The Pulpit Commentary — Luke — Volume 1 — Section 116

tion," nor ru~h with e. light heart into it, nor shirk it, but accepted bre.vely what wa.~ forced upon him. It is only in snch a spirit that we can hope successfully to resist it. 'l'horo is no promise of Scripture to sustain any one who rushes madly into temptation. But, secondly, we observe that o. greo.t baptism of the Spirit is usually to prepare the recipient for some victoriously-to-be-met temptation. Jesus went to the wilderness filled with the Holy Ghost, o.nd so was enabled to vanquish hie tempter. Thirdly, the scene of the temptation is significant. While its exact location is not indicated, its general characteristics a.re. It wa..q some wilderness, where nature affords no food or sustenance to man. What II contrast to the happy garden where the first Adam was tempted I Messiah meets the tempter in the most trying drcumstances, and the tempter's defeat there is promise of his defeat everywhere. Moreover, Mark tells us be was" wilh the wild beasts" (Mark i. 13). It is a new Daniel braving the lions and subduing them. Fourthly, we must observe that he is here tempted in his public capacity, as Messiah. He had doubtless been tempted previously as a private indi- vidual; he had been urged by Satan most probably to leave the (Jrivacy of Nazareth for a more public position, and had put away all these temptations manfully. Now that he has dedicated himself as Messiah in the Jordan, he must undergo corresponding temptations. I. NoTIOE THE TEMPTATION THROUGH APPETITE. (Vera. 3, 4.) After forty days' fast, during which time he was suffering temptation from Satan, he finds himself famishing. The spectacle in the wilderness and among the wild beasts is, therefore, that of a.famishing Messiah. Never was he nearer death than on this occasion, except when death actually came. It is at this juncture that Sa.tan first tempts him through bis hunger. He claims to be the Son of God; this assurance was given him in his baptism ; and as the Son he believes be possesses, though as yet he has not exercised, miraculous power. Let him, then, use his power for self-preservation, which is the first Jaw of nature, and transform the stones of the wilderness into bread. The fallacy which underlies this temptation is one to which men are now most prone, viz. that "men must Jive," and then this false principle passes through degrees of comparison, and men say to themselves they must, if possible, live well, and, lastly, they must, if possible, live very wdl. But is it necessary that any of us should live? Who bas given us this revelation ? May not God's revelation be that the best thing we could do would be to die for truth and righteousness'/ Hence our Lord, instead of list~ning to the voice of appetite, declares his resolve to listen to the voice of God, and upon that revelation he will live. "It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God." It is surely instructive in these times, when appetite is accepted by many as man's one certain revelation, to have our Lord directiog onr attention to a higher revelation and a more sustaining voice. Bread cannot sustain the whole man; it can only prop up the physical nature; bnt the spiritual needs other food and higher help, and finds it in God's Word alone! Amid the fierce struggle for bread, let tis listen to him who speaks about the better bread which comes out of the mouth of God I II. NOTICE THE TEMPTATION THROUOH AMBITION. (Vers. 5-8.) Matthew puts this temptation last, instead of hero, and in this is probably chronologically more accurate than Luke. But we need not transpose it in order to profit by it. Messiah, then, though famishing, abides by the revelation of God rather than make a miraculous banquet in the wilderness. But of the revelation the Father gave him this was a ..:hief part-that he was to become Conqueror and Ruler of the world! Universal empire was, therefore, his legitimate ambition. It is here that Satan tempts him. Taking him to some mountain-top, he shows him, in some miraculous fashion, all the kingdoms of the inhabited world in a moment of time. Next he cla.irus to be the rightful ruler of these kin~doms, but is williog to make a bargain with the ambitious Messiah that, if he will only acknowledge his sovereignty and pay him the homage due to earthly kings, all the kingdoms shall be made over to him. The temptation here is to gratify 11mbition at the cheapest rate. No self-denial, no se!f-sacri fice, no con- suming spirit, shall he needful, but simply a little homage p:1id to the worl<l's prince. It was such a bargain as a worldly mind would have wdcurned eagerly. Dut Jes11s refused the terms. lie would not acknowledge Satan to be tl.ie world's rightfol rukr. He regarded him as a usurper whom h11 had come to depose. Hence, in impa.tieuc11  108 TIIR GOSrEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE, [ea. rv.1-44: