Mt 4:1 “Then Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit.”
By the sanctified sacrament of regeneration—through which the sons of adoption are to be reborn—before He begins to regenerate by doctrine and by the confirmation of doctrine, He sets forth a combat and victory against the devil, who, unless he is first conquered, hinders those who are to be regenerated. For this reason the Church has established exorcisms, by which he is adjured and bound lest he be able to hinder those to be regenerated from obtaining the sacrament of regeneration.
In this temptation He sets forth three things: namely, the weapons of Him who is tempted, so that He may teach us to use such weapons; the temptation itself; and the effect of the temptation, which Christ displayed in Himself by dispensation and truly works in us. And these are in the text in order, as is clear.
The weapons of Him who is tempted are the Spirit compelling and leading, and the desert freeing from impediments. The temptation is the persuasion and impulse of the devil, and other things that will appear. The effect is the showing of angelic protection and ministry.
Concerning the first, two things are touched: namely, those that fortify Jesus against temptation and those that make opportunity for temptation—and these are hunger and the completion of the great fast. Regarding the first of these, five things are noted: the time, the name of the one tempted, the Spirit leading, the place, and the intention.
First therefore is the time, when it says “Then”—that is, when He received baptism, when the dove rested upon Him, when the voice of the Father sounded concerning the beloved and well-pleasing One. Instructing us that if we must go forth against the tempter we should be regenerated, so that we may have being, as it is written: “Of His own will He begot us by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.” Then we are created so as to be, as it is written: “He has regenerated us unto a living hope.”
Concerning the descent of the dove: “Who will give me wings like a dove?” For wings are the fullness of the grace of gifts and virtues. “My dove is in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow of the wall.” The clefts of the rock are the wounds of Christ; the hollow is the opening of His side, when the wall of bones of the body was weakened by the shedding of blood, exhaustion, suffering, stretching, and cries.
Concerning the voice of the Father: when now the Father loves you and is well pleased in you as in the Son of the sweetest Spirit, so that you may be that son of the right hand in whom the right hand of the Lord has wrought power and whom He has exalted and in whom He has worked mighty deeds—Benjamin, of whom it is said: “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in confidence in Him as in a chamber; all the day He shall abide, and between His shoulders He shall rest.” For you shall be a chamber through peace of heart, and you shall bear Him between your shoulders through the uplifting of His honor.
Thus therefore, “Then Jesus”—who at other times had in Himself the presence of divinity—“Do you seek proof of Him who speaks in me, Christ?” “Unless You Yourself go before us, do not lead us up from this place.” He therefore is the one tempted.
“When they advanced together with ready mind to battle, there appeared before them a horseman in white clothing with golden armor, brandishing a spear” (see 2 Macc 11:8-9.) Then all together blessed the merciful Lord, ready in spirit to penetrate not only men but also the fiercest beasts and iron walls. For the Lord Jesus goes before the tempter: the white garment is the virtue of an innocent life; the gold is grace joined with divinity; the piercing spear is zeal, most sharply thirsting to conquer and cast down (Our Lord has gone to war against Satan; His armor for the battle are spiritual virtues).
If therefore He goes before in this way in the heart, advance boldly, because you will break through and overcome both bestial and human savagery and the fortifications by which many are enclosed.
He was “led by the Spirit.” It is clear that by the Holy Spirit, who proceeds in fullest strength, He not only possessed fullness but poured it forth in abundance. Hence it is said that He came up from the water full of the Holy Spirit and was led by the Spirit into the desert. “To be led” here has the sense of being moved strongly—as though compelled—indicating that the Spirit precedes even the movements of nature, moving and driving. And when He was engaged in the work, the same Spirit led Him to its end. No concupiscence or other evil passion drove Him.
Therefore do not let the impulse of flesh and blood lead you; let the Spirit precede and lead to the best end, and then you will go forth with Jesus. “He does not hear the shout of the taskmaster.” Concerning the Spirit leading before nature’s impulse, you find: “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” The sign of this is that when He was hungry He did not say that bread should be made from stones, but the Spirit, preceding nature’s impulse, brought to mind spiritual refreshment. If nature’s impulse precedes the Spirit, nature is weak to stand; if the desire of the flesh precedes, one has already fallen before being struck by the enemy.
“Into the desert.” Behold a place little suited to temptation, for there the devil has no helpers. Among worldly people he finds objects of desire by which he draws affections and tongues of evil men by which he sometimes subverts the intellect. Therefore Lot is commanded not to remain in all the surrounding region but to save himself on the mountain. “No one serving God entangles himself in worldly affairs.” “Everyone who strives in the contest abstains from all things.”
The desert is a place which by its very nature does not permit common habitation; it is the dwelling of the Spirit. Note that the desire of the flesh is immense and infinite in its cravings. But in us there is a “mind” (mens), so called from measuring, which first measures and sets limits to desires and actions—how, when, and how much to eat, to abstain from sexual acts, to unite with a woman only within the bounds of faith or offspring, and the like. This mind, the beginning of virtue in us, is deserted of carnal habitation.
There is another higher mind which measures even ourselves, so that nothing of senses, imaginations, thoughts, affections, wills, or pursuits lacks limits set by wisdom. This is called continence, because it contains the whole life lest anything escape. There is yet a higher mind which measures what is above us—God and spiritual things—apprehending them by right reason and conforming itself to them; flesh scarcely penetrates here.
Thus there are degrees: beginners in the first desert are the virtuous in morals; in the second are heroes of heroic virtues; in the third are the most proven leaders in spiritual understanding. The first are opposed by vices, the second by bestial tendencies, the third by those drawn away in divine actions.
John cries out in the first desert; Christ invites disciples to the second: “Come apart into a desert place and rest a while.” In the third Moses enters and sees the great visions of God. “The God of the Hebrews has called us to go three days into the wilderness.” Abraham came on the third day to the mount of vision.
Thus Jesus was led into the desert—not so much by place as by manner of life—withdrawn, where there is abundance of the Spirit and help against the tempter.
“Thus Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.”
Here the intention of the Savior is touched. He mentions the temptation and the tempter, for it is the devil’s office to tempt. It may seem unfitting when it says “to be tempted,” since all Christ’s actions are instruction—does He teach us to expose ourselves to temptations? The answer: some things in Christ we must imitate, others we must admire. Works of virtue we imitate; works of power we cannot and should not imitate but admire. This belongs to His strength, for He is stronger than the strong.
The reason is twofold. Looking to the past: as we bore the image of the first Adam conquered by the devil, so we must bear the image of the second; which we could not do unless the devil were first conquered by Him. Looking to the future: because He establishes the sacrament of regeneration by which we must bear His image, we could not receive knowledge of His doctrine unless the enemy were first weakened.
These causes are not in us; therefore, conscious of our weakness, we must not make occasions for temptation. If it is objected that David says, “Prove me, O Lord, and try me,” the answer is that it is one thing to be tried by God through tribulation and another to be tempted by the devil through unlawful suggestions. The first great men may ask; the second no one should seek.
We must consider what temptation is: temptation is an impulse of the tempter toward what is unlawful—any inclination or invitation by which one is led to unlawful desire, word, or deed. The provocations of temptation are partly outside us, partly within. Outside are the three things named: “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”—that is, pleasures, riches, and honors. Within are fear that undermines and self-love that inflames. Pride and avarice are roots of sins more than temptations; likewise contempt, error, and lust are general conditions present in all sin.
The modes of temptations, moreover, are considered either on the part of the tempter, or on the part of the one tempted, or from both together—of one as acting, of the other as receiving.
On the part of the tempter, the modes are touched upon by Gregory on that passage of Job 40: “Behold Behemoth whom I made with you,” where he says that God shows to His faithful servant all the temptations of the ancient enemy: everything that he seizes by oppressing, everything that he circles by lying in wait, everything that he terrifies by threats, everything that he flatters by persuasion, everything that he breaks by despair, and everything that he deceives by promises.
He notes that by oppressing he seizes in two ways. First, when, not being able to conquer in one matter, he throws in so many temptations at once that not all can be foreseen, and then he snatches something from the one oppressed. Second, when he despairs of inclining someone to evil, he sometimes urges him toward a difficult good beyond his strength, and from one overcome by labors he takes what he intends, so that, frightened by difficulty, he abandons the good he had begun and returns to sin.
By lying in wait he circles, especially when he intends to test by which paths of sin he may more easily lead, or when he wishes to discover of what virtue or weakness the one he intends to tempt may be.
By threatening he terrifies, chiefly when he tries to recall someone from a good purpose. Then he threatens the hardships that will be encountered if one wishes to carry out the purpose, and the worse evil that will follow if one turns back from what was begun; and so it seems better not to begin than to turn back afterward.
By persuading he flatters in matters pertaining to the luxury of life, suggesting that human weakness needs such comforts, that these things are natural to us, that a long life still remains in which one may repent, that God is merciful and does not punish such things, and the like.
By despair he breaks one who has fallen into the depth of vices through excessive sadness, or by suggesting that habit does not allow one to escape sins, or that strength to abstain is lacking, and similar thoughts.
By promising he deceives, sometimes promising impunity for sin while procuring punishment, as when someone is “suspended”; or he promises rest and satisfaction in sin after a short time spent in it, yet makes concupiscence burn more strongly, and so forth.
The distinction among these is as follows: the devil either intends to test what he does not know, or to drive someone to commit what is unlawful. If he intends to test, he circles by ambush. If he intends to drive to the unlawful, he does so either by hindering departure from evil—thus breaking by despair—or by drawing away from true good. And this he does in two ways: either with violence or without. With violence, by oppressing and seizing; without violence, by threatening. Or he acts according to an inclination toward some unlawful temporal good, either by the sweetness of its fruit—then he flatters by persuasion—or by its accompanying advantages—then he deceives by promises.
The modes that arise from our side are interior suggestion, delight, and consent. Suggestion comes from the cognitive power, whether in reason or in the senses; delight from concupiscence; consent from both together.
There are also modes from both the devil and ourselves called “injections” through evil angels. The devil does not create these, but sends them into us and inflames them. These are both bodily and spiritual. On the bodily side, as Augustine says, he inflames the blood, makes it heavy or disturbed, or mingles himself with foods and drinks to entice through flavors. At times they are on the side of the soul—either in imagination, or in the concupiscible or irascible powers. If in imagination, forms are strongly impressed upon the imaginative spirit, so that whatever one imagines is referred to that form, as happens with melancholic persons; thus the devil deceives many by illusions, either frightening or enticing. If in the appetites, he stirs anger or desire toward unlawful objects.
These, then, are the modes of temptation. Sometimes he tempts directly; sometimes through another whom he incites.
Temptation is called such as long as there is no sin. When consent to sin occurs, it ceases to be temptation, because then his purpose is achieved. Sometimes something is both temptation and sin under different respects, as with delight: the delight itself is sin, yet insofar as it draws toward further consent and action it is temptation.
Let this suffice for now about temptation.
It should be known that the temptation by which Christ was tempted was only external. By the assumed body, the devil presented himself to Christ’s senses. Internally there was no unlawful movement in Christ as there is in us.
Thus Christ came into the desert to be tempted by the devil, whose office, as Chrysostom says, is to tempt; this is his work, his food, his whole desire, and therefore he never grows weary of it (cf. 1 Thessalonians 3:5).
God is also said to tempt, as in Exodus 20: “God has come to test you,” Genesis 22: “God tested Abraham,” and Wisdom 3: “God tested them and found them worthy.” Yet this seems contrary to James 1:13: “God tempts no one.” The answer is that the devil properly tempts by urging to evil, whereas God “tempts” by testing—not to learn something, but so that man may know himself or be made known to others. Sometimes a person does not know his own strength, and God reveals it; sometimes he presumes too much, and God shows his weakness; sometimes others are instructed by it.
The devil, however, is called “one who flows downward” or, in Greek, an accuser, because he makes those he tempts fall downward.
“And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He hungered.” Here is the suitability of the temptation: if the devil had found Him wholly strong he would not have tempted; if wholly weak he would simply have overcome Him. Therefore two things are noted: strength, in that He fasted forty days and nights without hunger, which caused the devil to marvel; and weakness, in that afterward He hungered, which gave the devil occasion to test whether He was God.
He specifies forty days and nights lest it be thought He ate at night. Moses and Elijah also fasted forty days and nights; yet, according to Jerome, Christ differed in that He fasted by His own power, whereas they did so by another’s power.
Moses was sustained by the contemplation of God; Elijah by the strength of the food given by an angel; but Christ by neither—He fasted in the power of His divinity. Chrysostom adds that Moses and Elijah both hungered during their fast, but Christ did not, since the text says “afterward He hungered,” implying that hunger came only when He willed.
Thus both fasting and hunger were under the power of His will.
“And the tempter coming said to Him…” Here begins the part concerning temptation, divided according to the three temptations, the first concerning gluttony. It includes the approach of the tempter and the proposal of temptation.
The approach is described differently in Christ and in us: in Christ it was only external; in us, because of sin, there is an approach through likeness and interior movement.
In every genus there is a first principle; in temptation, the first movement toward the unlawful is interior thought drawing concupiscence. This is called practical thought, which in my judgment is already a minimal sin, though easily erased by turning away—this is “crushing the serpent’s head.” External suggestion alone is temptation, not sin of the one tempted.
The stages are: suggestion, delight, consent, will to accomplish, and impulse to action.
Thus the tempter, approaching Christ locally but us by persuasion, said: “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Here are two elements: testing whether He is the Son of God, and persuading toward his will.
He points to the stones scattered in the desert. In this temptation he urges pleasure under the pretext of necessity, trying to make the movement of the flesh precede the movement of the spirit—the root of all perversity (cf. Galatians 5:17).
He also subtly urges vainglory, since seeking a miracle for bodily need would be vain.
But Christ answered: “It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Here is the Savior’s response, showing caution by answering from Scripture, rebuke of the persuasion, and teaching that bodily necessity is not supreme.
“It is written.” For this is common to God and to man, and therefore from this neither can be known as one or the other (cf. Psalm 119). “What shall be given to you, or what shall be added to you, against a deceitful tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty”—that is, authorities of sharp truth drawn from the bow of Scripture, directed by the power of understanding.
Against the will of persuasion he says: “Not by bread alone does man live.” As if to say: You are a tempter and you persuade as though, if bread must refresh, it should be alone; but it must not be alone—it is necessary that the spirit be in the bread through the word, as will appear; and thus the spirit must precede, which you persuade to be set aside.
1 Timothy 4:4–5: “Every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.” Psalm 22: “The poor shall eat and be satisfied, and they shall praise the Lord.”
Against the false counsel about relieving necessity he says that man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Since man lives by that word, life depends on the word and not on bread except insofar as the power of the word is in it.
For since the Word of God the Father, consubstantial with Him, is the Son, that Word is an art full of living and shining reasons and ideas which in Him are the life and light of all things produced by creation or by nature. Those ideas or forms of the divine art and mind that are in the Word proceed into created or generated bodies when they are formed and receive being from God, and they have no power except through those forms.
Hence Anselm says that each thing truly is and acts when it is and acts according to that which it is in the divine mind.
Thus there is a threefold word: one uncreated and begotten, which is the Son; another uncreated, which is the form impressed by divine wisdom upon the natural thing made.
An example similar to this is found in a craftsman such as a carpenter, who has the light of his intellect as the word of his understanding by which his intellect sees itself, and in that light he has the forms of all the things he makes, which are the reasons of his works; and from these he produces similar forms in the wood he shapes.
Likewise the physician, the blacksmith, and every artisan works from similar forms, so that a house comes from the idea of a house, health from the idea of health, and the health in bodily humors from that which is in the physician’s mind.
Similarly in the highest Spirit: when, by thinking, He beholds Himself in the light of His intellect, He speaks Himself, and His Word, consubstantial with Him, is His Son. In the light of that Word shine the ideas of all things made, which are the reasons of His works, from which proceed into natural things the forms by which they are what they are in natural being.
Hence even Plato called them images, because they are imitations of the first forms conceived in the divine mind.
Therefore there is a threefold Word of God:
the first, coeternal and consubstantial, which He generates when He beholds Himself;
the second, as exemplar and idea according to which things are made;
the third, which is incorporated into things, by which each thing is what it is.
The third depends on the middle, and the middle is rooted in the first.
It is clear that no power exists in anything except from the Word of God.
Hence Augustine says on John that by the same Word by which He fed five thousand men with a few loaves He feeds the whole world—and yet no one marvels at this; they marvel at the former not because it is greater but because it is rarer.
This is what is meant by: “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
Deuteronomy 8: God gave manna “to show you that man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Wisdom 16: “It is not the fruits of nature that nourish men, but your word preserves those who trust in you.” For the power and preservation of all things depend on the Word of God.
He says, “by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,” to note in “proceeds” the Word going outward into created things. By “mouth” he indicates the communicative nature of the Father, from whom proceeds whatever is in all things.
Yet the mouth of the Father is also called the Son speaking Him in the world (Isaiah 40). It is also called anyone who pronounces the word of God (Jeremiah 15: “You shall be as my mouth”). But all such words depend on the Word which God speaks in Himself and in which is the operative power of all things (Isaiah 55: as rain and snow accomplish their purpose).
“Then the devil took Him into the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.”
Here begins the second temptation, that of vainglory.
An objection arises about the order, since Luke places this last whereas Matthew places it second. It seems more probable that Luke follows the historical sequence—events in the desert, then the city—while Matthew follows the order of Christ’s victory, since Christ intended to conquer the devil in the same matters in which he conquered Adam.
Genesis shows the pattern: gluttony (“you shall eat”), vainglory (“you shall be like gods”), and avarice or desire of knowledge (“knowing good and evil”). Thus Matthew follows the order of victory, Luke the historical order, so that through both Evangelists we possess both perspectives.
This section, like the previous, divides into the devil’s temptation and Christ’s refutation.
The devil’s temptation has three parts: the opportunity of the tempter, the temptation itself, and the persuasion strengthened by Scripture.
First, the time is indicated: “then,” after great merits in fasting, when someone might esteem himself highly before God and presumptuously test Him.
“He took Him”—some saints say by carrying Him bodily; Chrysostom says by leading Him. The latter seems better. In either case, God’s patience is wondrous, and Christ’s zeal for our salvation is admirable, since for our sake He allowed Himself to be led by the devil and later to be killed by the devil’s members (cf. Psalm 69).
“Into the holy city”—Jerusalem is called holy because of the temple, the worship, the sacraments, and especially because Christ’s blood would be shed there sanctifying all (cf. Isaiah, Matthew 27).
The place is suitable for vainglory because where many great deeds have occurred, the temptation to do something great for glory easily arises.
“He set Him on the pinnacle of the temple.” Some say this was the highest roof, but more probably it refers to projecting structures like platforms where priests taught—similar to pulpits.
Because they were elevated for speaking to the people, the devil placed or led Him there, since he had conquered many through vainglory (cf. Job 41; Isaiah 14).
If He was placed in so prominent a place, why was He not seen? The Gloss says the devil intended Him to be seen, but Christ acted so that He was not perceived.
“And he said to Him: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written: He has given His angels charge over you, and in their hands they shall bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.”
Here is the temptation, with testing (“If you are the Son of God”) and provocation (“throw yourself down”). He speaks provocatively, knowing a provoked mind more readily inclines to evil.
It is fitting to his nature, for he who is called “one who flows downward” fulfills his will only when one casts himself down. But the sons of God are called to ascend (Colossians 3).
He cites Scripture (Psalm 91) to persuade more easily, especially since Christ had answered him with Scripture before.
In that Scripture three things are noted: the command laid on angels, the effectiveness of their guardianship, and the immunity from harm of those protected. The sense is: you can do what I urge because the angels must guard you.
But the devil perversely applies to the Head what properly belongs to the members: Christ did not need angelic protection, but His members do (cf. Matthew 18:10; Hebrews 1:14).
“And they shall bear you in their hands.” Behold the effectiveness of their guardianship. Hands, however, because they are the instrument of instruments, are ordered to many works; therefore they are called the instrument of the operative intellect, and through them the intellectual and effective operation of the angels concerning those whom they guard is exercised.
In 2 Kings 6:18 and following, Elisha through the angels captures the army of Syria. “Lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Behold the immunity from punishment, because if security is given lest the foot be hurt, much more lest the whole body suffer injury by a fall or collision. Genesis 32:2: “These are the camps of God.” Zechariah 2:8: “He who touches you touches the apple of my eye.”
And note the cunning of the devil, because he omits what he knew was spoken against himself in the prophecy: “You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon.”
Jesus said to him: “Again it is written: You shall not tempt the Lord your God.” Christ’s response is measured, so that what the devil seeks cannot be tested, nor can he persuade concerning that in which he tempted. Therefore he says first, “It is written,” and the sonship of God is not denied. And this is what is said: “It is written.” In Deuteronomy 6:16 Moses says to the children of Israel: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God as you tempted him in the place of temptation,” consenting to the devil as happened there.
“To tempt God” is to throw oneself into danger in order to test whether God will work a miracle, when by human reason one has something one can do. In 1 Corinthians 10:9: “Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted and perished by serpents.” If, however, a sign were offered by God, we could and should ask for it; and therefore Ahaz is reproved in Isaiah 7:11–12, who when told, “Ask for a sign,” replied, “I will not ask, I will not tempt the Lord.” For in that case to ask is not to tempt the Lord.
“Again the devil took him up to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” This is the third temptation made in the desert. It contains the temptation and the response. The temptation itself has two parts: first he sets forth inducements to make consent easier, and second he adds the temptation.
The inducement is the taking up: “to a very high mountain,” which was in the desert between Jerusalem and Jericho, where the temptation was completed, because there he often had many snares; men dwelling there robbed and killed. Luke 10:30: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among robbers.” And therefore the place was also called the place of blood because much blood was shed there. It was a mountain from which things could be seen from afar — thus it was from sight.
The second inducement is that “he showed him all the kingdoms of the world,” not that he enlarged Christ’s vision, for he had no power over that, but that he pointed out in which regions of the world they were — as toward those parts, Rome and its kingdom; toward others, Greece and its kingdom; and so of the rest. He says “kingdoms of the world and their glory,” because in the name of kingdom are implied riches and powers, and in the name of glory are implied honors attached, so that with all desirable things joined together he might persuade more easily.
In us, however, this mountain is the mountain of ambition, from which we see far what we desire. Jeremiah 51:25: “Behold I am against you, O destroying mountain.” Zechariah 4:7: “What are you, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel? You shall become a plain.” Upon this mountain the strong of Israel fell and the weapons of the Church perished.
Glory is the desire for praise and excellence. Psalm 52:1: “Why do you glory in malice?” Galatians 6:14: “God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,” that is, in the humility of the cross, not on the summit of the mountain.
“And he said to him: All these I will give you if you fall down and worship me.” Behold the temptation: “All these I will give you.” Here he tries to deceive by promising, because he has no power to give anything, since nothing is his. Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s and its fullness.” Although in Luke 16:11 the demon is called mammon, who presides over riches, this is not because they are his, but because he presides over the unlawful acquisition and retention of wealth.
“If falling…” For he would not worship unless he first fell. Note that to fall in prostration properly belongs to man before his Creator, because it is the recognition that we are nothing by ourselves but dust and ashes, and that we are raised up by the Creator in that we exist. This reverence due to the Creator the devil has always usurped for himself, which in Greek is called λατρεία (latreia, the worship due to God alone), as we said above. And therefore he also invented idolatry, so that this service might be rendered to him in idols. And this is what follows: “You shall worship me.” And he brought this last because he desired it most.
Then Jesus said to him: “Begone, Satan; for it is written: You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.” Christ’s response has two parts: the rebuke of the devil and the exclusion of the temptation. First: “Begone, Satan,” that is, accuser. He teaches elsewhere that we ought to be patient under personal injury, but in injury against God we must by no means remain silent. As Mordecai would not transfer the honor of his God to a man, and the Lord drove out with a whip those who did injury to God in the temple; and in Deuteronomy it is commanded that one who claims divine honor be stoned.
“It is written” (Deuteronomy 6:13): Moses says to Israel, “You shall fear the Lord your God and serve him only.” “You shall worship the Lord your God” — every creature, whether man or angel or even you, devil — “and him only shall you serve,” that is, you shall render the service of λατρεία (latreia, divine worship). Psalm 45:11: “He is your Lord God, and they shall worship him.” There is one God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Exodus 20:2–3: “I am the Lord your God; you shall have no other gods before me.” Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.”
“Then the devil left him, and behold angels came and ministered to him.” Here begins the part concerning the effects of the temptations: the flight of the devil as of an opposing power, and the union of the angels as of heavenly virtues. This is what victory over temptations accomplishes in us, for which Christ conquered temptation — that he might produce these effects in us.
First he says that then, defeated and confounded, the devil left him — that prince of demons, Lucifer, who tempted the first man. He left not only in place but in power to tempt; for, as the saints say, the devil when overcome by someone does not dare afterward to tempt him. His power to tempt us is also diminished after he was confounded by Christ. Some glosses say that he left, departing into eternal fire, and therefore it is said that he bound him in hell until the last times, when Satan will be loosed and given permission to tempt in the time of Antichrist. Until then he has diminished and bound power to tempt. Revelation 20:1ff: “I saw an angel descending from heaven,” that is Christ, called in Isaiah 9:6 “the Angel of great counsel,” holding the key of the abyss and a great chain…
1 Peter 5:8–9: “Your adversary the devil, like a roaring lion, goes about seeking whom he may devour; resist him firm in faith.” James 4:7–8: “Resist the devil and he will flee from you; draw near to God and he will draw near to you.” Revelation 12:9: “The great dragon was cast out, that ancient serpent who is called the devil and Satan.”
“And behold angels…” The second effect is that through victory over temptations he merited for us the companionship of angels. Two things are mentioned: their coming and their ministry.
Their readiness is indicated when it says “behold,” as if to say they are prompt and immediate. Matthew 26:53: “Do you think I cannot ask my Father and he will at once send more than twelve legions of angels?” — ready not for my need but for the members.
Their dignity: Jerome says, “Great is the dignity of souls that they have the guardianship of angels.” Matthew 18:10: “Their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father.”
“They came” — behold their closeness and familiarity. Therefore they are said to be with us. 2 Kings 6:16: “Do not fear, for more are with us than with them.” Joshua 5:14: “I am the prince of the army of the Lord; now I have come.”
“And they ministered to him,” not out of his need but out of reverence; to us, however, they minister out of our need. It is said generally “they ministered,” so that every ministry we require may be understood. Hebrews 1:14: “Are they not all ministering spirits sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?” Hence 2 Maccabees 10:29–30: five men appeared around Maccabeus protecting him and casting fiery weapons at the enemy; and the five men signify the five choirs of angels having external offices toward us — Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels — who minister to us according to their order even when we do not see them.
Thus let this suffice concerning the temptation.
CONTINUE.
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