Translated using ChatGPT and by Claude
After setting forth the true divinity and humanity of Christ, the Evangelist consequently turns to describe His manner of life, whose whole activity is our instruction. Then, namely, immediately after He was baptized, Jesus was led — by a reasonable prompting, by an interior inspiration — into the desert by the Holy Spirit, who moved the soul of Christ to enter the wilderness for fitting reasons.
Christ, as man, was most fully endowed with the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, as it is read: "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him," etc. (Is. 11:2). Just as virtues make a man readily movable by reason so as to follow its judgment, so the gifts of the Holy Spirit render him movable by the Holy Spirit. Therefore the man directed, led, and moved by the Holy Spirit entered the desert. Luke says that He was driven by the Spirit into the wilderness (Lk. 4:1). "For those who are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God." (Rom. 8:14)
That in this place "Spirit" signifies the Holy Spirit is clear from two things. First, because where it is said that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, it is immediately added: and He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness (Lc. 4:1). Second, because where it is said that He was led into the wilderness by the Spirit, it is added: to be tempted by the devil — by which a distinction between the Spirit and the devil is indicated.
Yet by the spirit by which Jesus was led one may also understand His rational spirit — that is, His created soul — as when it is said: "The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak," (Matt. 26:41) to show that by His own spontaneous will and by the judgment of reason, not by compulsion, He entered the desert.
Some say that the place spoken of is that between Jerusalem and Jericho. One must note that "spirit" is manifold: namely, the uncreated Spirit, who is uncircumscribed — that is, God — and the created spirit, which is circumscribed. Among created spirits, one is rational and another irrational, of which Solomon says: "Who knows whether the spirit of the sons of men ascends upward and the spirit of beasts descends downward?" (Eccle. 3:21)
The created rational spirit is either united — namely, the rational soul — or separated; and the latter is twofold: one turned immovably toward God, as an angel; another turned immovably away from God, as a demon.
Finally, the reason is given why Jesus was led into the desert: that He might be tempted by the devil (Matt. 4:1). This is one cause, yet not the whole, nor the only, nor the principal cause. For He could have been tempted elsewhere, as indeed He was tempted on the pinnacle of the temple. Therefore there are other more important causes.
First, that He might commend the solitary life and provide an example of eremitical and anchoritic living.
Second, that for our sins He might do penance in the desert — that is, works of satisfaction.
Third, that He might show a pattern of avoiding human praise; for as soon as He had been so greatly commended by John before the people, He withdrew into the wilderness. Therefore we too, when praised, should seek to be hidden, loving not to be known.
Christ also willed to be tempted so as to encourage us to endure temptations, to merit for us the grace of triumph, to show the manner of victory, to weaken the power of the tempter, and to free us from temptations.
Another reason is touched upon by the Apostle to the Hebrews: "He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest before God; for in that He Himself suffered and was tempted, He is able to help those who are tempted." (Heb. 2:17–18)
And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights — not in the way that we fast, who eat once daily and are still considered to fast — but for that whole time He took no bodily food nor drink. Hence in Luke it is said: "He ate nothing in those days." (Lc. 4:2) Afterwards He was hungry — not from necessity of nature but by divine dispensation and His own will.
For although it is supernatural for a man to eat nothing for so many days, as in Moses (Ex. 34:28) and Elijah (1 Kings. 19:8), yet in Christ it was more wonderful that afterwards He hungered than that meanwhile He ate nothing; because, as Augustine says, the beatitude of Christ's soul was so great that by its overflow His body could have been preserved from all suffering and injury, and would have been so preserved unless — by divine dispensation — that overflow had been suspended until the resurrection. Therefore He did not need food except by the will whereby He chose to suspend the overflow of His soul's beatitude into His body.
He hungered also so that by His hunger He might merit for us great grace and the satisfaction of our souls. Whatever He did or suffered as a pilgrim was meritorious for us. Likewise, to show the truth of the assumed humanity; again, to give the devil occasion to tempt Him.
In the Old Testament Moses and Elijah are read to have fasted so many days (Ex. 34:28; 1 Kings. 19:8), though nothing is said of their hunger; yet it is certain that afterwards they hungered. One may ask why the Savior did not fast longer than Moses and Elijah. It is answered: lest His divinity be made manifest to the devil, and also for a mystical reason — because the number forty is suited to penance. It consists of four times ten, signifying the discipline of man composed of four elements with the observance of the Decalogue according to the teaching of the four Gospels. Again, because by fasting these days we offer to God the tithes of the year or of the days, to whom we are commanded to offer the tithes of other things (Lev. 27:30), according to Gregory.
And the tempter came and said to Him (Matt. 4:3). This tempter is said to have been Lucifer, as the Master of the Sentences seems to think; Hilary also testifies that he was the prince of demons. He approached Christ in a visible and human form, perhaps in the form of a religious man, so that, clothed with feigned holiness, he might deceive more quickly.
To tempt, properly speaking, is to test by experience something unknown or doubtful. Therefore the demon doubted about Jesus of Nazareth whether He was the Christ, and so desired to be certain; for he had, as it were, reasons on both sides that were difficult to resolve.
Chrysostom says that he heard the angels singing "Glory to God in the highest," (Lk. 2:14) and an angel proclaiming to the shepherds, "Today a Savior is born to you." (Lk. 2:11) He saw the Magi coming and adoring the child (Matt. 2:11); he heard the words of Simeon (Lk. 2:29–32) and Anna (Lk. 2:38) and the testimony of John (Jn . 1:29–34) — from which he conjectured that Jesus was the Christ, especially since from Daniel's prophecy of the weeks (Dan. 9:24–27) he knew that the time of Christ's coming was fulfilled. From the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah — one saying, "His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God," (Is. 9:6) and another, "This is the name by which they shall call Him: the Lord our righteousness," (Jer. 23:6) where in Hebrew is the divine Tetragrammaton — he knew that Christ would be God and man in one person. Considering these things, he strongly suspected that Jesus was the Savior of the world.
But on the other hand, seeing Him baptized among the common people and weakened by hunger, he doubted how such a one could be God and man, or the Christ. Therefore the crafty devil said: "If you are the Son of God… command that these stones become bread." (Matt. 4:3) If by His own authority He could change the natures of things, he would know that He is the Creator; if not, he would know that He is merely a man.
He tempted Him to turn stones into bread because He was suffering hunger and therefore more inclined toward such a miracle. But "there is no wisdom nor counsel against the Lord," (Prov. 21:30) for wisdom acts wisely in all things.
What then did the Fountain of wisdom reply? The Word of God on high followed, and answering He said: "It is written: Man does not live by bread alone," (Matt. 4:4; Deut. 8:3) that is, not by bodily food alone does man live according to both parts — body and soul — but by every word of sacred Scripture that proceeds from the mouth of God, that is, inspired by the divine intellect and revealed through angels to holy men.
Just as the body is sustained and preserved in natural life by material bread, so is it preserved and strengthened in life by the Word of God, that is, sacred Scripture, as the Savior says: "He who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life," (Jn . 5:24) and elsewhere: "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it." (Lk. 11:28) Therefore the Word of God enlightens the intellect, leads to faith, directs works, excludes errors — "Your word is a lamp to my feet" (Ps. 119:105); it strengthens hope — "Remember your word to your servant, in which you have given me hope" (Ps. 119:49); it inflames charity — "Your word is exceedingly refined" (Ps. 118:140); it consoles the soul, removes fear, and briefly, as the Apostle says: "All Scripture inspired by God is profitable… that the man of God may be perfect for every good work." (2 Tim. 3:16–17)
Therefore just as the natural life of one who does not take bodily food is despaired of, so the spiritual life of one who does not hear and keep the Word of God is reasonably despaired of. "He who is of God hears the words of God." (Jn. 8:47)
Ambrose says: when the devil tests in order to tempt, Christ so deceives him as to conquer, and so conquers as to deceive.
One must note that there are three kinds of temptation to which others are reduced: gluttony, avarice, and pride — as John asserts: "All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." (1 Jn. 2:16) Since in the first temptation — of gluttony — the devil saw himself overcome, he attacked Christ by another temptation, that of pride and vainglory; for the crafty enemy often touches perfect men who easily conquer gluttony with movements of pride.
Then the devil took Him (Matt. 4:5). Scripture does not express how he took Him. Some affirm that he carried Him in his arms or on his shoulders, as though weary and weak from long fasting and great hunger, pretending compassion — to which Christ consented in order to deceive the deceiver. Others say he carried Him through the air, as Lyra says, intending that Christ might be seen flying and thus be vainly glorified. Others say he led Him by the hand over the ground, which seems more consonant with Luke: "Then the devil led Him into Jerusalem." (Lk. 4:9)
Thus in some manner the devil took Him — not violently, but as though by prior suggestion to go among men for food or preaching or something appearing good — into the holy city, that is, Jerusalem, where the Holy of Holies was, where Christ shed His blood, and where the primitive Church received the Holy Spirit and began to preach the Gospel.
And he set Him on the pinnacle of the temple (Matt. 4:5) — that is, on a flat roof or walkway where priests sat when preaching to the people — placing Him there in the presence of the crowd so that He might be drawn to human praise. But Christ made Himself invisible; for His body was so subject to reason and to God that at the command of God and His own reason He altered or did not alter the sight of others, as glorified bodies do.
And he said: "If you are the Son of God, equal to the Father, cast yourself down… for it is written: He has commanded His angels concerning you." (Matt. 4:6; Ps. 91:11–12) The devil omitted "in all your ways," not "in rash precipices," lest his fraud be noticed.
According to Jerome, Bede, and others, that psalm (Ps. 91) is not written literally of Christ but of any virtuous traveler needing angelic protection, which Christ did not need — wherein appears the deceit of the devil, applying Scripture falsely yet plausibly.
Jesus said to him again: "It is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God." (Matt. 4:7; Deut. 6:16) That is, O man — whoever you are — do not presume to tempt God. Christ did not say these words by calling Himself the God of the devil (whose God He certainly was), but so that by a true citation of Scripture He might prevail over the impious one, in such a way that His divinity was not made manifest to the demon, nor did the demon learn anything certain about His condition or person — namely, whether He was merely a man.
To tempt God is to make trial, without necessity, of His providence or power — namely, by neglecting what lies within oneself and what according to the human manner one ought to do, and by rashly committing oneself to divine power. For example, if someone suffering hunger could obtain bread by begging but neglects this and commits himself to divine providence, not understanding that it is itself part of divine providence — which embraces all things — that he is able to obtain bread by begging.
Since there was a prepared descent by steps from the pinnacle of the temple to the pavement, if Christ had cast Himself down He would have seemed to tempt God.
Next is described the third temptation, which concerned ambition and avarice — that is, the lust of the eyes. Again the devil took Him, perhaps in the same manner as before, onto a very high mountain (Matt. 4:8), so that the place itself might be an occasion for consenting to the temptation, knowing that by change of place the affections are often changed. And he showed Him all the principal kingdoms of the world.
He showed them not to one ignorant — but how could he show all the kingdoms, that is, the cities, lands, and provinces of the world, since it is certain that no mountain is so high that all provinces can be seen from it? Even if one stood very high, because of local distance the sight of one on the mountain could not be extended to them.
It must be answered that he showed all the kingdoms not because he set them before His eyes to be seen distinctly and bodily, but he showed nearby regions to the eye as far as possible toward the four directions of the world, and indicated the others by saying that they were situated in such or such a part of the earth — as if saying: behold, there is Rome, there Liège, there Cologne. And he set forth to Christ their glory — that is, the splendor, pleasures, and riches of earthly kingdoms.
And he said: "All these I will give you if, falling down — bending your knees or prostrating yourself on the ground — you adore me with the adoration of latria." (Matt. 4:9) This is the ancient and customary pride of the demon: to desire to be like God (Is. 14:14) and to be adored by creatures.
Then Jesus said to him: "Go away — that is, depart from me — Satan," that is, adversary of the truth; "go," indeed, "into eternal fire," (Matt. 25:41) according to Jerome. Nevertheless, it is believed that at the time of the Passion he returned and tempted Christ through the Jews.
For it is written: "You shall adore the Lord your God with interior and exterior worship, and Him alone shall you serve" (Matt. 4:10; Deut. 6:13) — that is, for His own sake and as the final end. Or it speaks of the service of latria, which is owed to God alone. Therefore God alone must be served for His own sake, because although we must serve others — not only superiors but also equals and inferiors — according to place, cause, and time, as the Apostle says, "Through charity serve one another," (Gal. 5:13) and the Savior in the Gospel, "Whoever is greater among you shall be your servant," (Matt. 23:11) yet all such service must be referred to the honor of God and rendered according to His ordinance and will.
Nor must anyone be served or obeyed in things that are divinely forbidden, as Peter testifies: "We must obey God rather than men." (Act. 5:29) Therefore when we minister to a man, we minister not so much to the man as to God in the man — especially since the Savior says: "What you did to one of the least of my brethren, you did to me." (Matt. 25:40)
The service of dulia can and ought to be rendered to men; for since God is in Himself and by nature our greatest benefactor, the highest ruler of all, powerful to save whomsoever He wills, it is clear that the highest reverence — namely, latria — is due to Him.
One must consider in Christ's responses how He repels and breaks the false arrows drawn by the devil from Scripture with the true shields of Scripture.
Then the devil left Him on that lofty mountain, confounded and defeated, withdrawing without knowing anything certain about Christ's person. And behold, angels came suddenly to Jesus on the mountain and ministered to Him (Matt. 4:11) — not as to one inferior or needy, but as to their Lord, with humility and reverence — bringing Him down from the summit of the mountain to the plain of the earth. For since He assumed human nature, He conducted Himself in a human manner, conforming Himself to His brethren and making use of angelic ministry.
Nor only at this time, but even before, angels ministered to Him in the desert, as it is written: "The Spirit drove Him into the wilderness; and He was with the beasts, and the angels ministered to Him." (Mk. 1:12–13) In all these things both the sublimity of the divine nature and the lowliness of the human nature are manifested in Christ.
Regarding what has been said, first it is asked why Luke places the temptation on the pinnacle of the temple as the third (Lk. 4:9–12), whereas Matthew places it second (Matt. 4:5–7). Some say that Luke describes these temptations in the order in which they occurred — namely, that Christ was second tempted on the high mountain in the same desert — whereas Matthew describes them not according to the chronological order but according to a certain correspondence with the temptation of the first parents (Gen. 3:1–6), who were first tempted by gluttony, second by pride, third by avarice.
But this answer does not seem fitting. Matthew clearly teaches that the devil left Christ as confounded and defeated after hearing Christ's rebuke in which He sternly reproached the demon tempting Him to avarice and suggesting idolatry, saying: "Go, Satan." (Matt. 4:10) Therefore that temptation occurred last.
Likewise Luke, after describing the temptation on the pinnacle — which he places third — does not say that the devil then left Him, but says: "When all the temptation was completed, he departed from Him for a time." (Lk. 4:13) Therefore he did not depart before the temptation on the mountain, after which Matthew says he departed (Matt. 4:11). Hence that was the last.
This is also clear because the devil's temptation proceeded step by step to worse things, and the third — in which he suggested that he be adored — was the worst. Nevertheless, Augustine says that we do not know which of the last two temptations came first, and that it does not matter which is narrated first, since Scripture does not always recount events in the order in which they happened.
Moreover, it is asked whether the tempter led Christ unwillingly or as if voluntarily — that is, whether he thought Christ went with him willingly or rather under compulsion. It must be answered, according to Jerome and Chrysostom, that the demon thought Christ's willingness was weakness or necessity, thinking he compelled Him to go. Others more probably say that the demon, appearing in the form of a religious man and wishing to deceive Christ, flattered Him and concealed his malice so that he would not be known to be the devil, and thus took Christ as if voluntarily — from which it follows that He did not fly with him through the air, since that would have revealed that he was not a man.
Nevertheless, in the third temptation, in which he proposed an evident crime, he showed himself not to be what he had appeared — seeing that by feigned sanctity and citation of Scripture he had gained nothing, he proposed manifest wickedness and, to induce Christ, offered a great reward — namely, all the kingdoms of the world.
Because the devil says he can give these, the Manicheans thought that all earthly things were created by the devil and subject to his rule. But this is foolish and weak. Since the devil is a liar (Io. 8:44) and arrogant, he did not truly but presumptuously assert that he could give all kingdoms — unless it be understood that by divine permission the devil sometimes cooperates with some in obtaining worldly dominion.
That it is not to be understood as if he could give them by his own power or by right of creation is clear from Luke, where the devil says: "I will give you all this authority and their glory, because they have been handed over to me." (Lk. 4:6)
Finally, by the fact that Christ endured the first two temptations — which concerned injury to Himself — with meekness, responding only with words, but rejected the third with rebuke, saying "Go, Satan," (Matt. 4:10) we are taught, according to Chrysostom, to bear patiently our own injuries but not even to tolerate hearing insults against God. For it is praiseworthy to be patient in one's own injuries, but to ignore injuries against God is most impious.
Moreover, because the tempter attacked Christ after Baptism and fasting, it is suggested that each of us is more strongly assaulted by the devil — or even troubled by neighbors — when we apply our hearts more fervently to interior purity and true devotion. Then the most wicked enemy rages and often stirs others against us. But we must persist with unconquered spirit in guarding the heart, all the more ardently the more we feel ourselves attacked, saying with the Psalmist: "I will pursue my enemies and overtake them, and I will not turn back until they are consumed." (Ps. 18:38) Thus will be fulfilled in us what the Apostle says: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet." (Rom. 16:20)
Again, because Christ cast down the devil by citing Scripture, we are taught to meet temptations with divine Scriptures — opposing to each temptation a suitable passage against the sin by which we are tempted: if tempted by pride, consider, "Pride is hateful before God and men," (Sir. 10:7) and "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble" (Jam. 4:6; 1 Petr. 5:5); if by envy, "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer." (1 Jn. 3:15)
Finally, the manner described — how the devil showed Christ all the kingdoms — seems to some superficial. Therefore others, wishing to speak more subtly, say that since the intellect is full of forms, the devil — who contained within himself the images of all kingdoms — could present them to Christ's intellect, or depict them on the ground like a map, or explain their arrangement. Although such displays could have been made, the devil would not have needed to take Christ to a high mountain, since they could be done as well in a valley. Therefore the previously given explanation — which also agrees with Chrysostom — is judged more reasonable.
CONTINUE
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