Luke 4:1

ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, אBDL, Sah[82] It[83] Gr[84] La[85] Ti[86] The εἰς τὴν ἔρημον of the Rec[87] is an easier, more commonplace, less significant reading. See note.

[82] Sah. Sahidic Version.
[83] It. Old Latin Version (Itala).
[84] Gr. Griesbach.
[85] La. Lachmann.
[86] Ti. Tischendorf.
[87] Rec. The Textus Receptus.

1. πλήρης πνεύματος ἁγίου. St Luke often calls special attention to the work of the Spirit, Luke 3:22; Luke 4:14; Acts 6:3; Acts 7:55; Acts 11:24. The expression alludes to the outpouring of the Spirit upon Jesus at His baptism, Luke 1:3; John 3:34. The narrative should be compared with Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13. St John, who narrates mainly what he had himself seen, omits the temptation.

ὑπέστρεψεν. ‘Went away.’

ἤγετο. The imperfect implies a continuous leading during all the forty days, as well as a continuous temptation. A divine impulse led him to face the hour of peril alone. St Mark uses the more intense expression, “immediately the Spirit driveth Him forth.” He only devotes two verses (Mark 1:12-13) to the Temptation, but adds the graphic touch that “He was with the wild beasts” (comp. Psalms 91:13), and implies the continuous ministration of angels (διηκόνουν) to Him.

ἐν τῷ πνεύματι. ‘In the Spirit,’ comp. Luke 2:27; Romans 8:14. The phrase emphasizes the “full of the Holy Ghost,” and has the same meaning as “in the power of the Spirit,” Luke 4:14.

“Thou Spirit, who ledd’st this glorious eremite
Into the desert, his victorious field
Against the spiritual foe, and brought’st Him thence
By proof the undoubted Son of God.”

MILTON, Par. Reg. 1.

ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. ‘In (not ‘into’) the wilderness.’ He was ‘in the Spirit’ during the whole period as He wandered about. The scene of the temptation is supposed to be the mountain near Jericho, thence called Quarantania. The tradition is not ancient, but the site is very probable, being rocky, bleak, and repellent—

“A pathless desert, dusk with horrid shades.”

MILTON.

Scripture everywhere recognizes the need of solitude and meditation on the eve of great work for God (Exodus 24:2; 1 Kings 19:4; Galatians 1:17), and this would be necessary to the human nature of our Lord also.