Luke § 12

It is fitting that it be recorded that the first Adam was cast out of Paradise into the desert, that you may observe how the second Adam returned from the desert to Paradise.… Adam brought death through the tree. Christ brought life through the cross. Adam, naked of spiritual things, covered himself with the foliage of a tree. Christ, naked of worldly things, did not desire the trappings of the body. Adam lived in the desert. Christ lived in the desert, for he knew where he could find the lost. With their error canceled, he could recall them to Paradise.…So Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, is led into the desert for a purpose, in order to challenge the devil. If he had not fought, he would not have conquered him for me.

He was led therefore into the wilderness, to the intent that He might provoke the devil, for if the one had not contended, the other it seems had not conquered. In a mystery, it was to deliver that Adam from exile who was cast out of Paradise into the wilderness. By way of example, it was to show us that the devil envies us, whenever we strive after better things; and that then we must use caution, lest the weakness of our minds should lose us the grace of the mystery. Hence it follows: And he was tempted of the devil.

There are three things which united together conduce to the salvation of man; The Sacrament, The Wilderness, Fasting. No one who has not rightly contended receives a crown, but no one is admitted to the contest of virtue, except first being washed from the stains of all his sins, he is consecrated with the gift of heavenly grace.

(Severus.) But if we order our lives according to our own will, how was He led about unwillingly? Those words then, He was led by the Spirit, have some meaning of this kind: He led of His own accord that kind of life, that He might present an opportunity to the tempter.

For not by word provoking the enemy, but by His actions rousing him, He seeks the wilderness. For the devil delights in the wilderness, he is not wont to go into the cities, the harmony of the citizens troubles him.

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days. This, immediately after the baptism of the Lord, Matthew and Mark designate. One of them, after describing His baptism, immediately subjoined: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Matthew IV). The other wrote thus: And immediately the Spirit drove him into the desert, and he was there for forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan (Mark I). Indeed, lest anyone should doubt by which spirit he was led or driven into the desert, Luke prudently wrote first that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and then added, and was led by the Spirit into the desert, so that nothing might be thought to have prevailed against Him from an unclean spirit, who, full of the Holy Spirit, walked as He willed and did what He willed. For even later, where it is clearly stated that He was taken up or set up on high by the devil, it reflects not on His weakness, but on the enemy's arrogance who thinks to impose necessity on the Savior's will. Therefore, Jesus is not driven into the desert by the power of any evil spirit, but by the will of His own good Spirit, He enters the place of combat, certain of victory, to defeat the adversary. Here He also rightly shows us the order of virtuous living, so that after receiving in baptism the remission of sins and the grace of the Holy Spirit, we may gird ourselves more tightly against new snares of the ancient enemy, withdraw our mind from the world, and, like the manna in the desert, learn to hunger only for the joys of eternal life.

That there might be no doubt by what Spirit He was led, while the other Evangelists say, into the wilderness, Luke has purposely added, And he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days. That no unclean spirit should be thought to have prevailed against Him, who being full of the Holy Spirit did whatever He wished.

Merit consists in victory over temptations, because "the life of man upon earth is a warfare"; therefore the Evangelist describes how he overcame the diabolical temptation. For a complete description of this, three things are fitting, namely the occasion of the temptation; the manner of tempting; and the consummation of the temptation. The motive for tempting the devil drew from four things considered in Christ: the first is the fullness of grace, the second is the solitude of the place, the third is the suspicion of Divinity on account of his wondrous abstinence, the fourth is the observation of infirmity on account of his apparent need. The consideration of the fullness of grace moved the devil's will to tempt through envy; the consideration of solitude furnished the malice for tempting; the suspicion of Divinity incited the curiosity for tempting; the observation of necessity provided the opportunity for tempting.

He therefore introduces the fullness of grace in Christ, saying: But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, not because He was first filled there, but because then His fullness first began to appear, by overflowing unto others, according to that passage of John chapter one: "And we saw His glory"; and afterwards: "Of His fullness we have all received." Full, I say, not only sufficiently, but also superabundantly: whence Colossians chapter one: "In Him it pleased all fullness to dwell"; and chapter two: "In whom all the fullness of the Divinity dwells bodily".

Then he adds the solitude of the place, because in the desert: on account of which he adds: And He was driven by the Spirit into the desert so that he might test whether He was God or the Son of God, because perhaps he had heard that word: "This is My beloved Son." To be driven by the Holy Spirit belongs to benignity: whence Romans chapter eight: "Whosoever are driven by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." Hence Gregory says: "It is fittingly understood that He is believed to have been led by the Holy Spirit, so that His own Spirit might lead Him there where the evil spirit would find Him to tempt Him." Whence He led Him into the desert, where God is accustomed to speak intimately with the soul, according to that passage of Hosea chapter two: "I will lead her into the wilderness, and there I will speak to her heart." And therefore the holy soul says in the Psalm: "I went far off fleeing and remained in solitude"; so also David, in First Kings chapter twenty-three, "dwelt in the desert and remained in the mountain of solitude."

And note spiritually, that here Christ is said to be driven by the Spirit, in Matthew chapter four He is said to be led, in Mark chapter one He is said to be driven out. In which it is signified that one comes to the desert of penance in three ways, namely by the fear of severity, whose property it is to drive out from evil to good: Ecclesiasticus chapter one, "The fear of the Lord drives out sin," etc. By the splendor of truth, whose property it is to lead: Proverbs chapter four: "I will lead you through the paths of equity," etc., says Wisdom. By the love of goodness, whose property it is to drive: Romans chapter eight: "Whosoever are driven by the Spirit of God," etc. Or through threats, admonitions, and promises, which three correspond in us to the three powers of the soul, namely the irascible, the rational, and the concupiscible.

"He was led, therefore," it says, "in the Spirit in the wilderness forty days, being tempted of the devil." What is the meaning of the word led? It signifies not so much that he was led there as that he dwelt and continued there.…He dwelt therefore in the wilderness in the Spirit, that is, spiritually. He fasted, granting no food whatsoever to the necessities of the body. I imagine someone may immediately object to this: And what harm, then, did it do Jesus to dwell in cities constantly? And in what way could it benefit him to choose to inhabit the wilderness? He did not lack one good thing. And why, too, did he fast also? Why was it necessary for him to labor? He does not know what it means to have a depraved desire. For we adopt the practice of fasting as a very useful expedient, by which we kill pleasure and attack the law of sin that is in our bodies and completely destroy those emotions which lead on to fleshly lust. But why did Christ need to fast? The Father slays the sin in the flesh by his body. He kills the motions of the flesh in us. He has abolished sin in miserable beings—in us. What kind of fasting could he need in anything that concerns himself? He is holy, undefiled by nature, wholly pure and without blemish. He cannot experience even the shadow of a change.

God said in times past, My Spirit shall not always abide in men, for that they are flesh. (Gen. 6:3. Vulg.) But now that we have been enriched with the gift of regeneration by water and the Spirit, we are become partakers of the Divine nature by participation of the Holy Spirit. But the first-born among many brethren first received the Spirit, who Himself also is the giver of the Spirit, that we through Him might also receive the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Behold, He is among the wrestlers, who as God awards the prizes. He is among the crowned, who crowns the heads of the saints.

Why didn't Satan tempt him before his thirtieth year? He tempted Jesus because a definite sign of Christ's divinity had not yet been given from heaven. He appeared modest like others, and he had not received any obvious homage in the presence of his people. Satan refrained from tempting him until the beginning of this event. When he heard, "Now, behold the Lamb of God is coming," and "This is he who takes away the sins of the world," Satan was astonished. Yet he waited until Jesus was baptized to see if he would be baptized as if he needed to be baptized.Then he saw the splendor of the light that appeared on the water, the voice that came from heaven. Then Satan knew that he who fulfills every need had gone down into the water and that he had not come to baptism as if he needed to be baptized. Satan reflected and said to himself, "As long as I have not tested him by combat through temptation I will not be able to identify him." But it was not fitting that the Benefactor should resist the will of him who had come to tempt him. For, not knowing how to tempt him, Satan did not dare approach him.

It is often doubted by some by what spirit Jesus was led into the desert. This question is properly understood if we believe he was led into the desert by the Holy Spirit, so that his own Spirit would lead him there, where the evil spirit would then find him to tempt him.

Therefore it is not unworthy of our Redeemer that he willed to be tempted, he who had come to be killed. For it was just that he should overcome our temptations by his temptations, just as he had come to conquer our death by his death.

But we should know that temptation occurs in three ways: by suggestion, by delight, and by consent. And when we are tempted, we frequently fall into delight or even into consent, because having been propagated from the sin of the flesh, we bear within ourselves that from which we endure struggles. But God, who was incarnate in the womb of a Virgin and came into the world without sin, tolerated no contradiction within himself. Therefore he could be tempted through suggestion, but the delight of sin did not bite his mind. And so all that diabolical temptation was external, not internal.

When therefore you read that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and it is written in the Acts concerning the Apostles, that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, you must not suppose that the Apostles were equal to the Saviour. For as if you should say, These vessels are full of wine or oil, you would not thereby affirm them to be equally full, so Jesus and Paul were full of the Holy Spirit, but Paul's vessel was far less than that of Jesus, and yet each was filled according to its own measure. Having then received baptism, the Saviour, being full of the Holy Spirit, which came upon Him from heaven in the form of a dove, was led by the Spirit, because, as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God, (Rom. 8:14.) but He was above all, especially the Son of God.

By and by the Lord Himself consecrated His own baptism (and, in His own, that of all) by fasts; having (the power) to make "loaves out of stones," say, to make Jordan flow with wine perchance, if He had been such a "glutton and toper.

Christ is tempted after His baptism, showing us that after we are baptized, temptations await us. Hence it is said, But Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit, &c.

But mark the mystical number of days. For you remember that for forty days the waters of the deep were poured forth, and by sanctifying a fast of that number of days, He brings before us the returning mercies of a calmer sky. By a fast of so many days also, Moses earned for himself the understanding of the law. Our fathers being for so many years settled in the wilderness, obtained the food of Angels.

(de Con. Ev. lib. ii. c. 4.) Now that number is a sacrament of our time and labour, in which under Christ's discipline we contend against the devil, for it signifies our temporal life. For the seasons of the year run in courses of four, but forty contains four tens. Again, those ten are completed by the number one successively advancing up to four. This plainly shows that the fast of forty days, i. e. the humiliation of the soul, the Law and the Prophets have consecrated by Moses and Elias, the Gospel by the fast of our Lord Himself.

Or, the Lord remained for forty days untempted, for the devil knew that He fasted, yet hungered not, and dared not therefore approach Him. Hence it follows: And he eat nothing in those days. He fasted indeed, to show that He who would gird Himself for struggles against temptation must be temperate and sober.

(ex Const. Mon.) But we must not however so use the flesh, that through want of food our strength should waste away, nor that by excess of mortification our understandings wax dull and heavy. Our Lord therefore, once performed this work, but during this whole succeeding time He governed His body with due order, and so in like manner did Moses and Elias.

(ubi sup.) But because not to suffer hunger is above the nature of man, our Lord took upon Himself the feeling of hunger, and submitted Himself as it pleased Him to human nature, both to do and to suffer those things which were His own. Hence it follows: And those days being ended, he was a hungered. Not forced to that necessity which overpowers nature, but as if provoking the devil to the conflict. For the devil, knowing that wherever hunger is there is weakness, sets about to tempt Him, and as the deviser or inventer of temptations, Christ permitting him tries to persuade Him to satisfy His appetite with the stones. As it follows; But the devil said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command these stones that they be made bread.

And he ate nothing during those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry. The forty-day fast has authority both in the old books from the fast of Moses and Elijah, and from the Gospel, because the Lord fasted for the same number of days, demonstrating that the Gospel does not dissent from the law and the prophets. For the law is perceived in the person of Moses, and the prophets in the person of Elijah. Among them, he appeared gloriously on the mountain, so that it might more clearly stand out what the Apostle says about him: "Having a witness from the law and the prophets" (Romans 3). But in which part of the year is it more fitting that the observance of Lent should be established, if not adjacent and contiguous to the Lord's Passion, because in it is signified this laborious life, which requires continence, to fast from the friendship of this world. Otherwise: the Lord fasted while he was tempted before death, still needing food. However, he ate and drank after the resurrection, already not needing food. For here he was showing our labor in himself, but there his consolation in us, defining both in forty days. For this number seems to signify the course of this age, in those who are called by grace, to him who did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5). For there are ten commandments of the law, now diffused by the grace of Christ throughout the world, and the world is fourfold, and ten times four makes forty. Because those redeemed by the Lord, he has gathered from the regions. From the East, and the West, and the North, and the sea. Thus fasting for forty days before the death of the flesh, as if he were crying out: Abstain from the desires of this world (1 Peter 2). But eating and drinking for forty days after the resurrection of the flesh, as if he were crying out: Behold, I am with you until the end of the age (Matthew 28). Fasting is indeed in the tribulation of struggle, because he who is in the contest abstains from everything. But food is in the hope of peace, which will not be perfect until our body, whose redemption we await, puts on immortality, which we do not yet attain by glory, but are nourished by hope. The Apostle shows that we engage in both together, saying: Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation (Romans 12). As if that were in food, this in fasting. For simultaneously, as we tread the Lord's way, we fast from the vanity of the present age, and are refreshed by the promise of the future, not setting our hearts here, but feeding our hearts above. But the fact that the Lord was hungry after the days of fasting were ended, whereas nothing of the sort is written of Moses or Elijah when they fasted, happened so that he, fearing the temptation, would not flee away sad, whom he saw proclaimed with so many heavenly signs, and equal to the most excellent men in abstaining. For the humble God-man was hungry, so that he might not reveal to the enemy the sublime man-God.

And the time is specified, namely forty days, so that thus the truth might correspond to the figure: so Moses, Exodus chapter twenty-four; so Elijah, Third Kings chapter nineteen, so that thus Christ's fast might have testimony from both the Law and the Prophets. And lest you believe that Christ withdrew there for rest, it is added: And He was tempted by the devil, not interiorly, but only exteriorly. For as Gregory says: "The delight of sin did not bite His mind"; Hebrews chapter four: "We do not have a High Priest who cannot have compassion on our infirmities, tempted in all things according to likeness, without sin."

Third, he introduces a wondrous abstinence, when he adds: And he ate nothing in those days, namely the forty days. From this the devil suspected him to be God, because he was fasting beyond human power, which commonly does not extend beyond three days; hence in Matthew 15 it is said concerning the crowds who had been fasting for three days: "I am unwilling to send them away fasting, lest they faint on the way." And note here that the Savior fasted before the temptation and ate after the resurrection for our instruction. Hence Augustine: "Christ fasted before the death of the flesh, as if crying out: Abstain from carnal desires, while you are in the struggle. He ate after the resurrection, as if to say: while you have a mortal body, feed yourselves now on the hope of immortality, because while we travel the way of the Lord, we ought both to fast from the vanity of the world and to be refreshed by the promise of the future," so that we may always say: "I shall be satisfied when your glory appears."

Finally, he adds an apparent need, when he subjoins: And when they were completed, he was hungry. For he did not wish to abstain any longer, lest the devil be able to perceive it. Hence Ambrose: "He hungers, lest the sublime God be recognized; for the hunger of the Lord is a pious ruse, lest the devil beware of tempting him." And note that he hungered in the temptation, as is said here, and thirsted in the passion, as is said in John 19, to show that he had true humanity, and to invite to poverty and the painfulness of penance; hence the Apostle in 2 Corinthians 11: "In hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, in many fastings." Moreover, he hungered and thirsted not for himself, but for us, for whom he merited the spiritual refreshment of his body and blood, by which we are fed and given drink; John 6: "My flesh is truly food, and my blood is truly drink."

(Orat. 40.) He fasted in truth forty days, eating nothing. (For He was God.) But we regulate our fasting according to our strength, although the zeal of some persuades them to fast beyond what they are able.

But since the reading is fitting for these days—for we have heard of the forty days' abstinence of our Redeemer as we begin the season of Lent—we must discuss why this very abstinence is observed for the number of forty days. For Moses fasted twice for forty days in order to receive the law. Elijah abstained for forty days in the desert. The very Author of humanity, coming to humanity, took no food at all for forty days.

Why then is the number forty observed in abstinence, unless because the power of the Decalogue is fulfilled through the four books of the holy Gospel? For ten multiplied by four produces forty, because we fulfill the commandments of the Decalogue when we indeed keep the four books of the holy Gospel.

(3. Mor. sup. Job 2.) Our enemy was however unable to shake the purpose of the Mediator between God and men. For He condescended to be tempted outwardly, yet so that His soul inwardly, resting in its divinity, remained unshaken.

(Hom. 13. in Matt.) But very wisely, He exceeded not their number of days, lest indeed He should be thought to have come in appearance only, and not to have really received the flesh, or lest the flesh should seem to be something beyond human nature.

But Jesus is tempted by the devil forty days, and what the temptations were we know not. They were perhaps omitted, as being greater than could be committed to writing.

So, look at the arms of Christ with which he conquered for you, not for himself. For he who showed that stones could, through his majesty, be changed into bread by the transformation into a different nature, teaches that you must do nothing at the devil's behalf nor for the purpose of manifesting virtue. At the same time, learn from the temptation itself the ingenious cunning of the devil. The devil tempts that he may test. He tests that he may tempt. In contrast, the Lord deceives that he may conquer. He conquers that he may deceive. For if he had changed nature, he would have betrayed its Creator. Thus he responded neutrally, saying, "It is written, 'That man lives not by bread alone, but by every word of God.' " You see what kind of arms he wields, to defend humanity, surrounded and protected against the inducements of appetite, against the assault of spiritual wickedness. For he does not wield power as God—for what good would that be to me? So, as man, he summons common help for himself, so that eager for the food of the divine Word, he neglects the body's hunger and obtains the nourishment of the heavenly Word. Eager for this, Moses did not desire bread. Eager for this, Elijah did not feel the hunger of a long fast. For he who follows the Word cannot desire earthly bread when he receives the essence of the heavenly Bread. There is no doubt that the divine surpasses the human, as the spiritual the physical. Therefore he who desires true life awaits that Bread which through its intangible substance strengthens human hearts. At the same time, when he says, "Man lives not by bread alone," he shows that the man is tempted, that is, his acceptance of our flesh, not his divinity.

There are three especial weapons which we are taught the devil is wont to arm himself with, that he may wound the soul of man. One is of the appetite, another of boasting, the third ambition. He began with that wherewith he had already conquered, namely, Adam. Let us then beware of the appetite, let us beware of luxury, for it is a weapon of the devil. But what mean his words, If thou art the Son of God, unless he had known that the Son would come, but supposed Him not to have come from the weakness of His body. He first endeavours to find Him out, then to tempt Him. He professes to trust Him as God, then tries to deceive Him as man.

You see then what kind of arms He uses to defend man against the assaults of spiritual wickedness, and the allurements of the appetite. He does not exert His power as God, (for how had that profited me,) but as man He summons to Himself a common aid, that while intent upon the food of divine reading He may neglect the hunger of the body, and gain the nourishment of the word. For he who seeks after the word cannot feel the want of earthly bread; for divine things doubtless make up for the loss of human. At the same time by saying, Man lives not by bread alone, He shows that man was tempted, that is, our flesh which He assumed, not His own divinity.

(ubi sup.) He tried to persuade Christ to satisfy His appetite with stones, i. e. to shift his desire from the natural food to that which was beyond nature or unnatural.

The devil said to him: If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. The ancient enemy recognized that the redeemer of the human race had come into the world, his conqueror, and thus said through a possessed man: What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? (Matt. VIII). However, when he first saw Him as vulnerable, observed Him able to endure mortal things due to His humanity, everything he suspected about His divinity came into doubt out of the pride of his arrogance. For nothing wise, except for the proud, doubted that He was God when he saw Him humble. Therefore, he turned to the means of temptations. But not like us who are pure humans, often shaken by attacking temptation, was the soul of our Redeemer troubled by the necessity of temptation. For our enemy, even if he was permitted to take Him to a high mountain, even if he proclaimed he would give Him the kingdoms of the world, even if he showed stones that could be turned into bread, still he could not shake the mind of the Mediator between God and men with temptation. For He graciously endured all these things outwardly, such that His mind inwardly, remaining attached to His divinity, remained unshaken. Even when it is said that He was troubled in spirit and groaned, He Himself divinely arranged how much He would be troubled humanly.

After he described the occasion of the temptation, here he describes the manner of tempting, and this according to a threefold motive. Now the motive to sin is a changeable good, which exists in a threefold difference: either it is inferior, and this belongs to the flesh; or exterior, and this belongs to the world; or interior, and this is the excellence of the mind. From the first, a person is made voluptuous; from the second, curious; from the third, presumptuous. In the first way, the tempter brings a suggestion through the inferior good, which belongs to the flesh, to entice to gluttony; in the second, through the exterior good, which belongs to the world, to entice to avarice; in the third, through the interior good, which is the excellence of the mind, to entice to pomp or pride. And these three correspond to the three things in which he tempted and conquered the first man, and these temptations follow an ordered progression from lower to higher: because by the first, one is assailed with respect to the act of the vegetative power; by the second, with respect to the act of the sensitive power; by the third, with respect to the act of the rational power.

He introduces the devil tempting, when he says: And the devil said to him: If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread, which he says so that he himself might gain proof concerning him and so that he might incite him to gluttony. For since you are a hungry man, command that you may be refreshed: not because the refreshment of Christ pertained to him in any way: Proverbs twenty-three: "Eat and drink, he will say to you, and his heart is not with you"; but if you are the Son of God, say this very thing, so that, if it comes to pass, you may be recognized as omnipotent: Ecclesiastes eight: "His word is full of power, and whatever he wills, he will do." Hence note the cunning of the devil in tempting, because, when he saw Christ's weakness and doubted his Divinity, he wished to guard against the Divinity by discovering it and to cast down his humanity by seducing it. In which there was at once deceit and pride, according to that passage of Job forty-one: "He beholds every high thing, and he himself is king over all the children of pride."

Every year God makes a little corn into much corn: the seed is sown and there is an increase, and men, according to the fashion of their age, say "It is Ceres, it is Adonis, it is the Corn King," or else "It is the Laws of Nature." The close-up, the translation, of this annual wonder is the feeding of the five thousand. Bread is not made there of nothing. Bread is not made of stones, as the Devil once suggested to our Lord in vain. A little bread is made into much bread. The Son will do nothing but what He sees the Father do. There is, so to speak, a family style.

Satan said, "If you are the Son of God, bid this stone become bread." He approaches him, therefore, as an ordinary man and as one of the saints, yet he had a suspicion that possibly he might be the Christ. How, then, did he hope to learn if this was the case? He reasoned that to change the nature of any thing into that which it was not would be the act and deed of a divine power. For it is God who makes these things and transforms them. "If he does this," said the devil, "certainly it is he who is expected to subvert my power. But if he refuses to work this change, I am dealing with a man. I will set aside my fear. I am delivered from danger." Therefore it was that Christ, knowing the monster's plan, neither made the change nor said that he was either unable or unwilling to make it. Rather, the Lord shakes him off as annoying and meddlesome, saying, "Man shall not live by bread alone." He means this: If God grants a man the ability, he can survive without eating and live as Moses and Elijah, who by the Word of the Lord passed forty days without taking food. If, therefore, it is possible to live without bread, why should I make the stone bread? He purposely does not say, "I cannot," that he may not deny his own power. Nor does he say, "I can," lest the devil, knowing that he is God, for whom alone such things are possible, should depart from him.: Observe, I beg you, how the nature of man in Christ casts off the faults of Adam's gluttony. By eating we were conquered in Adam, by abstinence we conquered in Christ.

But if we examine the very order of his temptation, let us consider with what great power we are freed from temptation. The ancient enemy raised himself against the first man, our parent, in three temptations, because he tempted him with gluttony, vainglory, and avarice; but by tempting he overcame him, because he subjected him to himself through consent. Indeed, he tempted him through gluttony when he showed him the food of the forbidden tree and persuaded him to eat. He tempted him through vainglory when he said: You shall be as gods. And he tempted him through the advancement of avarice when he said: Knowing good and evil. For avarice is not only of money, but also of exaltation. For it is rightly called avarice when loftiness is sought beyond measure. For if the seizure of honor did not pertain to avarice, Paul would never say of the only-begotten Son of God: He did not consider it robbery to be equal to God. Moreover, the devil drew our parent to pride in this, that he aroused him to avarice for exaltation.

But by the same means by which he overthrew the first man, by those same means he was overcome when he tempted the second man. For he tempts through gluttony when he says: "Command that these stones become bread." He tempts through vainglory when he says: "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down." He tempts through the greed of ambition when he shows all the kingdoms of the world, saying: "All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me." But by the same means by which he boasted of having conquered the first man, he is conquered by the second man, so that he might depart from our hearts, captured at the very entrance by which he had entered and held us. But there is something else, dearest brothers, that we ought to consider in this temptation of the Lord: that when tempted by the devil, the Lord responded with the precepts of sacred Scripture, and he who could have plunged his tempter into the abyss by that Word which he was, did not display the power of his might, but gave only the precepts of divine Scripture, so that he might offer us an example of his patience, that whenever we suffer anything from wicked people, we might be stirred to teaching rather than to vengeance. Consider how great is the patience of God, and how great is our impatience. If we are provoked by injuries or some harm, moved by fury, we either avenge ourselves as much as we can, or we threaten what we cannot do. Behold, the Lord endured the adversity of the devil, and answered him with nothing but words of gentleness. He bore him whom he could have punished, so that his praise might grow higher from this: that he overcame his enemy not by destroying him, but by enduring him for the time being.

And through the Word Himself who had been made visible and palpable, was the Father shown forth, although all did not equally believe in Him; but all saw the Father in the Son: for the Father is the invisible of the Son, but the Son the visible of the Father. And for this reason all spake with Christ when He was present [upon earth], and they named Him God. Yea, even the demons exclaimed, on beholding the Son: "We know Thee who Thou art, the Holy One of God." And the devil looking at Him, and tempting Him, said: "If Thou art the Son of God;" -all thus indeed seeing and speaking of the Son and the Father, but all not believing [in them].

When a father is asked by his son for bread, he does not give him a stone for bread, but the devil like a crafty and deceitful foe gives stones for bread.

I suppose also that even now at this very time the devil shows a stone to men that he may tempt them to speak, saying to them, Command this stone to be made bread. If thou seest the heretics devouring their lying doctrines as if they were bread, know that their teaching is a stone which the devil shows them.

By and by the Lord Himself consecrated His own baptism (and, in His own, that of all) by fasts; having (the power) to make "loaves out of stones," say, to make Jordan flow with wine perchance, if He had been such a "glutton and toper.

Truly in a moment of time, the kingdoms of this world are described. For here it is not so much the rapid glance of sight which is signified as is declared the frailty of mortal power. For in a moment all this passes by, and oftentimes the glory of this world has vanished before it has arrived. It follows, And he said unto him, I will give thee all this power.

And the devil led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. When God, made man, is said to be led by the devil, the mind recoils, human ears shudder to hear this. Yet we recognize these things are not incredible, if we consider other deeds in him. Certainly the devil is the head of all the wicked, and all the wicked are members of this head. Therefore, what wonder if he allowed himself to be led by him to a mountain, who also endured being crucified by his members? It is not unworthy of our Redeemer, who willed to be tempted, having come to be killed. For it was just that he should overcome our temptations with his own temptations, just as he came to conquer our death with his death. But indeed, worldly and temporal things are shown in a moment of time. For it does not so much indicate the speed of sight, as it expresses the fragility of fleeting power. For in a moment all these things pass away, and often the honor of the world departs before it arrives. For what can be long-lasting in the world, when even the ages themselves are not long-lasting?

Here the second temptation is described, concerning which two things are to be noted. The first is the diabolical suggestion, and the second is the Lord's response. Concerning the devil's suggestion, note the leading, the showing, the promising, the persuading. The leading is done as if to one who is powerless, although it is said in Wisdom 12: "Power is at hand for you whenever you will it." Whence he says: And the devil led him to a high mountain: he led, I say, as one who was weak, yet not unwilling, as Peter, of whom it is said in the last chapter of John: "When you are old, another will gird you and lead you where you do not wish to go"; but as one humbly permitting, after the manner of him of whom Isaiah 53 says: "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer he shall be silent," etc. If therefore he endured this from the members of the devil, what wonder if he patiently endured it from the head of the wicked? And he led him to a mountain, because, being proud, he always seeks high places: Isaiah 14: "I will ascend above the stars, I will sit upon the mountain of the covenant"; and because in a place of eminence man easily falls: whence 3 Kings 22: "I saw all Israel scattered upon the mountains."

The showing is done as if to one who is ignorant, although "in him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Colossians 2. Whence he adds: And he showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And note that he is said to have shown him all the kingdoms of the world, not individually, but generally, as a certain author says, that is, all their parts. Or, according to Bede, "he showed all the desirable things of the world, in which men reign," whence it is pointedly said in Matthew 4: "He showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory." "He showed them, however, not in order to enlarge his sight, but, as Bede says, displaying the vanity of human pomp, which he loved, as though it were beautiful, he wished to make it be loved." And because these things do not endure but quickly pass away, therefore he showed them in a brief time; on account of which he adds: In a moment of time. Whence Bede: "Not so much the swiftness of sight is noted as the fragility of fleeting power. For in a moment all things pass away," according to that saying of Isaiah 40: "Behold, the nations are as a drop from a bucket and are reckoned as the turning of a balance"; because, Wisdom 11, "as the turning of a balance, so is the world before you"; "for in a moment, the nation that was most illustrious was destroyed," as is said in Wisdom 18, and in the Psalm: "I saw the wicked highly exalted, etc. And I passed by, and behold, he was no more."

But O thou malignant, and wicked, and accursed being, how didst thou dare to shew the Lord all the kingdoms of the whole creation, and say, "All these are mine? Now therefore if Thou wilt fall down and worship me, I will give them Thee." How dost thou promise that which is not thine? Who made thee heir of God's kingdom? Who made thee lord of all under heaven? Thou hast seized these things by fraud. Restore them therefore to the incarnate Son, the Lord of all. Hear what the prophet Isaiah says respecting thee; "Hath it been prepared for thee also to reign? a deep gulf, fire, and brimstone, and wood laid in order; the anger of the Lord as a gulf burning with brimstone." How then dost thou, whose lot is the inextinguishable flame, promise to the King of all that which is His own? Didst thou think to have Him as thy worshipper at Whom all things tremble, while the Seraphim, and all the angelical powers hymn His glory?

But behold, when it is said that God made man was taken up by the devil onto a high mountain, the mind recoils, human ears are terrified to hear this. Yet we recognize that these things are not incredible if we consider other things that were done to him. Certainly the devil is the head of all the wicked, and all the wicked are members of this head. Was not Pilate a member of the devil? Were not the Jews who persecuted and the soldiers who crucified Christ members of the devil? What wonder is it then if he allowed himself to be led onto a mountain by him, who also allowed himself to be crucified by his members?

(Hom. 6. in Ev.) What marvel that He permitted Himself to be led by the devil into the mountains, who even endured to be crucified in His own body?

We should not think that when the devil showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world, he showed him, for example, the kingdom of the Persians and of the Indians. "He showed him all the kingdoms of the world," that is, his own kingdom, how he reigned in the world.

Or, to view the whole in another light. Two kings are earnestly contending for a kingdom; The king of sin who reigneth over sinners, that is, the devil; The king of righteousness who ruleth the righteous, that is, Christ. The devil, knowing that Christ had come to take away his kingdom, shows Him all the kingdoms of the world; not the kingdoms of the Persians and of the Medes, but his own kingdom whereby he reigned in the world, whereby some are under the dominion of fornication, others of covetousness. And he shows Him them in a moment of time, that is, in the present course of time, which is but a moment in comparison of eternity. For the Saviour needed not to be shown for any longer time the affairs of this world, but as soon as He turned His eyes to look, He beheld sins reigning, and men made slaves to vice. The devil therefore says unto Him, Camest Thou to contend with me for dominion? Worship me, and behold I give Thee the kingdom I hold. Now the Lord would indeed reign, but being Righteousness itself, would reign without sin; and would have all nations subject to Him, that they might obey the truth, but would not so reign over others as that He Himself should be subject to the devil. Hence it follows, And Jesus answering said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God.

Or else, All these, he says, I would have subject to me, that they might worship the Lord God, and serve Him alone. But dost thou wish sin to begin from Me, which I came hither to destroy?

The enemy had first assailed Christ by the temptation of the appetite, as also he did Adam. He next tempts Him with the desire of gain or covetousness, showing Him all the kingdoms of the world. Hence it follows, And the devil taking him up.

But how did the devil show Him all the kingdoms of the world? Some say that he presented them to Him in imagination, but I hold that he brought them before Him in visible form and appearance.

Or, the devil described the world in language, and as he thought brought it vividly before our Lord's mind as though it were a certain house.

For it is elsewhere said, that all power is from God. (Rom. 13:1.) Therefore from God's hands comes the disposal of power, the lust of power is from the evil one; power is not itself evil, but he who evilly uses it. What then; is it good to exercise power, to desire honour? Good if it is bestowed upon us, not if it is seized. We must distinguish however in this good itself. There is one good use of the world, another of perfect virtue. It is good to seek God; it is a good thing that the desire of becoming acquainted with God should be hindered by no worldly business. But if he who seeks God, is from the weakness of the flesh, and the narrowness of his mind, often tempted, how much more is he exposed who seeks the world? We are taught then to despise ambition, because it is subject to the power of the devil. But honour abroad is followed by danger at home, and in order to rule others a man is first their servant, and prostrates himself in obedience that he may be rewarded with honours, and the higher he aspires the lower he bends with feigned humility; whence he adds, If thou will fall down and worship me.

And he said: I will give you all this power and their glory, for they have been delivered to me, and I give them to whom I will. Therefore, if you will fall down and worship before me, all will be yours. Arrogant and proud, he even speaks this out of boastfulness, not that he holds power over the whole world, such that the devil could give all kingdoms, since we know that many holy men were made kings by God. He says, if you will fall down and worship before me. Therefore, he who will worship the devil has already fallen.

The promise is made to him as if to one who is in need, although his is "the world and its fullness." On account of which is added: And he said to him: I will give you all this power and their glory, etc., so that you may have the dominion of power and the proclamation of praise, as though he were promising something great, although the power and glory of the world are as nothing, according to that saying of Isaiah 40: "All flesh is grass, and all its glory is as the flower of the field"; and 1 Maccabees 2: "The glory of a sinful man is dung and worms"; and that saying of Hosea 4: "I will change their glory into shame."

And to show that faith must be given to the promise, he adds: Because they have been delivered to me, and to whomever I wish, I give them; Job 9: "The earth is given into the hands of the wicked," that is, earthly power. But this is understood permissively, not absolutely, but for a time, as is said in Daniel 11: "The king shall do according to his will and shall magnify himself against every god"; "and he shall multiply glory and shall give power over many and shall divide the land gratuitously"; and in Apocalypse 13 it is said that "the dragon gave power to the beast." But God permits this by his just judgment. "He therefore transfers kingdoms and establishes them," as is said in Daniel 2. Or, as Bede says, he says this out of arrogance, not because the whole world was his, since only the Son says truly: "All things have been delivered to me by the Father," Matthew 11; and again in the last chapter of Matthew: "All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth," etc. But because every disorder of power is ascribed to him, he, as one who is proud, ascribes the whole to himself. Whence every ordering of power is from God, as is said in Romans 13; but disorder is from the devil, because in First John 3 it is said: "He who sins is of the devil."

And dost thou, whose lot is the unquenchable fire, promise to the Lord of all that which is His own? Didst thou think to have Him for thy worshipper, from dread of whom the whole creation trembles?

He tempts through the greed of ambition when he shows all the kingdoms of the world. For avarice is not only of money, but also of exaltation. For it is rightly called avarice when loftiness is sought beyond measure. For if the seizure of honor did not pertain to avarice, Paul would never say of the only-begotten Son of God: He did not consider it robbery to be equal to God.

Yea, thou even darest, most accursed one, to appropriate the works of God to thyself, and to declare that the dominion over these was delivered to thee. And thou dost set forth thine own fall as an example to the Lord, and dost promise to give Him what is really His own, if He would fall down and worship thee. And how didst thou not shudder, O thou spirit more wicked through thy malevolence than all other wicked spirits, to utter such words against the Lord?

For he himself confesses that to adore him, and to do his will, is to fall from the glory of God. And in what thing either pleasant or good can that man who has fallen participate? Or what else can such a person hope for or expect, except death? For death is next neighbour to him who has fallen. Hence also it follows that he will not give what he has promised. For how can he make grants to him who has fallen? Moreover, since God rules over men and him too, and without the will of our Father in heaven not even a sparrow falls to the ground, it follows that his declaration, "All these things are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give them," proceeds from him when puffed up with pride. For the creation is not subjected to his power, since indeed he is himself but one among created things. Nor shall he give away the rule over men to men; but both all other things, and all human affairs, are arranged according to God the Father's disposal. Besides, the Lord declares that "the devil is a liar from the beginning, and the truth is not in him." If then he be a liar and the truth be not in him, he certainly did not speak truth, but a lie, when he said, "For all these things are delivered to me, and to whomsoever I will I give them."

As therefore the devil lied at the beginning, so did he also in the end, when he said, "All these are delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will I give them." For it is not he who has appointed the kingdoms of this world, but God; for "the heart of the king is in the hand of God." And the Word also says by Solomon, "By me kings do reign, and princes administer justice. By me chiefs are raised up, and by me kings rule the earth." Paul the apostle also says upon this same subject: "Be ye subject to all the higher powers; for there is no power but of God: now those which are have been ordained of God." And again, in reference to them he says, "For he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath to him who does evil." Now, that he spake these words, not in regard to angelical powers, nor of invisible rulers-as some venture to expound the passage-but of those of actual human authorities, [he shows when] he says, "For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, doing service for this very thing." This also the Lord confirmed, when He did not do what He was tempted to by the devil; but He gave directions that tribute should be paid to the tax-gatherers for Himself and Peter; because "they are the ministers of God, serving for this very thing."

For since man, by departing from God, reached such a pitch of fury as even to look upon his brother as his enemy, and engaged without fear in every kind of restless conduct, and murder, and avarice; God imposed upon mankind the fear of man, as they did not acknowledge the fear of God, in order that, being subjected to the authority of men, and kept under restraint by their laws, they might attain to some degree of justice, and exercise mutual forbearance through dread of the sword suspended full in their view, as the apostle says: "For he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, the avenger for wrath upon him who does evil." And for this reason too, magistrates themselves, having laws as a clothing of righteousness whenever they act in a just and legitimate manner, shall not be called in question for their conduct, nor be liable to punishment. But whatsoever they do to the subversion of justice, iniquitously, and impiously, and illegally, and tyrannically, in these things shall they also perish; for the just judgment of God comes equally upon all, and in no case is defective. Earthly rule, therefore, has been appointed by God for the benefit of nations, and not by the devil, who is never at rest at all, nay, who does not love to see even nations conducting themselves after a quiet manner, so that under the fear of human rule, men may not eat each other up like fishes; but that, by means of the establishment of laws, they may keep down an excess of wickedness among the nations. And considered from this point of view, those who exact tribute from us are "God's ministers, serving for this very purpose."

As, then, "the powers that be are ordained of God," it is clear that the devil lied when he said, "These are delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will, I give them." For by the law of the same Being as calls men into existence are kings also appointed, adapted for those men who are at the time placed under their government. Some of these [rulers] are given for the correction and the benefit of their subjects, and for the preservation of justice; but others, for the purposes of fear and punishment and rebuke: others, as [the subjects] deserve it, are for deception, disgrace, and pride; while the just judgment of God, as I have observed already, passes equally upon all. The devil, however, as he is the apostate angel, can only go to this length, as he did at the beginning, [namely] to deceive and lead astray the mind of man into disobeying the commandments of God, and gradually to darken the hearts of those who would endeavour to serve him, to the forgetting of the true God, but to the adoration of himself as God.

[Daniel 4:4] "I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace." The narrative is clear indeed and requires but little interpretation. Because he displeased God, Nebuchadnezzar was turned into a madman and dwelt for seven years amongst the brute beasts and was fed upon the roots of herbs, Afterwards by the mercy of God he was restored to his throne, and praised and glorified the King of heaven, on the ground that all His works are truth and His ways are justice and He is able to abase those who walk in pride. But there are some who claim to understand by the figure of Nebuchadnezzar the hostile power which the Lord speaks of in the Gospel, saying: "I beheld Satan falling from heaven like lightning" (Luke 10:18). Likewise John in Revelation, in the passage where the dragon falls upon the earth drawing a third of the stars with him (Revelation 12:4). Likewise Isaiah: "How hath the morning star fallen, which used to rise early in the morning" (Isaiah 14:12). These authorities assert that it was absolutely impossible for a man who was reared in luxury to subsist on hay for seven years and to dwell among wild beasts for seven years without being at all mangled by them. Also they ask how the imperial authority could have been kept waiting for a mere madman, and how so mighty a kingdom could have gone without a king for so long a period. If, on the other hand, anyone had succeeded him on the throne, how foolish he would have to be thought to surrender an imperial authority which he had possessed for so long. Such a thing would be especially incredible since the historical records of the Chaldeans contain no such record, and since they recorded matters of far less import, it is impossible that they should have left things of major importance unmentioned. And so they pose all of these questions and offer as their own reply the proposition that since the episode does not stand up as genuine history, the figure of Nebuchadnezzar represents the devil. To this position we make not the slightest concession; otherwise everything we read in Scripture may appear to be imperfect representations and mere fables. For once men have lost their reason, who would not perceive them to lead their existence like brutish animals in the open fields and forest regions? And to pass over all other considerations, since Greek and Roman history offer episodes far more incredible, such as Scylla and the Chimaera, the Hydra and the Centaurs, and the birds and wild beasts and flowers and trees, the stars and the stones into which men are related to have been transformed, what is so remarkable about the execution of such a divine judgment as this for the manifestation of God's power and the humbling of the pride of kings? Nebuchadnezzar says, "'I was at ease in my house and prospering in my palace...'" or as Theodo-tion renders it "upon my throne." Now those who follow the interpretation we are opposing understand by the devil's home this world of ours. Concerning the world Satan himself in the Gospel says to the Savior: "All these things have been given over to me" (Luke 4:6). Likewise the Apostle says: "The world lieth in the Wicked One" (1 John 5:19).

He lied in two respects. For he neither had to give, nor could he give that which he had not; he gains possession of nothing, but is an enemy reduced to fight.

Fourth, the persuasion is made as if to one who desires, when nevertheless he himself "gives to all abundantly," James 1. Whence he says: If you therefore, falling down, will worship before me, etc. In this persuasion he strives to incline toward true adoration on account of a false promise, whence that passage in Isaiah 51: "Bow down, that we may pass over." For he cannot ascend over man unless man falls down before him voluntarily. But he was demanding the honor of adoration, against that passage in Exodus 34: "You shall not worship a strange god."

And in order to drag him to unlawful service, he promises a false reward, when he adds: All things shall be yours. He pledges false power in order to drag to true servitude, because, in John 8, "he who commits sin is a slave of sin"; and he who is a slave does not have mastery of himself, and through this not all things are his, but he himself is subject to all things as a slave; and in Second Peter 2: "By whom a man is overcome, of the same he is the slave."

"All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me." By the same means by which the ancient enemy overthrew the first man through avarice—for he tempted him through the advancement of avarice when he said: Knowing good and evil—by those same means he was overcome when he tempted the second man.

You see, ancient errors are undone in Christ's footprints, and the snares, first of the stomach, second of sexual sin, and third of ambition, are loosed. For Adam was enticed by food. Because he willingly transgressed in the matter of the forbidden tree, he also was charged with heedless ambition, for he desired to be like the Godhead. Therefore the Lord first remitted the debt of the ancient wrong, in order that, having shaken off the yoke of captivity, we may learn to overcome our faults with the help of the Scriptures.… The devil shakes the whole world with cunning deceit, in order to corrupt people, and fights with all the enticements of this age. You must beware of his flattery all the more. Food had not persuaded Eve, nor had the forgetfulness of the commands deprived her. If she had been willing to worship the Lord alone, she would not have sought what was not due to her. So a remedy is given, which blunts the dart of ambition, so that we serve the Lord alone. Pious devotion lacks ambition.

The next weapon he uses is that of boasting, which always causes the offender to fall down; for they who love to boast of the glory of their virtue descend from the stand and vantage ground of their good deeds. Hence it is said, And he led him to Jerusalem.

It is the fate of boasting, that while a man thinks he is climbing higher, he is by his pretension to lofty deeds brought low. Hence it follows, And he said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, throw thyself down.

(non occ.) The devil entered not into a contest with God, (for he durst not, and therefore said, If thou art the Son of God,) but he contended with man whom once he had power to deceive.

(de con. Ev. lib. ii. c. 6.) The whole of this narrative Matthew relates in a similar manner, but not in the same order. It is uncertain therefore which took place first, whether the kingdoms of the earth were first shown unto Him, and He was afterwards taken up to the pinnacle of the temple; or whether this came first, and the other afterwards. It matters little however which, as long as it is clear that they all took place.

And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple. So that whom neither gluttony nor avarice could overcome, he might tempt with vain glory, if perhaps by boasting of his victory he might cast him down.

And he said to him: If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence. In all temptations, the devil aims to understand if he is the Son of God, but the Lord so moderates his answer that he leaves him uncertain. Cast thyself down. The voice of the devil, by which he always desires all to fall downwards. Cast thyself, he says: he can persuade, but he cannot precipitate.

Here the third temptation is described, concerning which two things are to be attended to as before. The first is the suggestion of the devil; the second is the response of Christ. Concerning the persuasion of the devil, attend to three things. For first, he chooses a fitting place for persuasion; second, he expresses the persuasion to cast himself down; third, through the authority of the Psalm he dispels the fear of harm. Therefore, as regards the choice of a fitting place, it is said: He led him into Jerusalem, as to a famous and public place. He was led, however, by permission, not from weakness; whence Chrysostom says that "in Christ there was not weakness, but patience; in the devil, however, not power, but pride." And the Gloss on Matthew 4 says that "this vision was accomplished through the bodily senses"; Chrysostom, however, says that "the devil so took him up that he might be seen by all; but Christ, without the devil's knowledge, so acted invisibly that he was seen by no one." Whence, so that he might be better seen, it is added: And he set him upon the pinnacle of the temple. That was a high and prominent place, where doctors and priests were accustomed to speak to the people. And according to some expositors, it was the summit of the roof of the temple, which is called the upper floor, in 3 Kings 6. Or according to others, it was a certain gallery above the gate of the temple, where one ascended by steps. According to others, however, it is said that there was a roof there with a certain parapet of the wall, because in Palestine the houses have flat roofs, and the temple had a flat roof, like the tabernacle, and on such roofs doctors and preachers were accustomed to stand, according to that passage in Matthew 10: "What you hear in the ear, preach upon the housetops."

As regards the urging of the casting down, it is added: And he said to him: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down. Because the devil had fallen downward, he would gladly drag all downward; below in chapter 10: "I saw Satan falling like lightning from heaven." But Christ could say to the devil and his angels what he said to the Jews in John 8: "You are from below, but I am from above"; whence it was not his part to descend, but to ascend. But the devil was suggesting this so that, by descending bodily, he might make him become proud spiritually, so that there would be at once a vain ascent and a true descent. In this we are taught that humiliation and exaltation are always joined together, according to that passage below in chapter 18: "Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted"; and Proverbs 18: "Before destruction the heart of man is exalted, and before he is glorified, he is humbled." And note the manner of suggesting, when he says: Cast yourself down. Chrysostom: "He did not push, he did not touch, he did not approach, but only said: Cast yourself down, so that we may know that everyone who obeys the devil casts himself down." And Jerome: "He is sufficiently weak, because he can harm no one unless that person has cast himself down." And therefore the counsel is sound, in Ecclesiastes 10: "If the spirit of him who has power rises up against you, do not leave your place," neither by presumption nor by despair.

[Satan] set [Jesus] up on the pinnacle of the temple. Satan wanted him to suppose that he who was a man could become God, by means of the godly house, just as Satan had once made Adam suppose that he could become God by means of that tree. He brought him up to the mountain, as though he were in need. "To you will I give the kingdoms, if you will adore me." When he changed his mode of cunning, he did not change the true One with it. In the beginning God made him, and, when complete, he was in need and a worshiper. But Satan became blind in the arrogance of his worship, because of all that he had acquired, and for this reason he was punished even more. Because Satan did not recognize the One who knew him intimately, our Lord addressed him by his name, Satan. But he did not know how he should address our Lord.Therefore he said to him, "Fall down from here, for it is written, 'They will guard you lest you stumble.' " Tempter, if it is concerning him that the psalm is fulfilled, is it not also written there, "With his wings, that he may deliver you"? It is not possible for a bird to fall, for the air beneath its wings is like the earth. Is it not also written, "You will tread on the serpent and the lion"? Satan studied only those passages from Scriptures that were convenient to him and omitted those which were harmful to him. The heretics are like this too. They appropriate from Scripture those passages that suit their erroneous teaching and omit those that refute their errors, thereby demonstrating that they are disciples of this master.

But behold, when it is said that God made man was taken up by the devil into the holy city, the mind recoils, human ears are terrified to hear this. Yet we recognize that these things are not incredible if we consider other things that were done to him. Certainly the devil is the head of all the wicked, and all the wicked are members of this head. What wonder is it then if he allowed himself to be led by him, who also allowed himself to be crucified by his members?

For it is of the devil to cast one's self into dangers, and try whether God will rescue us.

He followed evidently as a wrestler, gladly setting out to meet the temptation, and saying, as it were, Lead me where you will, and you will find me the stronger in every thing.

Still the pinnacle stands, outlasting the temple's destruction, For the corner raised up from that stone which the builders rejected Will remain throughout all ages forever and ever. Now it is head of the temple and holds the new stones together.

That is truly the devil's language, which seeks to cast down the soul of man from the high ground of its good deeds, while he shows at the same time both his weakness and malice, for he can injure no one that does not first cast himself down. For he who forsaking heavenly things pursues earthly, rushes as it were wilfully down the self-sought precipice of a falling life. As soon then as the devil perceived his dart blunted, he who had subdued all men to his own power, began to think he had to deal with more than man. But Satan transforms himself into an angel of light, and often from the Holy Scriptures weaves his mesh for the faithful: hence it follows, It is written, He shall give, &c.

Let not the heretic entrap thee by bringing examples from the Scriptures. The devil makes use of the testimony of the Scriptures not to teach but to deceive.

For it is written that he has commanded his angels concerning you, to keep you, and that they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. We read this in the ninetieth Psalm. Indeed, the prophecy there is not about Christ, but about a holy person. Therefore, the devil interprets the Scriptures wrongly. Certainly, if he had truly known it was written about the Savior, he should have quoted what follows in the same Psalm against himself: "You will tread on the asp and the basilisk, and you will trample the lion and the dragon" (Psalm XC). He speaks of the help of angels as if to a weak person, but he is silent about the trampling of himself, like a trickster.

As for the dispelling of fear, he adds: For it is written, that He has given His angels charge over you: this is written in the Psalm. He therefore cites Scripture because he saw that Christ always defended Himself through Scripture. Whence Pope Leo says: "He finds occasions for tempting where he has seen men more intensely engaged." Whence he asserts it is written, so as to induce credulity, and also adduces a Scripture that would exclude faintheartedness on account of the promise of angelic aid, both in prosperity and in adversity. On account of aid in prosperity he says: That they may guard you in all your ways, that is, in your works: Exodus twenty-three: "Behold, I send My Angel, who shall go before you and guard you on the way." Thus the Angel guarded Tobias, as is said in Tobit twelve: thus also Judith, as is said in the thirteenth chapter: thus also they guard all just men, according to that passage in Hebrews one: "All are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister," etc.: and the whole Church, according to that passage in Isaiah sixty-two: "Upon your walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen." But Christ did not need guarding: and therefore the devil was perverting that authority and adducing it in a sinister manner.

He tempts through vainglory when he says: "If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down from hence." By the same means by which the ancient enemy tempted our first parent through vainglory when he said "You shall be as gods," so he now tempts the second Adam: but by the same means by which he boasted of having conquered the first man, he is conquered by the second man.

See, how wickedly he tempts using the scriptures. He wants to take away the glory of the Lord, as if he needed angelic assistance, as if he were about to stumble if angels did not help him. It was not spoken concerning Christ, nor does the master of the angels need angels. But I say the opposite to you, o devil; if Jesus does not help the angels, they stumble. And you have fallen "from heaven" because you considered yourself self-sufficient and not needing the help of Jesus. But to know that the things written are not spoken concerning Jesus, but are referred to a righteous man, listen. For it is written: "He who dwells in the help of the Most High shall lodge in the shelter of the God of heaven." This applies more to a righteous man than to the Son of God. And again: "A thousand shall fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand." This also refers to the righteous man. These words are said in the ninety-first Psalm; but they do not speak about Christ, but about the righteous. For Christ does not fear the midday demon nor the night demon, nor does He need the help of angels, He Himself keeping them unscathed to God; but even if it is said concerning Christ, it skillfully omits the intermediate matter. For it continues: "You shall tread upon the adder and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon." For these things were He Himself.

Whence knowest thou, Satan, that those things are written? Hast thou read the Prophets, or the oracles of God? Thou hast read them indeed, but not that thyself mightest be the better for the reading, but that from the mere letter thou mightest slay them who are friends to the letter. (2 Cor. 3:6.) Thou knowest that if thou wert to speak from His other books, thou wouldest not deceive.

But mark how wily he is even in this testimony. For he would fain throw a slur upon the glory of the Saviour, as though He needed the assistance of angels, and would stumble were He not supported by their hands. But this was said not of Christ, but of the saints generally; He needs not the aid of angels, Who is greater than angels. But let this teach thee, Satan, that the angels would stumble did not God sustain them; and thou stumblest, because thou refusest to believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God. But why art thou silent as to what follows, Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk, (Ps. 91:13.) except that thou art the basilisk, thou art the dragon and the lion?

On account of aid however in adversity, he adds: And that in their hands they shall bear you up, as bearers, according to how it is read that an Angel carried Habakkuk, in the last chapter of Daniel. Lest perhaps you strike your foot against a stone, that is, so that you might be harmed by no injury, as is said in Job five: "With the stones of the lands your covenant shall be, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with you."

And note that the devil, being crafty, did not add what follows: "You shall walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and you shall trample upon the lion and the dragon," because this was against him. Wherein it is shown that it is a diabolical vice to truncate authorities and draw them to one's own side: whence Revelation, the last chapter: "If anyone shall take away from the words of the prophecy of this book, God shall take away his part from the book of life."

He would not have said that all the temptation was ended, had there not been in the three temptations which have been described the materials for every crime; for the causes of temptations are the causes of desire, namely, the delight of the flesh, the pomp of vain-glory, greediness of power.

You see then that the devil is not obstinate on the field, is wont to give way to true virtue; and if he ceases not to hate, he yet dreads to advance, for so he escapes a more frequent defeat. As soon then as he heard the name of God, he retired (it is said) for a season, for afterwards he comes not to tempt, but to fight openly.

(non occ.) The enemy came to Him as man, but not finding in Him the marks of his ancient seed, he departed.

When the Lord had been tempted with this triple temptation—because in all the allurements of the world these three are to be found, either pleasure or curiosity or pride—what did the Evangelist say? After the devil had concluded every temptation—every kind, but of the alluring sort—there remained the other sort of temptation, by harsh and hard treatment, savage treatment, atrocious and ferocious treatment. Yes, there remained the other sort of temptation. The Evangelist knew this, knew what had been carried out, what remained, and so he said, "After the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from him until the time." He departed from him in the form, that is, of the insidious serpent. He is going to come in the form of the roaring lion. The one who will trample on the lion and the cobra will conquer him. Satan will return. He will enter Judas and will make him betray his master. He will bring along the Jews, not flattering now, but raging. Taking possession of his own instruments, he will cry out with the tongues of all of them, "Crucify him, crucify him!" That Christ was the conqueror there, why should we be surprised? He was almighty God.

And when all temptation was finished, the devil departed from him for a time. You see, the devil himself is not persistent in effort, but usually yields to virtue. And although he never ceases to envy, he fears to persist, because he often flees from being triumphed over. Therefore, hearing the name of God, he departed (he says) for a time. Later, he came not to tempt, but to openly fight. Although often the ancient enemy, after he has inflicted the struggle of temptations on our mind, retreats temporarily from his own contest, not to end the malice he has inflicted, but so that, returning suddenly, he may burst in more easily and unexpectedly on hearts made secure through peace. It should be noted, however, that after the three deceptions of the tempter were exposed, he says that all temptation was finished. Because indeed, in these are embraced the origins and sources of all vices. With John attesting who said: For all that is in the world, is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2). And in the gospel parable, only three affairs of the reprobate exclude them from the feasts of eternal life. The first (he says) said: I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. The desire for a wife, like gluttony, concerns the lust of the flesh. The purchase of a villa, which is not devoid of greed, pertains to the pride of life. The trial of five yokes, that is, curiosity about physical things, which is vain glory, is related to the lust of the eyes. For curiosity prevails mostly through the eyes, and the Lord Himself is indeed tempted face to face as if by a stronger one. But we, having received the grace of the Spirit in baptism, enter the desert of virtues, when we undertake the Lenten fast, that is, determining to abstain from worldly enticements throughout our life, we are either tempted by hidden snares or sometimes even struck closer. He who, persuading, says: You are a strong man, eat and drink, and remain the same, should be guarded against, lest he unknowingly offers us the serpent's old poison. And it must be said: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God. Indeed, many who have overcome the lust of the flesh are immediately tempted by greed and are often also overcome, so much so that they do not fear to worship the devil for the gifts offered. When many praise their continence, and even greater persons honor them, giving gifts, it happens that the victors over pleasures are conquered by love of money, and with growing madness over time, they not only do not refrain from consorting with the demon-filled rich whom they recognize through blatant crimes, but also bow their heads in worship and embrace them. Hence the Apostle says that greed is idolatry. If, following the Savior's example, they triumph over this by worshiping the Lord, their God, and serving Him alone for eternal joys, the third pestilence of vain glory will come, which exalts the victors over the previous vices because of their own strength, presuming that those placed on the height of virtues can no longer fall. And this is clearly to tempt God with curious eyes, boasting of one's merits. Against this, the Lord, increasing the disciples' faith, said: When you have done all that is commanded you, say: We are unworthy servants; we have done what we ought to do (Luke XVII). For when He elsewhere commanded that we do not perform our righteousness before men, He added only fasting, almsgiving, and prayer in the same definition, opposing three weapons of defense against the triple weapon of the enemy: that fasting may drive away the lust of the flesh, almsgiving may drive away greed, and prayers may drive away the boast of merits. It is sufficient to have said these things about the principles of the gospel dispensation in one book; however, considering both our own peace and the benefit of the readers, let us look at the following deeds or words of the Savior more attentively from another beginning. For, as Augustine says, in some way the reader's concentration is refreshed at the end of a book, like the traveler's strength at a hostel.

After he described the occasion of the temptation and the manner of tempting, here he describes thirdly the consummation of the temptation, concerning which three things are intimated. The first is the manifestation of perfection on the part of Christ resisting: with respect to which he says: And when all the temptation was ended, because, as was said before, every temptation is reduced to the three aforementioned: whence First John 2: "All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh," etc. This he consummated, because by patiently enduring he overcame, according to that passage in Hebrews 2: "It was fitting for him who had brought many sons into glory to consummate through suffering," because it is said in Deuteronomy 32: "The works of God are perfect."

The second is the confutation of presumption on the part of the devil withdrawing; with respect to which he says: The devil departed from him: according to that passage in James 4: "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." He departed, namely confounded: which was signified in the king of the Assyrians, Fourth Kings 19: "The king of the Assyrians Sennacherib departed and went away"; which is interpreted as taking away deserts, because the devil especially pursues those who live in austerity of life.

The third indeed is the predetermination of time on the part of God disposing: on account of which he adds: Until a time, namely "of the passion," he departed, because that malignant one is not permitted to do evil except for the time which God permits, although he always has an evil will; Ecclesiasticus 19: "If he finds a time to do evil, he will do evil." And therefore the counsel is in Ecclesiasticus 4: "My son, preserve the time and turn away from evil"; and Ephesians 5: "See how you walk cautiously, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." Whence since the devil tempts in two ways: as a dragon and as a lion, first he tempted as a dragon to seduce, afterwards as a lion to break in the passion. For in the first he tempts to soften through blandishments, but afterwards, seeing that he has little time, he tempts to break through punishments: whence Apocalypse 12: "The devil has come down, having great wrath, knowing that he has little time." And therefore those did not arrive at the consummation of time about whom it is said below in chapter 8, that "they believe for a time and in the time of temptation they fall away."

(ubi sup.) In lawful contests the battle is terminated either when the adversary surrenders of his own accord to the conqueror, or is defeated in three falls, according to the rules of the art of fighting. Hence it follows, And all the temptation being completed, &c.

But it should be noted that when the devil departed, the temptation was complete. By the same means by which the ancient enemy boasted of having conquered the first man, he is conquered by the second man, so that he might depart from our hearts, captured at the very entrance by which he had entered and held us.

Consider how great is the patience of God, and how great is our impatience. Behold, the Lord endured the adversity of the devil, and answered him with nothing but words of gentleness. He bore him whom he could have punished, so that his praise might grow higher from this: that he overcame his enemy not by destroying him, but by enduring him for the time being.

(lib. ad. piet. ex. 12.) Or the devil had prompted Christ in the desert to prefer the things of the world to the love of God. The Lord commanded him to leave Him, (which itself was a mark of Divine love.) It was afterwards then enough to make Christ appear the false advocate of love to His neighbours, and therefore while He was teaching the paths of life, the devil stirred up the Gentiles and Pharisees to lay traps for Him that He might be brought to hate them. But the Lord, from the feeling of love which He had towards them, exhorted, reproved, ceased not to bestow mercy upon them.

(ut sup.) But the reason why one Evangelist places this event first, and another that, is because vain-glory and covetousness give birth in turn to one another.

Or, having tempted Him in the desert with pleasure, he retires from Him until the crucifixion, when he was about to tempt Him with sorrow.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding region. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. The power of the Spirit here means the signs of miracles. As also elsewhere, the Jews marveled. "Whence," they say, "does this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?" (Matt. XIII). That is, they refer wisdom to teaching, and power to deeds. Both are equally combined in this passage, as it declares that Jesus, having entered in the power of the Spirit, also taught in their synagogues. Hence, deservedly, he was magnified by those present and his fame spread through the absent ones. This could not happen unless by the evidence of his deeds or words manifest to those present. But anyone searching for the time and order of these events will find it in the Gospel of John, as has been mentioned. Setting aside other details, I will quote one testimony: "When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast" (John IV). It should be noted that first Jesus demonstrated the power of the Spirit and later dispensed the grace of doctrine; he recalls that first fame spread because of the miracles, and then the teaching was magnified. According to the order briefly commended in the Acts of the Apostles: "Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts I). For he first began to do, and then to teach, lest any teacher should presume to command his hearers things which he himself has not yet accomplished.

By the power of the Spirit he means showing forth of miracles.

The Evangelist showed above the authority of the doctrine of Christ from the merit of life: here secondly he shows it from the testimony of Scripture. He therefore introduces first the testimony as authentic for the instruction of believers: secondly, the authentic testimony for the confutation of detractors. In the explanation of the prophetic testimony, four things are introduced by blessed Luke: the first is renown in preaching; the second is opportuneness in testifying; the third is congruity in the testimony; the fourth is belief among the people. As to the first, note that the renown of the preaching of Christ is gathered from four things, namely from the fullness of grace, breadth of fame, certainty of doctrine and greatness of efficacy.

As to the fullness of grace, it is said: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. He returned, namely to preach, because, as it is said in the Psalm, "The Lord shall give the word to those who preach the good tidings with great power." And although he had assumed weakness from us, he nevertheless showed power from himself, according to that passage of Wisdom chapter twelve: "For you show your power, you who are not believed to be perfect in power." And it is notably said: In the power of the Spirit. For such ought perfect preaching to be, that it be joined to spiritual power, according to that passage of First Corinthians chapter two: "Our speech and our preaching was not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

As to the breadth of fame, it is said: And the fame of him went out through the whole region, according to that passage of Job chapter twenty-eight: "With our ears we have heard the fame thereof"; he speaks of the wisdom of Christ, who is "the power of God and the wisdom of God." Another Evangelist agrees with this: Matthew chapter four: "His fame went out into all Syria." Now a figure of this preceded in Solomon, of whom it is said in Second Chronicles chapter nine, that "all desired to see his face"; of whom it is said in Sirach chapter forty-seven: "Your name was spread abroad to distant islands."

After he mightily defeated Satan—after he crowned human nature in his own person with the spoils won by the victory over Satan—he returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, both exercising might and authority. He performed very many miracles and greatly astonished his people. He performed miracles, because he is by nature and in truth the Son of God the Father, not because he received the grace of the Spirit from the outside as a gift, as the company of the saints do. He took what was his as his own proper inheritance. Yes, he said to the Father, "All that is mine is yours, and yours mine, and I am glorified in them." He is glorified therefore by exercising as his own might and power the power of the Spirit who shares his substance.

Now He performed miracles not from any external power, and from having as it were the acquired grace of the Holy Spirit, as other saints, but rather as being by nature the Son of God, and partaking of all things which are the Father's, He exercises as by His own power and operation that grace which is of the Holy Spirit. But it was right that from that time He should become known, and that the mystery of His humanity should shine forth among those who were of the seed of Israel. It therefore follows, And his fame went out.

What was the custom of him who had come just now? He had come to Galilee and had begun to teach, not outside of the synagogue but within it. Since the matter was known through their worship service, he came to talk to them about their God. Otherwise it would have been in order for him to proclaim to them outside their synagogue.

For Christ does not fear the midday demon nor the night demon, nor does He need the help of angels, He Himself keeping them unscathed to God; but even if it is said concerning Christ, it skillfully omits the intermediate matter. For it continues: "You shall tread upon the adder and the basilisk, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon." For these things were He Himself. Since He was about to be tested in the temptation against the devil, the term "spirit" is mentioned twice without any addition; but when He had fought and overcome the three recorded temptations, pay attention to the accuracy of the text, what it says about the spirit, that "Jesus returned in the power of the spirit," and it added "in the power" because of the athlete who had overcome.

But John, who had commenced his Gospel from God, saying, In the beginning was the Word, did not describe the temptation of the Lord, because God can not be tempted, of whom he wrote. But because in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke the human generations are given, and in Mark it is man who is tempted, therefore Matthew, Luke, and Mark have described the temptation of the Lord.

The Lord having overcome the tempter, power was added to Him, i. e. as far as regards the manifestation of it. Hence it is said, And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit.

For you will not be able to affirm that "son" to be David rather than Christ; or the "bounds of the earth" to have been promised rather to David, who reigned within the single (country of) Judea, than to Christ, who has already taken captive the whole orb with the faith of His gospel; as He says through Isaiah: "Behold, I have given Thee for a covenant of my family, for a light of Gentiles, that Thou mayst open the eyes of the blind"-of course, such as err-"to outloose from bonds the bound"-that is, to free them from sins-"and from the house of prison"-that is, of death-"such as sit in darkness" -of ignorance, to wit.

And because wisdom belongs to teaching, but power to works, both are joined here, as it follows, And he taught in the synagogue. Synagogue, which is a Greek word, is rendered in Latin congregatio. By this name then the Jews were accustomed to call not only the gathering together of people, but also the house where they met together to hear the word of God; as we call by the name of Church, both the place and the company of the faithful. But there is this difference between the synagogue which is called congregation, and the Church which is interpreted convocation, that flocks and cattle, and any thing else can be gathered together in one, but only rational beings can be called together. Accordingly the Apostolical doctors thought right to call a people which was distinguished by the superior dignity of a new grace rather by the name of Church, than Synagogue. But rightly also was the fact of His being magnified by those present proved, by actual evidence of word and deed, as it follows, And he was magnified by all.

As to the certainty of doctrine, it is added: And he taught in their synagogues, not in secret, as do men who have suspect doctrine; John chapter eighteen: "I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together, and in secret I have said nothing." On the contrary, the wisdom of heretics is called "earthly, sensual, devilish," which is designated by the evil woman: Proverbs chapter nine: "Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant." Whence Christ fulfilled that passage of Proverbs chapter five: "Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and divide your waters in the streets." And therefore it is said in Proverbs chapter one: "Wisdom cries aloud outside; in the streets she utters her voice," etc.

As for the greatness of efficacy, it is added: And he was magnified by all, because all perceived the greatness of his efficacy to such a degree that they could say that word of the Psalm: "Your mercy is magnified even unto the heavens, and your truth unto the clouds," namely in preaching. Nor is this surprising, because he himself was the one designated by that Solomon, of whom it is said in 3 Kings 10: "King Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the whole earth in riches and wisdom," etc. Below in chapter seven: "A great prophet has risen among us."

But you must not think that they only were happy, and that you are deprived of Christ's teaching. For now also throughout the world He teaches through His instruments, and is now more glorified by all men, than at that time when those only in one province were gathered together.