And devils also came out of many,— See ch. Luke 11:14. It is to be considered, that the view under which Christ is frequently represented, is as the great antagonist of the prince of darkness; and the gospel has its foundation in the victory which Satan has gained over mankind. Compare Genesis 3:15. Matthew 12:28-29. 1 John 3:8. Hebrews 2:14 and Romans 16:20., as also Matthew 6:13. John 17:13. Ephesians 6:16 and 1 John 2:13-14; 1 John 3:12; 1 John 5:18-19 in all which places the original 'ο πονηρος seems to signify the wicked one, that is, the devil, whose powerful influence over men is intimated or expressed in each of them. And it appears from Wis 2:24 that the Jews before Christ's time held this sentiment, and considered the wicked as taking part with the devil. The words are, Through envy of the devil came death into the world, and they who hold of his side do find it. The inspired texts above shew that the expression is just; and it was certainly on this account a most wise and gracious dispensation to permit the devil about this time to give some unusual proofs of his existence, power, and malice, in thus attacking men's bodies; which might convince them what a dangerous enemy he was to their souls, and what need they had of the power and patronage of Christ; as the sensible victory of Christ in these dispossessions would be a proof and specimen of that illustrious and complete triumph over the devil and his confederate powers, in which our Lord's mediatorial kingdom is to end. No kind of miracles therefore could be more fit to attest his mission, and to promote his interest among men; and hence it is that hardly any are more frequently and circumstantially described. This seems a sufficient answer to the difficulty proposed by Dr. Mede, in his Works, p. 28 and others; and a clear proof that we shall do no service to Christianity by endeavouring to disprove the reality of these possessions, or by dropping the mention of the infernal powers in our preaching, how fashionable soever such omissions may grow.
Inferences drawn from our Saviour's temptation.—The several scenes of the wonderful transactions recorded in this chapter, were presented to our Lord in the form, and answer the end, of a present trial. But this was not all; they appear to have been directly and properly intended as symbolical predictions and representations of the future difficulties of his office and ministry. We will consider them in this view.
Now with respect to the first scene, (Luke 4:3-4.) it is evident that it had reference to our Saviour's future ministry, through the whole course of which he was pressed with the same kind of temptations, and resisted them on the same principles. This part of the temptation very naturally conveyed this good instruction, "that Christ, though the Son of God, was to struggle with the afflicting hardships of hunger and thirst, and all the other evils of humanity, like the lowest of the sons of men; and that he was never to exert his divine power for his own personal relief under the most pressing difficulties, or for the supply of his most urgent occasions." Accordingly, we find that Christ regulated his conduct by this maxim. He did not subsist by miracles; but though rich in the possession of power capable of controlling all the laws of nature; though heir and Lord of all, he became poor, and lived an indigent life, without any settled habitation, or certain provision. He knew how much more blessed it is to give than to receive, and yet disdained not to accept kindness from others, or even to stand indebted to their bounty for his support. In some circumstances he felt the pressure of hunger, without having food to eat; at other times he had no leisure to take any, through a zealous application to the duties of his office, such as was not to be interrupted by the pressing calls of nature. He chose rather to deny himself necessary refreshment, than lose an opportunity of healing and instructing the multitude; and neither on these nor on any other occasion did he relieve himself by a miracle. This is the more extraordinary, as he interposes with readiness on the behalf of others, who daily rejoiced in the temporal as well as spiritual benefit of his divine power; and at different times fed the hungry multitude in the desert, by a miraculous increase of his own slender provisions.
Nor did he only endure hunger and thirst, but all the other evils incident to human nature. He lived a laborious, and led an itinerant life. Instead of commanding angels to his service, he submitted to the inconveniences and fatigues of travelling on foot, from one part of Judea and Galilee to another, and was tossed about by tempests at sea. He was exhausted by the incessant labours of his ministry, and that intense application of mind with which he engaged in it. After performing tiresome journies, and preaching to the crowds which followed him in the day, he often spent a considerable part of the night, sometimes the whole of it, in prayer to his Heavenly Father, and in the open air; notwithstanding that the copious dews which fell by night in those parts must have been very dangerous, especially when the body was heated by the exercise of the preceding day. So many injuries did his constitution suffer, that the crasis or texture of his blood was destroyed, and sweated through every pore of his body; and to such a degree was he enfeebled by the violence to which he patiently submitted, as to be unable to bear his cross. He, who in so many thousand instances renewed the health and vigour of others, never exerted any miraculous power, either to preserve or restore his own, but sunk under the pressure of his infirmities! In all his exigencies he referred himself to his Heavenly Father. Even under the greatest extremity, his agony in the garden, as man, he sought and waited for the interposition of his Heavenly Father; who, in answer to his prayer, sent an angel from heaven to strengthen him: and when the hour of his death approached, he used no means for his rescue; but meekly resigned himself into the hands of his most malicious enemies, in obedience to his Father's will.
The divine powers with which Christ was invested as man, were designed as the seal of his mission; and accordingly they were never applied to a different purpose. This strict appropriation of his miracles to their proper intention, served to point it out more clearly, and to keep it in constant view; to manifest his wisdom, and the necessity of the works themselves, and to preserve their dignity and authority, which would have been impaired, if not destroyed, by a more general application of them. As Christ never applied them to any purpose foreign to their grand intention, so it was in a very peculiar manner necessary, that he should never be employed to protect himself from the calamities and distresses to which human nature is liable. Had he, when made in the likeness of man, saved himself by miracles from the evils of humanity, where had been his conflict, his victory, his triumph? Or, where the consolation and benefit that his followers derived from his example, his merit, his crown?
The second scene of his temptation (Luke 4:9-12. Matthew 4:5-7.—The reader will see that we follow St. Matthew's order, agreeable to the observation on Luke 4:5.) has also an evident reference to our Saviour's future ministry. Through the whole course of it he was assaulted with temptations similar to that here proposed, and repelled them upon the maxim here adopted. Instead of needlessly running into danger, and then exerting his divine power to extricate himself, which might have occasioned an unnecessary and endless multiplication of miracles; we find him using the utmost caution in declining dangers where the great end of his divine mission was not concerned, avoiding as far as possible what might exasperate his enemies, and enjoining silence with regard to his miracles, when the publication of them was likely, by raising envy or popular commotions, to inflame their minds yet more against him. We find him also disappointing their malice, by prudently retreating from its reach, till the appointed period of his ministry was fulfilled: so that, although there were some instances in which he protected himself from his adversaries in a miraculous manner, yet, considering how eagerly the Jewish rulers were bent upon his destruction, and how often they attempted it, those instances are few, compared with what they must have been, had not Christ been perpetually attentive in his whole conduct to this maxim,—Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
In producing the evidences of his divine mission, he still acted upon the same maxim: instead of opening his commission at Jerusalem, and displaying all at once upon that grand theatre the divine powers which he possessed in all their fulness; he performed his first miracle at Cana in Galilee, and made that obscure country, for a considerable time, the principal scene of his ministry; which he endeavoured to fulfil with all the privacy which the nature of the work would admit. Instead of courting the favour of the opulent and powerful, to engage them to countenance and support his cause, or challenging from the rulers of the Jewish nation the homage due to his divine character, he did not bear a commission chiefly or particularly directed to them (an honour which some of the ancient prophets enjoyed); but conversed freely with all sorts of people; not only with the lowest but with the worst, in order to bring them to repentance.
Now these circumstances of Christ's ministry correspond with those in the scene before us, where he was tempted to a public and ostentatious display of his miraculous powers; and his answer to this second temptation contained a new limitation under which those powers were to be used: even in bringing men to the faith, he was not to exceed the order which was consistent with the divine perfections. And though the determination of God in this respect was certainly founded in the highest wisdom; though it was perfectly analogous to the other measures of his government over his moral creatures; and though it was well calculated to promote the credit and true interest of the Gospel; yet did it require the greatest humility, fortitude and piety in him as man, who had the power of working miracles at pleasure, to acquiesce herein.
Ambition and vain-glory could never have resisted the temptations that Christ was under to an incessant and unlimited exertion of his miraculous powers, by which he would have advanced his own honour, rendered his ministry more illustrious, and forced universal submission. This temptation was the more difficult to be overcome, as, in consequence of the method which was taken, his doctrine was embraced only by a few well-disposed persons, and those generally in the lower rank of life. See Matthew 11:25-26.
The third and last scene of this temptation (Luke 4:5-8. Matthew 4:8-9.) was also a presignification and warning of the like temptations in the course of his future ministry; during which he was called upon to prostitute himself, with all his miraculous endowments, to the service of Satan, for the sake of worldly honours. The Jewish nation expected their Messiah to deliver it from the yoke of servitude, and to raise it to a pitch of grandeur superior to what it had ever enjoyed. As these were the expectations which the Jews entertained, so they were very solicitous that Jesus should answer them; and would have done every thing in their power to promote the success of such an undertaking:—they even would have taken him by force, and made him a king. And it is certain, that had his miraculous powers, which were wholly consecrated to the erecting of the kingdom of God among them, been employed in paving his way to secular honour, he might not only have escaped sufferings and death, but easily have ascended the throne of the universe. How readily would not only the Jews, but all other nations, have repaired to the standard of a prince, who by a word, or silent volition only, could provide for his own armies, or destroy those of his enemies? "Why then,—it might have been suggested to him,—instead of spending your life in affliction, and then ending it upon the cross, will you not use your power for your own benefit, to deliver yourself from misery, and make yourself master of the world?"
But temptation never at any time prevailed over our Lord, notwithstanding universal empire carries with it charms almost irresistible to noble and heroic minds, conscious of their superior wisdom and abilities, and an intention to employ their power to the true ends for which it was bestowed. If any thing can heighten the virtue of despising worldly greatness, if it come in competition with our duty, it is the being practised in circumstances of indigence, such as are infinitely beneath that rank to which our talents entitle us: and therefore to refuse, as our Saviour did, grandeur, and royalty, and universal empire, while he was more destitute of the accommodations of life than even the beasts of the field, or the birds of the air, and was struggling with poverty, reproach, and persecution, and had death itself in certain prospect before him,—all which evils might have been avoided by a misapplication of his miraculous powers,—was the higher act of virtue that could possibly be exhibited. See the Inferences drawn from Matthew 4.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, As the great enemy of souls had foiled the first man in the midst of a paradise of delights, the second man, the Lord from heaven, who came to destroy the works of the devil, that he might render his victory more illustrious, gives the tempter every advantage. Though deep retired in a dreary desert, without human converse, without food, during forty days, to satisfy his hunger, he stood like a rock in the midst of the sea, defying the impotent attacks of the raging fiend of darkness. Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost, and just then anointed for his most sacred office, and furnished with the fulness of divine grace, Satan, to his bitter shame and vexation, found him immoveable; and every attack that he made but signalized his own defeat.
1. He tempted him to distrust his Father's care, and insinuated his suspicions of the character that he assumed as the Son of God; seeking to shake the faith of the Redeemer, and challenging him to give a proof of it by working a miracle for his own supply of food in his extremity. But Jesus refused to gratify him; and by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, foiled his assault, testifying his confidence in his Father's provision for him, refusing to take the matter out of his hands, and persuaded that he could by other means than by bread alone preserve his life and satisfy his hunger: hereby teaching us, (1.) Under every temptation to have recourse to the word and promises of God. (2.) Not to give place to the devil, by harbouring for a moment his suggestions. (3.) Never to desire to be our own carvers, or think by our own contrivance and wisdom, exclusive of God, to extricate ourselves from our difficulties, or gain our own ends; but quietly to resign ourselves to him, submissive to his providences, and constantly depending upon his blessing and support. (4.) That we should not estimate God's favour by his outward dispensations, nor call in question our adoption by him, because we are severely exercised. Many of God's dearest children have known the pinchings of hunger, to prove their faiths and try their patience.
2. He tempted him with the enticing offers of temporal grandeur. This St. Matthew places the last, and such it seems to have been; though St. Luke inverts the order. (See the Annotations.) Taking him up into a mountain, the devil in a moment caused all the kingdoms of the world in their greater glory to pass in review before our Lord, as if to dazzle and charm him with their united splendor: then boldly challenging them as his own, as if delivered to him, either by the Most High, which was false; or by the willing subjection of these nations and their kings, who yielded themselves up to the devil's power; and, as Lord of all, he pretends therefore a right to dispose of them at his pleasure: on one condition he proffers to lay them all at the feet of Jesus, and constitute him the universal sovereign, If thou wilt worship me, all shall be thine. With indignation and abhorrence at such insolence and impiety, he rejects the tempter's offer; and still drawing his weapons from the sacred magazine of scripture, condemns the daring attempt of this hateful spirit thus to invade the divine prerogative; and confounds him with producing that eternal and invariable rule of worship, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Note; All adoration of saints, angels, and the virgin, is in fact but the worship of Satan.
3. Once more the devil returns to the charge, and, since Christ is unmoved with grandeur, and unshaken with distrust, he tries to fill him with unwarrantable presumption; and setting him on a pinnacle of the temple, bids him cast himself down into the court of worshippers below; and, if he was really the Son of God, to prove it by such a sign from heaven as the Jews sought, which, he suggests, would not fail of engaging them to receive him as the Messiah; nor could there be danger in the experiment, since God had given him an express promise of protection, and he was under angelic care, Psalms 91:11-12. Christ laid such stress upon the scripture, that Satan quotes it also to support his cause. The word of God, in the hands of wicked men, is thus often perverted and wrested to serve the vilest purposes. But Jesus detects Satan's fallacy. God is to be trusted, not tempted, as it is written, Deuteronomy 6:16. In the way of duty, he will hold us up: if, without any warrant from him, we expose ourselves to needless danger, we have not the least ground to hope for preservation.
Utterly defeated now, the devil quits the field, covered with shame; in malice still inveterate. Waiting therefore for a more favourable season, he departed, resolving to seize the first occasion of returning with sharpened malignity; see Luke 22:53.
2nd, Having vanquished his infernal foe in the wilderness, Jesus enters upon his ministerial office, and publicly appears, destroying, by his doctrine and miracles, the power of Satan over the bodies and souls of men.
1. In the power of the Spirit he returned to Galilee, strengthened with might in the inner man for the arduous work which he had undertaken; and immediately he set himself to discharge his high commission, preaching in their synagogues the gospel of the kingdom: and such power accompanied his word, and such miracles confirmed his doctrine, that the people in general admired and extolled him, and his fame quickly spread through all that country.
2. After passing through other parts of Galilee, he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up; and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day, and stood up to read some section of scripture, as was usually done on that day: and a most laudable custom is this, in every worshipping assembly, to read the word of God. The volume, which was delivered to him for this purpose by the minister of the synagogue, contained the prophesy of Isaiah; and, unrolling the parchment on which it was written, he found the place, Isaiah 61:1-2 which spake so evidently of himself. Whether it was the portion of scripture for the day, or that he chose it as the properest introduction to his discourse, is uncertain; but, which-ever was the case, it gave him the fairest opportunity to describe his own office and character, and left them inexcusable who should reject him notwithstanding the voice of the prophets was heard every sabbath-day.
[1.] The text gave a full account of the Redeemer's undertaking. 1. He was eminently qualified for his arduous work by that plenitude of gifts and graces conferred upon him by the Spirit of the Lord; and fully commissioned by this unction from the Holy One for the discharge of his divine office. 2. The great end of his mission is set forth. (1.) To preach the gospel to the poor, to evangelize them; not only to speak to their ears, but to make his work effectual to convert the hearts of all believers. By the poor are meant not merely the indigent and common people, though of such did Christ's disciples chiefly consist; but the poor in spirit, who, convinced of their spiritual wants and wretchedness, would gladly embrace that free pardon and salvation which the gospel revealed to them. (2.) To heal the broken-hearted, whose sins pierced their souls with sorrow, and whose troubled consciences and corrupted hearts nothing but the balm of his blood and grace could relieve and cure. (3.) To preach deliverance to the captives, to sinful souls enslaved by Satan's power. Their chains of guilt are broken through faith in the atonement of Jesus, and by his Spirit they are delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. (4.) To preach recovering of sight to the blind, to open the darkened understanding of fallen man, and to shine into his heart, communicating the knowledge of the salvation which is by grace. (5.) To set at liberty them that are bruised, to break off the galling yoke of the law from the necks of those who, under a spirit of bondage, continued miserable and unhappy, and, in its stead, to give them the spirit of adoption, and liberty from every slavish fear. (6.) To preach the acceptable year of the Lord, that joyful year of gospel jubilee, when insolvent but believing sinners shall obtain free remission of all their sins, deliverance from their miseries, restoration to the divine favour, and, if faithful unto death, their forfeited inheritance in the heavenly Canaan.
[2.] Having read this text, and delivered the roll again to the minister, he sat down, as was the custom of the Jewish doctors, and began to discourse at large on all the various particulars; shewing how the words referred to the Messiah and his office, and were that very day fulfilled in himself.
3. The audience hung with attention on his lips, their eyes eagerly fastened on him, and admiration seized every hearer: such eminent wisdom, such energy of diction, such majesty and grace, appeared in all his words and address, that they were astonished above measure, especially considering the meanness of his birth and education. Is not this Joseph's son, the carpenter? which, though it increased their wonder at his discourse, prejudiced them against his person, and would not suffer them to admit the application to himself of this high office of the Messiah. Note; (1.) To have our eyes directed to the minister, serves often to fix the attention to his discourse. (2.) Many admire the preaching, and are pleased with the orator, whose hearts are never truly converted by what they hear.
4. He anticipates and answers the objection which he saw rising in the hearts of many against him. Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: if thou art the wondrous personage, as reported, shew it, by working the same miracles at home, which we have heard done in Capernaum. But, in answer hereunto, he assures them, that, if he did the same or greater wonders among them, he knew their prejudices against him were such, that they would notwithstanding reject him, no prophet being accepted in his own country; they, who had known his parentage and education, and been used for so long a time to regard him as vastly their inferior, would still think meanly of him through the wilful obstinacy of their hearts. But he shews them, that though he withheld his favours from them, it would be no proof against him, since he had the examples of former prophets to plead. As great or greater objections would therefore lie against these prophets, than they suggested against him.
5. The people were highly exasperated at the reproach which they apprehended was couched under these instances, as if they of Nazareth were as wicked as the Israelites in the days of Ahab, and that even Gentiles would be preferred before them in the divine regard. Though so lately they admired his gracious words, this application cut them to the heart; and, rising in a popular tumult, they cast him out of the synagogue, hurried him through the city, and, dragging him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, intended to hurl him headlong down, and dash him in pieces. Note; It is a mercy that even the madness of the people is under a divine restraint: else how many of God's faithful ministers had met an untimely death, who have escaped under the divine providence.
6. Jesus disappoints their malice. His time to suffer was not yet come, and therefore, by his divine power, either holding their eyes, or rendering himself invisible, he passed safe through the midst of them, leaving them to their impenitence and ruin. Note; They who reject Jesus and his gospel, are justly given up to a reprobate mind. 3rdly, When Jesus departed from Nazareth, he returned to Capernaum, and, as usual, on the sabbath-day he taught the people in their synagogues, to the astonishment of all who heard him; such divine authority and commanding energy accompanied his word. In proof of the doctrine that he advanced, we have,
1. A notable miracle performed in the presence of the congregation where he preached; see Mark 1:23. A man with the spirit of an unclean devil was in the synagogue. Filled with enmity against Christ and his gospel, and terrified with just fears that Jesus would dispossess him, the devil, using the man's organs of speech, cried out, Let us alone, &c. These wicked spirits dread their doom, and fearfully look forward to their terrible judgment. They knew the powers of Jesus of Nazareth, for Satan had proved it in the wilderness; and, fully satisfied concerning his mission, they confess him to be the Holy One of God, though with no kind intention: malice dictated here the language of truth, and they would fain fix upon him the suspicion of a confederacy with them, by bearing such an honourable testimony to him. But Jesus in a moment silenced this foul fiend, and with a word rescued the miserable sinner from his power. With rage, compelled to depart, the devil vented his last efforts, throwing the man down with violent convulsions; as if he would have torn him in pieces; but his power was broken, he was unable to hurt him, and the cure was complete. Amazed, the whole congregation beheld, and questioned with each other concerning a miracle so wondrous and incontestible. Never had such power and authority appeared before; that with a word the infernal spirit should thus be dispossessed, without the least ability to make effective resistance. And immediately the fame of the cure spread far and wide. Note; The power of Satan, as an unclean spirit, over the souls of men, is still exceeding great, and nothing but the powerful word of gospel-grace can cast him out.
2. No sooner was Jesus returned from the synagogue, than St. Peter's wife's mother, who lay ill of a fever, experienced his healing grace. At the request of some of the company, who mentioned her disorder, he arose, stood by her bed-side, rebuked the fever with a word; and instantly she was so perfectly restored to health, as to be able to wait on the guests who were in the house. Note; (1.) When they who are near and dear to us are sick, we must beseech Jesus on their behalf; and the prayer of faith still availeth much. (2.) They who are restored to spiritual health by the Saviour's grace, will be ready to discharge every kind office of love and service to the least of his people.
3. A multitude of other cures were performed by him the same day at even. All who had friends or relations diseased applied to him, and, whatever was their malady, he with a touch healed them all: even devils, unable to stand before his word, came out of those that were possessed, confessing him to be the Messiah; but he silenced them, refusing to receive any testimony from such as they were. Note; When they who, we know, bear enmity towards us, speak of us most respectfully, their civilities are to be most suspected of design.
4. Early next morning he departed from Capernaum to a solitude for retirement. Thither the people followed him, and intreated him to return to their city: but he chose to diffuse the favour of his gospel, and dispense his miracles of mercy, in the country around; for this was the design of his mission, to be a general blessing. Note; (1.) They who have much public work, have especial need of seasonable retirement also. To be alone with God is the best preparative for the pulpit. (2.) They who have found Christ's presence so desirable, naturally wish for its continuance. And though he refused his bodily presence to them, he has engaged to his faithful people, who perseveringly cleave to him, that he will abide with them for ever.