services, the payment of taxes, and the passover, leaving us the example of a good citizen, and a faithful worshiper of God. Besides, it was his mission to take upon him our sins, and, as one of us, to do and bear whatever belongs to sinful men. In this sense, his baptism symbolized the cleansing of that human nature which he had assumed.

16. Spirit of God. This was the solemn consecration of Jesus, by which he became properly the Christ, the Anointed One, and with which his public ministry was inaugurated.

17. Son. It was predicted that the Son of God should be the sovereign of the world (see the references). This, therefore, was a formal declaration of Christ's kingly dignity and authority.

PRACTICAL THOUGHTS.

2. True repentance is a requisite preparation, whether in the church or in an individual soul, for the coming and indwelling of Christ.

8. The only sure proof of repentance is a holy life.

9. No one can depend for salvation upon the piety of his parents; he must repent and come to Christ for himself.

II. John was the most eminent prophet that ever lived (ch. II: 11), yet he most reverently acknowledged his inferiority to the Messiah. True greatness is ever accompanied by humility.

12. Christ will not save all men; it is alike the mission of infinite goodness to gather the wheat, and to destroy the chaff. "Every one is either baptized with fire or burned with fire: there is no third lot." - Bengel.

15. No perfection of character or attainments can exonerate men from any ordinance or duty which God has commanded. True perfection prompts to perfect obedience.

16, 17. The Father, the Son, and the

SECTION 15.-1. Led up. This event occurred immediately after Christ's baptism. The extraordinary influences of the Holy Spirit are usually represented as a power taking possession of the whole being, and controlling the senses and the will of those who were subject to it. Num. 24:13; 1 Sam. 19:23; 1 Ki. 18: 12; 2 Ki. 2:16; Ezek. 3:12; Acts 8:39. In Mark it is said the Spirit "driveth him."-To be tempted. The purpose of this temptation we can learn only as we are told what results in fact flowed from it.. Christ was thereby qualified more perfectly to sympathize in the temptations of his people (Heb. 4:5); .was made an example and incentive to them in their conflicts with evil (1 Pet. 2:21); and was himself, in his human nature, confirmed and strengthened for the severer trials that were before him. Heb. 58. The devil; the chief of the fallen spirits, called Satan, or the Adversary. He is represented as a subtle and powerful being, filled with malignity against God and man, and striving to frustrate the merciful designs of Jehovah in respect to human salvation. Note, Mark 5:2. Those who deny the existence of such a being, maintain that the term denotes simply the abstract principle of evil personified, but the same mode of reasoning would lead to the denial of the existence of God himself.

2. Afterwards. From Mark and Luke we infer that the temptations were continued during the whole forty days. The particular assaults here recorded seem to have been at the close of that period. 3. Came to him. In what manner the tempter came is not stated. It seems most reasonable to suppose it

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights,' he was afterward an hungered.

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,

was the same in which he comes to us,by mental suggestions, appealing powerfully to some natural sensibility or desire; and there does not appear to be anything in the narrative to require any other conclusion. If thou be the Son of God. The materials of the temptation Satan derives from the declaration which had been made from heaven at the baptism, that Jesus was the Son of God, and, as such, the appointed sovereign of the world. He now finds himself in the wilderness, without companions or earthly help, and suffering from hunger. How naturally, then, might the tempter suggest to him that such a condition was incompatible with the dignity which had been announced to him. "The Son of God, the heir of the world, starving! Impossible. You must have been deceived. You heard no such declaration, or in your excited state of mind you mistook for it an ordinary peal of thunder. Or, if you insist that it was real, make trial of your divine power; change these stones into loaves, and satisfy your hunger." Thus the devil would drive him into unbelief, his old and favorite weapon (Gen. 3:4; Heb. 3:19), or incite him to an impatient and unauthorized use, for personal ends, of the spiritual gifts conferred on him.

4. It is written. The Bible is to Jesus the word of God. He quells every doubt, and repels the assault of the tempter, by citing one of its comforting assurMan's true dependence is.not

ances.

upon bread, but upon the promises of God. He has declared me to be his Son; I will trust him to provide for me in due time.

5.-The holy city; Jerusalem.-Pinnacle; literally, a little wing. It was some elevated portion of the temple, perhaps the royal portico of Herod, described by Josephus (Ant. xv. II. 5), which from a dizzy hight overhung the valley of Kedron.

6. Saith unto him. This temptation seems to have grown out of Christ's answer to the former one. "How, then, if you will not use your supernatural powers in your own behalf, do you expect to have your claims recognized among men? Your poverty and obscurity will attract no followers, and they will gain for you only contempt. You say that. your trust is in God. Well, then, go up to the temple, the most conspicuous place you can find, and leap from its summit. He whom you rely upon to supply your wants in the wilderness will send his angels to hold you up. Such a wonderful thing will satisfy every one of your divine character, and they will at once make you the king you aspire to be. If you dare not do it, that will be proof that you have neither the faith in your own destiny, nor the confidence in God, which you pretend." The aim of the tempter, as in the former case, was to compel Jesus to unbelief, or to do some rash and foolish act in order to realize his expectations before the appointed time.

Mark 1:14; John 4:1-3

12 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee ;

1 Job 1:6; 1 Chron. 21: 1. 2 Deut. 6: 13.

7. Jesus said. The Bible was to Jesus the law of action as well as the rule of faith. It forbids, he says, presumption as well as distrust.

8. Mountain. It is not necessary to suppose any particular mountain, if, as is probable, the whole scene was inward and mental. Perhaps the representation was suggested by the method in which Ezekiel was shown the vision of the latter-day temple. Ezek. 40: 2. The devil arrays before his mind a vivid panorama of the nations which the prophet had declared should serve the Messiah. See especially Isa. 60. Having thus endeavored to kindle the ambition of Jesus, he again suggests the inquiry how he can expect to realize this vision. "You are without followers or resources, and your supernatural powers seem to be of no use to you. It is plain that, if you will do nothing to aid yourself in this matter, you must have the help of some one else. Now I am the Prince of this world. All these kingdoms which have been promised you have been placed at my disposal, and I have authority to give them to whomsoever I will. If, then, you will receive them at my hands, and render me the homage which such a gift demands, all shall be yours." If, with this promise, Satan presented to his mind the appearance of some glorious and powerful being, -perhaps the similitude of an angel

27. JESUS REJECTED AT NAZARETH. Luke 4: 16-31.

13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders 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 and shadow of death, light is sprung up.

3 Isa. 9:1. Isa. 42:7; Luke 2:32.

(2 Cor. 11:14; compare Dan. 10:13, 20, 21), who seemed capable of fulfilling such promises, we may readily conceive of it as a temptation of very great weight, and most adroitly contrived, as if in the very line of God's own declarations, to draw the Saviour into compli

ance.

10. Get thee hence. The proposition to worship any other being but God was so abhorrent to the pure mind of Jesus, and so manifestly prompted by diabolic aims, that it received only an indignant repulse. "Begone, thou adversary; God is my sovereign; I worship and obey him | only.”—Satan. The literal meaning of the word is, an adversary. Zech. 3: 1.

II. Ministered; brought him food, and doubtless, also, reassurances of his Father's sympathy and regard. I Ki. 19:6, 7; Luke 22: 2:43.

25. PREACHING IN GALILEE.

Mark 1:15: Luke 4:14, 15: John 4:43-46. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

28. CALL OF FOUR APOSTLES.

Mark 1: 16-20; Luke 5:1-11.

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.2

ship, and their father, and followed him.

31. TOUR OF PREACHING THROUGH GALILEE.

Mark 1:35-39; Luke 4:42-44

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,

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.

devils, and those which were lunatic, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them.3

25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judæa, and from

1 John 1:42. 21 Cor. 9:22.

These two tribes bordered on the west coast of the lake, the former being the most southern. See map, p. 27.

15. The way; i. e. the country around, and adjacent to, the lake. The northern portion of Galilee was often called "Galilee of the Gentiles."

16. Great light; from the presence and teachings of Christ. Compare John I: 4, 5, 7-9.

SECTION 25.-17. At hand. Note ch. 3:2; 10: 7.

SECTION 28.-18. Walking. He had been preaching to the people from Peter's boat. Notes in Luke.

SECTION 31.-23. Synagogues. Note Luke 4: 16. -Gospel of the kingdom; the good news of the speedy establishment of the Messiah's kingdom.

24. Syria; the extensive country north and east of Palestine. - Devils; more properly, evil spirits. The word

3 Luke 6:19.

devil, according to the original, should be applied only to Satan. Note ver. 1; ch. 8:28.

25. Decapolis; literally, "The Ten Cities," a country lying east of Galilee, so named because originally having ten important towns.

PRACTICAL THOUGHTS.

I. It is no evidence against a person's virtue that he suffers temptations. God may design them for his confirmation in fight, and his greater usefulness.

6. Falsehood is never so dangerous as when it assumes the form and uses the language of truth.

7. In our struggles with evil we have the sympathy of the highest and holiest of beings, and are sure of victory if we persevere in reliance upon divine aid.

16. Christ alone can give light to souls who are in darkness.

23. The gospel often provides remedies for the physical as well as moral