Luke 4:13

After he described the occasion of the temptation and the manner of tempting, here he describes thirdly the consummation of the temptation, concerning which three things are intimated. The first is the manifestation of perfection on the part of Christ resisting: with respect to which …

But it should be noted that when the devil departed, the temptation was complete. By the same means by which the ancient enemy boasted of having conquered the first man, he is conquered by the second man, so that he might depart from our hearts, captured at the very entrance by which he had entered and held us. Consider how great is the patience of God, and how great is our impatience. Behold, the Lord endured the adversity of the devil, and answered him with nothing but words of gentleness. He bore him whom he could have punished, so that his praise might grow higher from this: that he overcame his enemy not by destroying him, but by enduring him for the time being.

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 …

(lib. ad. piet. ex. 12.) Or the devil had prompted Christ in the desert to prefer the things of the world to the love of God. The Lord commanded him to leave Him, (which itself was a mark of Divine love.) It was afterwards then enough to make Christ appear the false advocate of love to His neighbours, and therefore while He was teaching the paths of life, the devil stirred up the Gentiles and Pharisees to lay traps for Him that He might be brought to hate them. But the Lord, from the feeling of love which He had towards them, exhorted, reproved, ceased not to bestow mercy upon them. (ut sup.) But the reason why one Evangelist places this event first, and another that, is because vain-glory and covetousness give birth in turn to one another.

And when the devil had ended all the temptation,....

The first event recorded in our Lord's history, after His baptism — is His temptation by the devil. From a season of honor and glory — he passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. First came the testimony of God the Father , "You are my beloved Son." Then came the sneering suggestion of Satan , " If you are the Son of God." The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians. From great privilege to great trial, there will often be but a step.

The first event recorded in our Lord's history, after His baptism — is His temptation by the devil. From a season of honor and glory — he passed immediately to a season of conflict and suffering. First came the testimony of God the Father , "You are my beloved Son." Then came the sneering suggestion of Satan , " If you are the Son of God." The portion of Christ will often prove the portion of Christians. From great privilege to great trial, there will often be but a step. Let us first mark in this passage — the power and unwearied malice of the devil. That old serpent who tempted Adam to sin in Paradise — was not afraid to assault the second Adam, the Son of God. Whether he understood that Jesus was "God manifest in the flesh" may perhaps be doubted. But that he saw in Jesus, One who had come into the world to overthrow his kingdom — is clear and plain. He had seen what happened at our Lord's baptism. He had heard the marvelous words from Heaven. He felt that the great Friend of man was come — and that his own dominion was in peril. The Redeemer had come. The prison door was about to be thrown open. The lawful captives were about to be set free. All this, we need not doubt — Satan saw, and resolved to fight for his own. The prince of this world would not give way to the Prince of peace without a mighty struggle. He had overcome the first Adam in the garden of Eden — why should he not overcome the second Adam in the wilderness ? He had spoiled man once of Paradise — why should he not spoil him of the kingdom of God. Let it never surprise us, if we are tempted by the devil. Let us rather expect it, as a matter of course, if we are living members of Christ. The Master's lot will be the lot of His disciples.

BELOVED Friends, we have very much to learn from our Lord's temptation. He was tempted in all points, like as we are. If you will study the temptation of Christ, you will not be ignorant of Satan's devices. If you see how He worsted the enemy, you will learn what weapons to use against your great adversary. If you see how our Lord conquers throughout the whole battle, you will learn that, as you keep close to Him, you will be more than conqueror through Him that loved you.

BELOVED Friends, we have very much to learn from our Lord's temptation. He was tempted in all points, like as we are. If you will study the temptation of Christ, you will not be ignorant of Satan's devices. If you see how He worsted the enemy, you will learn what weapons to use against your great adversary. If you see how our Lord conquers throughout the whole battle, you will learn that, as you keep close to Him, you will be more than conqueror through Him that loved you. From our Lord's temptation we learn, especially, to pray, "Lead us not into temptation." Let us never mistake the meaning of that petition! We are to pray that we may not be tempted, for we are poor flesh and blood and very frail. It is for us to cry to God, "Lead us not into temptation." But we also learn a great deal from the close of our Lord's great threefold trial. We find Him, afterwards, peaceful—ministered unto by angels—and rejoicing. That should teach us to pray, "But, if we must be tempted, deliver us from the evil," or, as some render it, and very correctly, too, "Deliver us from the Evil One." First, we pray that we may not be tempted at all and then, as a supplement to that prayer, yielding the whole matter to Divine Wisdom, "If it is necessary for our manhood, for our growth in Grace, for the verification of our Graces and for God's Glory, that we should be tempted, Lord, deliver us from the evil, and especially deliver us from the impersonation of evil, the Evil One!" With that as an introduction, for a short time, tonight, let me call upon you to notice in our text, first, the devil leaving the tempted One—"Then the devil left Him." Secondly, we shall keep to Matthew's Gospel and notice the angels ministering to the tempted One after the fallen angel had left Him.