After the expulsion from Paradise of Adam and Eve, Satan and his followers
did not return to Hell, but remained on earth, the fallen angels becoming
the evil gods of various idolatrous nations and Satan engaging in every
kind of evildoing which he knew would vex the Powers of Heaven. All the
time he was troubled by the thought of the heavenly foe who he had been
told would one day appear on earth to crush him and his rebel angels.
Now John had come out of the wilderness, proclaiming his mission, and
among those who came to him to be baptized was one who was deemed the son
of Joseph of Nazareth. John recognized in the obscure carpenter's son the
one "mightier than he" whose coming he was to proclaim, and this fact was
further made clear to the multitude and the observant Satan by the opening
of the Heavens and the descent therefrom on Christ's head of the Dove,
while a voice was heard declaring, "This is my beloved Son."
Satan, enraged, fled to the council of the fiends to announce to them the
presence on earth of their long-dreaded enemy. He was empowered by them to
attempt his overthrow, and they were the more confident because of his
success with Adam and Eve.
Satan's purpose was known to the Eternal Father, who smiled to see him
unwittingly fulfilling the plan so long foreordained for his destruction.
After his baptism, the Father had sent his Son into the wilderness to gain
strength for his struggle with Sin and Death, and there Satan, in the
guise of an old, poorly clad rustic, found him. Although the Son of God
had wandered through the rock-bound, pathless desert, among wild beasts,
without food for forty days, he had no fear, believing that some impulse
from above had guided him thither before he should go out among men to do
his divinely appointed task.
Then, when hunger came upon him as he wandered, thinking of past events
and those to come, he met the aged man and was addressed by him.
"Sir, how came you hither, where none who ventures alone escapes alive? I
ask because you look not unlike the man I lately saw baptized by John and
declared the Son of God."
"I need no guide," replied the Son. "The Power who brought me here will
bring me forth."
"Not otherwise than by miracle. Here we subsist only upon dry roots and
must often endure parching thirst. If thou art indeed the Son of God, save
thyself and relieve us wretched people by changing these stones to bread."
"Men live not by bread alone," replied the Son, "but by the word of God.
Moses in the Mount was without food and drink for forty days. Elijah also
wandered fasting in the wilderness. Thou knowest who I am as I know who
thou art; why shouldest thou suggest distrust to me?"
"'Tis true that I am that unfortunate spirit who fell from Heaven, but I
have been permitted to roam around the earth and have not been altogether
excluded from Heaven. God allowed me to test Job and prove his worth and
to draw Ahab into fraud. Though I have lost much of my original brightness
I can still admire all that is illustrious and good. The sons of men
should not regard me as an enemy, for I have oft given them aid by
oracles, dreams, and portents. My loss was not through them, so their
restoration does not grieve me; only that fallen man will be restored and
not I."
"Thou deservest to grieve, tissue of lies that thou art!" exclaimed our
Savior. "Thou boastest of being released from Hell and permitted to come
into Heaven. No joy hast thou there! Thy own malice moved thee to torture
Job. Brag not of thy lies, thy oracles for men. Henceforth oracles are
dumb, since God has sent his living oracle into the world to teach the
truth."
Satan, though angry, still dissembled.
"Accuse me, reprove me, if thou wilt. Fallen as I am, I still love to hear
the truth fall from thy lips."
Unmoved by his false words the Savior of men declared that he neither
forbade nor invited his presence, and Satan, bowing low, disappeared as
night fell over the desert.
In the mean time, those at Bethabara who had rejoiced at the declaration
of John and had talked with the Messiah, were deeply grieved to find him
gone and with him their hope of deliverance. His mother, too, was troubled
at his absence, but comforted herself with the thought of his former
absences, afterwards explained.
Satan, hastening from the desert, sought his troop of evil spirits to warn
them that his undertaking was no easy one, and to summon them to his
assistance.
Night fell on the Son of God, still fasting, wondering what would be the
end. In sleep he was visited by dreams of Elijah, raven-fed, and of the
same prophet fed by the angel in the desert, and as he dreamed that he ate
with them, the lark's song awoke him and he wandered into a pleasant
grove. As he viewed it, charmed by its beauty, a man appeared before him,
no rustic this time, but one attired in the apparel of city or court.
"I have returned, wondering that thou still remainest here, hungering.
Hagar once wandered here; the children of Israel, and the Prophet, but all
these were fed by the hand of Heaven. Thou alone art forgotten and goest
tormented by hunger."
Though the Son of God declared that he had no need to eat, Satan invited
his attention to a table, set under a spreading tree. Upon it was heaped
every known delicacy; by it waited youths handsome as Ganymede, and among
the trees tripped naiads and nymphs of Diana, with fruits and flowers.
Exquisite music was heard, and the perfumes of Araby filled the air.
"Why not sit and eat?" continued Satan. "These foods are not forbidden,
and all these gentle ministers are ready to do thee homage."
"What hast thou to do with my hunger?" demanded Jesus. "Should I receive
as a gift from thee what I myself could command if I so desired? I too
could bring a table here, and swift-winged angels to attend me. Thy gifts
are but guiles."
"I am forever suspected," responded Satan, as the table vanished. "Hunger
cannot move thee, set on high designs. But what canst thou, a lowly
carpenter's son, accomplish without aid? Where wilt thou find authority,
where followers? First get riches; hearken to me, for fortune is in my
hand. Wealth will win, while virtue, valor, and wisdom sit and wait in
vain."
"Yet what can wealth do without these?" replied Jesus patiently. "How can
it gain dominion, and keep it when gained? Gideon, Jephtha, David, and
among the heathen (for I am not ignorant of history) Quinctius, Fabricius,
Curius, Regulus, all these have risen from the depths and achieved the
highest deeds. Then, why may not I accomplish as much, even more, without
wealth, which but cumbers the wise man, and slackens virtue, rather than
prompts it to worthy deeds? Suppose I reject both riches and realms? Not
because the regal diadem is a wreath of thorns and he who wears it bears
each man's burden, for the king's chief praise is the manner in which he
bears this burden for the public. But he who rules himself is greater than
a king, and he who cannot do this should not aspire to royal power. But it
is surely more kingly to lead nations blinded by error into the light of
God's truth. This dominion is over the nobler part of man. And it has ever
been thought greater and nobler to give a kingdom and to lay down
authority than to assume it. Therefore thy riches are needless both in
themselves, and to gain a kingdom which would better be missed than
gained."
Satan, though for a moment struck dumb by this answer to his arguments,
soon collected himself and suggested that while the Savior knew so well
what was best to know, say, and do, that if known he would be regarded as
an oracle, still he did wrong to despise glory and deprive earth of his
great deeds, citing as examples of more active spirits accomplishing much
when younger than he, the young Alexander, Scipio, Pompey, and Caesar. But
the Savior replied that the glory which consisted of the approval of the
rabble was only to be despised. The true glory was that of the man who
dared to be truly good, who though little known on earth, was famous in
Heaven. Such men did not lay waste fields, sack, pillage, and slay, but by
deeds of peace won the approval of the Father. Such was Job, oft tempted
by Satan; such was Socrates, who suffered unjust death for teaching truth.
And the Son of God had come upon earth not to win glory for himself as
vain men do, but for Him who sent him.
"Thy Father does not despise glory," sneered Satan. "He demands it from
his angels, from men, even from us, his foes."
"With reason," answered the Son, "since he created all things, though not
for glory. And what slighter recompense could he expect from men who could
return nothing else?"
Satan, remembering his own ambition and his fall, was silent for a moment,
and then spoke to remind the Savior that he was born to the throne of
David, but that it must be wrested from the Roman by force of arms. It was
his duty to do this and save his people from oppression.
"All things in due time," replied the Savior. "If the Writ tells of my
sufferings, my tribulations, of violence done unto me, it also tells of my
reign without end. I can wait. He who suffers best, can do best; he who
obeys first, reigns best; and why shouldest thou be so anxious to hasten
my rule when it means thy destruction?"
"When hope is gone, what is there left to fear? My punishment will come
whether thou reign or no. I could hope that thy reign would stand between
me and the anger of thy Father. And if I haste to the worst that can be,
why shouldest thou go so slowly to the best? Perhaps thou fearest the
dangerous enterprise, thou who, pent up in Galilean towns, hast seen so
little."
So saying, he took the Son up into a high mountain at the foot of which
stretched a vast plain. Two rivers watered the fertile land. The hills
were covered with flocks; vast cities could be seen, and here and there,
so wide was the land, a barren desert. Then the Tempter pointed out the
vast cities of Assyria, Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, Bactra, and the vast
host of the Parthian king, even then marching against the Scythians. As
they watched the great host of mailed warriors, accompanied by chariots,
elephants, archers, engineers, Satan pursued his argument. Suppose the Son
should take possession of his kingdom; how should he hope to keep it in
peace between two such powerful enemies as the Parthians and the Romans?
It would be better to conquer first the nearest, the Parthians, and this
could be done with Satan's help. In doing this he would not only be able
to occupy his throne but would deliver the offspring of the Ten Tribes of
Israel, who, scattered among the Medes, still served as slaves.
But the Savior, in response, only questioned Satan as to why he had
suddenly become so solicitous for the salvation of the Tribes when he
himself had once tempted David to number Israel and had thus brought
pestilence upon them. And as to the Ten Tribes, they had brought their
punishment upon themselves, and must serve the enemy and their idols until
the Father should see fit to release them.
Though embarrassed by the failure of his wiles, Satan could not yet yield.
Turning to the western side of the mountain, he pointed out to the Savior
a long, narrow plain, bordered on the south by the sea and protected from
northern blasts by a mountain range. There, crowning the seven hills stood
the imperial city adorned with porches, theatres, baths, aqueducts, and
palaces. Satan pointed out the different objects of interest in splendid
Rome, the Capitol, Mt. Palatine, crowned by the imperial palace, and the
great gates, through which issued or entered a continuous stream of
praetors, proconsuls, lictors, legions, embassies, on all the roads which
led through the far-stretching empire, even to those of the Asian kings,
and remote Britain. All the glory of the world, he argued, lay in Parthia
and Rome, and Rome was greater. He who ruled her was indeed ruler of the
world, and yet its present emperor was old, weak, lascivious, without
heir, and lived at Capreae, his public cares entrusted to his favorite.
How easily could the Son of God force from him the power and lift the yoke
from his people!
But the splendor of the scene allured neither the eye nor the mind of the
Son. The gluttonies, the gorgeous feasts, the hollow compliments and lies
of the people did not attract him. His mission, he told his Tempter, was
not yet to free that people, once just and frugal, now debased by their
insatiable ambition. When the time came for him to sit on David's throne,
this with all other kingdoms of the earth would be shattered while his
kingdom would be eternal.
"Though thou despisest my offers," cried Satan, "thou knowest that I
esteem them highly, and will not part with them for nought. This is the
condition; Wilt thou fall down and worship me as thy superior lord?"
"It is written, thou accursed one," responded the Savior in disdain, "that
thou shouldst worship and serve the Lord thy God alone. Who gave thee the
kingdoms of the earth if He did not? And what gratitude thou showest! Get
thee behind me! Truly thou art Satan!"
Satan, abashed but not silenced, pointed southwest toward Athens. Since
the Savior seemed to prefer a contemplative life, why should he not seek
that seat of learning? All wisdom was not contained in Moses' law and the
writings of the prophets. Let him master the learning of the great
Athenian teachers, philosophers and orators, and he would be a king within
himself.
But the Savior assured Satan that, having received light from above, he
knew how false and fallacious were the boasted philosophies of the Greeks.
Their philosophers, ignorant of themselves and of God, and arrogating all
glory to themselves and ascribing none to Him, were unable to impart
wisdom to any one. From Hebrew psalm and hymn, and captive harps in
Babylon, the Greeks derived their arts, and the results, the odious
praises of their vicious gods, could not compare with the songs of Sion in
praise of the Father. Their orators, too, were far below the Hebrew
prophets. "Stay in the wilderness, then," thundered Satan, wroth at this
failure. "Since neither riches nor arms, nor power, nor yet the
contemplative life please thee, it is for thee the fittest place! But the
time will yet come when violence, stripes, and a cruel death will make
thee long for me and my proffered power. Truly the stars promise thee a
kingdom, but of what kind and when I cannot read."
As he disappeared, darkness fell, and the Son of God, still hungry and
cold, sought rest under a sheltering tree. But Satan watched near, and
forbade rest. Thunder and lightning shook the Heavens; rain drenched the
earth; the fury of the winds was loosed, and in their path the sturdiest
trees were uprooted. Ghosts, furies, raved around the holy one, but,
unshaken by fear, he endured all calmly, and came forth, as the bright sun
shone upon the earth, to meet again the Prince of Darkness.
Enraged that the terrors of the night had had no effect upon his enemy,
Satan cried out that he still doubted that the wanderer in the wilderness
was the Son of God in the true sense, and would therefore try him another
way.
So speaking, he caught him up and bore him through the air unto Jerusalem,
and setting him on the highest pinnacle of the glorious Temple, said
scornfully:--
"Stand there, if thou canst; I have placed thee highest in thy Father's
house. Now show if thou art indeed the Son of God. Cast thyself down, for
it is written that He will command his angels concerning thee, so that
they in their hands shall uplift thee."
"It is also written," said Jesus, "'Tempt not the Lord thy God.'" And as
he so spoke and stood, Satan, overcome with amazement, fell whence he had
expected to see his conqueror fall, and, struck with dread and anguish at
his certain defeat, fled to his rebel angels.
Straightway, a "fiery globe" of angels received the Son on their pinions,
bore him from the pinnacle into a flowery vale, and there refreshed him
with ambrosial food and water from the Fount of Life, while all around him
the angelic choir sang his praises for the conquest of his enemy, and
encouraged him to go forth on his work of saving mankind. Thence, rested
and refreshed, he arose, and went, unobserved, home to his mother's house.