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2 TH

CHAPTER IV.

The Temptation of Jesus Christ.

HEN was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and

the same great truth.-This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, i. e. with whom I am well pleased. The title of child or son was used frequently among the Jews, not in the sense of precise natural relationship, but in the more extended signification of unity of affection and purpose. This mode of speech was used of men of different characters. Thus, the wicked were called the sons or children of Belial, Satan, and the Devil. John viii. 44; the good, the children of God. Mat. v. 9. In accordance with this form of speech, Jesus Christ was denominated the Son of God; and to show the unparalleled excellence of his character, and his entire conformity to the divine will in the office he bore, he was called the well beloved, the only begotten, John i. 18, the dear, Son of God. This term of endearment implies that Jesus had the full and constant approbation of God, that he was one with him, meaning to express not oneness of nature or personality, but oneness of purpose and love, that he was peculiarly, more than any other being that ever existed, the Son of God, inasmuch as he attained to perfect love and holiness, and made the purposes of his Father his own. God gave not the spirit by measure unto him. Thus he ever pleased God. Thus his disciples, inhaling his filial spirit, may, in some humble measure, please both him and his Father.

CHAP. IV.

1-11. Parallel passages, Mark i. 12, 13. Luke iv. 1-13. Mark's

account is general; Luke is more particular, and corresponds with Matthew, except in the order of the temptations. This account of our Lord's temptation has been variously interpreted. Some suppose it to be a parable, designed for the instruction of his disciples. Some regard it as the description of a vision or dream. Some understand the tempter to have been a wicked man, or a Jewish priest. Most conceive him to have been literally the Devil, or Satan, as the popular terms are. But these views are all more or less burdened with fatal inconsistencies and difficulties. We are rather to construe this passage as a figurative narration of a real transaction, a series of real temptations in the mind of Jesus. The incidents were actual occurrences; but, in relating them to his disciples, Jesus employed the popular oriental imagery. Force and spirit is given to the circumstances, by throwing them into the form of a dialogue. The thoughts and feelings of the mind are introduced as interlocutors, speaking and quoting from the Bible. Jesus prefigured to himself the misemployment that might be made of his special gifts, but resisted the allurements to make such an abuse of them. He was faithful to his high trust. He told the spiritual experience to his followers, in order to instruct them in the use of their miraculous powers, in a manner fitted to impress the memory, and left it as a legacy of warning and encouragement to the world.

1. Then. After the baptism of Jesus, and the descent of the holy

forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter 3 came to him, he said: If thou be the Son of God, command that

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spirit. "The water of baptism is succeeded by the fire of temptation."-Led up of the spirit into the wilderness. Mark uses the strong language, "And immediately the spirit driveth him into the wilderness. Under the powerful influence of the divine spirit, which had just been poured upon him "without measure," he leaves the crowd, and withdraws to a wild region, away from the haunts of men, to the most sequestered parts of the desert or thinly peopled country, which were frequented by wild beasts. Mark i. 13. It was probably the desert of Jericho, lying not far from Bethabara, where he was baptized. The soul of Jesus was full of the great consecration of himself to the work of God, and the solemn duties pertaining to it. His mind dilated and kindled with the grandeur of his mission. He retired to meditate on its toils and trials, its responsibilities and joys. He was now to leave the humble shop of the carpenter, to assume the highest office ever known in the world. What wonder that he repaired to the deepest solitudes, to engage in the exercises of fasting, prayer, and self-communion? What wonder that there, too, he should be subject to the assault of temptations?-To be tempt ed of the devil, i. e. by the devil. In the Bible," certain and inevitable consequences are very often represented as the results specially intended." Jesus went not into the desert in order to be tempted. It

would have been a practical violation of his prayer, "Lead us not into temptation." His object was to fast, to pray, and to meditate. Or, rather, perhaps he had no specified plan. He wandered al

most unconsciously, while under the workings of his high contemplations, and the mighty promptings of God's spirit, farther and farther from men, into the deep fastnesses of the desert, mountainous country. There came the temptation, which was the effect, not the cause of his withdrawal. The words Satan and devil mean adversary and accuser. Human beings are called by these names. Matt. xvi. 23. John vi. 70. Tit. ii. 3. In the last case, the words false accusers are translated elsewhere devils. Where no person is alluded to by these terms, they are used as a personification of temptation, evil. James iv. 7. This rhetorical figure is frequent in the Old and New Testament. Solomon personifies Wisdom, Paul personifies Charity.

2. Fasted. We are not to understand by this that he absolutely went without food during this long period; but that he had no regular supply. He lived sparingly. He had no sustenance except the scanty products of the desert, consisting, perhaps, of wild berries, fruits, and roots. Luke, iv. 2, says, indeed, that "he did eat nothing," but that is a general expression, which is probably to be taken with some limitation. So Jesus says, Matt. xi. 18, that "John came neither eating nor drinking," when we are told that "his meat was locusts and wild honey." Matt. iii. 4.-Forty days. Moses, the Founder, and Elijah, the Restorer of the Jewish system, fasted the same length of time. Exod. xxxiv. 28. Deut. ix. 9, 18. 1 Kings xix. 8. This is probably merely an undesigned coincidence. -An hungered, i. e. hungry. The meagre food of the desert was not sufficient. His body was worn

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4 these stones be made bread. But he answered and said: It is writ

down by fasting. If, as some suppose, he had been during all this time miraculously supported, and had literally tasted nothing, we may rationally ask, Why should that aid be suddenly withdrawn? It would throw him into that conflict with temptation, into which we are told God directly leads no man. James i. 13. Miracles are not to be unnecessarily supposed. The facts in this account do not demand a miraculous interposition, but are more naturally explained without it.

Jesus was thus tempted, or tried, or put to a moral proof. If it was in any different way, then he is no example for us in temptation; we can derive no strength, courage, or hope, from his signal victory. But if he "was tempted in all points like as we are," then "he is able to succor them that are tempted." He, as well as we, had at times to resist intruding thoughts of evil, whispers, and imaginings of wrong. But he resisted at once and entirely, and "no spot or blame" was left behind, any more than by the shadow of a cloud flying over the landscape. He was without sin.-He said: If thou be the Son of God. This was the specious, plausible air, the temptation wore. "If," as he thought with himself, "I am indeed the beloved Son of God, as I have been just declared to be by a voice from heaven, then why endure this weariness and painful hunger? Why may not my wonderful power be exerted for so important an end as my own comfort and self-preservation?" To his pure nature bad thoughts were foreign; but this tempting idea came in a robe of light.-Command that these stones be made bread. Or, more correctly, that these stones be inade loaves. "Here is an opportunity to try my power, We are and determine whether I am really tempted by the concurrence of some the Son of God. The stones I see external object with our inward lying around me in the desert can, desire, or by some spontaneous by a word, be turned into loaves of imagining, leading us, if followed, bread, to relieve my pressing hunor even indulged, into sin. The ger." Thus Jesus was tempted by wrong consists not in the thought, the nature of the circumstances in or imagination, but in its being cher- which he was placed, as we are ished, kept before the mind's eye, every day of our lives. He was and acted out. Milton says truly, tempted to use his power of working miracles in order to change stones into loaves, and thus silence

3. When the tempter came to him. What tempter? A being in bodily shape, of horrid aspect, or a designing man, or a wily Jewish priest? This is inconceivable; for their personal appearance, and known design, would have completely broken the spell of the temptation. What came was the tempting thought, the evil suggestion, that rose up in the mind, in his state of hunger and weariness. We are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that Jesus was "tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin." And that "being tempted he is able to succor them that are tempted." And that "he learned obedience by the things he suffered." How then are we tempted? For when that question is answered, we can understand how Jesus was tempted.

"Evil into the mind of God or man
May come and go, so unapproved, and leave
No spot or blame behind."

ten: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Then the devil taketh him up 5

the sharp cravings of hunger. The first temptation was that of appetite.-Blessed be Heaven, we have not in our Saviour a "high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." Heb. iv. 15.

4. He answered. His good principles, his holy spirit, shrank from the idea with abhorrence. The words of Scripture rose to his lips: It is written, in Deut. viii. 3, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Man's life, including reason, will, affection, and hope, is sustained by all the diversified manifestations of God, by whatever he appoints. For word, thing might be properly substituted. These words refer to the case of the Israelites, who were supported, not by bread, or any ordinary food, but by manna miraculously sent. As applied by Jesus to himself, their sense is this: "Life may be sustained by any means God shall think proper. I will not therefore distrust him so far as to undertake to supply my own wants by the use of those gifts allotted me by Him for the most important moral end." The tempting thought fled. The quotation had also a spiritual import; Wisd. of Solomon xvi. 26; as is beautifully set forth in a late author, Furness. "If so,' we may suppose the blessed Saviour to have communed with himself—if I am the Son of God, then a mere animal life is not the end of my being, to which I am to devote my powers. The divine faculties and gifts of the Son of God are destined not for private and finite uses, but for vast and comprehensive purposes corres

pondent to gifts so great and rare. They have not been bestowed on me merely to support this perishing clay, and to exercise them for an object comparatively so worthless would be sacrilege. The life of the Son of God is not in the life of the body, but in the life of the godlike soul, and that is sustained by the consciousness of being true to the Divine Will, the word written on the heart. No, I will not desecrate my power by putting it to a mean use. Better were it for me to perish than to forget my true destiny. My dependence is not on bread alone, or principally, but on the consciousness of being true to God.'-How often do we see men, who possess powers fitting them to be the reformers and benefactors of thousands, sacrificing every thing for bread, or for the wealth and place which will secure bread enough and to spare!" Jesus could change water into wine for others, to promote the innocent hilarity of a wedding, but he would not change stones into bread for himself, though it were to quell hunger, and relieve faintness. He performed no miracle specially for himself. He did not resist in the Garden, though a cloud of angels were ready to come at his bidding. He did not descend from the Cross of shame and agony, though his enemies scornfully challenged him to do it. Glorious being! heart beat with a Love superior to any selfish consideration.

His

5. Then the devil taketh him. There was no transportation except in his own thoughts. His tempting imagination flew with him to Jerusalem, and seated him on the top of the Temple. It is thus our thoughts

6 into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple; and saith unto him: If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written: "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy 7 foot against a stone." Jesus said unto him: It is written again: "Thou

and imaginations tempt us, carrying us hither and thither, to and fro, on the earth, to the cities of pleasure and the mountains of power and pride.—Holy city. Jerusalem was so called because the temple of God was situated there. The inscription on coins was "Jerusalem the Holy.”—Pinnacle of the temple. A wing, turret, or battlement of that edifice. The top of the porch is perhaps here meant, called the King's Portico, which towered perpendicularly 750 feet above the bottom of a deep valley at its side. Josephus refers to it. "This cloister deserves to be mentioned better than any other under the sun; for while the valley was very deep, this farther vastly higher elevation of the cloister stood upon that height, insomuch that, if any one looked down from the top of the battlements, he would be giddy."

6. If thou be the Son of God. This idea perpetually occurred to the mind of Jesus. In it was lodged much of the force of the temptation.-Cast thyself down. Thus employing his miraculous powers to strike the multitudes of Jerusalem with awe and wonder. Such a "sign" would substantiate in their eyes his claim to the Messiahship. They were expecting some such striking display of power, rather than the beneficent miracles he actually wrought. The temptation was that of vanity, The language of the Psalmist seemed to encourage such an act. Ps. xci. 11, 12. The passage, however, expresses the protection of Divine Providence over the righteous, not the presump

tuous.-Angels mean any kind of messengers or instruments employed to effect the purposes of God.— They shall bear thee up. Kuinoel remarks that this metaphor is taken from parents, who, in travelling over rough ways, lift up and carry their children over the stones in their path, lest they should trip and stumble upon them.-Dash thy foot against a stone. A proverbial expression, in both Greek and Hebrew, to denote any danger or misfortune.

7. The pure, discriminating eye of Jesus saw that the idea was not to be entertained. And as Scripture language occurred to his mind in its justification, so a passage did also in its condemnation. It is written, Deut. vi. 16, again. This adverb, according to Campbell, ought to qualify said, and not written, and the sentence read thus: Jesus again said unto him: It is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Tempt here signifies to try, to assay, to put to the proof. It is not used in the sense in which it is in verse 2 of this chap., of alluring to evil, but of making trial whether God would support one who should thus presumptuously cast himself upon his Providence. If we expose ourselves to needless dangers, we cannot reasonably expect to be saved. A wanton and voluntary periling of life or health cannot be right. We cannot promise ourselves the protection of Heaven, if we rashly presume upon it, and rush into difficulties without cause, The manner in which he resisted this temptation was a type of his

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