And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
After His baptism Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desolate wilderness to be tempted by the devil, where He fasted forty days and nights in real hunger and suffering. His going there was deliberate in the plan of salvation, to stand where Adam stood and meet on human ground the temptations that beset humanity, with nothing done to remove them from Him. The destiny of the human race was at stake in that single-handed trial, with angels watching, for if He conquered there was hope for man to overcome, but if Satan won man would remain bound. There He gained the victory upon appetite, the first great temptation, redeeming Adam's failure in the garden as the second Adam and breaking appetite's power so temperance may regain Eden. He met every assault with It is written, and that victory gained in man's stead gives fallen man power to overcome in His name by divine grace, yet each must gain it individually.
Baptism, Spirit, and Wilderness
After baptism in the Jordan, Jesus, full of and filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This leading introduces the temptation in the wilderness that followed his baptism. The Spirit had fitted and prepared him for this fierce trial.
He did not place himself in danger or seek temptation by his own will, but withdrew to be alone to consider his mission and work. Through fasting and prayer he contemplated freeing people from the destroyer and prepared himself for the suffering ahead. During the fast the plan of his work as deliverer and humanity's deliverer was laid out before him. He withdrew from the busy scenes of life for this threefold test on behalf of those he came to redeem, praying for strength to endure the conflict, with the opening of heaven, the descending glory and the Father's declaration at his baptism attesting his divine character and sonship.
The wilderness was desolate, lonely, barren and unpleasant, with wild beasts, a place from which human nature would shrink. About thirty years old, after his baptism and inauguration, he withdrew from the busy scenes of life for this trial, with his course marked out to fulfill the work he came to do. After the long fast and victory he returned to the Jordan. Coming up out of the water he had bowed on Jordan's banks and prayed to the great Eternal for strength to endure the conflict with the fallen foe.
There he fasted forty days and forty nights, eating nothing and drinking nothing, nearly six weeks. His hunger was real, with keen pangs, weakness and suffering, leaving him pale and emaciated, fainting and apparently dying. When the conflict ended angels lifted him, ministered to him, and strengthened him with nourishing food. He showed perfect confidence that his Heavenly Father would not suffer him to be tempted above what he would give him strength to endure, but would bring him off conqueror if he patiently bore the test, even sending an angel to relieve him if there was no other way.
As he entered, the glory and the Father's acknowledgment from baptism departed. At first he was surrounded by the Father's glory and absorbed in communion with God, lifted above human weakness, but when the glory departed he faced temptation in his human nature. Then he bore deep sorrow under the weight and guilt and burden of the world's sins and suffered for sinners. His anguish was less from the pangs of hunger than from sensing the fearful result of indulgence of appetite and passion upon the race, knowing appetite would become man's idol, make him forget God, and stand directly in the way of his salvation.
Though he appeared to be alone, angels were around him, as they minister to those under the enemy's assaults. Being full of the Spirit meant the Spirit's power was manifested through zeal for good works, not by bodily movements, the pattern for following him in humble, meek yet earnest service to God. The verse opens the threefold temptation in the wilderness, an important yet neglected subject that teaches Christian temperance and the Redeemer's great work in carrying out the plan of salvation.
Purpose in Salvation Plan
The leading into the wilderness was deliberate in the plan of salvation, not an accidental encounter and not merely an opportunity seized by the adversary. That wilderness trial was as necessary to the plan as the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension and the second advent, and it is the foundation of the plan and the key given to fallen people for overcoming in the Conqueror's name. Before His mission began He withdrew from the busy scenes of life to the desolate wilderness for the express purpose of bearing the threefold test of temptation in behalf of those He came to redeem. Having stepped from His royal throne as Prince of heaven and clothed Himself with humanity, He came as man's surety to stand where Adam stood and endure what Adam failed to endure.
He entered the struggle to meet on humanity's ground the temptations that beset humanity, passing over the ground where Adam had fallen. He was to be tempted on every point on which man would be tried, and He resisted in the same manner in which every tempted soul may resist. In the plan, temptation had been removed as far as possible from Adam when tested, but nothing was done to remove temptation from Christ, who met the enemy at disadvantage with strength reduced by the long fast. That fast and conflict came with a force a hundredfold stronger than any temptation ever brought or ever to be brought against the race.
The destiny of the human race and the salvation of man were at stake and in the balance in that single-handed contest with the prince of darkness. Either Satan or the Redeemer was to be victorious, and angels watched the trial with intense interest. If Christ was victor on appetite there was a chance for man to overcome, but if Satan had won man would have remained bound by appetite in chains of indulgence without moral power to break. It was a decisive contest over Satan's claimed dominion and empire over the world.
Satan knew through prophecy that a Saviour was predicted whose kingdom would not be established in earthly triumph with worldly honor and display, but would be established by the Prince of Heaven upon the earth Satan claimed and would embrace all the kingdoms of the world. He knew that then his right would be disputed, his power broken, his power and glory would cease, heaven would be more directly accessible to man, and he would receive retribution for the sins and misery he had brought upon man. He knew that limitation of his power and everything concerning his prosperity, life and kingdom depended on his success or failure in overcoming Christ in the wilderness, so he brought every artifice and force of powerful temptation to allure Him from allegiance. He believed that defeating Jesus would win victory over the whole human race and establish his own life and kingdom.
Christ was conqueror there, and the tempter left Him for a season, so the wilderness victory was real yet not final. Satan spent the three years of Christ's ministry preparing to return for the last fearful struggle in Gethsemane, where everything was at stake for him. If he failed there his hope of mastery was lost, the kingdoms of the earth would finally become Christ's, and he as the strong man would be bound, overthrown and cast out, but if Christ could be overcome the earth would become Satan's kingdom and the human race would be forever in his power. He withdrew only for a time, looking forward to the period of the ministry to try his power again by blinding the understanding of the Jews, filling hearts with envy, jealousy, hatred and unbelief, making Christ's life as bitter as possible, discouraging Him in His mission, opposing Him through human agents and priests and people, and securing agents to carry out his purposes. The verse stands at the beginning of His public ministry where the unceasing battle between Christ and Satan met, showing Satan's kingdom in opposition to God's kingdom.
Satan's Assault and Disguise
For forty days the devil tempted him with the fiercest and most subtle, manifold and most powerful temptations, putting forth his strongest efforts in severe mental suffering and strain. His anguish was less from the pangs of hunger than from sensing the fearful result of indulgence of appetite and passion in making man forget God, become an idol, and stand directly in the way of salvation. He showed perfect confidence that the Father would not allow temptation beyond the strength given to endure it, but would bring him off conqueror if he patiently bore the test, even sending an angel to relieve him if there was no other way.
The fiercest attacks came when he was weakest, and Satan sought to take advantage of that weak, suffering, hungry condition. Satan came in person, not as a fallen angel but as a beautiful young man more like a monarch. He came as an angel of light and Heaven-sent friend, clothed with heaven's livery and concealing his real character, offering flattering inducements and an easier way to gain his object than the path of trial and suffering he had entered. He repulsed the enemy and forced him to depart as a conquered foe.
Satan came with Scripture in his mouth, saying It is written, quoting it in an attempt to overthrow him. He can disguise temptation as goodness and present himself as humanity's friend in order to deceive. Scripture so used can be employed deceptively to gain confidence and lead astray.
Pressed by hunger after the long fast, Satan demanded that he turn stone into bread, a demand made especially pressing by his weakened condition. He could have used divine power to feed himself, but doing so would have opposed the Father's plan, since his miracles were for the good of others and not for his own relief. He remained in his Father's hands and met temptation as humanity's representative in faith and trust. He answered that life depends on God's word, and when challenged to throw himself from the temple to prove he was God's Son he refused to put God to the test.
Satan pressed him with manifold temptations to rob him of his integrity as Son of the Infinite, offering all honor, riches, glory and worldly kingdoms and power if he would acknowledge Satan's claims, worship him, and avoid suffering. He refused to yield a single point of integrity or to trade integrity and principle for earthly advantage, though brought to great physical suffering, anguish and humiliation. He refused to worship Satan or grasp at worldly power and wealth when tempted with appetite and ambition. He repulsed the enemy and forced him to depart conquered.
Satan adapts temptations to circumstances and offers an apparent good in return for indulgence, and victory over his devices is possible in Christ. He dared to face and tempt him and had power to carry him to the temple pinnacle and a high mountain. There was daring blasphemy in demanding that Christ pay him homage, in presumptuously bearing him to the mountain summit and the pinnacle of the temple, and in maliciously urging him to cast himself down from the height. The same foe later tempted him to abandon his journey to Jerusalem and save himself from death, but his life was governed by the Father's will and he steadfastly went to Jerusalem to give himself for the sins of humanity, for had he yielded Satan's agents would have triumphed and the world would have been lost.
Alone with no human voice to hear, he was surrounded by demons under deceptive pretensions as angels from heaven with the most seducing attractions. There Satan pressed wily insinuations against God as he did to Adam and Eve, with most deceiving and artful sophistry to undermine confidence in God and destroy faith and trust. He kept the mind on constant strain to get one clue to use to allure into controversy, as if reading unspoken thoughts just as with Eve. He gave Satan not one word to lead him on but answered from point to point only with It is written, so his surely aimed fiery darts found no lodgment though apparently under the power of Satan and his angels.
Having left heaven to become human, he was upheld by his Father against every temptation and device to draw him away from allegiance to God. The evil spirit conquered there in person was the same arch-enemy and prince of darkness and prince of the power of darkness later met in the Capernaum synagogue demoniac and other possessions, though assuming another form. When he met the possessed man he was again brought face to face with his enemy, and on the Sabbath in the synagogue again met and conquered him and set the captive free, which explains his calm authority over unclean spirits. That contest unmasked the character of the great deceiver, whose design to draw minds from Jesus to man failed.
Representative Victory Over Appetite
In the wilderness Jesus gained the victory upon appetite, the first great temptation, and His long fast broke the power of appetite. That long fast was to be a lesson for all time, giving evidence that the work of overcoming begins just where ruin began, on the point of appetite. The anguish involved in that nearly six weeks of fasting reveals how great is the strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite. Indulgence weakens health and intellect, prevents exalted views of God, hides the claims of His law, weakens the mental and moral powers, makes eternal things harder to value, destroys appreciation of the plan of salvation, and by sensual indulgence erases the soul's likeness to God. His endurance of physical suffering and mental anguish there shows that people can overcome temptation through self-denial as He did.
His victory stands opposite Adam's fall, for Adam fell through intemperate appetite in the garden and lost blissful Eden, while Jesus resisted the same gratification of appetite in the wilderness. As the second Adam He overcame where Adam fell through indulgence, redeemed Adam's disgraceful failure and fall, and made it possible for Adam's children through Christ, through divine help and through temperance in all things, to overcome appetite and regain Eden. There He faced the test Adam had failed, endured the prolonged fast and trial against Satan with humanity's salvation at stake, and though hunger and mental anguish left Him weak and haggard He did not turn from loyalty to His Father nor stain His character. His victory gives the Christian basis for temperance.
His humanity alone could never have endured the test, but divine power joined and combined with His humanity won an infinite, priceless victory on humanity's behalf. As man's representative in that victory He raised humanity in moral value with God. That victory restores the moral image of God in the human agent and makes it possible for people, in their own act and on their own behalf, to take up the work with divine intelligence cooperating with them, so they can stand in moral integrity free from all slavery of perverted appetite and passion, with followers as laborers together with God in this restoring work and fathers to tell the story to their children. His victory over appetite through self-denial became an example for humanity, His long fast exposed the sinfulness of indulgence even in pleasures men love, and His life is the standard Christians are to compare their lives with and follow in order to overcome.
Alone He met the great leading temptations that beset humanity and assail man: appetite, presumption, and love of the world, with love of honor, pride, ambition, and worldly kingdoms. These three are the chief avenues from which Satan's many temptations grow and the three leading allurements by which people are often overcome. He overcame the temptations of appetite, love of the world, love of honor, and pride that leads to presumption on humanity's behalf, because people could not overcome by themselves. He refused to worship Satan or grasp at worldly power and wealth, showing that integrity and principle must not be traded for earthly advantage. His victory shows that people can overcome temptation, while meditation and prayer help them avoid dangerous situations that give Satan an advantage, and claiming God's promises recklessly while disregarding prudence is presumption, not genuine faith, with no temptation that assailed Christ stronger than the temptations people face.
He repulsed Satan in every conflict and forced him to depart as a conquered foe, to heaven's joy. Those battles were fought on humanity's behalf, and those victories make it possible for people to conquer. No test as severe as the Captain of salvation endured will ever be brought upon man. There was great rejoicing, triumph, and hosannas in heaven that Satan, who had deceived even heavenly angels and drawn a third part of heaven into rebellion, was vanquished at every point and repulsed by the Prince of Life.
His trial proved Him to be the tried, precious cornerstone and sure foundation laid in Zion. There He endured the pressure of Adam's guilt and the guilt of his posterity, did not fail, and came off more than conqueror of the powers of evil. That victory proves He never disappoints those who trust Him, so the whole world can safely lay burdens and griefs upon Him, and guilty hearts falling broken upon this rock find relief and rest in perfect security.
As Majesty of Heaven He was smitten, bruised, afflicted, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, brought to humiliation, anguish, and great physical suffering to bring salvation within reach. His overcoming was an infinite, priceless victory gained in behalf of man at great cost, and the conflict was so severe that He was fainting and apparently dying when angels came, lifted His fainting head, strengthened Him, ministered to Him, and served Him with nourishing food. He refused to yield a single point of integrity despite the most flattering inducements to bribe and influence Him, even when the tempter came clothed with the livery of heaven.
He remained steadfast in carrying out the plan to redeem fallen humanity, refusing Satan's claim that He could avoid the suffering ahead. His long fast began and Satan immediately tempted Him, yet He carried out the plan. His hunger after forty days and nights without food was real, and Satan began tempting Him as that suffering and keen pangs of hunger commenced. Unlike Moses, who was specially sustained by God and did not feel hunger during his fast, Christ truly hungered and was harassed, and His faintness from hunger and Satan's attempt to overpower Him there reveal the significance of the temptation and the power of appetite.
He denied appetite and overcame its power as an example of self-control and self-denial. Controlling appetite is one of the highest attainments in Christian life and overcoming is necessary for hope of heaven. The long fast and suffering there was to leave man an example of self-denial, to convict men of the sinfulness of indulgence of appetite, and to show the sinfulness of the very pleasures men love. He bore that forty-day fast in the wilderness of temptation for humanity, so people are not called to repeat it and gain no virtue by doing so. The virtue is in His blood and sacrifice, which have power to purify and refine, and in His grace, which enables people to work with God.
Scripture Pattern for Resistance
Luke 4:1 opens the necessary confrontation with Satan, whose authority had become almost supreme, and there Jesus met all the devil's great temptations with "It is written." He did not meet the enemy with human words or arguments of His own, for arguments and reasons are of no use against Satan, but with a plain appeal to what is written. That "It is written" alone repulses him and puts the feet on solid, immovable rock, for He was quoting His own words inspired through holy men of old. In the same manner every tempted soul may resist, by appealing to the inspired record of Scripture.
Filled with the Holy Spirit and led into the wilderness, He held to the written word of God through forty days in which He ate nothing and drank nothing. Armed with the words of Scripture, He met and overcame the strongest temptations the enemy could bring, and thereby demonstrated the power of God's word. Where the word fails to change people, it is from their disobedient choice, not from any lack of power in the word.
As the suffering Saviour He met Scripture with Scripture, for Satan himself came with Scripture in his mouth, saying It is written. Through forty days and forty nights of strain, weakened by fasting and enduring severe mental suffering under the most fearful assaults of the prince of darkness, He answered from point to point only with "It is written." He gave Satan not one word to lead him on into controversy, speaking only the words God had inspired holy men to write, so that surely aimed fiery darts found no lodgment though He was apparently under the power of Satan and his angels.
His use of Scripture shows His acquaintance with the Scriptures. Believers must learn these lessons from the Word, hang them in memory's hall, and turn from foolish reading to memorize Scripture. When the enemy besets with besetting temptation, they are to meet him with that only weapon, "It is written," to baffle the enemy, speak timely words to others, be strengthened, and perfect a character fitted for transfer to future immortal life where no tempting devil can overcome them.
His temptation there is the example of instantly rejecting Satan's suggestions and bribes. His example teaches that Scripture can be used to resist temptation, and that when feelings are stirred it is safer not to answer a provocation with one's own words. The wilderness conflict thus teaches followers by His own example how to resist Satan and overcome his devices, and victory is possible in Christ's name.
Power and Example for Believers
Those battles were fought and that victory gained on humanity's behalf in man's stead, for man cannot overcome the powerful foe in his own strength. The force brought against Christ was a hundredfold stronger than any ever brought or ever to be brought against the race, yet He resisted in the same manner in which every tempted soul may resist. As Overcomer He has given the advantage of His victory, so that in resisting temptation weakness may be united to His enduring might, the strongest temptation resisted in His all-powerful name, and overcome as He overcame. Through His name He made it possible for man to overcome Satan on his own behalf, and those victories make it possible for His followers to conquer as He gives strength to all who seek it.
That infinite, priceless victory gives fallen man the key to overcome in Christ's name by divine grace and strength from the Father. It benefits no one unless he also gains the victory individually, for all are personally exposed to the very same temptations Christ overcame and must individually overcome for themselves through Him, though many fall where Christ conquered. No one can be overcome without his own consent, for the tempter has no power to control the will or force the soul to sin. He may distress but cannot contaminate, he can cause agony but not defilement without consent. All who seek to follow Jesus will be brought into conflict with this relentless foe, and the more nearly the Christian imitates the divine Pattern the more surely he makes himself a mark for Satan's attacks, yet the fact that Christ has conquered should inspire His followers with courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan.
He came to stand at humanity's head and help weakness, so that through the power He brings appetite and passion can be overcome. His long fast taught the necessity of self-denial and temperance, showing that self-denial should begin at the table and extend to every part of life. That fast of nearly six weeks, resisted without being overcome, strengthened Him to endure and was to be a lesson to fallen man for all time, giving evidence that overcoming begins just where ruin began, on the point of appetite. His victory as Conqueror gives man opportunity in His name to deny appetite and gain the victory for himself, and is encouragement for every struggling soul to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony.
He is the sinner's only hope, and His victory there elevated man in the scale of moral value and restores the moral image of God in the human agent. Through His name and strength and merits even the liquor and tobacco inebriate may break the slavery of habit and become victor, supplying power for temperance and sanctification. Followers are laborers together with God in this restoring work to stand in moral integrity free from all slavery of perverted appetite and passion, and fathers are to tell this story to their children. He was tempted and buffeted by Satan in every way more strongly than any disciple will ever be tempted, yet His will stayed fully submitted to His Father's will and He did not yield for a moment. When Satan left Him for a season angels ministered grace and strength to Him, and so followers buffeted for a season, if they keep will yielded to God and resist, will likewise have trial followed by grace and strength imparted by angels, for continual resistance is the only hope and reveals understanding of Satan's power.
Those blunted by indulgence of appetite and love of gaiety, pleasure, feasting and amusement cannot appreciate the conflict, treating it as common warfare between kings with no bearing on life and character, and to them the example and victory are lost and meaningless. Indulgence weakens health and intellect, prevents exalted views of God, hides the claims of His law, and destroys appreciation of the plan of salvation. Church socials, festivals and picnics for overindulgence and amusements leading to levity and forgetfulness of God have no sanction in His example, but Christians who realize what was gained for them will compare their lives with His life, deny self, and overcome as He overcame. Breaking the force of appetite proves cases not irrecoverable, for He broke the chain of bondage and provides strength by which others can break it, with heaven opened to prayer and a living Saviour ready to assist. Breaking it is required to enter the gates of the city, and not one who declares he cannot break it will enter.
The battle against appetite is each person's own that no one else can fight for him, though others can pray, for the work must be wholly his own. His life is the standard Christians are to compare with and follow in order to overcome. Meditation and prayer help avoid dangerous ground giving Satan advantage, while recklessly claiming promises disregarding prudence is presumption not faith, and no temptation that assailed Him is stronger than what people face. By passing through the path of trial humanity must travel when weakest, He prepared the way to overcome. After fasting forty days He would not send the hungry multitude home unfed, and He steadfastly went to Jerusalem governed by the Father's will to give Himself for sins, for had He yielded Satan's agents would have triumphed and the world been lost.
After His baptism Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desolate wilderness to be tempted by the devil, where He fasted forty days and nights in real hunger and suffering. His going there was deliberate in the plan of salvation, to stand where Adam stood and meet on human ground the temptations that beset humanity, with nothing done to remove them from Him. The destiny of the human race was at stake in that single-handed trial, with angels watching, for if He conquered there was hope for man to overcome, but if Satan won man would remain bound. There He gained the victory upon appetite, the first great temptation, redeeming Adam's failure in the garden as the second Adam and breaking appetite's power so temperance may regain Eden. He met every assault with It is written, and that victory gained in man's stead gives fallen man power to overcome in His name by divine grace, yet each must gain it individually.
Baptism, Spirit, and Wilderness
After baptism in the Jordan, Jesus, full of and filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This leading introduces the temptation in the wilderness that followed his baptism. The Spirit had fitted and prepared him for this fierce trial.
He did not place himself in danger or seek temptation by his own will, but withdrew to be alone to consider his mission and work. Through fasting and prayer he contemplated freeing people from the destroyer and prepared himself for the suffering ahead. During the fast the plan of his work as deliverer and humanity's deliverer was laid out before him. He withdrew from the busy scenes of life for this threefold test on behalf of those he came to redeem, praying for strength to endure the conflict, with the opening of heaven, the descending glory and the Father's declaration at his baptism attesting his divine character and sonship.
The wilderness was desolate, lonely, barren and unpleasant, with wild beasts, a place from which human nature would shrink. About thirty years old, after his baptism and inauguration, he withdrew from the busy scenes of life for this trial, with his course marked out to fulfill the work he came to do. After the long fast and victory he returned to the Jordan. Coming up out of the water he had bowed on Jordan's banks and prayed to the great Eternal for strength to endure the conflict with the fallen foe.
There he fasted forty days and forty nights, eating nothing and drinking nothing, nearly six weeks. His hunger was real, with keen pangs, weakness and suffering, leaving him pale and emaciated, fainting and apparently dying. When the conflict ended angels lifted him, ministered to him, and strengthened him with nourishing food. He showed perfect confidence that his Heavenly Father would not suffer him to be tempted above what he would give him strength to endure, but would bring him off conqueror if he patiently bore the test, even sending an angel to relieve him if there was no other way.
As he entered, the glory and the Father's acknowledgment from baptism departed. At first he was surrounded by the Father's glory and absorbed in communion with God, lifted above human weakness, but when the glory departed he faced temptation in his human nature. Then he bore deep sorrow under the weight and guilt and burden of the world's sins and suffered for sinners. His anguish was less from the pangs of hunger than from sensing the fearful result of indulgence of appetite and passion upon the race, knowing appetite would become man's idol, make him forget God, and stand directly in the way of his salvation.
Though he appeared to be alone, angels were around him, as they minister to those under the enemy's assaults. Being full of the Spirit meant the Spirit's power was manifested through zeal for good works, not by bodily movements, the pattern for following him in humble, meek yet earnest service to God. The verse opens the threefold temptation in the wilderness, an important yet neglected subject that teaches Christian temperance and the Redeemer's great work in carrying out the plan of salvation.
Purpose in Salvation Plan
The leading into the wilderness was deliberate in the plan of salvation, not an accidental encounter and not merely an opportunity seized by the adversary. That wilderness trial was as necessary to the plan as the crucifixion, the resurrection, the ascension and the second advent, and it is the foundation of the plan and the key given to fallen people for overcoming in the Conqueror's name. Before His mission began He withdrew from the busy scenes of life to the desolate wilderness for the express purpose of bearing the threefold test of temptation in behalf of those He came to redeem. Having stepped from His royal throne as Prince of heaven and clothed Himself with humanity, He came as man's surety to stand where Adam stood and endure what Adam failed to endure.
He entered the struggle to meet on humanity's ground the temptations that beset humanity, passing over the ground where Adam had fallen. He was to be tempted on every point on which man would be tried, and He resisted in the same manner in which every tempted soul may resist. In the plan, temptation had been removed as far as possible from Adam when tested, but nothing was done to remove temptation from Christ, who met the enemy at disadvantage with strength reduced by the long fast. That fast and conflict came with a force a hundredfold stronger than any temptation ever brought or ever to be brought against the race.
The destiny of the human race and the salvation of man were at stake and in the balance in that single-handed contest with the prince of darkness. Either Satan or the Redeemer was to be victorious, and angels watched the trial with intense interest. If Christ was victor on appetite there was a chance for man to overcome, but if Satan had won man would have remained bound by appetite in chains of indulgence without moral power to break. It was a decisive contest over Satan's claimed dominion and empire over the world.
Satan knew through prophecy that a Saviour was predicted whose kingdom would not be established in earthly triumph with worldly honor and display, but would be established by the Prince of Heaven upon the earth Satan claimed and would embrace all the kingdoms of the world. He knew that then his right would be disputed, his power broken, his power and glory would cease, heaven would be more directly accessible to man, and he would receive retribution for the sins and misery he had brought upon man. He knew that limitation of his power and everything concerning his prosperity, life and kingdom depended on his success or failure in overcoming Christ in the wilderness, so he brought every artifice and force of powerful temptation to allure Him from allegiance. He believed that defeating Jesus would win victory over the whole human race and establish his own life and kingdom.
Christ was conqueror there, and the tempter left Him for a season, so the wilderness victory was real yet not final. Satan spent the three years of Christ's ministry preparing to return for the last fearful struggle in Gethsemane, where everything was at stake for him. If he failed there his hope of mastery was lost, the kingdoms of the earth would finally become Christ's, and he as the strong man would be bound, overthrown and cast out, but if Christ could be overcome the earth would become Satan's kingdom and the human race would be forever in his power. He withdrew only for a time, looking forward to the period of the ministry to try his power again by blinding the understanding of the Jews, filling hearts with envy, jealousy, hatred and unbelief, making Christ's life as bitter as possible, discouraging Him in His mission, opposing Him through human agents and priests and people, and securing agents to carry out his purposes. The verse stands at the beginning of His public ministry where the unceasing battle between Christ and Satan met, showing Satan's kingdom in opposition to God's kingdom.
Satan's Assault and Disguise
For forty days the devil tempted him with the fiercest and most subtle, manifold and most powerful temptations, putting forth his strongest efforts in severe mental suffering and strain. His anguish was less from the pangs of hunger than from sensing the fearful result of indulgence of appetite and passion in making man forget God, become an idol, and stand directly in the way of salvation. He showed perfect confidence that the Father would not allow temptation beyond the strength given to endure it, but would bring him off conqueror if he patiently bore the test, even sending an angel to relieve him if there was no other way.
The fiercest attacks came when he was weakest, and Satan sought to take advantage of that weak, suffering, hungry condition. Satan came in person, not as a fallen angel but as a beautiful young man more like a monarch. He came as an angel of light and Heaven-sent friend, clothed with heaven's livery and concealing his real character, offering flattering inducements and an easier way to gain his object than the path of trial and suffering he had entered. He repulsed the enemy and forced him to depart as a conquered foe.
Satan came with Scripture in his mouth, saying It is written, quoting it in an attempt to overthrow him. He can disguise temptation as goodness and present himself as humanity's friend in order to deceive. Scripture so used can be employed deceptively to gain confidence and lead astray.
Pressed by hunger after the long fast, Satan demanded that he turn stone into bread, a demand made especially pressing by his weakened condition. He could have used divine power to feed himself, but doing so would have opposed the Father's plan, since his miracles were for the good of others and not for his own relief. He remained in his Father's hands and met temptation as humanity's representative in faith and trust. He answered that life depends on God's word, and when challenged to throw himself from the temple to prove he was God's Son he refused to put God to the test.
Satan pressed him with manifold temptations to rob him of his integrity as Son of the Infinite, offering all honor, riches, glory and worldly kingdoms and power if he would acknowledge Satan's claims, worship him, and avoid suffering. He refused to yield a single point of integrity or to trade integrity and principle for earthly advantage, though brought to great physical suffering, anguish and humiliation. He refused to worship Satan or grasp at worldly power and wealth when tempted with appetite and ambition. He repulsed the enemy and forced him to depart conquered.
Satan adapts temptations to circumstances and offers an apparent good in return for indulgence, and victory over his devices is possible in Christ. He dared to face and tempt him and had power to carry him to the temple pinnacle and a high mountain. There was daring blasphemy in demanding that Christ pay him homage, in presumptuously bearing him to the mountain summit and the pinnacle of the temple, and in maliciously urging him to cast himself down from the height. The same foe later tempted him to abandon his journey to Jerusalem and save himself from death, but his life was governed by the Father's will and he steadfastly went to Jerusalem to give himself for the sins of humanity, for had he yielded Satan's agents would have triumphed and the world would have been lost.
Alone with no human voice to hear, he was surrounded by demons under deceptive pretensions as angels from heaven with the most seducing attractions. There Satan pressed wily insinuations against God as he did to Adam and Eve, with most deceiving and artful sophistry to undermine confidence in God and destroy faith and trust. He kept the mind on constant strain to get one clue to use to allure into controversy, as if reading unspoken thoughts just as with Eve. He gave Satan not one word to lead him on but answered from point to point only with It is written, so his surely aimed fiery darts found no lodgment though apparently under the power of Satan and his angels.
Having left heaven to become human, he was upheld by his Father against every temptation and device to draw him away from allegiance to God. The evil spirit conquered there in person was the same arch-enemy and prince of darkness and prince of the power of darkness later met in the Capernaum synagogue demoniac and other possessions, though assuming another form. When he met the possessed man he was again brought face to face with his enemy, and on the Sabbath in the synagogue again met and conquered him and set the captive free, which explains his calm authority over unclean spirits. That contest unmasked the character of the great deceiver, whose design to draw minds from Jesus to man failed.
Representative Victory Over Appetite
In the wilderness Jesus gained the victory upon appetite, the first great temptation, and His long fast broke the power of appetite. That long fast was to be a lesson for all time, giving evidence that the work of overcoming begins just where ruin began, on the point of appetite. The anguish involved in that nearly six weeks of fasting reveals how great is the strength of the temptation to indulge perverted appetite. Indulgence weakens health and intellect, prevents exalted views of God, hides the claims of His law, weakens the mental and moral powers, makes eternal things harder to value, destroys appreciation of the plan of salvation, and by sensual indulgence erases the soul's likeness to God. His endurance of physical suffering and mental anguish there shows that people can overcome temptation through self-denial as He did.
His victory stands opposite Adam's fall, for Adam fell through intemperate appetite in the garden and lost blissful Eden, while Jesus resisted the same gratification of appetite in the wilderness. As the second Adam He overcame where Adam fell through indulgence, redeemed Adam's disgraceful failure and fall, and made it possible for Adam's children through Christ, through divine help and through temperance in all things, to overcome appetite and regain Eden. There He faced the test Adam had failed, endured the prolonged fast and trial against Satan with humanity's salvation at stake, and though hunger and mental anguish left Him weak and haggard He did not turn from loyalty to His Father nor stain His character. His victory gives the Christian basis for temperance.
His humanity alone could never have endured the test, but divine power joined and combined with His humanity won an infinite, priceless victory on humanity's behalf. As man's representative in that victory He raised humanity in moral value with God. That victory restores the moral image of God in the human agent and makes it possible for people, in their own act and on their own behalf, to take up the work with divine intelligence cooperating with them, so they can stand in moral integrity free from all slavery of perverted appetite and passion, with followers as laborers together with God in this restoring work and fathers to tell the story to their children. His victory over appetite through self-denial became an example for humanity, His long fast exposed the sinfulness of indulgence even in pleasures men love, and His life is the standard Christians are to compare their lives with and follow in order to overcome.
Alone He met the great leading temptations that beset humanity and assail man: appetite, presumption, and love of the world, with love of honor, pride, ambition, and worldly kingdoms. These three are the chief avenues from which Satan's many temptations grow and the three leading allurements by which people are often overcome. He overcame the temptations of appetite, love of the world, love of honor, and pride that leads to presumption on humanity's behalf, because people could not overcome by themselves. He refused to worship Satan or grasp at worldly power and wealth, showing that integrity and principle must not be traded for earthly advantage. His victory shows that people can overcome temptation, while meditation and prayer help them avoid dangerous situations that give Satan an advantage, and claiming God's promises recklessly while disregarding prudence is presumption, not genuine faith, with no temptation that assailed Christ stronger than the temptations people face.
He repulsed Satan in every conflict and forced him to depart as a conquered foe, to heaven's joy. Those battles were fought on humanity's behalf, and those victories make it possible for people to conquer. No test as severe as the Captain of salvation endured will ever be brought upon man. There was great rejoicing, triumph, and hosannas in heaven that Satan, who had deceived even heavenly angels and drawn a third part of heaven into rebellion, was vanquished at every point and repulsed by the Prince of Life.
His trial proved Him to be the tried, precious cornerstone and sure foundation laid in Zion. There He endured the pressure of Adam's guilt and the guilt of his posterity, did not fail, and came off more than conqueror of the powers of evil. That victory proves He never disappoints those who trust Him, so the whole world can safely lay burdens and griefs upon Him, and guilty hearts falling broken upon this rock find relief and rest in perfect security.
As Majesty of Heaven He was smitten, bruised, afflicted, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, brought to humiliation, anguish, and great physical suffering to bring salvation within reach. His overcoming was an infinite, priceless victory gained in behalf of man at great cost, and the conflict was so severe that He was fainting and apparently dying when angels came, lifted His fainting head, strengthened Him, ministered to Him, and served Him with nourishing food. He refused to yield a single point of integrity despite the most flattering inducements to bribe and influence Him, even when the tempter came clothed with the livery of heaven.
He remained steadfast in carrying out the plan to redeem fallen humanity, refusing Satan's claim that He could avoid the suffering ahead. His long fast began and Satan immediately tempted Him, yet He carried out the plan. His hunger after forty days and nights without food was real, and Satan began tempting Him as that suffering and keen pangs of hunger commenced. Unlike Moses, who was specially sustained by God and did not feel hunger during his fast, Christ truly hungered and was harassed, and His faintness from hunger and Satan's attempt to overpower Him there reveal the significance of the temptation and the power of appetite.
He denied appetite and overcame its power as an example of self-control and self-denial. Controlling appetite is one of the highest attainments in Christian life and overcoming is necessary for hope of heaven. The long fast and suffering there was to leave man an example of self-denial, to convict men of the sinfulness of indulgence of appetite, and to show the sinfulness of the very pleasures men love. He bore that forty-day fast in the wilderness of temptation for humanity, so people are not called to repeat it and gain no virtue by doing so. The virtue is in His blood and sacrifice, which have power to purify and refine, and in His grace, which enables people to work with God.
Scripture Pattern for Resistance
Luke 4:1 opens the necessary confrontation with Satan, whose authority had become almost supreme, and there Jesus met all the devil's great temptations with "It is written." He did not meet the enemy with human words or arguments of His own, for arguments and reasons are of no use against Satan, but with a plain appeal to what is written. That "It is written" alone repulses him and puts the feet on solid, immovable rock, for He was quoting His own words inspired through holy men of old. In the same manner every tempted soul may resist, by appealing to the inspired record of Scripture.
Filled with the Holy Spirit and led into the wilderness, He held to the written word of God through forty days in which He ate nothing and drank nothing. Armed with the words of Scripture, He met and overcame the strongest temptations the enemy could bring, and thereby demonstrated the power of God's word. Where the word fails to change people, it is from their disobedient choice, not from any lack of power in the word.
As the suffering Saviour He met Scripture with Scripture, for Satan himself came with Scripture in his mouth, saying It is written. Through forty days and forty nights of strain, weakened by fasting and enduring severe mental suffering under the most fearful assaults of the prince of darkness, He answered from point to point only with "It is written." He gave Satan not one word to lead him on into controversy, speaking only the words God had inspired holy men to write, so that surely aimed fiery darts found no lodgment though He was apparently under the power of Satan and his angels.
His use of Scripture shows His acquaintance with the Scriptures. Believers must learn these lessons from the Word, hang them in memory's hall, and turn from foolish reading to memorize Scripture. When the enemy besets with besetting temptation, they are to meet him with that only weapon, "It is written," to baffle the enemy, speak timely words to others, be strengthened, and perfect a character fitted for transfer to future immortal life where no tempting devil can overcome them.
His temptation there is the example of instantly rejecting Satan's suggestions and bribes. His example teaches that Scripture can be used to resist temptation, and that when feelings are stirred it is safer not to answer a provocation with one's own words. The wilderness conflict thus teaches followers by His own example how to resist Satan and overcome his devices, and victory is possible in Christ's name.
Power and Example for Believers
Those battles were fought and that victory gained on humanity's behalf in man's stead, for man cannot overcome the powerful foe in his own strength. The force brought against Christ was a hundredfold stronger than any ever brought or ever to be brought against the race, yet He resisted in the same manner in which every tempted soul may resist. As Overcomer He has given the advantage of His victory, so that in resisting temptation weakness may be united to His enduring might, the strongest temptation resisted in His all-powerful name, and overcome as He overcame. Through His name He made it possible for man to overcome Satan on his own behalf, and those victories make it possible for His followers to conquer as He gives strength to all who seek it.
That infinite, priceless victory gives fallen man the key to overcome in Christ's name by divine grace and strength from the Father. It benefits no one unless he also gains the victory individually, for all are personally exposed to the very same temptations Christ overcame and must individually overcome for themselves through Him, though many fall where Christ conquered. No one can be overcome without his own consent, for the tempter has no power to control the will or force the soul to sin. He may distress but cannot contaminate, he can cause agony but not defilement without consent. All who seek to follow Jesus will be brought into conflict with this relentless foe, and the more nearly the Christian imitates the divine Pattern the more surely he makes himself a mark for Satan's attacks, yet the fact that Christ has conquered should inspire His followers with courage to fight manfully the battle against sin and Satan.
He came to stand at humanity's head and help weakness, so that through the power He brings appetite and passion can be overcome. His long fast taught the necessity of self-denial and temperance, showing that self-denial should begin at the table and extend to every part of life. That fast of nearly six weeks, resisted without being overcome, strengthened Him to endure and was to be a lesson to fallen man for all time, giving evidence that overcoming begins just where ruin began, on the point of appetite. His victory as Conqueror gives man opportunity in His name to deny appetite and gain the victory for himself, and is encouragement for every struggling soul to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of testimony.
He is the sinner's only hope, and His victory there elevated man in the scale of moral value and restores the moral image of God in the human agent. Through His name and strength and merits even the liquor and tobacco inebriate may break the slavery of habit and become victor, supplying power for temperance and sanctification. Followers are laborers together with God in this restoring work to stand in moral integrity free from all slavery of perverted appetite and passion, and fathers are to tell this story to their children. He was tempted and buffeted by Satan in every way more strongly than any disciple will ever be tempted, yet His will stayed fully submitted to His Father's will and He did not yield for a moment. When Satan left Him for a season angels ministered grace and strength to Him, and so followers buffeted for a season, if they keep will yielded to God and resist, will likewise have trial followed by grace and strength imparted by angels, for continual resistance is the only hope and reveals understanding of Satan's power.
Those blunted by indulgence of appetite and love of gaiety, pleasure, feasting and amusement cannot appreciate the conflict, treating it as common warfare between kings with no bearing on life and character, and to them the example and victory are lost and meaningless. Indulgence weakens health and intellect, prevents exalted views of God, hides the claims of His law, and destroys appreciation of the plan of salvation. Church socials, festivals and picnics for overindulgence and amusements leading to levity and forgetfulness of God have no sanction in His example, but Christians who realize what was gained for them will compare their lives with His life, deny self, and overcome as He overcame. Breaking the force of appetite proves cases not irrecoverable, for He broke the chain of bondage and provides strength by which others can break it, with heaven opened to prayer and a living Saviour ready to assist. Breaking it is required to enter the gates of the city, and not one who declares he cannot break it will enter.
The battle against appetite is each person's own that no one else can fight for him, though others can pray, for the work must be wholly his own. His life is the standard Christians are to compare with and follow in order to overcome. Meditation and prayer help avoid dangerous ground giving Satan advantage, while recklessly claiming promises disregarding prudence is presumption not faith, and no temptation that assailed Him is stronger than what people face. By passing through the path of trial humanity must travel when weakest, He prepared the way to overcome. After fasting forty days He would not send the hungry multitude home unfed, and He steadfastly went to Jerusalem governed by the Father's will to give Himself for sins, for had He yielded Satan's agents would have triumphed and the world been lost.