Preaching and Ministry MATTHEW, III. ceive that either of these two Evangelists wrote his Gospel with the other's before him-though many think this a precarious inference. that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets. He shall be called a Nazarene-better, perhaps, 'Nazarene.' The best explanation of the origin of this name appears to be that which traces it to the word netzer in Isaiah, 11. 1-the small twig,' 'sprout,' or 'sucker,' which the prophet there says, "shall come forth from the stem (or rather stump') of Jesse, the branch which should fructify from his roots." The little town of Nazareth-mentioned neither in the Old Testament nor in JOSEPHUS-was probably so called from its insignificance-a weak twig in contrast to a stately tree; and a special contempt seemed to rest upon it-"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' (John, 1. 46-over and above the general contempt in which all Galilee was held, from the number of Gentiles that settled in the upper territories of it, and, in the estimation of the Jews, debased it. Thus, in the providential arrangement by which our Lord was brought up at the insignificant and opprobrious town called Nazareth, there was involved, first, a local humiliation; next, an allusion to Isaiah's prediction of His lowly, twig-like upspringing from the branchless, dried-up stump of Jesse; and yet further, a standing memorial of that humiliation which "the prophets," in a number of the most striking predictions, had attached to the Messiah. CHAPTER III. Ver. 1-12. PREACHING AND MINISTRY OF JOHN. (=Mark, 1. 1-8; Luke, 3. 1-18.) For the proper introduction to this section, we must go to Luke, 3. 1, 2. Here, as BENGEL well observes, the curtain of the New Testament is, as it were, drawn up, and the greatest of all epochs of the Church commences. Even our Lord's own age is determined by it (v. 23). No such elaborate chronological precision is to be found elsewhere in the New Testament, and it comes fitly from him who claims it as the peculiar recommendation of his Gospel, that he had traced down all things with precision from the very first' (ch. 1.3). Here evidently commences his proper narrative. Ver. 1. "Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Cæsar"-not the fifteenth from his full accession on the death of Augustus. but from the period when he was associated with him in the government of the empire, three years earlier, about the end of the year of Rome 779, or about four years before the usual reckoning. "Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea." His proper title was Procurator, but with more than the usual powers of that office. After holding it for about ten years, he was summoned to Rome to answer to charges brought against him; but ere he arrived Tiberius died (A.D. 35), and soon after miserable Pilate committed suicide. "and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee (see on Mark, 6. 14, and his brother Philip"-a very different and very superior Philip to the one whose name was Herod Philip, and whose wife, Herodias, went to live with Herod Antipas (see on Mark, 6. 17)-tetrarch of Iturea" lying to the North East of Palestine, and so called from Itur or Jetur, Ishmael's son 1 Chronicles, 1. 31), and anciently belonging to the half-tribe of Manasseh. "and of the region of Trachonitis"-lying farther to the North East, between Iturea and Damascus; a rocky district infested by robbers, and committed by Augustus to Herod the Great to keep in order. "and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene"-still more to the North East; so called, says ROBINSON, from Abila, eighteen miles from Damascus. Ver. 2. "Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests." The former, though deposed, retained much of his influence, and, probably, as Sagan or deputy, exercised much of the of John the Baptist. his son-in-law (John, 18 13; Acts, 4. 6). In David's time both Zadok and Abiathar acted as high priests (2 Samuel, 15. 35), and it seems to have been the fixed practice to have two 12 Kings. 25. 18. "the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness." Such a way of speaking is never once used when speaking of Jesus, because He was hiniself The Living Word; whereas to all merely creature-messengers of God, the word they spake was a foreign element. See on John, 3. 31. We are now prepared for the opening words of Matthew. 1. In those days of Christ's secluded life at Nazareth, where the last chapter left Him. came John the Baptist, preaching-about six months before his Master. in the wilderness of Judea-the desert valley of the Jordan, thinly peopled and bare in pasture, a little North of Jerusalem. 2. And saying, Repent ye. Though the word strictly denotes a change of mind, it has respect here, and wherever it is used in connection with salvation, primarily to that sense of sin which leads the sinner to flee from the wrath to come, to look for relief only from above, and eagerly to fall in with the provided remedy. for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. This sublime phrase, used in none of the other Gospels, occurs in this peculiarly Jewish Gospel nearly thirty times; and being suggested by Daniel's grand vision of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven to the Ancient of days, to receive His Investiture in a world-wide kingdom (Daniel, 7. 13, 14), it was fitted at once both to meet the national expectations and to turn them into the right channel. A kingdom for which repentance was the proper preparation behoved to be essentially spiritual. Deliverance from sin, the great blessing of Christ's kingdom (ch. 1. 21, can be valued by those only to whom sin is a burden (ch. 9. 12. John's great work, accordingly, was to awaken this feeling, and hold out the hope of a speedy and precious remedy. 3. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying ch. 11. 3). The voice of one crying in the wilderness see on Luke, 3. 2)-the scene of his ministry corresponding to its rough nature. Prerare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. This prediction is quoted in all the four Gospels, showing that it was regarded as a great outstanding one, and the predicted forerunner as the connecting link between the old and the new economies. Like the great ones of the earth, the Prince of peace was to have His immediate approach proclaimed and His way prepared; and the call here-taking it generally is a call to put out of the way whatever would obstruct His progress and hinder His complete triumph, whether those hindrances were public or personal, outward or inward. In Luke (3, 5, 6 the quotation is thus continued: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God." Levelling and smoothing are here the obvious figures whose sense is conveyed in the first words of the proclamation-"Prepare ye the way of the Lord." The idea is, that every obstruction shall be so removed as to reveal to the whole world the Salvation of God in Him whose name is the "Saviour." (Cl. Psalm 98. 3; Isaiah, 11. 10; 49. 6; 52. 10; Luke, 2. 31, 32; Acts, 13. 47.) 4. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair-that is, woven of it-and a leathern girdle about his loins-the prophetic dress of Elijah (2 Kings, 1. 8; and see Zechariah. 13. 4). and his meat was locusts-the great well-known eastern locust, a food of the poor (Leviticus, 11. 22). and wild honeymade by wild bees (1 Samuel, 14. 25, 26). This dress and diet, with the shrill cry in the wilderness, would recall the stern days of Elijah. 5. Then went out to John Rebuketh MATTHEW, III. the Pharisees. Though the stern speaker may have pointed as he spake to the pebbles of the bare clay hills that lay around (so STANLEY'S Sinai and Palestine), it was clearly the calling of the Gentiles-at that time stonedead in their sins, and quite as unconscious of it-into the room of unbelieving and disinherited Israel that he meant thus to indicate. (See ch. 21. 43; Romans, 11. 20, 30.) 10. And now also-' And even already'the ax is laid unto-lieth at'-the root of the trees-as it were ready to strike an expressive figure of impending judgment, only to be averted in the way next described. therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Language so personal and individual as this can scarcely be understood of any national judgment like the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, with the breaking up of the Jewish polity and the extrusion of the chosen people from their peculiar privileges which followed it; though this would serve as the dark shadow, cast before, of a more terrible retribution to come. The "fire," which in another verse is called "unquenchable," can be no other than that future "torment" of the impenitent, whose "smoke ascendeth up for ever and ever," and which by the Judge Himself is styled "everlasting punishment" (Matthew, 25. 46). What a strength, too, of just indignation is in that word "cast" or "flung into the fire!" The Third Gospel here adds the following important particulars, Luke, 3. 10-16: Ver. 10. And the people"-rather, the multitudes'-"asked him, saying, What shall we do then?'-that is, to show the sincerity of our repentance. Ver. 11. "He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat"-provisions,' 'victuals'-"let him do likewise." This is directed against the reigning avarico and selfishness. (Cf. the corresponding precepts of the Sermon on the Mount, ch. 5. 40-42.) Ver. 12. "Then came also the publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master," or "Teacher,' "what shall we do?-in what special way is the genuineness of our repentance to be manifested? Ver. 13. "And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you." This is directed against that extortion which made the publicans a by-word. (See on ch. 5. 46; and on Luke, 15. 1.) Ver. 14. "And the soldiers" about Jordan. From the metropolitan centre to the extremities of the Judean province the cry of this great preacher of repentance and herald of the approaching Messiah brought trooping penitents and eager expectants. 6. And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing-probably confessing aloud-their sins. This baptism was at once a public seal of their felt need of deliverance from sin, of their expectation of the coming Deliverer, and of their readiness to welcome Him when He appeared. The baptism itself startled, and was intended to startle them. They were familiar enough with the baptism of prosentes from heathenism; but this baptism of Jews themselves was quite new and strange to them. 7. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to his baptism, he said unto them-astonished at such a spectacle-O generation of vipers-Viper-brood;' expressing the deadly influence of both sects alike apon the community. Mutually and entirely antagonistic as were their religious principles and spirit, the stern prophet charges both alike with being the poisoners of the nation's religious principles. In ch. 12. 34, and 23, 33, this strong language of the Baptist is anew applied by the faithful and true Witness to the Pharisees specifically-the only party that had real enough actively to diffuse this poison. who hath warned you-given you the hint,' as the idea is-to fee from the wrath to come? What can have brought you hither? John more than suspected it was not so much their own spiritual anxieties as the popularity of his movement that had drawn them thither. What an expression is this, "The wrath to come!" God's "wrath," in Scripture, is His righteous displeasure against sin, and consequently against all in whose skirts sin is found, arising out of the essential and eternal opposition of His nature to all moral evil. This is called "the coming wrath," not as being wholly future-for as a merited sentence it lies on the sinner already, and its effects, both inward and outward, are to some extent experienced even now-but because the impenitent sinner will not, until "the judgment of the great day," be concluded under it, will not have sentence publicly and irrevocably passed upon him, will not have it discharged upon him and experience its effects without mixture and without hope. In this view of it, it is a wrath wholly to come-as is implied in the noticeably different form of the expres--rather, 'And soldiers'-the word means 'soldiers on sica employed by the apostle in 1 Thessalonians. 1. 10. Not that even true penitents came to John's baptism with all these views of "the wrath to come." But what he says is, that this was the real import of the sep itself. In this view of it, how striking is the word be employs to express that step-fleeing from it-as of one who, beholding a tide of fiery wrath rolling rapidly towards him, sees in instant flight his only extape! 8. Bring forth therefore fruits-the true reading clearly is 'fruit'-meet for repentance-that is, such fruit as befits a true penitent. John, not being gifted with a knowledge of the human heart, like a true minister of righteousness and lover of souls, here directs them how to evidence and carry out their re pentance, supposing it genuine; and in the following verses warns them of their danger in case it were not. 9. And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father-that pillow on which the nation so fatally reposed, that rock on which at length it split for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham-q.d.. 'Flatter not yourselves with the fond delusion that God stands in Deed of you, to make good his promise of a seed to Abraham; for I tell you that, though you were all to perish, God is as able to raise up a seed to Abraham out of those stones as He was to take Abraham himself out of the rock whence he was hewn, out of the hole of the pit whence he was digged' (Isaiah, 51. 1). active duty'-"likewise demanded (or asked) of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to," or 'Intimidate,' "no man." The word signifies to shake thoroughly,' and refers probably to the extorting of money or other property. "neither accuse any falsely"-by acting as informers vexatiously on frivolous or false pretexts -"and be content with your wages," or 'rations.' We may take this, say WEBSTER & WILKINSON, as a warning against mutiny, which the officers attempted to suppress by largesses and donations. And thus the "fruits" which would evidence their repentance were just resistance to the reigning sins-particularly of the class to which the penitent belonged-and the manifestation of an opposite spirit. Ver. 15. "And as the people were in expectation"-in a state of excitement, looking for something new-"and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not"-rather, whether he himself might be the Christ.' The structure of this clause implies that they could hardly think it, but yet could not help asking themselves whether it might not be; showing both how successful he had been in awakening the expectation of Messiah's immediate appearing, and the high estimation, and even reverence, which his own character commanded. Ver. 16. "John answered"-either to that deputation from Jerusalem, of which we read in John, 1. 19, &c., or on some other occasion, to The Baptism of Water MATTHEW, III. and of the Holy Ghost. up John in prison." This imprisonment of John. however, did not take place for some time after this; and it is here recorded merely because the Evangelist did not intend to recur to his history till he had occasion to relate the message which he sent to Christ from his prison at Machærus (Luke, 7. 18, &c.). remove impressions derogatory to his blessed Master, which he knew to be taking hold of the popular mind-"saying unto them all"-in solemn protestation: We now return to the First Gospel) 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance (see on v. 6) but he that cometh after me is mightier than I. In Mark and Luke this is more emphatic-" But there cometh the Mightier than I," whose shoes, or 13-17. BAPTISM OF CHRIST, AND DESCENT OF THE 'sandals,' I am not worthy to bear. The sandals were SPIRIT UPON HIM IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER. tied and untied, and borne about by the meanest (Mark, 1. 9-11; Luke, 3. 21, 22; John, 1. 31-34.) Bapservants. he shall baptize you- the emphatic "He:" tism of Christ (r. 13-15). 13. Then cometh Jesus from 'He it is,' to the exclusion of all others that shall Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. baptize you.' with the Holy Ghost. 'So far from Moses rashly anticipated the Divine call to deliver entertaining such a thought as laying claim to the his people, and for this was fain to flee the house honours of Messiahship, the meanest services I can of bondage, and wait in obscurity for forty years more render to that "Mightier than I that is coming after (Exodus, 2. 11, &c.). Not so this Greater than Moses. me" are too high an honour for me; I am but the All but thirty years had He now spent in privacy at servant, but the Master is coming; I administer but Nazareth, gradually ripening for His public work, the outward symbol of purification; His it is, as His and calmly awaiting the time appointed of the Father. sole prerogative, to dispense the inward reality.' Now it had arrived; and this movement from Galilee Beautiful spirit, distinguishing this servant of Christ to Jordan is the step, doubtless, of deepest interthroughout! and with fire. To take this as a distinct est to all heaven since that first one which brought baptism from that of the Spirit-a baptism of the Him into the world. Luke (3. 21) has this important impenitent with hell-fire-is exceedingly unnatural. addition-"Now when all the people were baptized, it Yet this was the view of ORIGEN among the Fathers; came to pass, that Jesus being baptized," &c.-imand among moderns, of NEANDER, MEYER, DE plying that Jesus waited till all other applicants for WETTE, and LANGE. Nor is it much better to refer baptism that day had been disposed of, ere He it to the fire of the great day, by which the earth and stepped forward, that He might not seem to be merely the works that are therein shall be burned up. Clearly, one of the crowd. Thus, as He rode into Jerusalem as we think, it is but the fiery character of the upon an ass "whereon yet never man sat” (Luke, Spirit's operations upon the soul-searching, consum- 19. 30, and lay in a sepulchre "wherein was never ing, refining, sublimating-as nearly all good inter- man yet laid" (John, 19. 41), so in His baptism too He preters understand the words. And thus, in two suc- would be "separate from sinners." 14. But John forcessive clauses, the two most familiar emblems-water bade him-rather, was in the act of] hindering him.” and fire-are employed to set forth the same purify- or attempting to hinder him'-saying, I have need to ing operations of the Holy Ghost upon the soul. 12. be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? (How John Whose [winnowing] fan is in his hand-ready for use. came to recognise Him, when he says he knew Him This is no other than the preaching of the gospel, not, see on John, 1. 31-34.) The emphasis of this most even now beginning, the effect of which would be to remarkable speech lies all in the pronouns: 'What! separate the solid from the spiritually worthless, as Shall the Master come for baptism to the servantwheat, by the winnowing fan, from the chaff. (Cf. the sinless Saviour to a sinner? That thus much is the similar representation in Malachi, 3. 1-3.) and in the Baptist's words will be clearly seen if it be he will throughly purge his threshing] floor-that is, observed that he evidently regarded Jesus as Himseƒ the visible church. and gather his wheat-His true- needing no purification, but rather qualified to impart hearted saints; so called for their solid worth (cf. it to those who did. And do not all his other testiAmos, 9. 9; Luke, 22. 31). into the garner-"the king- monies to Christ fully bear out this sense of the words? dom of their Father," as this "garner" or "barn" is But it were a pity if, in the glory of this testimony beautifully explained by our Lord in the parable of to Christ, we should miss the beautiful spirit in which the Wheat and the Tares (ch. 13. 30, 43). but he will it was borne-'Lord, must I baptize Thee? Can I burn up the chaff-empty, worthless professors of re- bring myself to do such a thing?-reminding us of ligion, void of all solid religious principle and char- Peter's exclamation at the supper-table, "Lord, dost acter (see Psalm 1. 4). with unquenchable fire. Singu- Thou wash my feet?' while it has nothing of the lar is the strength of this apparent contradiction of false humility and presumption which dictated figures:-to be burnt up, but with a fire that is un- Peter's next speech, "Thou shalt never wash my quenchable; the one expressing the utter destruction feet" (John, 13. 6, 8). 15. And Jesus answering said of all that constitutes one's true life, the other the unto him, Suffer it to be so now-Let it pass for the continued consciousness of existence in that awful con- present;' q.d., Thou recoilest, and no wonder, for dition. Luke adds the following important particu- the seeming incongruity is startling; but in the preslars, 3. 18-20: Ver. 18. "And many other things in ent case do as thou art bidden.' for thus it becometh his exhortation preached he unto the people," show-us-"us," not in the sense of me and thee,' or 'men ing that we have here but an abstract of his teach- in general,' but as in John, 3. 11. to fulfil all righteousing. Besides what we read in John, 1. 29, 33, 34; 3. 27-36; the incidental allusion to his having taught his disciples to pray (Luke, 11. 1)-of which not a word is said elsewhere-shows how varied his teaching was. Ver. 19. "But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done." In this last clause we have an important fact, here only mentioned, showing how thorough-going was the fidelity of the Baptist to his royal hearer, and how strong must have been the workings of conscience in that slave of passion when, notwithstanding such plainness, he "did many things, and heard John gladly" (Mark ̧ 6. 20). Ver. 20. "Added yet this above all, that he shut In ness. If this be rendered, with SCRIVENER, 'every Thus do I impledge myself to the whole righteousness of the Law-thus symbolically do enter on and Descent of the Spirit MATTHEW, IV. ration. CHAPTER IV. upon the Baptized Redeemer. engage to fulfil it all.' Let the thoughtful reader | Son of God-now and henceforward in His official weigh this. Then he suffered him--with true humility, capacity-that was here visibly manifested. 17. And yielding to higher authority than his own impressions lo a voice from heaven, saying. This is-Mark and Luke of propriety. give it in the direct form, "Thou art"-my beloved Descent of the Spirit upon the Baptized Redeemer Son, in whom I am well pleased. The verb is put in fr. 16, 17. 16. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up the aorist to express absolute complacency, once and straightway out of-rather, 'from'-the water. Mark for ever felt towards Him. The English here, at least has out of the water." and-adds Luke (3. 21), to modern ears, is scarcely strong enough. I delight' "while He was praying" a grand piece of informa comes the nearest, perhaps, to that ineffable comtion. Can there be a doubt about the burden of that placency which is manifestly intended; and this is the prayer; a prayer sent up, probably, while yet in the rather to be preferred, as it would immediately carry water-His blessed head suffused with the baptismal the thoughts back to that august Messianic prophecy element; a prayer continued likely as He stepped out to which the voice from heaven plainly alluded of the stream, and again stood upon the dry ground? (Isaiah, 42. 1), “Behold my Servant, whom I uphold: The work before Him, the needed and expected Spirit mine Elect, IN WHOM MY SOUL DELIGHTETH." Nor to rest upon Him for it, and the glory He would then are the words which follow to be overlooked, "I have put upon the Father that sent Him-would not these put my Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgfill His breast, and find silent vent in such form as ment to the Gentiles." (The LXX. pervert this, as this?-Lo. I come; I delight to do thy will, O God. they do most of the Messianic predictions, interpoFather, glorify thy name. Show me a token for good. lating the word "Jacob," and applying it to the Jews.) Let the Spirit of the Lord God come upon me, and I Was this voice heard by the by-standers? From will preach the Gospel to the poor, and heal the Matthew's form of it, one might suppose it so debroken-hearted, and send forth judgment unto vic- signed; but it would appear that it was not, and protory. Whilst He was yet speaking-lo, the heavens bably John only heard and saw anything peculiar were opened. Mark says, sublimely, "He saw the about that great baptism. Accordingly, the words heavens cleaving." and he saw the Spirit of God de-"Hear ye Him" are not added, as at the Transfiguscending that is. He only, with the exception of His honoured servant, as he tells us himself, John, 1. 22-34: the by-standers apparently seeing nothing. like a dove, and lighting upon him. Luke says, "in a bodily shape" 3. 22; that is, the blessed Spirit, assuming the corporeal form of a dove, descended thus upon His sacred head. But why in this form? The Scripture use of this emblem will be our best guide here. "My dove, my und filed is one," says the Song (6. 9). This is chaste purity. Again. "Be ye harmless as doves," says Christ Himself (Matthew, 10. 16). This is the same thing, in the form of inoffensiveness towards men. "A conscience void of offence toward God and toward men" (Acts, 24. 16) expresses both. Further, when we read in the Song (2. 14), "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs (see Isaiah, 60. 8, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy Voice, and thy countenance is comely"-it is shrinking modesty, meekness, gentleness, that is thus charmingly depicted In a word- not to allude to the historical emblem of the dove that flew back to the ark, bearing in its mouth the olive leaf of peace (Genesis, 8. 11-when we read (Psalm es. 13), "Ye shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold," it is beauteousness that is thus held forth. And was not such that "Holy, harmless, undefiled One," the "Separate from einners?" "Thon art fairer than the children of men; grace is poured into Thy lips; therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever!" But the fourth Gospel gives us one more piece of information here, on the authority of one who saw and testified of it: "John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and IT ABODE UPON HIM." And lest we should think that this was an accidental thing, be adds that this last particular was expressly given him as part of the sign by which he was to recognise and indentify Him as the Son of God: "And I knew Him not: but He that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me. Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending AND REMAINING ON HIM, the same is He which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God" (John, L. 32-341. And when with this we compare the predicted descent of the Spirit upon Messiah (Isaiah. 11. 2). "And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest wpon him," we cannot doubt that it was this permanent and perfect resting of the Holy Ghost upon the Ver 1-11. TEMPTATION OF CHRIST. (=Mark, 1. 12, 13; Luke, 4. 1-13.) 1. Then-an indefinite note of sequence. But Mark's word (1. 12) fixes what we should have presumed was meant, that it was "immediately" after His baptism; and with this agrees the statement of Luke (4. 1). was Jesus led up-i.e., from the low Jordan valley to some more elevated spot. of the Spirit-that blessed Spirit immediately before spoken of as descending upon Him at His baptism, and abiding upon Him. Luke, connecting these two scenes, as if the one were but the sequel of the other. says, "Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost, returned from Jordan, and was led," &c. Mark's expression has a startling sharpness about it-"Immediately the Spirit driveth Him." putteth,' or 'hurrieth. Him forth,' or 'impelleth Him.' (See the same word in Mark, 1. 43; 5. 40; Matthew, 9. 25; 13. 52; John, 10. 4.) The thought thus strongly expressed is the mighty constraining impulse of the Spirit under which He went; while Matthew's more gentle expression, "was led up," intimates how purely voluntary on His own part this action was. into the wilderness-probably the wild Judean desert. The particular spot which tradition has fixed upon has hence got the name of Quarantana or Quarantaria, from the forty days,an almost perpendicular wall of rock twelve or fifteen hundred feet above the plain.' [ROBINSON'S Palestine. The supposition of those who incline to place the Temptation amongst the mountains of Moab is, we think, very improbable. to be temptedThe Greek word (peirazein) means simply to try or make proof of: and when ascribed to God in His dealings with men, it means, and can mean no more than this. Thus, Genesis, 22. 1, "It came to pass that God did tempt Abraham," or put his faith to a severe proof. (See Deuteronomy, 8. 2.) But for the most part in Scripture the word is used in a bad sense, and means to entice, solicit, or provoke to sin. Hence the name here given to the wicked one-the tempter" (v. 3). Accordingly. "to be tempted" here is to be understood both ways. The Spirit conducted Him into the wilderness simply to have His faith tried; but as the agent in this trial was to be the wicked one, whose whole object would be to seduce Him from His allegiance to God, it was a temptation in the bad sense of the term. The unworthy inference which some would draw from this is energetically Jesus is Tempted MATTHEW, IV. repelled by an apostle (James, 1. 13-17). of the devil. The word signifies a slanderer-one who casts imputations upon another. Hence that other name given him (Revelation, 12. 10). "The accuser of the brethren, who accuseth them before our God day and night." Mark (1. 13) says, "He was forty days tempted of Satan," a word signifying an adversary, one who lies in wait for, or sets himself in opposition to another. These and other names of the same fallen spirit point to different features in his character or operations. What was the high design of this? First, as we judge, to give our Lord a taste of what lay before Him in the work He had undertaken; next, to make trial of the glorious furniture for it which He had just received; further, to give Him encouragement, by the victory now to be won, to go forward spoiling principalities and powers, until at length He should make a show of them openly, triumphing over them in His Cross; that the tempter, too, might get a taste, at the very outset, of the new kind of material in Man which he would find he had here to deal with; finally, that He might acquire experimental ability "to succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews, 2. 18). The temptation evidently embraced two stages: the one continuing throughout the forty days' fast; the other, at the conclusion of that period. FIRST STAGE: 2. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights. Luke says, "When they were quite ended." he was afterward an hungered-evidently implying that the sensation of hunger was unfelt during all the forty days; coming on only at their close. So it was apparently with Moses (Exodus, 34. 28) and Elijah (1 Kings, 19. 8) for the same period. A supernatural power of endurance was of course imparted to the body, but this probably operated through a natural law-the absorption of the Redeemer's spirit in the dread conflict with the tempter. (See on Acts, 9. 9.) Had we only this Gospel, we should suppose the temptation did not begin till after this. But it is clear, from Mark's statement that "He was in the wilderness forty days tempted of Satan," and Luke's "being forty days tempted of the devil," that there was a forty days' temptation before the three specific temptations afterwards recorded. And this is what we have called the First Stage. What the precise nature and object of the forty days' temptation was is not recorded. But two things seem plain enough. First, the tempter had utterly failed of his object, else it had not been renewed; and the terms in which he opens his second attack imply as much. But further, the tempter's whole object during the forty days evidently was to get Him to distrust the heavenly testimony borne to Him at His baptism as THE SON OF GOD to persuade Him to regard it as but a splendid illusion and, generally, to dislodge from His breast the consciousness of His Sonship. With what plausibility the events of His previous history from the beginning would be urged upon Him in support of this temptation it is easy to imagine. And it makes much in support of this view of the forty days' temptation, that the particulars of it are not recorded; for how the details of such a purely internal struggle could be recorded it is hard to see. If this be correct, how naturally does the SECOND STAGE of the temptation open! In Mark's brief notice of the temptation there is one expressive particular not given either by Matthew or by Luke-that "He was with the wild beasts," no doubt to add terror to solitude, and aggravate the horrors of the whole scene. 3. And when the tempter came to him. Evidently we have here a new scene. he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread-rather. 'loaves,' answering to "stones" in the plural; whereas Luke, having said, "Command this stone," in the singular, adds, "that it be made bread," in the singular. The in the Wilderness. sensation of hunger, unfelt during all the forty days, seems now to have come on in all its keenness-no doubt to open a door to the tempter, of which he is not slow to avail himself: q.d., Thou still clingest to that vainglorious confidence, that thou art the Son of God, carried away by those illusory scenes at the Jordan. Thou wast born in a stable-but thou art the Son of God! hurried off to Egypt for fear of Herod's wrath-but thou art the Son of God! a carpenter's roof supplied thee with a home, and in the obscurity of a despicable town of Galilee thou hast spent thirty years-yet still thou art the Son of God; and a voice from heaven, it seems, proclaimed it in thine ears at the Jordan! Be it so; but after that, surely thy days of obscurity and trial should have an end. Why linger for weeks in this desert, wandering among the wild beasts and craggy rocks, unhonoured, unattended, unpitied, ready to starve for want of the necessaries of life? Is this befitting "the Son of God?" At the bidding of "the Son of God" sure those stones shall all be turned into loaves, and in a moment present an abundant repast? 4. But he answered and said. It is written (Deuteronomy, 8. 3). Man shall not live by bread alone-more emphatically, as in the Greek, Not by bread alone shall man live'-but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Of all passages in Old Testament scripture, none could have been pitched upon more apposite, perhaps not one so apposite, to our Lord's purpose. "The Lord led thee (said Moses to Israel, at the close of their journeyings these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his com. mandments, or no. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only," &c. Now, if Israel spent, not forty days, but forty years in a waste, howling wilderness, where there were no means of human subsistence, not starving, but divinely provided for, on purpose to prove to every age that human support depends not upon bread, but upon God's unfailing word of promise and pledge of all needful providential care, am I, distrusting this word of God, and despairing of relief, to take the law into my own hand? True, the Son of God is able enough to turn stones into bread: but what the Son of God is able to do is not the present question, but what is Man's duty under want of the necessaries of life. And as Israel's condition in the wilderness did not justify their unbelieving murmurings and frequent desperation, so neither would mine warrant the exercise of the power of the Son of God in snatching despairingly at unwarranted relief. As man, therefore, I will await divine supply, nothing doubting that at the fitting time it will arrive. The second temptation in this Gospel is in Luke's the third. That Matthew's order is the right one will appear, we think, pretty clearly in the sequel. 5. Then the devil taketh him up rather, 'conducteth him' into the holy citycalled (as in Isaiah, 48. 2; Nehemiah, 11. 1) from its being "the city of the Great King." the seat of the temple, the metropolis of all Jewish worship. and setteth him on a pinnacle- rather, the pinnacle'-of the temple-a certain well-known projection. Whether this refer to the highest summit of the temple, which bristled with golden spikes (JOSEPHUS Antiquities, 6. 5, 6); or whether it refer to another peak, on Herod's royal portico, overhanging the ravine of Kedron, at the valley of Hinnom-an immense tower built on the very edge of this precipice, from the top of which dizzy height Josephus says one could not look to the bottom (Antiquities, 15. 11, 5)—is not certain; but the latter is probably meant. 6. And saith unto him, If thou |