. You are set in title and authority above the angels; they are Your ministering servants; and reciprocate the trust Heaven reposes in You. The will of God is more to You than life itself; the word of God outweighs with You thrones and empires. And You do well. Continue thus, and no harm can overtake You. And just to show how absolute is Your faith in God, cast Yourself down from this height. You need not fear, for You will but throw Yourself upon the word of God; and You have only to speak, and unseen angels will crowd the air, bearing You up in their hands. Cast Yourself down, and so test and attest Your faith in God; and doing so You will give to these multitudes indubitable proof of Your Sonship and Messiahship.” Such was the argument, specious, but fallacious, of the tempter. Misquoting Scripture by omitting its qualifying clause, distorting the truth into a dangerous error, he sought to impale his Victim on the horn of a dilemma. But Jesus was on the alert. He recognized at once the seductive thought, though, Jacob-like, it had come robed in the assumed dress of Scripture. Is not obedience as sacred as trust? Is not obedience the life, the soul of trust, without which the trust itself is but a semblance, a decaying, corrupt thing? But Satan asks Him to disobey, to set Himself above the laws by which the world is governed. Instead of His will being entirely subordinate, conforming itself in all things to the Divine will, if He should cast Himself down from this pinnacle it would be putting pressure upon that Divine will, forcing it to repeal its own physical laws, or at any rate to suspend their action for a time. And what would that be but insubordination, no longer faith, but presumption, a tempting, and not a trusting God? The Divine promises are not cheques made payable to “bearer,” regardless of character, place, or time, and to be realized by any one who may happen to possess himself of them anywhere. They are cheques drawn out to “order,” crossed cheques, too, negotiated only as the conditions of character and time are fulfilled. The Divine protection and guardianship are indeed assured to every child of God, but only as He “dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High, as he abides under the shadow of the Almighty”; in other words, so long as “thy ways” are “His ways.” Step out from that pavilion of the Most High, and you step from under the bright bow of promise. Put yourself above, or put yourself out of, the Divine order of things, and the very promise becomes a threatening, and the cloud that else would protect and guide becomes a cloud full of suppressed thunders, and flashing in vivid lightnings its thousand swords of flame. Faith and fidelity are thus inseparable. The one is the calyx, the other the involved corolla; and as they open outwards into the perfect flower they turn towards the Divine will, configuring themselves in all things to that will.

A third time Jesus replied to the tempter in words of Old Testament Scripture, and a third time, too, from the same book of Deuteronomy. It will be observed, however, that the terms of His reply are slightly altered. He no longer uses the “It is written,” since Satan himself has borrowed that word, but substitutes another: “It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.” It has been thought by some that Jesus used the quotation in an accommodated sense, referring the “Thou” to the tempter himself, and so making “the Lord thy God” an attestation of His own Divinity. But such an interpretation is forced and unnatural. Jesus would not be likely to hide the deep secret from His own disciples, and announce it for the first time to the ears of the seducer. It is an impossible supposition. Besides, too, it was as man that Jesus was tempted. Only on the side of His humanity could the enemy approach Him, and for Jesus now to take refuge in His Divinity would strip the temptation of all its meaning, making it a mere acting. But Jesus does not so throw up humanity, or which is the same thing, take Himself out of it, and when He says, “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” He includes Himself in the “thou.” Son though He is, He must put Himself under the law that prescribes the relations of man towards God.

He must learn obedience as other sons of men. He must submit, that He may serve, not seeking to impose His will upon the Fathers will, even by way of suggestion, much less by way of demand, but waiting upon that will in an absolute self-surrender and instant acquiescence. Moses must not command the cloud; all that he is permitted to do is to observe it and follow. To go before God is to go without God, and to go without Him is to go against Him; and as to the angels bearing Him up in their hands, that depends altogether upon the path and the errand. Let it be the Divinely ordered path, and the unseen convoys of heaven will attend, a sleepless, invincible guard; but let it be some self-chosen path, some forbidden way, and the angels sword will flash its warning, and send the foot of the unfaithful servant crushing against the wall.

And so the third temptation failed, as did the other two. With but a little tension, Satan had made the will of the first Adam to strike a discordant note, throwing it out of all harmony with the Higher Will; but by no pressure, no enticements, can he influence the Second Adam. His will vibrates in a perfect consonance with the Fathers, even under the terrible pressure of hunger, and the more terrible pressure, the fearful impact of evil.

So Satan completed, and so Jesus resisted, “every temptation”-that is, every form of temptation. In the first, Jesus was tempted on the side of His physical nature; in the second the attack was on the side of His intellectual nature, looking out on His political life; while in the third the assault was on the side of His spiritual life. In the first He is tempted as the Man, in the second as the Messiah, and in the third as the Divine Son. In the first temptation He is asked to make use of His newly received miraculous power over nature-passive, unthinking nature; in the second He is asked to throw it over the “world,” which in this case is a synonym for humankind; while in the third He is asked to widen the realm of His authority, and to command the angels, nay, God Himself. So the three temptations are really one, though the fields of battle lie in three several planes. And the aim was one. It was to create a divergence between the two wills, and to set the Son in a sort of antagonism to the Father, which would have been another Absalom revolt, a Divine mutiny it is impossible for us even to conceive.

St. Luke omits in his narrative the ministry of angels mentioned by the other two Synoptists, a sweet postlude we should have missed much, had it been wanting; but he gives us instead the retreat of the adversary: “He departed from Him for a season.” How long a season it was we do not know, but a brief one it must have been, for again and again in the story of the Gospels we see the dark shadow of the evil one; while in Gethsemane the “prince of this world” cometh, but to find nothing in “Me.” And what was the horror of great darkness, that strange eclipse of soul Jesus suffered upon Calvary, but the same fearful presence, intercepting for a time even the Fathers smile, and throwing upon the pure and patient Sufferer a strip of the outer darkness itself?

The test was over. Tried in the fires of a persistent assault, the faith and obedience of Jesus were found perfect. The shafts of the tempter had recoiled upon himself, leaving all stainless and scatheless the pure soul of Jesus. The Son of man had conquered, that all other sons of men may learn the secret of constant and complete victory; how faith overcomes, putting to flight the armies of the aliens, and making even the weakest child of God “more than conqueror.” And from the wilderness, where innocence has ripened into virtue, Jesus passes up, like another Moses, “in the power of the Spirit,” to challenge the worlds magicians, to baffle their sleight of hand and skill of speech, and to proclaim to redeemed humanity a new Exodus, a life-long Jubilee.

Fuente: Expositors Bible Commentary

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