Luke 4:13

πάντα πειρασμόν. ‘Every temptation.’ “He had,” as Bengel says, “shot his last dart.” The temptations had been addressed (1) to the desire of the flesh—trying to make the test of Sonship to God consist not in obedience but in the absence of pain; (2) to the pride of life—as though earthly greatness were a sign of God’s approval, and as though greatness consisted in power and success; (3) to spiritual pride—as though the elect of God might do as they will, and be secure against consequences. See note on Luke 4:10.

ἀπέστη. “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you,” James 4:7.

ἄχρι καιροῦ. ‘Until an opportunity,’ though the meaning comes to be the same as “for a season” (Acts 13:11). The words cannot possibly be equivalent to ἕως τέλους. St Matthew adds, “And, lo! angels came and began to minister unto Him.” We do not again meet with angels in a visible form till the Agony in Gethsemane. It must not be imagined that our Lord was only tempted at this crisis. He shared temptation with us, as the common lot of our humanity. “Many other were the occasions on which He endured temptation,” Bonaventura, Vit. Christi. See Luke 22:28; Hebrews 4:15. We may however infer from the Gospels that henceforth His temptations were rather the negative ones caused by suffering, than the positive ones caused by allurement. Ullmann, p. 30. See Matthew 27:40 (like the first temptation); John 7:3-4 (analogous to the second in St Matthew’s order); John 7:15 (like the third); Van Oosterzee. See too Luke 22:3; Luke 22:53; Matthew 16:22; John 14:30; John 8:44. It is instructive to compare this narrative with those of St Matthew (Matthew 4:1-11) and St Mark (Mark 1:12-13); St John omits the Temptation, perhaps because he mainly relates that which he personally witnessed. St Mark in his condensed allusion does not specify the three temptations. St Luke omits the ministry of angels, though not from any dislike to it (Luke 22:43).