The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 109

Yers. 6--8.-'l'emJ>la.tion: oittw,.-,·d and inwai·d gmnJwr. Of course !item! exoot- ncs.s is nC'CeBAArily excluded here; we must look for, and shall hnvo n~ difficulty in finding, the sense and spirit of the words. We will look Rt- I. 'l'HE APPEAL THAT WAS MADE TO oUB Lonn, and the correspondin~ attack that i8 made on ourselves. Christ was tempted to seize "power and glory ' for himeell by an act of unholy submission. These weru the prize which the worldly minded Jews or his age imagined to be within reach of their Messiah. To one of his humble cir- cumstances but limitless capacity, and also of rightful and honourable ambition there mig)it very e&Bily be presente? a most powerful temptation to aim at a gre~t and gl'.inoUB snpremacy-a throne like that of the CIBS&r himself, on which imperial power might be exercise'<! and human glory at its topmost heijl;ht be enjoyed, And the force of this temptation would be very greatly intensified by the fact that such a throne as this would be gained by very different measures from tho8e Jesus had been contem- plnting in his solitude. The collectin:z of multitudes by appealing to their national passions, the lea.ding of armies and gaining of victories, the command of great bodies of men, the excitements of political s1rife,-all this is full of enjoyment to the ambitious soul. A vastly different experience this (and to all that was human in the mind of ,T,·~us Christ immensely more attractive) from that of speaking unappreciated truth, li,·ing a life too noble to be understood, suffering from keen and malignant persecution, dying in the pani;s and shame of martyrdom! The price to be paid for surrendering the higher for the lower airu, and the distressing for the delightful means, was "wor- shipping" Satan ; in other words, declining the course which he most disliked, and adopting the course which he most desired. The attack which is now made on us, corresponding to this, is the suggestion that we should tum aside· from the higher aspiration (whatever it may be) to the lower ambition. It may come to the Christian minister in his study, to the statesman in his cabinet, to the doctor in his consulting- room, to the author or editor at his table; it is a suggestion to leave the straight line of duty, of faithfnlness, of service, of truth, of loyalty to conviction, of moral and. spiritual integrity, and take the lower path of popularity, of honour, of temporal success. To do this is to take a conrse which we may dignify by some fair name, but which, in Scripture language, is worshipping the devil. IL THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT WAS REPELLED BY HIM", and in which it should be defeated by us. This was one of holy indignation : " Get thee behind me," etc. Our Lord indignantly refllSed to entertain a suggestion so utterly opposed to his spirit of consecration, so sub,ersive of all his high purposes and lofty hopes. He met it by the quotation of a word which demanded entire obedience to the will of God and full devotedness to his service. In this spirit of holy indignation let us repel the first advances of a temptation to leave the higher and the heavenly road of truth and service for the lower and the earthly one of mere temporal success. To take that lower course would Lie to play into the hands of the evil one; to lose the commendation of our conscieD:ce and to live under the shadow of its rebuke; to lower ourselves and to degrade our life in the estimate of all the true and wise on earth and in heaven; to lose our true and high reward ; to break the word and depart from the will of the Lord our God.--0. Vers. 9-12.-Temptation to guuty haste, One more attempt is made by the evil one on the integrity of our Lord's faithfulness. We note- . L THE EVIL SUGGESTION. The idea conveyed to the mmd of JesUB, now on the point of commencing bis ministry, was this (as I understand it): "Here is a glorious opportunity to make a most successful beginning; alighting from this_ height am?ng t~e assembled worshippel'B below, who are all ready to welcome the Messiah, you will gam such a prestige from so brilliant a miracle that the battle of. con vict!on wil~, be almost won by a single blow. There need be no fear; .the angels wtll. sustam you,. etc. But to act in this way would be to proolCd along a line totally unsuited to the kmd of work which J esUB came to do. It woe.Id be very gratifying, very stimulating, very agreeable to human feeling, but it would not be the right_ course to_ pursue. Christ came. to build up a vast spiritual empire, and he was to lay its foundations carefully and steadily, and therefore deliberately and slowly, in the minds of men, This victory was not _one t-0 be snatched bys sudden impetuous charge; there must be If long and a hard campaign. Everything could not be done by a brilliant stroke, appealing to the imagination; en IV. 1----14.] 'J'lm OOf\PEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKK 101