MARY, OUR MOTHER

SCRIPTURE COMMENTARY #88

For the space of forty days, and was tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. And the devil said to him: "If thou be the Son of God, say to this stone that it be made bread." And Jesus answered him: "It is written that 'Man liveth not by bread alone, but by every word of God.' " And the devil led him into a high mountain and shewed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And he said to him: "To thee will I give all this power and the glory of them. For to me they are delivered: and to whom I will, I give them. If thou therefore wilt adore before me, all shall be thine." And Jesus answering said to him. "It is written: 'Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.' " And he brought him to Jerusalem and set him on a pinnacle of the temple and said to him: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself from hence. For it is written that 'He hath given his angels charge over thee that they keep thee. And that in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone.' " And Jesus answering, said to him: "It is said: 'Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' " And all the temptation being ended, the devil departed from him for a time. (Luke 4:2-13)

THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF TEMPTATION: In the first temptation Satan wished to induce the Saviour, instead of trusting in God and patiently enduring hunger, to create bread by His own power, against His Father's will. He sought, therefore, to make our Lord sin by sensuality and an unlawful desire for food, or in other words by gluttony. By the second temptation Satan tried to awaken a spiritual pride in Jesus, saying: "Throw yourself down; God will help you and see that no evil befalls you!" The cunning seducer wished thereby to change a humble and submissive confidence in God's mercy into a proud presumption. By the third temptation Satan wished to arouse in Jesus concupiscence of the eyes, i.e. a desire for riches, power and pleasure. He had seduced the first man by inciting him to these three evil passions. The words: "Why hath God commanded you that you should not eat of every tree of Paradise?" were an inducement to gluttony, or to the concupiscence of the flesh. The words: "Your eyes shall be opened" were a temptation to pride, while the words: "You shall be as Gods" were an inducement to the concupiscence of the eyes, and a desire for power and glory. Our first parents succumbed to these temptations, because they gave ear to the suggestions of Satan, held intercourse with him, and gazed at the forbidden fruit (Old Testament IV). But Jesus overcame the temptation and conquered Satan.

[From 'A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture' by Bishop Knecht, D.D.]
(1899 Douay-Rheims Bible)