Luke 4:2Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

After all, it is through Him that the Father conquers sin in the flesh. Aware of this, the Apostle Paul has declared, ‘For since the law is powerless because of its weakness in the flesh, God, having sent His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and because of sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.’ Therefore, He, who mortifies the inclinations of the flesh even in us, who are wretched beings, and has eradicated sin, what need could He have for fasting? He is holy, inherently blameless, purely immutable. How can He experience even a hint of change? Hence, why did He withdraw to the wilderness, fasting and confronting temptation? This serves as an illustration for us, dear friends: He presents His actions as an example and establishes a model of the most commendable way of life among us, particularly evident in the lives of holy monks. For how would humans know the benefit of solitary living in the wilderness, which is advantageous for their salvation? They separate themselves from the storms and tempests, from the chaos and vanity of worldly distractions, symbolically akin to blessed Joseph, who divested himself of worldly possessions. A similar sentiment is echoed by wise Paul concerning those who adopt such a lifestyle. ‘But those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the flesh with its affections and lusts.’ He points out to those who choose this path that self-control is essential, the fruit of which yields fasting, perseverance, and the practice of moderation in food intake. In doing so, they will overcome Satan in his attempts to lead them astray. Notice particularly that He was first baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit, withdrew into the wilderness, taking fasting as His armor; equipped thus, when Satan approached, He triumphed, presenting Himself as our exemplar. Therefore, you must also first don the armor of God, the shield of faith and the helmet of salvation. You too should seek empowerment from on high, partaking in the Holy Spirit through the sacred rite of baptism, enabling you to live a life beloved and honorable before God; then, with spiritual fortitude, you will embrace the wilderness as your dwelling; you will maintain a sacred fast, subdue pleasures, and conquer Satan in his temptations. In Christ, we find completeness. Look, amidst the battlers, there appears One who, as God, dispenses rewards; among the victors, there is One who crowns the heads of the saints. Let us observe how adept He is in battle; how He vanquishes the malice of the devil. After fasting for forty days, ‘He was hungry.’ Yet, He is the one who nourishes the hungry and is Himself the bread that came down from heaven, granting life to all as the one in whom all things subsist. However, recognizing our need, He allowed His flesh to experience the necessity for natural nourishment; thus, He said, ‘He starved.’ But only after He had sufficiently fasted and, by His divine power, preserved His flesh from corruption despite abstaining from food and drink, did He allow it to feel natural sensations: indeed, it is noted that He thirsted. And why? That cleverly, through His dual nature, He who is both God and Man may be acknowledged as such within the same person, both surpassing us in His divine essence and sharing our humanity.

Therefore, anyone desiring to attain the glory of the gospel and the fruits of resurrection must honor the holy mystery of fasting, a practice established by Moses in the law and affirmed by Christ in His gospel through the authority of both Testaments, as a trial of virtue for the faithful.

When the evangelist states that the Lord was hungry, what does this signify? Unlike Moses and Elijah, this experience is unique. Is human patience greater than divine? Certainly not; He who could endure without food for forty days revealed that His hunger was not for physical nourishment but for the salvation of humanity, confronting an adversary already weakened by His fasting. Thus, the Lord's hunger serves a divine purpose: a sacred ruse for salvation; the devil, sensing impending peril, was misled by the appearance of Christ's hunger and attempted to tempt Him as a mortal, ultimately leading to His triumph. One must also recognize the mystery in this: by the direction of the Holy Spirit and divine will, it was necessary for Christ to be subjected to temptation by the devil.

Thus, the fact that Moses, the initial lawgiver who bestowed the Law upon the early Israelites, fasted for forty days symbolizes that his legislation mandated a retreat from sinful actions, for all sin is rooted in the senses and bodily desires. In a similar vein, the prophet Elijah, who transcended the directives of the Law through his prophetic calling, observed a forty-day fast, indicating that the prophetic calling requires abstinence from the mental acceptance of sin. The Lord, who fulfills the Law and singularly removes the sins of the entire world, empowers us not only to refrain from sin in action and in thought but also to rise above mere representations.

Internally, they reflect, while externally, they launch their attacks, continuing this onslaught throughout life. Even in the face of death, they attempt to rob one of peace; and post-mortem, they pursue the soul until it transcends the realm of their influence, where they linger in their depravity. “How, then—how desolate and fearsome!” For the faithful, there is no cause for alarm, as demons only harass the devoted, but they possess no true power. The vigilant and prayerful wield defenses against them, creating a barrier that keeps these foes at bay, fearing the defeat that they have previously encountered. Their influence may only succeed due to our lapses. If we weaken our focus or allow ourselves to be drawn in by their illusions—right there, they will be emboldened to disturb us. Should we lose our awareness in the moment, they will swirl around us, waiting for our souls to regain consciousness, only to retreat momentarily but watch to see if they can approach once more. Therefore, remain alert, awake, and in prayer, and your adversaries will hold no power over you.

The Spirit that guided the Lord into the wilderness stands in stark contrast to the spirit of wickedness (υπο τε πνευματος and υπο τε διαβολε - Matthew 4:1); moreover, the malevolent spirit is never simply labeled το πνευμα - spirit in the New Testament, but is always described with additional terms. It cannot refer to Christ's own spirit either. As indicated from the initial verses of St. Luke, Christ was preparing to return from the Jordan to Galilee to commence His ministry (Jesus, however, filled with the Spirit to return from the Jordan); yet, at the moment He was heading back to Galilee (compare v. 1 with v. 14), a spirit suddenly seized upon Him, leading Him into the wilderness. This spirit must surely be the Spirit of God, who, as the Spirit of light and goodness, directed Him into the wilderness to face temptation from the spirit of evil. The evil spirit is referred to as the devil in Matthew and Luke, and Satan in Mark. The term Diabolus in Greek means slanderer, while the Hebrew term Satan translates to adversary (Zech. 3:1,2; Job 1:6). The first term highlights the malevolent spirit's stance towards humanity, while the second describes its position toward God. This understanding aligns with that of early Church fathers and teachers (St. Chrysostom, St. Ambrose, Blessed Theophylact, Euthymius Zigabenus), as well as with contemporary interpreters.

We are not informed about the specific desert to which the Spirit of God led Christ for His temptation. It is often stated that Christ was driven by the Spirit from the wilderness to the desert, but this is inaccurate. He was led from the banks of the Jordan into the desert (Keil). However, Mark's Gospel clarifies that this wilderness was utterly desolate and inhabited solely by wild beasts; "and He was with the beasts." Under "beasts," demons could also be alluded to as biblical accounts describe these spirits dwelling in desolate regions (Isa. 13:21; Tob. 8:3; Var. 4:35; Mt. 12:43; Lk. 8:29; 11:24; Rev. 18:2).

Tradition identifies this wilderness as lying between Jericho and Jerusalem, commonly known as the wilderness of Jericho (Hab. 16:1; 18:12). Within this region, one can still find a notable mountain where the Lord accomplished His forty days of fasting, known as Quarantana. Mount Quarantana rises almost vertically from the Jordan valley, reaching heights from 171 to 215 saz. The eastern slope of this mountain is dotted with numerous caves inhabited by ascetics and hermits. Presently, a Greek Orthodox monastery stands here to commemorate the forty-day fast and temptation of Jesus Christ. Both St. Matthew and St. Luke establish a close relationship between Christ's struggle against the tempter and His forty-day fast. St. Matthew notes that Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil and immediately adds, "and He fasted forty days and forty nights." St. Luke specifies this even further, stating, "and He did not eat anything during those days." The strict nature of Christ's fasting can only be understood as a result of His profound reflection and prayerful contemplation during those forty days, with time merging into one continuous day, such that He felt no hunger until the very end. The significance of Christ's fasting for forty days is rooted in its sacredness, as number forty is traditionally associated with fasting and prayer. From the history of the Old Testament, we know that both Moses (Ex. 34:28; Deut. 9:9) and Elijah (1 Kings 19:8) also fasted for this same duration; thus, Christ mirrored their example. His forty-day fast was undoubtedly directly tied to the commandment given to our first parents in paradise: "of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it" (Gen. 2:17). Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow once remarked on this thematic connection, noting that Adam’s yielding to the temptation of forbidden fruit, which breached divine command, allowed sensuality to overpower spirituality, drawing him and all humanity from a paradisiacal existence into earthly life, and setting the stage for their irrevocable fall into despair—were it not for the intervention of the Son of God, who took on humanity to rectify this by engaging in His own severe testing, thus enabling mankind to face its temptations anew through the second Adam. The Church of the New Testament, following Christ's example, instituted the fast of the quadrennium, referred to as the Great Fast, and designated the Saturday after the Epiphany or Baptism of Christ for the reading of the Gospel of the Temptation (Matt. 4:1-11). St. Matthew does not recount the specific temptations faced by Satan during the forty days of fasting as explicitly as Mark and Luke, perhaps because those temptations were more clandestine, preparatory acts of the adversary, openly confronting the Lord only when He was truly vociferous. This moment marks the beginning of the more overt temptations described in detail by Matthew and Luke, which form the core of their Gospel narratives.

If we suggest that humanity is innately evil, then any wrongdoing must be excused since it would stem from one's very nature rather than perverse intent; one could argue that if man is created evil, he cannot justly be held accountable for evil acts, nor could he be subject to reform, as only the corrupt are capable of transformation. This reasoning clearly leads to absurdity, grounded in the false premise that humans were created with inherent evil.

The teachings of Jesus clearly show that humanity was not created evil. God commands that we love Him and fulfill His will: to love all people, treat others as we wish to be treated, show love to our enemies, act kindly even toward those who oppose us, and lay down our lives for one another. By embodying these actions, we strive to attain His likeness: "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matthew 5:48). If God requires such love from humanity, even under the threat of judgment for failure to comply, it confirms that humans are indeed capable of fulfilling these divine expectations. It would be profoundly unfair for God to impose demands that are impossible to meet. Therefore, it follows that humanity must have been created good, endowed with the ability to do good, while evil exists outside of us.

Humans possess free will, which allows them to either comply with or reject God’s directives, aligning their will with God’s goodness or straying into wrongdoing. This divergence from God’s will and the commitment of sinful acts stem from a misdirection of human will, influenced by a will that is not divine.

Consequently, it can be deduced that humans are not beasts; if they occasionally act in a beastly manner, it is due to their own choices leading them away from God’s guidance. Luther wrote about the universal struggle individuals face: "Who among us has not experienced... how in the holiest moments, in the most reverent hours of his mood, such evil and tempting thoughts have come to him, which he would like to give up, and concerning which he is clearly aware that they have not in him their final origin? We all repeatedly experience that we have to fight not just with flesh and blood, but with the mysterious world of dark forces, whose actions penetrate into our inner being" (Apologia of Christianity. 12).

Evil is indeed something external to human nature and is recognized by those who are attuned to their moral choices. A conscientious individual must acknowledge the struggle between good and evil within themselves and often hears an antagonistic voice urging them to commit wrongful acts. When yielding to this voice, one might feel enslaved by an external will. This ominous influence, which seeks to lead humanity to destruction, is commonly understood by those who reflect on such experiences. Since no one desires harm for themselves, it becomes clear that this unsettling force is not born from within but is an external temptation. This spectral entity, known as the spirit of evil, or the evil spirit, also resonates across cultures and epochs, a belief that has been passed down through the ages, recognized by both the common folk and esteemed philosophers.

The conviction in the presence of malevolent spirits transcends societal barriers and has been woven into the cultural fabric of humanity. Just because these spirits are unseen and intangible does not invalidate their existence; our experiences of confronting a hostile force, an alien will that seeks to enslave us, serve as compelling evidence for its reality. Such evidence is indeed found in the Gospels.

Jesus spoke frequently of evil spirits, referring to them as the devil, Satan, and the ruler of this world. He instructed us to pray to our heavenly Father for deliverance from the evil one. In His parable of the tares, He illustrated the work of evil spirits, and He cast out demons, who obeyed His command. Thus, Jesus’ acknowledgment of evil spirits stands as sufficient truth for His followers, who trust in His words. Conversely, those who reject Christ face the implication that He recognized the existence of evil spirits, a truth they must grapple with.

In an effort to diminish the weight of this admission, some argue that Jesus merely echoed the superstitions of His time or regarded those He healed as merely afflicted by mental illness. Yet such claims contradict the acknowledged wisdom of Jesus, respected even by skeptics. Detractors sometimes assert that Jesus did not truly believe in evil spirits and only spoke of them to align with contemporary Jewish beliefs, but to claim this casts Jesus in the light of a deceiver, which conflicts with the recognition of His moral integrity.

Therefore, if even non-believers acknowledge that Jesus could not have lied or spoken of concepts He did not understand or believe, it must be accepted that every word of Christ is truthful, including His teaching on the existence of evil spirits.

Like Moses and Elijah from the Old Testament, who also retreated into the wilderness for a period of fasting lasting forty days (Exodus 3:1; 1 Kings 19), Jesus abstained from food during that time, and by the end, He experienced hunger.

Philaret of Moscow states, the failure of the first Adam to uphold a simple fast in Paradise needed to be rectified by the second Adam’s rigorous fast on earth, thereby enabling Him to confront and vanquish the overpowering tempter.

Through fasting, confronting temptation, and overcoming the adversary, the Prince and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2) inspires His followers with His own example in the fight against the enemy of salvation, demonstrating through His experience the most powerful means to counter his accusations (2:17-18). St. John Chrysostom remarks that Christ fasted "not because He needed fasting, but for our instruction," and after a forty-day fast, He "engaged in battle with the devil," setting a precedent for us to arm ourselves with fasting and, fortified by it, confront the adversary.

The Lord Jesus Christ isolated Himself in the most desolate regions, where only wild beasts roamed, dedicating Himself to fasting for forty days and nights in a cave that served as a temporary refuge. This method of fasting echoes that of great Old Testament figures such as Moses (Exodus 34:28) and Elijah (3 Kings 19:8). St. John Chrysostom notes that, had Christ fasted longer, it might have led many to question the truth of the Incarnation, for He chose not to prolong His fast so as to avoid causing doubt through an overwhelming miracle. According to St. Cyril of Alexandria, He limited His fast to avoid surpassing the ancient ascetics and to ensure that the tempter would not evade confrontation with Him; otherwise, recognizing who dwelt within Him, he might flee from the battle.

Only the God-Man understands the emotions and thoughts that enveloped His sinless soul during these preparatory days before His public ministry. Nevertheless, for human nature, His forty-day fast was an intentional preparation for the tribulations and achievements that awaited Him (Matt. 21:18; 26:36-46; 27:27-50; Lk. 5:16; 6:12; Jn. 4:6). Once the forty days and nights concluded, He yielded to His physical hunger, so that—according to Blessed Theophylact—"through His hunger He would provide the devil an occasion to engage with Him, thereby defeating him and securing our victory."