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Adam. Satan applies the three tempta tions with which he seeks to ruin the race— lust of the flesh (Gen. 3 :6), lust of the eyes, pride of life.-—-Haldeman. If thon be Son of God. The Father had testified to His divine Sonship. He is tempted to doubt it because He be came hungry. He had declared His confidence in the word of God. He is tempted to presume upon it (5-7). He had been promised the kingdom through the cross. He is tempted to obtain it by another way (8-10).— Sel. Satan’s first utterance in the New Tes tament. Compare Gen. 3:1 for the Old Testament.—K. B. It was His Son- ship,‘ His very might and strength, on which His temptation fastened, and so it is on the strong side of every good Christian man that his chief danger lies, in that which is best and most vig orous in his nature, in his peculiar en dowment or excellence. The liability to temptation does not lie merely, as people say, on the weak side.-—Beck. v. 4.. Answered, It is written. This is His first ministerial utterance.--- Comp. Bible. If we would meet Sat an’s temptations as successfully as Jesus did, we must meet him with the same weapon.—-Torrey. Man shall not live by bread. Quoted from Deuteron omy. No wonder the devil hates the book of Deuteronomy and has turned the higher critics upon it.— Gaebelein. v. 6. Saith unto Him. The devil can quote Scripture and still uses it to lead men astray— Garry. v. 7. It is written again. The devil can always say, “ It is written,” but he fails to add, “ It is written again.”— Farr. Shalt not tempt the lord . To tempt God is to put Him to the proof, to demand evidence of His power and of His will to fulfill His promises-in stead of waiting patiently and trust ing in Him.—Mansel. v. 8. Exceeding high mountain. Some regard this as proof that all that passed was in the region of which the spirit and not the senses take cogni zance. No mountain commands a sur vey of all the kingdoms of the earth.— Plumptre. It is enough that the thought of the temptation of earthly despotism and glory were present to the mind of Jesus.—-Carr. v. 9. These things will I give. Satan was a preadvent millennialist. He would have had Christ in Glory on the earth before the second coming.— Farr.
the man or the man to the water.— Abbott. Spirit of God descended. Even the pure offspring of the Spirit needed the anointing of the Spirit and it was only when His human nature had grown strong- enough for the support' of the fulness of the Spirit that it re7 mained stationary and_ fully endowed with power from above.—-Olshausen. At the baptism of our blessed Head we have the first distinct revelation of the doctrine of the Trinity. So it is at the institution of baptism for His church that the doctrine brightens into full glorjr.—D. Brown. For the first time the Trinity, foreshadowed in many ways in the Old Testament (Is. 48:16; 63:7-10; Gen. 1:26; 11:7), is fully manifested. The Spirit, the Son, the Father.— Scofield. 4:1. I « d up of the Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus up to be tempted of the devil. (Cf. Mk. 1:12.> The temptation was a necessary prep aration for Christ’s work— just as necessary as the baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Heb. 2:17, 18; 4:15, 16).— Torrey. > This occurred after His bap tism and the descent of the Spirit upon Him. The consciousness of His Mes- siahship must be confirmed through conflict.—Wendt. It is always on the eve of an especially bright and joyous experience that Satan needs most' vig ilant attention. It was just after the victory on Carmel that Elijah was found under the juniper tree. “ Blessed art thou, Simon” was closely followed by “ Get thee hence, Satan.”—Dandels. To be tempted of the devil. If the devil was not a distinct personality, Jesus’ temptation was subjective—He was tempted from within, not without. If so, Jesus had evil in Him, was not sinless, could not be sinless in action, was sinful in nature, was not con ceived of the Holy Ghost, was not vir gin-born, was not Son of God, cannot be Redeemer. If Jesus was personal, the devil also was personal.—Bishop. A city may be besieged though impreg nable. There was no sham about Sat an’s attack. He applied the acid test to Jesus but it was not possible that the acid should corrode.— Garry. v. 2. Forty days and nights. A sacred and representative number, used in Scripture in connection with the facts of temptation, probation or retribution. Farrar. v. 3. The tempter came. Compare Jesus’ temptation with that of the first
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