Whether the Mode and Order of the Temptation Were Becoming?
Objection 1: It would seem that the mode and order of the temptation
were unbecoming. For the devil tempts in order to induce us to sin.
But if Christ had assuaged His bodily hunger by changing the stones
into bread, He would not have sinned; just as neither did He sin when
He multiplied the loaves, which was no less a miracle, in order to
succor the hungry crowd. Therefore it seems that this was nowise a
temptation.
Obj. 2: Further, a counselor is inconsistent if he persuades the
contrary to what he intends. But when the devil set Christ on a
pinnacle of the Temple, he purposed to tempt Him to pride or
vainglory. Therefore it was inconsistent to urge Him to cast Himself
thence: for this would be contrary to pride or vainglory, which
always seeks to rise.
Obj. 3: Further, one temptation should lead to one sin. But in the
temptation on the mountain he counseled two sins--namely,
covetousness and idolatry. Therefore the mode of the temptation was
unfitting.
Obj. 4: Further, temptations are ordained to sin. But there are seven
deadly sins, as we have stated in the Second Part (I-II, Q. 84, A.
4). But the tempter only deals with three, viz. gluttony, vainglory,
and covetousness. Therefore the temptation seems to have been
incomplete.
Obj. 5: Further, after overcoming all the vices, man is still tempted
to pride or vainglory: since pride "worms itself in stealthily, and
destroys even good works," as Augustine says (Ep. ccxi). Therefore
Matthew unfittingly gives the last place to the temptation to
covetousness on the mountain, and the second place to the temptation
to vainglory in the Temple, especially since Luke puts them in the
reverse order.
Obj. 6: Further, Jerome says on Matt. 4:4 that "Christ purposed to
overcome the devil by humility, not by might." Therefore He should
not have repulsed him with a haughty rebuke, saying: "Begone, Satan."
Obj. 7: Further, the gospel narrative seems to be false. For it seems
impossible that Christ could have been set on a pinnacle of the
Temple without being seen by others. Nor is there to be found a
mountain so high that all the world can be seen from it, so that all
the kingdoms of the earth could be shown to Christ from its summit.
It seems, therefore, that Christ's temptation is unfittingly
described.
On the contrary is the authority of Scripture.
_I answer that,_ The temptation which comes from the enemy takes the
form of a suggestion, as Gregory says (Hom. xvi in Evang.). Now a
suggestion cannot be made to everybody in the same way; it must arise
from those things towards which each one has an inclination.
Consequently the devil does not straight away tempt the spiritual man
to grave sins, but he begins with lighter sins, so as gradually to
lead him to those of greater magnitude. Wherefore Gregory (Moral.
xxxi), expounding Job 39:25, "He smelleth the battle afar off, the
encouraging of the captains and the shouting of the army," says: "The
captains are fittingly described as encouraging, and the army as
shouting. Because vices begin by insinuating themselves into the mind
under some specious pretext: then they come on the mind in such
numbers as to drag it into all sorts of folly, deafening it with
their bestial clamor."
Thus, too, did the devil set about the temptation of the first man.
For at first he enticed his mind to consent to the eating of the
forbidden fruit, saying (Gen. 3:1): "Why hath God commanded you that
you should not eat of every tree of paradise?" Secondly [he tempted
him] to vainglory by saying: "Your eyes shall be opened." Thirdly, he
led the temptation to the extreme height of pride, saying: "You shall
be as gods, knowing good and evil." This same order did he observe in
tempting Christ. For at first he tempted Him to that which men
desire, however spiritual they may be--namely, the support of the
corporeal nature by food. Secondly, he advanced to that matter in
which spiritual men are sometimes found wanting, inasmuch as they do
certain things for show, which pertains to vainglory. Thirdly, he led
the temptation on to that in which no spiritual men, but only carnal
men, have a part--namely, to desire worldly riches and fame, to the
extent of holding God in contempt. And so in the first two
temptations he said: "If Thou be the Son of God"; but not in the
third, which is inapplicable to spiritual men, who are sons of God by
adoption, whereas it does apply to the two preceding temptations.
And Christ resisted these temptations by quoting the authority of the
Law, not by enforcing His power, "so as to give more honor to His
human nature and a greater punishment to His adversary, since the foe
of the human race was vanquished, not as by God, but as by man"; as
Pope Leo says (Serm. 1, De Quadrag. 3).
Reply Obj. 1: To make use of what is needful for self-support is not
the sin of gluttony; but if a man do anything inordinate out of the
desire for such support, it can pertain to the sin of gluttony. Now
it is inordinate for a man who has human assistance at his command to
seek to obtain food miraculously for mere bodily support. Hence the
Lord miraculously provided the children of Israel with manna in the
desert, where there was no means of obtaining food otherwise. And in
like fashion Christ miraculously provided the crowds with food in the
desert, when there was no other means of getting food. But in order
to assuage His hunger, He could have done otherwise than work a
miracle, as did John the Baptist, according to Matthew (3:4); or He
could have hastened to the neighboring country. Consequently the
devil esteemed that if Christ was a mere man, He would fall into sin
by attempting to assuage His hunger by a miracle.
Reply Obj. 2: It often happens that a man seeks to derive glory from
external humiliation, whereby he is exalted by reason of spiritual
good. Hence Augustine says (De Serm. Dom. in Monte ii, 12): "It must
be noted that it is possible to boast not only of the beauty and
splendor of material things, but even of filthy squalor." And this is
signified by the devil urging Christ to seek spiritual glory by
casting His body down.
Reply Obj. 3: It is a sin to desire worldly riches and honors in an
inordinate fashion. And the principal sign of this is when a man does
something wrong in order to acquire such things. And so the devil was
not satisfied with instigating to a desire for riches and honors, but
he went so far as to tempt Christ, for the sake of gaining possession
of these things, to fall down and adore him, which is a very great
crime, and against God. Nor does he say merely, "if Thou wilt adore
me," but he adds, "if, falling down"; because, as Ambrose says on
Luke 4:5: "Ambition harbors yet another danger within itself: for,
while seeking to rule, it will serve; it will bow in submission that
it may be crowned with honor; and the higher it aims, the lower it
abases itself."
In like manner [the devil] in the preceding temptations tried to lead
[Christ] from the desire of one sin to the commission of another;
thus from the desire of food he tried to lead Him to the vanity of
the needless working of a miracle; and from the desire of glory to
tempt God by casting Himself headlong.
Reply Obj. 4: As Ambrose says on Luke 4:13, Scripture would not have
said that "'all the temptation being ended, the devil departed from
Him,' unless the matter of all sins were included in the three
temptations already related. For the causes of temptations are the
causes of desires"--namely, "lust of the flesh, hope of glory,
eagerness for power."
Reply Obj. 5: As Augustine says (De Consensu Evang. ii): "It is not
certain which happened first; whether the kingdoms of the earth were
first shown to Him, and afterwards He was set on the pinnacle of the
Temple; or the latter first, and the former afterwards. However, it
matters not, provided it be made clear that all these things did take
place." It may be that the Evangelists set these things in different
orders, because sometimes cupidity arises from vainglory, sometimes
the reverse happens.
Reply Obj. 6: When Christ had suffered the wrong of being tempted by
the devil saying, "If Thou be the Son of God cast Thyself down," He
was not troubled, nor did He upbraid the devil. But when the devil
usurped to himself the honor due to God, saying, "All these things
will I give Thee, if, falling down, Thou wilt adore me," He was
exasperated, and repulsed him, saying, "Begone, Satan": that we might
learn from His example to bear bravely insults leveled at ourselves,
but not to allow ourselves so much as to listen to those which are
aimed at God.
Reply Obj. 7: As Chrysostom says (Hom. v in Matth.): "The devil set
Him" (on a pinnacle of the Temple) "that He might be seen by all,
whereas, unawares to the devil, He acted in such sort that He was
seen by none."
In regard to the words, "'He showed Him all the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory of them,' we are not to understand that He saw
the very kingdoms, with the cities and inhabitants, their gold and
silver: but that the devil pointed out the quarters in which each
kingdom or city lay, and set forth to Him in words their glory and
estate." Or, again, as Origen says (Hom. xxx in Luc.), "he showed Him
how, by means of the various vices, he was the lord of the world."
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