Matthew 4:1-11 - Homiletics

The temptation of Christ.

I. THE PREPARATION ,

1 . The Spirit. He was "full of the Holy Ghost" ( Luke 4:1 ). The Spirit had descended from heaven like a dove, and abode upon him. He was now in the full consciousness of his Divine mission. His sacred human nature was filled through and through with the abiding presence of the Holy Ghost: "God gave not the Spirit by measure unto him" ( John 3:34 ). His holy soul must have glowed with a deep, heavenly joy in ineffable communion with the Father, in the calm contemplation of the blessed work which lay before him. He had hitherto led a quiet life; he had wrought no mighty works; he had not taught, save by the silent influence of the beauty of holiness. We know not what deep, unutterable thoughts had stirred his heart; we cannot penetrate the inscrutable mystery of the union of the Divine and human natures. We know that in his early youth he was continually advancing in wisdom. His mind unfolded itself gradually; perhaps the conception of the mystery of his Being, the wondrous memories of the glory which he had with the Father before the world was, the knowledge of his sacred mission, of his blessed office, dawned little by little on his holy human soul. Now he had reached his thirtieth year; he was in the full strength of manhood, bodily and intellectual; he had received an august consecration. He was declared by the heavenly voice to be the beloved Son of God; the holy Dove had revealed him to the Baptist as the Christ, descending upon him with a message of peace from God to man, as, ages before, the dove had brought to the ark the welcome token that the wrath of God had passed away. He was "full of the Holy Ghost," strengthened for his work by that sacred Presence, as afterwards he was strengthened by the angel in his awful agony. But great joy is often followed by great sorrow; very high spiritual experiences are often succeeded by seasons of peculiar temptation. It was so with Christ the Lord; it is so with advanced Christians now. The abundant grace vouchsafed unto them, the felt presence of the Holy Spirit, is granted to prepare them for the coming trials. They are strengthened with all might by his Spirit in the inner man, that they may be able to bear themselves manfully in the dread conflict, and to win the victory through his assisting grace.

2 . The wilderness. The Spirit led him thither; it may be, to the dreary solitudes of Quarantana; it may be, to the rocks of Sinai. There was need of lonely meditation, of sustained prayer, of solitary preparation for his momentous task. Such an episode of solemn calm occurred in the lives of Moses, of Elijah, of St. Paul. Such an episode was interposed now between the wondrous manifestations of the Divine Presence and the hurry of hard, wearying labour that was to follow. The Lord was made like unto us. In his perfect humanity he needed, as we do, time for quiet thought, time to collect himself, to brace himself for the coming trials, to realize the great change that was at hand, the strange contrast between the life that was coming, crowded with works of power and labours of love, and the peaceful seclusion of Nazareth which was now for ever past. We need our quiet days, time for recollection, self-examination, and solemn thought. We must find time for meditation, if we are to advance far in the spiritual life. The Spirit led our Lord into the wilderness; the Spirit leads us from time to time to retirement for solitary devotional exercises.

3 . The tempter.

4 . The fasting. The Lord was absorbed in high thoughts and spiritual communion with the Father; this lifted him up for a time above the ordinary needs of humanity. His fast was miraculous, like the fast of Moses, of Elijah. But it is our example also in a measure; we too must fast and pray if we would conquer as the Saviour conquered. Our Father will reward those who fast after the pattern of the Lord, in the like spirit, in faith and in humility. We must practise self-denial in little things, if we would gain strength to support us in the dread conflict with the tempter. Bodily exercise profiteth little in comparison with the inner spirit of self-mortification; but we cannot afford to despise those outward helps; and certainly we cannot do wrong in following the example of our Lord and. his apostles ( Acts 13:3 ; Acts 14:23 ; 1 Corinthians 7:5 ; 2 Corinthians 6:5 ).

II. THE FIRST TEMPTATION .

1 . The suggestion of the tempter.

2 . The Lord ' s answer.

III. THE SECOND TEMPTATION .

1 . The suggestion. Again the doubt; the tempting, or perhaps the sarcastic, "if." But this time pride was the weak point in human nature which the tempter sought to find in the Lord—the pride of life. The tree, he had once whispered to Eve, was a tree to be desired to make one wise. He took him to the holy city, to the temple. Alas! the devil can find an entrance there, into the very Church of Christ; sometimes he has found an entrance into the highest places in the visible Church. Pride has been the ruin of many who are set over their brethren; spiritual pride has ruined many a Christian who once seemed not far from the kingdom of God. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple, perhaps the pinnacle from which, years afterwards, James, the Lord's brother, was cast down to meet the martyr's death. He set the Lord there on high as the Lord of the temple, the Messiah, the great King, the royal Priest. He bade him cast himself down. It would display his power, his dignity, his Divine majesty. Such a miracle, in such a place, before the eyes of assembled priests and people, would at once establish his claims; he would be recognized at once as the Lord that was to come, the Priest after the order of Melchizedek; and that without difficulty, without painful self-denials, without the cross.

2 . The scriptural quotation. The words were true, but there was an important omission. "He shall give his angels charge over thee," said the psalmist, "to keep thee in all thy ways." "In all thy ways"—in all the ways marked out for us by his providence, not in self-chosen ways, which he had not appointed. The holy words of Scripture may be misapplied; they may be used to suggest a meaning which they were never intended to convey; they may be bandied about in controversy, and employed simply as means to gain a theological victory. Such a use of the Bible tends to produce pride. "Knowledge puffeth up." Pride perverts the sacred words; holy and humble men of heart, led by the Spirit of God, enter into their deep and blessed meaning. The devil might have misled some vain man; to such the Scripture quoted might have seemed apposite, and so he might have been beguiled to his ruin. But the Lord was meek and lowly in heart; he sought not honour from men; there was no thought of display, no ostentation in his holy soul. He knew what the Scripture really meant. The blessed angels are charged with the care of God's saints; they do keep them in all their ways; they do bear them in their hands; but not if they cease to be saints, not "when the righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity;" not when he becomes presumptuous and self-willed. Misquoted texts, misapplied Scripture, did not ensnare the Lord; they will not ensnare the humble Christian who trusts not in his own knowledge or his own strength, but in the living God.

3 . The Lord 's answer.

IV. THE THIRD TEMPTATION .

1 . The suggestion. Satan had long ago whispered to Eve that the tree was "pleasant to the eyes." He had tempted her through the lust of the eyes; now he raises before the eyes of the Lord a vision of unexampled grandeur. As the angel ( Revelation 21:10 ) carried away St. John in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed him that great city, the holy Jerusalem; so now the tempter showed our Lord all the kingdoms of the world, a dream of world-wide empire, majesty, and power beyond all that Alexander had once attained, or that Tiberius then possessed. Satan had been twice defeated. He felt that he must put forth all his energies. A small bribe might lure weak men to their destruction; it does not need a kingdom to ensnare them. Satan offered to the Lord the empire of the world. It was a tempting prospect. The Lord knew that he was the Messiah, the Prince of the kings of the earth; all this glory was rightfully his; he was to rule over the nations, and his rule was for the happiness of mankind. It seemed now within his grasp. He would use it (so, perhaps, the tempter whispered; so he would whisper, we know, to a mere man in such a position)—he would use it for the best interests of the human race; he would put down the avarice, cruelty, lust, oppression, which reigned rampant in the world; he would improve the condition of the poor; he would put a stop to war and violence and bloodshed; he would introduce universal peace, universal happiness; and that at once and with ease, without self-sacrifice, without labour, without the cross; at once, by one simple act (so a weak man might say)—an act which, perhaps, was not right, but which was only momentary, which could be soon repented of, the guilt of which would be as nothing compared with the great good that was to follow. So a man might reason with himself; so in smaller matters many men have reasoned with themselves, and have deceived themselves. The end, they said, sanctified the means; they would do evil, so they thought, that good might come. But they deceived their own hearts; the temptation came from the wicked one. Men never do evil from good motives; the thing cannot be. They may say so; they may have said it so often to themselves that they have come almost to believe it by force of habitual self-deceit. But the motive was really selfish, their own interest, their own gratification, their own ease. The good end was only talk, mere pretence to gloss over their sin, to hide their real character from men, even, if it might be, from themselves; if it were possible, from their God. It is Satan who suggests the sinful compliance; he conceals its wickedness; he uses it to destroy the soul. And his promises are deceitful; he offers the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; it is not his to give; he is a liar from the beginning; he promises, he does not give;. his deluded followers lose their own souls, but do not always gain the good things of this world. Or, if they gain them, they find that rank, riches, pleasure, bought by sin, are but dust and ashes in the mouth—vanity of vanities. The enjoyment is but a dream, a phantom; the misery, alas! is very real.

2 . The Lord ' s answer.

V. THE VICTORY .

1 . The devil leaveth him. He had failed completely. The clear, calm decision of the Saviour's holy soul, the resolute will, sorely tried and harassed, but ever steadfast and unflinching in the path of duty, had defeated the tempter at all points. He had nothing more left that he could do: he fled, awed by the Saviour's perfect purity. So the devil fleeth now before those who resist him in the strength of Christ. Our victory is sure if only we are steadfast; for Christ hath conquered for us, and we are his and he is ours.

2 . The angels came. The strife was o'er, the battle done; angels came and ministered to the wants of the triumphant Lord. They had watched the struggle, we may be sure, with the deepest, the most awful interest; they had sympathized with the blessed Lord in the intense anguish of that dread agony of temptation. They rejoiced in his victory. Even so they help the Christian warrior now in his conflict against the same dreadful foe: 'The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him;" and "There is Joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." The moments of victory—victory after sore temptation, are sweet beyond expression; they are sweetened by the unseen presence and sympathy of the blessed angels, rejoicing with the Christian's joy, "singing sweet fragments of the songs above" to cheer the wearied pilgrim.

LESSONS .

1 . The devil who tempted Christ tempts us now. Temptations will come; they come every day; but there are decisive moments in the life of every one. Prepare for those decisive conflicts by prayer for the Spirit, by meditation, by the practice of daily self-denial.

2 . Imitate the Saviour. Treasure in the heart the blessed words of Holy Scripture.

3 . Love not the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not of the Father, but of the world.

4 . "Resist the devil, and he shall flee from you."