Matthew IV
i. Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
2. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
3. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
5. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple.
6. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down; for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
7. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
8. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
9. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
10. 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.
11. Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
I. The time, — “Then;” (a) immediately after a great blessing; (6) in fulfilment of God’s earliest promise. 2. The manner, — “led up of the Spirit;” (a) every man must be tempted; (b) no man knows his strength until he has known the discipline of temptation; (c) great destinies are often approached through great afflictions. 3. The process: I. (a) An appeal to immediate necessity, — “he was an hungered;” (b) a temptation breathing the spirit of benevolence, — make bread; (c) a temptation which was apparently harmless, — there could be no harm in making bread, but there was infinite harm in making it at the devil’s suggestion. II. (a) A temptation to presumption, — “cast thyself down;” (b) a temptation breathing the spirit of faith, — “he shall give his angels charge concerning thee;” (c) a temptation surrounded by the most religious circumstances, — “holy city;” “pinnacle of the temple:” temptations may be adapted to places. III. (a) A temptation to ambition, — “the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them;” (b) a temptation breathing the spirit of generosity, — “all these things will I give thee;” (c) a temptation to the most ruinous of all attitudes, — “if thou wilt fall down and worship me.” 4. The answers: (a) a profound view of life, — “man shall not live by bread alone;” (6) a profound view of moral limitations, — “thou shall not tempt the Lord thy God;” (c) a profound view of the duty of the creature to the Creator, — “thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” In all these answers, Christ asserts the ultimate authority of written Revelation. Christ, not Satan, began the quotation of scripture. We now see how He employed His solitude: He did not come to the wilderness unprepared. Instantly He interposed the written word between Himself and the temptation. Revelation was thus shown not to be a speculative statement, but a final and practical support to tried humanity. 5. The issue, — “the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.” (a) The true method of resisting the enemy; (b) an encouragement in the terrible contest, — angels watch the tempted!
There are certain peculiar characteristics of the Temptation; (a) it was adapted to the subject by its refinement; (b) it proceeded upon a recognition of the deepest instincts of human nature; (c) it revealed a perfect knowledge of the various approaches to the human heart; (d) it began by professedly aiming at Christ’s benefit, and ended by an avowed design for extended dominion. What harm could there be in proving His divine Sonship by an instant transformation of the stones into bread? Might not the act have ended the temptation, and sent Satan back confounded and dismayed? Were it possible for the devil to suggest a good action, men should never do even a good deed at the devil’s bidding.
1. It is to be noted that Sonship does not exempt men
from temptation: —” this is my beloved Son
tempted of the devil.” Temptation, in fact, implies a measure of goodness on the part of the tempted. 2. Temptation is not sin; the Saviour was tempted, but He did not commit sin. The spiritual history of the good is often overshadowed by confounding temptation with transgression.
In this temptation, Christ teaches three things respecting God: — 1. That true life is derived from Him; 2. That faith, not presumption, is acceptable to Him; 3. That He is the only proper object of adoration.
The temptation of Christ has a twofold bearing: — 1. On the believer; (a) the best are most tempted; (b) the strength comes from revelation, not from human nature; (c) there is now added to the doctrine of revelation the personal sympathy of the tempted Redeemer. “There are but three particular temptations mentioned in all the forty days of our Saviour’s temptation, and two of them run so, * If thou be the Son of God; ’ wherein Satan labours to draw a cloud upon Christ’s assurance, and to write an IF upon his childship.” — {Bridge.)
2. On the unbeliever; (a) Your master aspires to Godhead; (6) your master offers what he can never bestow; (c) your master prostitutes Divine promises into encouragements to presumption. “When Satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he alleged but one sentence of Scripture for himself, and that Psalm out of which he borrowed it (Psalm xci. 11), made so plain against him that he was fain to pick here a word, and there a word, and leave out that which went before, and skip in the midst, and omit that which came after.” — (Henry Smith, 1560-1591.)
12. Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee;
13. And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:
14. That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying,
15. The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles;
16. The people which sat in darkness saw great light: and to them which sat in the region of the shadow of death light is sprung up.
17. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
i. The fall of one man may mark the inauguration of another. 2. The worker may be imprisoned, but the work goes on. 3. The tetrarch “shut up John in prison,” but he could not imprison the “great light” which shone on the land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim. 4. Every movement of Christ was (verse 14th) a fulfilment of prophecy; and could we see God’s purposes concerning ourselves, we should see that He fixes the bounds of our habitation. Wherever in the sacred record we find a statement of details, we discover that they are set forth as part of a plan, and so it is through all human life. Could we but see the book that is on high, we should find that we move hither and thither “that it might be fulfilled.” 5. Local beginnings are compatible with universal endings; Zabulon and Nephthalim see the early gleam, but the broad noontide bathes the world in heavenly glory. 6. Danger should develop courage: Jesus went forth when John was in prison.
Verse 17th brings Christ before us as a preacher. 1. He passed a long period of silence and preparation. 2. His preaching was negative and positive. Mark gives a fuller account of the ministry: “Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the Gospel.” (a) Negative, “repent;” (b) positive, “believe.”
Christ is compared to a “great light:” (a) Light is a revealer; (b) Light is a deliverer: (c) Light is a condition of progress.
GENERAL NOTE ON CHRIST’S PREACHING.
Preaching ceases to be a great moral power as it becomes merely scholastic, critical, and artistic. The work of the preacher is to call men to repentance and faith. The preacher is “a voice crying in the wilderness.” There is a moral condition which he must reprove; there is a spiritual exercise to which he must call. Ungodly men are not able to enter into the spiritual meaning of the written word; in the first instance, there must be an alarm, — “repent,” and then a rest, — “believe.” When a heart is awakened, the first inquiry does not relate to the canonicity of a given number of manuscripts, or to a settlement of conflicting readings. The matter lies deeper, goes nearer the life, penetrates the moral core. The first act of a man who heeds the call to repentance is an act of introversion of self-analysis, and self-estimation. This act is conducted under the illumination of the Holy Spirit. The heart becomes conscious of its corruption, and conscious of a want which it cannot supply. Then it utters the prevailing prayer of earnestness, and having done the “will,” God gives it to know the “doctrine.” The honoured servant who is charged with the double gift, — the gift of preaching and the gift of teaching — will proceed to feed the heart with the word of truth, so that it may grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; “but the simple work of the preacher, as such, is to say (with all variety, force and argumentativeness), “Repent, and believe the Gospel.” Afterwards, when the moral faculty is quickened, there is a supremely important work to be done with the written word. The moral faculty alone, however, can properly deal with moral questions; while that is dormant, the written word is sealed; but after it is quickened, it sees light above the word, and light in the word, and its sublime apprehensions of the spiritual meaning reduce all verbal difficulties to their proper magnitude. A marked distinction then, should be made between preaching and teaching; but according to the conventionalities of British ecclesiasticism, the minister must do the double work of preacher and teacher, and the pulpit is persistently turned into the prelector’s desk. Any appeal to the purely intellectual faculty of the ungodly hearer is a deferential tribute to his pride, such as Christ and His apostles never paid. They cried, Repent; they called to the immediate discharge of a moral duty. The physician does not call the sick man to the study of treatises on physiology and therapeutics, but gives the medicine adapted to the urgency of the crisis. The moral physician calls first to repentance, — to a right moral condition, and then the penitent and trusting soul may betake itself to theological pursuits. This process is often reversed; we first teach theology, and then preach repentance; and no wonder that we are deprived of “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” The oral discourse should be as different as possible from the printed treatise: it is as impossible to print what may be called the electricity of an oration, as to print a thunderstorm, or a summer shower. Preachers generally, cannot compete with authors; most have not the time, many have not the culture. The sermon, then, should not be merely a vocal-book, or an articulated manuscript; it should be marked by a life which cannot be printed, an urgency which awakens emotion rather than provokes criticism. The preacher who merely vocalises a manuscript courts comparison with the author; but the orator who utters well-ordered thought in the language of the moment, develops the strongest contrast by occupying a plane peculiarly his own. When the preacher is called to address a select audience, capable of following an intricate argument, or appreciating the
delicate refinements of genius, the case is unique, and must be judged accordingly. But the preacher who addresses promiscuous assemblies, should, in the degree of his power, reproduce the examples of New Testament preaching.
18. And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
21. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
23. And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
24. And his fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.
25. And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
I. Every true minister is immediately called of Christ; the call may be determined by (a) personal conviction, (b) favourable circumstances, and (c) the concurrent opinion of good men. 2. He who calls to the work gives the power — “I will make;” “without me ye can do nothing.” (a) The true minister can ever bind Christ to His promise; (b) power over men is a Divine gift; (c) the ingathering of men to Christ the highest triumph of spiritual power. 3. Jesus, even when accompanied by two disciples, exercised the incommunicable right of vocation; He who called the first called also the last. 4. The Divine call makes men superior to all earthly claims, — “they immediately left the ship and their father.”
All calls to higher life must proceed from the Perfect One. He calls to repentance, to faith, to service. This shows {a) God’s interest in man; (6) man’s capability of progress; (c) that there is an element in man kindred to the nature of God.
Verses 23 — 25. I. The twofold ministry of Christ, — to the soul, to the body; (a) His compound nature encompassed
E the entire nature of man; (b) the sweep of His sympathy indicated the range of His mission. 2. The unity and indivisibility of Christ’s theme, — “the Gospel of the kingdom;” (a) indicative of earnestness; (b) prophetic of success. 3. The moral uses of Fame, — “His fame went throughout all Syria.” (a) Fame never despised but by the unfamed; (6) Fame gives opportunities of usefulness; (c) Fame is properly employed when it draws men to the true Teacher and the unfailing Healer; (d) Fame must not be sought, but when found, should enlarge the sphere of gracious service.
The last verses might be regarded as showing: — 1. The lamentable condition of man; 2. The all-sufficiency of Christ; 3. The wisdom of taking human nature at its most accessible points, — the wants of the body.
The body has been neglected by the ministers of Christ. Why so? He who made the mind made the body; and without the body, how is the mind accessible? How far are the ministers of Christ justified in the plea that to feed the body may be to corrupt the soul? Is no distinction to be drawn between bribery and benevolence? It is a remarkable, and should be an instructive, fact that Christ and His apostles paid most careful attention to the physical condition of men. As with them, so with us, — physical benefits were abused; but were they therefore withdrawn? Did Christ cease to feed the hungry because some followed Him only for the loaves and fishes? Did Christ avoid all lepers because nine of their number returned not to bless their healer? It is well, indeed, to be guarded, but better to err on the side of generosity than on the side of penuriousness; better do good to one side of man’s nature than not do him any good at all: if we cannot feed men into a good spiritual mood, it is extremely improbable that we can starve them into salvation. I would that the Church should become a generous almoner of earthly things; it should deal out its bread to the hungry, and offer a guiding hand to the blind, and lead the thirsty to fountains of water. Men can appreciate kindness better than dogmas; religion better than theology; light better than astronomic science. To this method of Christian service the objections are not so good as the answers: (a) It might encourage indolence, — that would be the fault of the almoners; (6) it might be a temptation to hypocrisy, — that, too, would be largely the fault of the almoners; (c) it might discourage the spirit of self-help, — again the almoners would be chiefly to blame. Because a man is charitable, is he therefore a fool? Can he not use his eyes and ears? Will not charity itself sharpen his sagacity? Let him blight the hypocrite like an east wind; but let him remember that men are won sooner by trust than by suspicion; “men may overget delusion, not despair.” Churches would sooner be filled if Christians took a deeper interest in the well-being of the body; and who shall say that through the body the soul may not be captured for Christ? The preacher is powerless if he have no hearers; first, therefore, get the hearers, — “compel them to come in,” fill the house, — and then tell the all-subduing story. While the Gospel is a Gospel for all, it is peculiarly a Gospel for the poor; the poor man Christ went to the poor men of His time, fed them, healed them, comforted them, and then told them of a love of which all feeding and healing were but poor manifestations.