Bede

Now Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the desert for forty days. This, immediately after the baptism of the Lord, Matthew and Mark designate. One of them, after describing His baptism, immediately subjoined: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil (Matthew IV). The other wrote thus: And immediately the Spirit drove him into the desert, and he was there for forty days and forty nights, and was tempted by Satan (Mark I). Indeed, lest anyone should doubt by which spirit he was led or driven into the desert, Luke prudently wrote first that Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and then added, and was led by the Spirit into the desert, so that nothing might be thought to have prevailed against Him from an unclean spirit, who, full of the Holy Spirit, walked as He willed and did what He willed. For even later, where it is clearly stated that He was taken up or set up on high by the devil, it reflects not on His weakness, but on the enemy's arrogance who thinks to impose necessity on the Savior's will. Therefore, Jesus is not driven into the desert by the power of any evil spirit, but by the will of His own good Spirit, He enters the place of combat, certain of victory, to defeat the adversary. Here He also rightly shows us the order of virtuous living, so that after receiving in baptism the remission of sins and the grace of the Holy Spirit, we may gird ourselves more tightly against new snares of the ancient enemy, withdraw our mind from the world, and, like the manna in the desert, learn to hunger only for the joys of eternal life.

And he ate nothing during those days, and when they were ended, he was hungry. The forty-day fast has authority both in the old books from the fast of Moses and Elijah, and from the Gospel, because the Lord fasted for the same number of days, demonstrating that the Gospel does not dissent from the law and the prophets. For the law is perceived in the person of Moses, and the prophets in the person of Elijah. Among them, he appeared gloriously on the mountain, so that it might more clearly stand out what the Apostle says about him: "Having a witness from the law and the prophets" (Romans 3). But in which part of the year is it more fitting that the observance of Lent should be established, if not adjacent and contiguous to the Lord’s Passion, because in it is signified this laborious life, which requires continence, to fast from the friendship of this world. Otherwise: the Lord fasted while he was tempted before death, still needing food. However, he ate and drank after the resurrection, already not needing food. For here he was showing our labor in himself, but there his consolation in us, defining both in forty days. For this number seems to signify the course of this age, in those who are called by grace, to him who did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matthew 5). For there are ten commandments of the law, now diffused by the grace of Christ throughout the world, and the world is fourfold, and ten times four makes forty. Because those redeemed by the Lord, he has gathered from the regions. From the East, and the West, and the North, and the sea. Thus fasting for forty days before the death of the flesh, as if he were crying out: Abstain from the desires of this world (1 Peter 2). But eating and drinking for forty days after the resurrection of the flesh, as if he were crying out: Behold, I am with you until the end of the age (Matthew 28). Fasting is indeed in the tribulation of struggle, because he who is in the contest abstains from everything. But food is in the hope of peace, which will not be perfect until our body, whose redemption we await, puts on immortality, which we do not yet attain by glory, but are nourished by hope. The Apostle shows that we engage in both together, saying: Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation (Romans 12). As if that were in food, this in fasting. For simultaneously, as we tread the Lord’s way, we fast from the vanity of the present age, and are refreshed by the promise of the future, not setting our hearts here, but feeding our hearts above. But the fact that the Lord was hungry after the days of fasting were ended, whereas nothing of the sort is written of Moses or Elijah when they fasted, happened so that he, fearing the temptation, would not flee away sad, whom he saw proclaimed with so many heavenly signs, and equal to the most excellent men in abstaining. For the humble God-man was hungry, so that he might not reveal to the enemy the sublime man-God.

The devil said to him: If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread. The ancient enemy recognized that the redeemer of the human race had come into the world, his conqueror, and thus said through a possessed man: What have we to do with you, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time? (Matt. VIII). However, when he first saw Him as vulnerable, observed Him able to endure mortal things due to His humanity, everything he suspected about His divinity came into doubt out of the pride of his arrogance. For nothing wise, except for the proud, doubted that He was God when he saw Him humble. Therefore, he turned to the means of temptations. But not like us who are pure humans, often shaken by attacking temptation, was the soul of our Redeemer troubled by the necessity of temptation. For our enemy, even if he was permitted to take Him to a high mountain, even if he proclaimed he would give Him the kingdoms of the world, even if he showed stones that could be turned into bread, still he could not shake the mind of the Mediator between God and men with temptation. For He graciously endured all these things outwardly, such that His mind inwardly, remaining attached to His divinity, remained unshaken. Even when it is said that He was troubled in spirit and groaned, He Himself divinely arranged how much He would be troubled humanly.

And Jesus answered him: It is written that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. The Lord replied in this way because it was his purpose to conquer the devil with humility, not with power. It should also be noted that the devil would not have had the occasion to tempt unless the Lord had begun to fast. According to that: Son, when you come to serve God, prepare your soul for temptation (Ecclesiasticus 2). But also, the very response of the Savior indicates that it was a man who was tempted: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Therefore, if anyone does not feed on the word of God, he does not live. Otherwise: Our enemy, while we are still placed in this life, the more he sees us rebelling against him, the more he strives to conquer us. For he neglects to strike those whom he feels he possesses in quiet right. Against us, however, he is incited all the more violently, because he is driven out of our hearts as if from the right of his own dwelling. For the Lord figured this in Himself under a certain dispensation, who did not allow the devil to tempt Him except after baptism, to indicate to us a certain sign of the future course of life, that His members would bear the sharper snares of temptations once they had progressed to God.

And Jesus answered him, saying: It is written, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve. The devil said to the Savior: If thou wilt fall down and worship me, but hears in return that he ought rather to worship Him, the Lord and his God. Perhaps someone might ask how it agrees that here it is instructed that the Lord alone is to be served, with the Apostle’s word which says: But by love serve one another (Galatians V). But this is easily resolved by considering the origin of the Greek language from which the Scripture is translated, in which servitude is named in two ways with different meanings. It is called λατρεία, and it is called δουλεία. However, dulia is understood as common servitude, that is, whether offered to God or to anyone in the order of nature. From which also, servant, that is, δοῦλος, takes its name in Greek. Latria, however, is called that servitude which is due only to the worship of divinity, and is not to be shared by any creature. Hence also idolaters are named who spend vows, prayers, and sacrifices which were owed to God alone, upon idols. Therefore, we are commanded to serve one another by love, which is in Greek δουλεύειν. We are commanded to serve only God, which is in Greek λατρεύειν. Hence it is said: And Him only shalt thou serve, which is in Greek λατρεύσεις. And again: For we are the circumcision, serving the Spirit of God (Philippi. III), which is in Greek λατρεύοντες.

And Jesus answering said to him: It is said: You shall not tempt the Lord your God. The devil's false arrows from the Scriptures, he breaks with the true shields of the Scriptures. And it is to be noted that he brought forth necessary testimonies only from Deuteronomy, to show the sacraments of the second law. You shall not tempt, he says, the Lord your God. For it was suggested to him as if to a man, that he should test by some sign how great he was, that is, how much he could do with God. This is done wrongly, when it is done. For it pertains to sound doctrine, when a man has something to do, not to tempt the Lord his God. For the Savior himself could indeed protect his disciples, to whom he said: If they persecute you in one city, flee to another (Matt. X). He provided an example of this beforehand. For though he had the power to lay down his life, and would not lay it down except when he wanted, yet as an infant he fled to Egypt with his parents carrying him. And he went up to the feast not openly, but secretly, while at other times he spoke openly to the angry Jews and to those listening with the most hostile intention, who yet were unable to lay hands on him because his hour had not yet come. So he who, by teaching and rebuking openly, and yet not allowing the rage of his enemies to have any effect on him, demonstrated the power of God, but by fleeing and hiding, he also taught the weakness of man, so that man should not dare to tempt God, when he has something to do to escape what must be avoided.

And when all temptation was finished, the devil departed from him for a time. You see, the devil himself is not persistent in effort, but usually yields to virtue. And although he never ceases to envy, he fears to persist, because he often flees from being triumphed over. Therefore, hearing the name of God, he departed (he says) for a time. Later, he came not to tempt, but to openly fight. Although often the ancient enemy, after he has inflicted the struggle of temptations on our mind, retreats temporarily from his own contest, not to end the malice he has inflicted, but so that, returning suddenly, he may burst in more easily and unexpectedly on hearts made secure through peace. It should be noted, however, that after the three deceptions of the tempter were exposed, he says that all temptation was finished. Because indeed, in these are embraced the origins and sources of all vices. With John attesting who said: For all that is in the world, is the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2). And in the gospel parable, only three affairs of the reprobate exclude them from the feasts of eternal life. The first (he says) said: I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. And another said: I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them. And another said: I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come. The desire for a wife, like gluttony, concerns the lust of the flesh. The purchase of a villa, which is not devoid of greed, pertains to the pride of life. The trial of five yokes, that is, curiosity about physical things, which is vain glory, is related to the lust of the eyes. For curiosity prevails mostly through the eyes, and the Lord Himself is indeed tempted face to face as if by a stronger one. But we, having received the grace of the Spirit in baptism, enter the desert of virtues, when we undertake the Lenten fast, that is, determining to abstain from worldly enticements throughout our life, we are either tempted by hidden snares or sometimes even struck closer. He who, persuading, says: You are a strong man, eat and drink, and remain the same, should be guarded against, lest he unknowingly offers us the serpent’s old poison. And it must be said: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God. Indeed, many who have overcome the lust of the flesh are immediately tempted by greed and are often also overcome, so much so that they do not fear to worship the devil for the gifts offered. When many praise their continence, and even greater persons honor them, giving gifts, it happens that the victors over pleasures are conquered by love of money, and with growing madness over time, they not only do not refrain from consorting with the demon-filled rich whom they recognize through blatant crimes, but also bow their heads in worship and embrace them. Hence the Apostle says that greed is idolatry. If, following the Savior's example, they triumph over this by worshiping the Lord, their God, and serving Him alone for eternal joys, the third pestilence of vain glory will come, which exalts the victors over the previous vices because of their own strength, presuming that those placed on the height of virtues can no longer fall. And this is clearly to tempt God with curious eyes, boasting of one's merits. Against this, the Lord, increasing the disciples’ faith, said: When you have done all that is commanded you, say: We are unworthy servants; we have done what we ought to do (Luke XVII). For when He elsewhere commanded that we do not perform our righteousness before men, He added only fasting, almsgiving, and prayer in the same definition, opposing three weapons of defense against the triple weapon of the enemy: that fasting may drive away the lust of the flesh, almsgiving may drive away greed, and prayers may drive away the boast of merits. It is sufficient to have said these things about the principles of the gospel dispensation in one book; however, considering both our own peace and the benefit of the readers, let us look at the following deeds or words of the Savior more attentively from another beginning. For, as Augustine says, in some way the reader’s concentration is refreshed at the end of a book, like the traveler’s strength at a hostel.

By the power of the Spirit he means showing forth of miracles.

And because wisdom belongs to teaching, but power to works, both are joined here, as it follows, And he taught in the synagogue.
Synagogue, which is a Greek word, is rendered in Latin congregatio. By this name then the Jews were accustomed to call not only the gathering together of people, but also the house where they met together to hear the word of God; as we call by the name of Church, both the place and the company of the faithful. But there is this difference between the synagogue which is called congregation, and the Church which is interpreted convocation, that flocks and cattle, and any thing else can be gathered together in one, but only rational beings can be called together. Accordingly the Apostolical doctors thought right to call a people which was distinguished by the superior dignity of a new grace rather by the name of Church, than Synagogue. But rightly also was the fact of His being magnified by those present proved, by actual evidence of word and deed, as it follows, And he was magnified by all.

They flocked together on the Sabbath day in the synagogues, that, resting from all worldly occupations, they might set themselves down with a quiet mind to meditate on the precepts of the Law. Hence it follows, And he entered as was his custom on the Sabbath day into the synagogue.

He is sent also to preach the Gospel to the poor, saying, Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of heaven.

Or, because it is written, A broken and a contrite heart God will not despise. (Ps. 51:17.) He says therefore, that He is sent to heal the broken hearted, as it is written, Who heals the broken hearted. (Ps. 147:3.)
It follows, And to preach deliverance to the captives.

Or, to set at liberty them that are bruised; i. e. to relieve those who had been heavy laden with the intolerable burden of the Law.

For not only was that year acceptable in which our Lord preached, but that also in which the Apostle preaches, saying, Behold, now is the accepted time. (2 Cor. 6:2.) After the acceptable year of the Lord, he adds, And the day of retribution;a that is, the final retribution, when the Lord shall give to every one according to his work.

He read the book to those who were present to hear Him, but having read it, He returned it to the minister; for while He was in the world He spoke openly, teaching in the synagogues and in the temple; but about to return to heaven, He committed the office of preaching the Gospel to those who from the beginning were eye-witnesses and ministers of the word. He read standing, because while explaining those Scriptures which were written of Him, He condescended to work in the flesh; but having returned the book, He sits down, because He restored Himself to the throne of heavenly rest. For standing is the part of the workman, but sitting of one who is resting or judging. So also let the preacher of the word rise up and read and work and preach, and sit down, i. e. wait for the reward of rest. But He opens the book and reads, because sending the Spirit, He taught His Church all truth; having shut the book, He returned it to the minister, because all things were not to be said unto all, but He committed the word to the teacher to be dispensed according to the capacity of the hearers. It follows, And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.

Because, in fact, as that Scripture had foretold, the Lord was both doing great things, and preaching greater.

And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding region. And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. The power of the Spirit here means the signs of miracles. As also elsewhere, the Jews marveled. "Whence," they say, "does this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?" (Matt. XIII). That is, they refer wisdom to teaching, and power to deeds. Both are equally combined in this passage, as it declares that Jesus, having entered in the power of the Spirit, also taught in their synagogues. Hence, deservedly, he was magnified by those present and his fame spread through the absent ones. This could not happen unless by the evidence of his deeds or words manifest to those present. But anyone searching for the time and order of these events will find it in the Gospel of John, as has been mentioned. Setting aside other details, I will quote one testimony: "When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast" (John IV). It should be noted that first Jesus demonstrated the power of the Spirit and later dispensed the grace of doctrine; he recalls that first fame spread because of the miracles, and then the teaching was magnified. According to the order briefly commended in the Acts of the Apostles: "Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts I). For he first began to do, and then to teach, lest any teacher should presume to command his hearers things which he himself has not yet accomplished.

And He came to Nazareth, where He was brought up, and, according to His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Synagogue, in Greek, means congregation in Latin, which term was used to mean not only the assembly of many people, but also the house where the Jews gathered to hear or speak the word of God. Hence the Lord said to the high priest Annas: I have always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. Just as we also call the churches of the faithful both places and choirs. However, there is a difference between synagogue, which means congregation, and church, which means convocation, in that the people of the Old Testament were known by both terms, but the people of the New Testament are called only church. For, evidently, even animals and inanimate things can be gathered into one, but only those using reason can be called together. Therefore, it seemed proper to the apostolic writers and teachers that the people of the new grace, endowed with greater dignity, be called into the unity of the faith, rather than gathered, namely, to be referred to as the Church, and not the Synagogue. They would gather on the Sabbath in the synagogues, so that, as the Lord commanded: Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46), they would set aside worldly affairs and rest with a quiet heart to meditate on the teachings of the law. To this day, the indication of this devotion endures in the Church, which in some places, in memory of the ancient religion, is accustomed to recite on the Sabbath the song of Deuteronomy in which is contained the entire state of the ancient people, what they deserved when God was offended, and what when He was appeased. Otherwise, it would be out of order to recite the last song of Moses on the earlier days of the week after the sayings of the prophets. Therefore, Jesus entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day to complete the rite of the Mosaic law with the fullness of heavenly grace.