2. Immediately after what ? Immediately after the Baptism. Now at the Baptism two things had occurred — the Spirit as a dove had descended upon Jesus, and a voice had come from heaven, " Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." These ex- periences were inseparable, but they may be examined separately.
(1) The voice recognised Jesus as the Son of God in the sense in which the Messiah is spoken about as God's Son in the Old Testament. That is to say, there is complete understanding between the Father and the Son, the fellowship of love. And that fellowship is not merely the emotion of love. The under- standing between Father and Son is directed to the work which Jesus as Messiah is to do.
(2) Then follows the endowment of the Holy Spirit. It is new and unparalleled, just because the fellowship is new and unparalleled. And it is an endowment for the accomplishment of the work which the Father has given Him to do. The first energy of the Spirit, however, is not seen in the accomplishment of some Messianic act. If Jesus is conscious of being the Son of God, He is also conscious of being a son of man. And like all the sons of men. He must be tested. He must be tested as a man. He must face a man's temptations, and stand or fall.
^ Alexander Whyto.
ST. MARK 23
Before He can go forth as the Messiah, that is to say, as the Saviour of the world, it must be made evident to Himself and to all the world that He Himself does not need to be saved. " And straightway the Spirit driveth him into the wilderness to be tempted."
IT Why does the temptation come so soon after the blessing ? Just to show that it is the sequel of the blessing. What was that in Jesus with which the Father was well pleased ? It was the vision of what was to come, the vision of where the Spirit would drive Him. The Father saw that the dove-like peace which had fallen on the Son of Man would make Him fit for the wilderness ; He blessed Him for what He would be able to bear. The shining on the banks of Jordan was the hour of His adoption, but the wilderness was the hour of His inheritance.^
TT Now understand me well — it is provided in the essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary.^
^ When you have been at prayer, when you have made new \ resolves, when you have felt the uplifting of Divine grace, when 1 / you have taken the Blessed Sacrament, — then beware ! For ^ very likely Satan will try to upset you. It will be a grand ! ^ - . success for him to take you by surprise and rob you of the good you have got. One has read of the old highway robbers, how they went to work. They always watched for a man who was coming along with plenty of money upon him, a man who had been to market and had been receiving payments.^
^ There are three significant years in the life of St. Paul of which we are told nothing. He beholds the heavenly vision, which suddenly stands like a pillar of fire between his past and his future ; in Damascus he learns in detail the truth which from that moment changes his whole life. And what does he do then ? ^ He goes into Arabia. He takes himself out of the sight of all men, whether Jews or Christians, out of the hearing of all human voices, into the bleak desert, into the land of rocks and solitude. And there he stays three years. In the history of his life the space of three years is blank, totally blank. So far as we know, St. Paul never spoke of that experience: he never told what happened. But we may guess. He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. This new truth which summons you to contradict all that you have said and Btood for, which calls you to a career of poverty and difficulty and tragedy — is it true ? May there not be some mistake about it ?
* George Matheson. ^ Walt Whitman, Scmg of the Open Rood.
8 E. L. Ilicks.
24 THE GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE
And if it is true, what does it mean ? What does it mean for you ? The apostle went into the desert to meet the devil ; and the devil asked him three questions. And it took the apostle three years to answer them. That was his temptation in the wilderness. First, the heavenly vision on the Damascus road; then the long contention with doubt and desire and the devil in Arabia.^
ii. The Spirit.
The Authorized Version, using a small s at spirit, suggests that it was some evil spirit that drove Him into the wilderness. And it has been deliberately maintained that Satan himself was the driving power. Others have suggested some man or men under the influence of an evil spirit, one of His disciples, perhaps, as Peter or Judas, or even some member of His own family. But without doubt the Spirit is the Holy Spirit of God, with which He had just been uniquely endowed. The temptation is the first and necessary step in the fulfilment of the purpose for which Jesus had come into the world.