Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Ver. 10. Get thee hence, Satan] Avaunt, avoid, be packing! This was an indignity not to be endured, as great, every way, as if the basest scoundrel upon earth should assault the chastity of the greatest empress. Our Saviour therefore will endure him no longer, but commands him out of his presence, with utmost indignation. And surely madness, in case of God's dishonour, is far better than meekness. Here, if "we be beside ourselves, it is to God," as Paul said, 2 Corinthians 5:13; and as he did, when he dealt with Elymas, the firstborn of the devil, when he saw him perverting the deputy; "he set his eyes upon him," saith the text, as if he would have run through him. After which lightning follows that terrible thunder crack, "O full of all subtilty and of all mischief," &c. Agnosce te primogeniturn diaboli. Sic Cerintho Ioannes Apostolus. Acts 13:9,10. So the angel of Ephesus could not abide those counterfeits, Revelation 2:2. Nor could David brook the workers of iniquity: he casteth down the gauntlet of defiance against them, as his utter enemies, he "hateth them with a perfect hatred," Psalms 139:21,22. Hezekiah pulled down the brazen serpent (when the people idolized it), and called it a piece of brass. And Josiah would not let stand the horses of the sun and other monuments of idolatry, upon any entreaty. King Edward VI, being laboured by some of his best friends to permit the Lady Mary his sister to have mass in her house, answered, He would rather spend his life, and all he had, than agree and grant to that he knew certainly to be against the truth. (Acts and Mon.) And another time, in his message to the rebels of Devonshire: "Assure you most surely," said he, "that we of no earthly thing under heaven make such reputation as of this one, to have our law obeyed, and this cause of God which we have taken in hand to be thoroughly maintained; from the which we will never remove a hair's breadth, or give place to any creature living, much less to any subject; wherein we will spend our own royal person, our crown, treasure, realm, and all our state, whereof we assure you of our high honour." (Acts and Mon.) Now, God's blessing be on that blessed heart that hath such a stomach against God's dishonour; and can entertain all wicked attempts and assaults with this Apage of our Saviour. And woe to them that cry Euge to such. Whether we say to the tempter, as our Saviour did, "Get thee hence," and not rather, as the angel, "The Lord rebuke thee," Judges 1:9, is questioned by some; because it is only to command the devil. But that we may and must say to him, no man doubts, as our Saviour did to the Pharisees, "Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites?" Matthew 22:18; as Naboth did to Ahab, "God forbid me any such wickedness," 1 Kings 21:3; as Solomon to his mother, "Ask the kingdom also;" as the witch of Endor to Saul, "Why seekest thou to take me in a snare, to cause me to die?" 1 Samuel 28:9. Thus, "Resist," saith Peter 1 Peter 5:9; "Stand fast," saith Paul, Ephesians 6:14, νικαν παρα το νε εικειν. Resist, and Satan will flee, he is but a coward. Stand, and then Satan will fall. Not to yield is to conquer: if he cast us not down, we are then accepted, as if we did cast him down. We do "over overcome," saith that great apostle, υπερνικωμεν, Romans 8:37, because in our head, Christ, we overcome before we fight, and are sure of victory,Revelation 12:1. Quare apage sis, diabole, et tela tua in hoc semen mulieris converte: hunc si viceris, me quoque viceris, said one; Devil, do thy worst to Christ: conquer him, and take all (Solomon Gonerus apud Melch. Adam.)
For it is written] This two-edged sword our Saviour had found to be metal of proof, and therefore holds him to it. Only the Scriptures scare the devil, as only faithful prayer can charm him. Isaiah 26:16, prayer is called לחש, a charm. Athanasius writeth that evil spirits may be put to flight by that Psalm: Psa 68:1 "Let the Lord arise, and his enemies be confounded." But this is true of the whole word of God, which is armour of proof against the devil.
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God] "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God," saith Moses. So Matthew 15:9; cf. Isaiah 29:13. See Psalms 2:11; Joshua 24:14; Hebrews 12:28. Solomon sets the fear of God as the basis and beginning of God's work and worship, in the beginning of his works, Proverbs 1:7. And again, in the end of them, makes it the end and upshot of all. For they "that fear the Lord will keep his covenant," Psalms 103:13,18. Yea, they will work hard at it, as afraid to be taken with their tasks undone, Acts 10:35. Deum si quis parum metuit, valde contemnit; huius qui non memorat beneficentiam, auget iniuriam. (Fulgent.) They will give him both the shell of outward adoration and the kernel of inward devotion; truly, without halting; and totally, without halving: truly, both for matter and manner; totally, both for subject and object; as David, who did all the wills of God, θεληματα, and with all his heart, all the days of his life, Acts 13:36. The Gentiles could say, that God must be worshipped η ολως υη ολως, either to our utmost, or not at all. And Plutarch compares our duty to a certain fish, which eaten sparingly hurteth; but being eaten up all, is medicinal.
And him only shalt thou serve] With inward worship, as before with outward. And so God only is to be served; for it supposeth Omniscience, Omnipresence, and Omnipotence, which are in none else but God. Sunt qui colendi verbum, απο του κολακευειν dictum volunt, eo quod plerunque Dei hominumque cultus cum adulatione et hypocrisi est coniunctus. Sic a λατρευειν, Gallicum et nostrate flatter. Sic adorare quidam dictum volunt ab ore, tametsi menta magis quam ore vera fiat adoratio. Quinetiam adorare antiquis idem fuit quod agere.