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 in- to 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 tem- ple, 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 first event recorded in our Lord's history, after His baptism, is His temptation by the devil. From a season
108 EXFosrroRT thoughts.
of honour 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 gieat trial there will often be but a step.
Let us first mark in this passage, the power and un^ toearied 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 an4 plain. He had seen what happened at our Lord's baptism. He had heard the marvellous 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 P 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 Uving members of Christ. The Master's lot will be the