The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 96

the ldngdoma of the world in a moment of In St. Mo.tthew Jerusalem is he1'e oe.llcd time, 'l'his tempte.tion was something more "the holy city," e. ne.me still prcsP-rvod in th,m "offering to Ono who ha.d lived as & tl,e East, where it is still termed El-Khuds, villngo carpenter the throne of the world." the holy. Pinnacle; literally," wing" of the It appealed to his ambition certainly, but temple. "Pinnacle'' comes from the Vnlgate in Josue' ce.se it was e. high, pure, sinless tre.nsle.tion, pin1UUufam. The part of the ambition. This muoh he certainly knew great building evidently referred to here alreculy, that he wns destined to rule over was that magnificent snuthern wing of tho men from pole to pole. It WILB for him B Lord's house constructed by Herod the righteous longing, this desire to have the Great, which w11s known ns the roy,il por- heathen for his inheritance, &nd the utter- tico. Josephus calls it the mo,t re1TVLr/,,,b/~ most po.rte of the earth e.s his possession. building under 1M sun (' Ant.,' xv. 11. 5). No fe.lse·e.mbition was this In Jesus, this One who stood on the roof of this portion of desire to realize the glorious Messianic the temple would look from e. dizzy height hope. Age.in, bow typical a temptation I All into the Valley of the Kidron. Such e. spec- ranks e.nd orders e.re often soon tempted tator, writes Josephus(' Ant.,' ii- 5)," would here. A noble end e.s they think, and in be giddy while his sight could not reach to the beauty of the goo.I they forget that the such an immense depth." To this spot, road lee.ding to it is paved with evil and "whether in the body or out of the body" wrong. we cannot tell, Jesus wa.a taken by the evil Ver. 7.-If thou therefore wilt worahip spirit. "Now," said his tempter, "if you me, all ahall be thine, Dr. Morrison, on reallye.re what yon seem to think, cast thyself Matt iv. 9, be.a well caught the thought down. Yon know what is written in the h9re. The arch-tempter "as it were said Divine writing, how the J<~ternal would give to Jesus, • I am indeed the prince e.nd god of his angels charge concerning thee, they were this world. It.ii kingdoms e.nd their glory to bee.r thee up, 'lest e.t e.ny time thou dash a.re e.t my dispose.I. I could at once open up thy foot age.inst a stone.' If thou art be of thy WBY to the highest honours the.I a uni- whom all this is written, there will be no versal conqueror o.nd a universe.I sovereign risk. You a.re sure the.t you are the Son of could desire. I could gather e.t once around God : try this once, and see. If you trium- thee a host of devoted Jewish troops ; I could phantly come ont of this trial, 1111 men will pave their we.y for victory after victory, recognize yon, e.nd your reign 0,,i ;)'lessiah until at no distant period the whole Roman will commence forthwith." This temptation empire, and indeed the whole world, should we.a of a more subtle ne.tnre than the other be suhjoct to thy sway. Only abandon two. It appeals again to e.11 ranks of men, the wild chimera of putting down sin e.nd and warns them of the sore danger of selj- making e.ll men fe.ne.tice.l and holy; fe.11 in ishly courling danger. The an~els will ever with my wo.y of things; let the more.ls of watch over us with a tender care when, to the world a.lone, more especially its morals accomplish a duty or to perform e.n a.et of in reference to God ; work with me e.nd self-denying love, we oonfront peril ; not so under me, e.nd e.ll will go well. But if thou when we presumptuously e.nd for our own refuse this offer, look out for determined ends rush into danger_ opposition, for incessant persecution, for the Ver. 12.-And leans answering ae.id unto most miserable poverty, o.nd for every species him, It is se.id, Thou she.It not tempt the of woe.'" Lord thy God. It is rem:irkable that in these Ver. 8.-Get thee behind me, Be.tan; for it crowning instances of temptation, which no is written, Thou she.It worship the Lord thy doubt were originally recounted by the Lord God, e.nd him only she.It thou serve. Jesus himself to the inner oircle of the disciples, repelled the offer wiLh stern indignation. e.nd from them passed into the regular Hu would receive the splendid inheritance course of instruction adopted by the Chris- which he felt we.a his e.t no olher hauds tie.n teachers of the first days, the Redeemer, the.n his Father's; he would win all and in ench of his three an:;wers to the devil, more the.n the tempter offered him, but it uses words ta.ken from two chapters (the su.th would be by a slow e.nd painful process-by and eighth) of Deuteronomy. It has been self-denie.l, self-se.crifioe, self-surrender ; the suggested tha.t the thoughts e.nd expressions glorious consumme.tiun would only be at- of this book were fresh iu tl,e mind of the tained e.t the end of a long viste. of cen- tempted Christ, e.s he had probably, specially turies. The words, "Get thee behind me, duriu.,. his sojourn in the wilderness, used Satan,'' do not occur in the older manu- for his own study and meditation a book scripts contn.ining St. Luke's Gospel These which told the story of Israel's wanderings are evidently a later ad,lilion from the in the desert for forty years. It seems, how- po.re.llol passar,e in St. 111:atthow. ever more likely that the Lord simply chose Ver. 9.-And he brought him to lerusa- to rr:ime his answers from a book with whic11 lem, and aet him on a pinnaole of the temple. 1 every Israelite from hia earliest years he1J 88 TIIE GOSPEL ACCOnDING TO BT. LUKE. [ou 1v. 1-H.