Church Fathers Commentary Luke 4:1-4

"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led in the Spirit in the wilderness during forty days, being tempted of the devil. And he did eat nothing in those days: and when they were completed, he hungered. And the devil said unto him, if thou art the Son of God, command this stone that it become bread. And Jesus answered unto him, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone." — Luke 4:1-4 (ASV)

Theophylact of Ohrid: Christ is tempted after His baptism, showing us that temptations await us after we are baptized. This is why it is said, But Jesus being full of the Holy Spirit, and so on.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: God said in the past, My Spirit shall not always abide in men, because they are flesh. But now that we have been enriched with the gift of regeneration by water and the Spirit, we have become partakers of the Divine nature by participation of the Holy Spirit. The first-born among many brethren first received the Spirit—He who is Himself also the giver of the Spirit—so that through Him we might also receive the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Origen of Alexandria: Therefore, when you read that Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit, and it is written in the Acts concerning the Apostles that they were filled with the Holy Spirit, you must not suppose that the Apostles were equal to the Savior. For if you were to say, "These vessels are full of wine or oil," you would not by that statement affirm them to be equally full. In the same way, Jesus and Paul were full of the Holy Spirit, but Paul’s vessel was far smaller than that of Jesus, and yet each was filled according to its own measure.

Having received baptism, the Savior, full of the Holy Spirit which came upon Him from heaven in the form of a dove, was led by the Spirit. For, as many as are led by the Spirit, they are the sons of God. But He was above all others, and especially the Son of God.

The Venerable Bede: So that there might be no doubt by which Spirit He was led, while the other Evangelists say, "into the wilderness," Luke purposely added, And he was led by the Spirit into the wilderness for forty days. This was so that no one would think an unclean spirit had prevailed against Him, who, being full of the Holy Spirit, did whatever He wished.

Greek Expositors: But if we order our lives according to our own will, how could He have been led about unwillingly? The words, "He was led by the Spirit," therefore have a meaning like this: He willingly undertook that kind of life so that He might present an opportunity to the tempter.

St. Basil the Great: For He seeks the wilderness not by provoking the enemy with words, but by rousing him with His actions. The devil delights in the wilderness; he is not accustomed to go into the cities, as the harmony of the citizens troubles him.

St. Ambrose of Milan: He was therefore led into the wilderness so that He might provoke the devil, for if the one had not contended, it seems the other would not have conquered. In a mystical sense, it was to deliver from exile that Adam who was cast out of Paradise into the wilderness. As an example, it was to show us that the devil envies us whenever we strive for better things, and that we must then use caution, so that the weakness of our minds does not cause us to lose the grace of this mystery. This is why it follows: And was tempted by the devil.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Behold, He is among the wrestlers, who as God awards the prizes. He is among the crowned, who crowns the heads of the saints.

St. Gregory the Great: However, our enemy was unable to shake the purpose of the Mediator between God and men. For He condescended to be tempted outwardly, yet in such a way that His soul, resting inwardly in its divinity, remained unshaken.

Origen of Alexandria: Jesus was tempted by the devil for forty days, and we do not know what the temptations were. They were perhaps omitted because they were too great to be committed to writing.

St. Basil the Great: Alternatively, the Lord remained untempted for forty days, because the devil knew that He was fasting yet did not hunger, and therefore did not dare to approach Him. This is why it follows: And in those days he did eat nothing. Indeed, He fasted to show that anyone who would prepare himself for struggles against temptation must be temperate and sober.

St. Ambrose of Milan: There are three things that, when united, contribute to a person's salvation: the Sacrament, the Wilderness, and Fasting. No one receives a crown who has not contended rightly, but no one is admitted to the contest of virtue unless he is first washed from the stains of all his sins and consecrated with the gift of heavenly grace.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus: In truth, He fasted for forty days, eating nothing (for He was God). But we regulate our fasting according to our strength, although the zeal of some persuades them to fast beyond their ability.

St. Basil the Great: However, we must not treat the flesh in such a way that our strength wastes away from lack of food, nor that our understanding grows dull and heavy from excessive mortification. Therefore, our Lord performed this work once, but during all the time that followed, He governed His body with proper order, and Moses and Elijah did likewise.

St. John Chrysostom: Very wisely, He did not exceed their number of days. This was to prevent any thought that He had come in appearance only, and not in real flesh, or that His flesh was something beyond human nature.

St. Ambrose of Milan: But notice the mystical number of days. You remember that for forty days the waters of the flood were poured out. By sanctifying a fast of that same number of days, He brings before us the returning mercies of a calmer sky. By a fast of this many days, Moses also earned for himself the understanding of the Law. Likewise, our fathers, after being settled in the wilderness for this many days, obtained the food of angels.

St. Augustine of Hippo: Now, that number is a sacrament of our time and labor, in which we contend against the devil under Christ’s discipline, for it signifies our temporal life. For the periods of years run in courses of four, and forty contains four tens. In turn, the number ten is completed by the sum of the numbers one through four.

This plainly shows that the fast of forty days—that is, the humiliation of the soul—was consecrated in the Law and the Prophets by Moses and Elijah, and in the Gospel by the fast of our Lord Himself.

St. Basil the Great: But because not suffering hunger is beyond human nature, our Lord took upon Himself the feeling of hunger. He submitted Himself, as it pleased Him, to human nature, to both do and suffer those things that belonged to it. This is why it follows: And when they were ended, he afterward hungered. He was not forced by the necessity that overpowers nature, but was, as it were, provoking the devil to the conflict.

For the devil, knowing that weakness accompanies hunger, set out to tempt Him. As the inventor of temptations, and with Christ's permission, he tried to persuade Him to satisfy His appetite with stones, as it follows: And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command these stones that they be made bread.

St. Ambrose of Milan: We are taught that there are three primary weapons with which the devil is accustomed to arm himself to wound a person's soul: appetite, boasting, and ambition. He began with that by which he had already conquered, namely, Adam. Let us therefore beware of appetite and luxury, for they are weapons of the devil.

But what do his words, If thou be the Son of God, mean, unless he knew that the Son would come, but because of the weakness of His body, supposed He had not yet come? He first endeavors to identify Him, then to tempt Him. He professes to approach Him as God, but then tries to deceive Him as a man.

Origen of Alexandria: When a son asks his father for bread, the father does not give him a stone. But the devil, like a crafty and deceitful foe, gives stones for bread.

St. Basil the Great: He tried to persuade Christ to satisfy His appetite with stones—that is, to shift His desire from natural food to that which was beyond nature, or unnatural.

Origen of Alexandria: I suppose that even now, at this very time, the devil shows a stone to people to tempt them, saying, Command this stone that it be made bread. If you see heretics devouring their false doctrines as if they were bread, know that their teaching is a stone that the devil shows them.

St. Basil the Great: But Christ, while He vanquishes temptation, does not banish hunger from our nature as though it were the cause of evil. Hunger is, rather, the preservative of life. By confining nature within its proper bounds, Christ shows what kind of nourishment it requires, as it follows: And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.

Theophylact of Ohrid: It is as if He said: Human nature is not sustained by bread alone; the word of God is sufficient to support the whole person. Such was the food of the Israelites when they gathered manna for forty years and when they delighted in eating quail. By divine counsel, Elijah had the ravens to feed him; Elisha fed his companions with the herbs of the field.

St. Cyril of Alexandria: Alternatively, our earthly body is nourished by earthly food, but the rational soul is strengthened by the Divine Word for the right ordering of the spirit.

St. Gregory of Nazianzus: For the body does not nourish our immaterial nature.

Gregory of Nyssa: Virtue, then, is not sustained by bread, nor does the soul keep itself healthy and vigorous through fleshly food. Rather, the heavenly life is fostered and increased by other banquets than these. The nourishment of the good person is chastity, his bread is wisdom, his herbs are justice, his drink is freedom from passion, and his delight is to be truly wise.

St. Ambrose of Milan: You see, then, what kind of weapons He uses to defend humanity against the assaults of spiritual wickedness and the allurements of appetite. He does not exert His power as God (for how would that have profited me?), but as a man, He calls upon a common aid. In this way, while intent upon the food of divine reading, He can neglect the hunger of the body and gain the nourishment of the Word.

For one who seeks after the Word cannot feel the lack of earthly bread, because divine things doubtless make up for the loss of human things. At the same time, by saying, Man lives not by bread alone, He shows that it was man who was tempted—that is, our flesh which He assumed—and not His own divinity.