The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 97

he<>n s~qu&intcd. The m&xims e.nd proorpte 1111ff'ering, no p11n11ulon howevor akilf'nlly of Deuteronomy were ueed in tile eduolltion worded, no sophistry however plausible, of e'l"cry Hebrew child. lte de'\"out llnd must be sufficient to turn him. He departed beautiful mnime were written on the phy- from him for a 1ea1on; more Mcumtely, lfteteriee or frontlete which so many piuue till a ll011ve11ie11t eea,on, It le evident tliat Jews were in the he.bit of W81lring. all through the two yee.rs e.nd a half of Ver. 18.-And when the devil had ended the public ministry, which suooeeded the all the temptation. events just recorded, Jceue we.a exposed to "Thou Spirit, who ledd'st this glorious ere- the various trie.ls e.nd tt>mpte.tiona to which mite suffering mortal flesh is exposed. So Bona- Into the desert, hi1 victorious field, ventura., in his' Life of Obrist,' snys, "Many Against the epiritue.l foe, e.nd brought'st other were the occasions on whioh he en- him thence dured temptnlion." Still there ia no doubt By proof the undoubted Son of God." but the.t the "convenient season " here pointedly alluded to referred to that other (Milton.) great epooh of t.omptation just before the St. Me.ttbew oloses the etory of the " victo- oross, when our Lord prayed in the agony of rious field" by telling ue bow, when every the ge.rden at the close of his earthly work. hellish suggestion be.d been me.de e.nd re- There the tempter tried if great suffering pelled, the wearied e.nd exbe.usted Jesus we.e we.a not ~ble to conquer that Sinless One. visited e.nd refreshed by the visible ministry Vere. 14-30.-THE PREACHING Oi' JESUS of e.ngels. The words of the Greek origine.l AT NAZARETH, AND ITS RESULT, tmnelated "e.11 the temptation " would be Ver. H.-A.nd 1esn.s returned in the power more accure.tely rendered by "every kind of of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went temptation." The three great temptations, out a fame of him through all the region related by two of the evangelists in date.ii, round about. Between the events of the are very varied and oomprehensive in cba- temptation and the preaching e.t Nazareth re.cter, and appeal to most of the human here related, some consideJe.ble time had in- pa8sions =d desires; but from the words tervened. St. John, in his Gospel, gives a with which St. Luke began hie recite.I," be- somewhe.t detailed account of this period ing forty de.ye tempted of tl,e devil," it is which St. Luke omits. Shortly after the clear that Jesus was incessantly tempted the temptation, took place the concluding inci• whole time by hellish whispers o.nd sugges- dents in the Baptist's career, which St. Luke tions, perhaps of the snme kind, though with summari.zed in his brief statement (eh. iii. varied details, BB the three we have recorded 19, 20), when he tells us of the arrest and for us. Besides the uses of the temptation imprisonment of the fearless preacher by mysterv in the development of the humanity the Tetrarch Herod. St. John tells how the of the hleBBed Son of God, the great ecene Sanhedrin sent some special envoys to the he.8 its deep lessons for all sorts and condi- Baptist, asking him formally who he really tions of men in all times. Some eminent wa.t1. After this questioning, John in his expositors would seem to wish to limit the Gospel mentions the calling of Andrew, area of the teaching of the temptation, aud Simon, Philip, and Natlinne.el, e.nd then to regard it BB mainly an experience pre- records the first miracle of Jesus at Cana served for the guidance of the disciples of in Galilee, e.nd how the Lord visited Oo.per- the MBBter. They-so say these scholars- ne.um. He then proceeds to relate some of were, from this scene in the life of the great the circumstances which took place at the Teacher, to Jee.m never to use their mi..re.cu- Passover at Jerusalem, and how the Lord lous power for their persone.l e.dvante.ge (first drove out the men who profaned his Father's temptation); never to associate with wicked house. He writes down, too, the particulars men for the attainment of good ends (seeond of Nicodemus the Pharisee's visit to Jesus temptation); never to perform a miracle in by night. The Master then proceeded, as an ostentatious spirit (third temptation). is here related by St. Luke, "in the power All this was doubtless contained in the of the Spirit," who descended on him form- Lord's story of his awful experience, and the ally e.t his be.ptism, into Galilee, and on his lesson WBB never forgotten by the twelve and journey thither tarried at Samaria, restiug tLeir own immediate followers. But the on the well there, end talking with the instruction was not mee.nt to be confined to woman in tl.Jose memorable wor, Is recorded the little circle of hill own ; it was, like the by St. John at length in his fourth chapter whole of the goapel teaching, intended for (vers. 4-42). Rapidly the report of what all sorts and oondition.s of men. The com- he had done e.t Cana, the fame of his mar- mon everyday lesson which every child vellous words at Jerusalem, Samario., and may read in this story of his Master's trie.1, other places, ~pread tl.Jrough all the central is the.t from the plaiu appointed pa.tu of diijtricls of the Huly Land. duty, which very o!ten too ii! tae path of Ver. 15.~And he te.ught in their 1yna- lln, 1v, 1-44.] TIIE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE. 89