8. Iterùm

assumpsit eum 8. Again the devil took him up into a very 1high mountain; and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them.

diabolus in montem excelsum valdè, et ostendit ei omnia regna mundi et gloriam eorum,

9. Et dixit ei: "Hæc omnia tibi dabo, si cadens adoraveris

me."

10. Tunc dicit ei JESUS “Vade, Satana: scriptum est enim: Dominum DEUM tuum adorabis, et illi soli servies."

9. And he said to him: All these will I give thee, if, falling down, thou wilt adore me.

10. Then Jesus saith to him: *Begone, Satan: for it is written: The Lord thy God thou shalt adore, and him only shalt thou serve.5

II. Then the devil left him:

11. Tunc reliquit eum diabo. lus. Et ecce angeli accesserunt, and, behold, Angels came and

et ministrabant ei.

ministered to him.

1 A high mountain.-No one seems to have found out which mountain this was. Some suppose it to be Mons Diaboli in Judea, but nothing is known for certain.

The kingdoms of the world.-How could the devil show the kingdoms of the World? This question has exercised the ingenuity of all writers on the sacred text. Now, it does not seem so difficult a matter. Supposing on a fine day Satan sat on the top of a peak of the Himalayas, and had a goodly number of his imps employed with something like a camera obscura he could readily show the kingdoms of the then existing world. Outside the Roman Empire there were very few kingdoms, as the remainder of the world was inhabited by savage hordes. Specimens enough could be given to represent the world. This is but a conjecture. Our Lord, again, had powers of seeing beyond his physical organs, and so had the devil.

devil in all his ugliness. is his last venture. It

All these will I give Thee.-Here is seen the He plays a high game. He is losing, and this is as bold, as daring, and as diabolical as it can be. Adore me! to the Son of God ! There is the fierceness of baffled cunning and desperate rage in this. There is no longer the suave insinuation, "If Thou be."

Begone, Satan.-We should wonder at the patience of Our Lord, did we not know how inexhaustible it was. He never confesses himself to the devil, but sends him to flight with the single quotation of a part of the first commandment.

5 It is generally supposed that the devil asked for adoration from the answer of Our Lord. His promises were empty sounds, for the kingdoms of the World were not his to give.

The devil left him.-This was the first of a series of discomfitures which the enemy of our salvation was about to undergo. A. Lapide thinks the devil left Jesus on the high mountain, and that He came back to the desert, where He met the angels who came and ministered to His wants.

Whichever order we take in the temptation, whether S. Luke's or S. Matthew's, it comes to the concupiscence of the flesh, of the eyes, and the pride of life. We are tempted

Ist. By our carnal desires. 2nd. By the love of show and display.

3rd. By the love of domineering.

These three temptations have deluged the world with blood. What does history show us?

The Antidotes are:

Ist. Subjugation of passion. 2nd. Humility.

3rd. Obedience and loving to be unknown.

12. Cùm autem audîsset JESUS quòd Joannes traditus esset, secessit in Galilæam;

13. Et, relictâ civitate Nazareth, venit et habitavit in Capharnaum maritimâ, in finibus Zabulon et Nephthalim.

The history of diabolical agency is remarkable.

He is the father of lies. Ist. He promises and never gives.

2nd. He exacts a terrible payment.

3rd. He always leaves magicians and witches poor and wretched and in the lurch when the moment of trial comes.

The devil could do a great deal more harm only that he is bound down. This we can

see:

Ist. From the permissions in

Job.

2nd. From this temptation. 3rd. From the Apocalypse. S. Paul says we are not tempted above our strength.

12. Now when Jesus had heard that John was delivered up, 1 he retired into Galilee : 13. And leaving the city. Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capharnaum on the seacoast, in the confines of Zabulon and Nephthalim :

14. Ut adimpleretur quod dictum est per Isaiam prophetam :

15. Terra Zabulon et terra Nephthalim, via maris trans Jordanem, Galilæa gentium,

16. Populus qui sedebat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam, et sedentibus in regione umbræ mortis lux orta est eis.

14. That what was said by Isaias the prophet might be fulfilled:

15. The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, the way of the sea beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles:

16. The people that sat in darkness saw great light: and to them that sat in the region of the shadow of death, light is sprung up.

The first great chronological gap in S. Matthew's Gospel occurs before verse 12. Harmonists introduce a great deal of history; but, following the plan we have sketched for the work, we shall barely notice when the harmony can be made.

S. John gives a very careful, although not a complete account of Our Lord's preaching in Judea.

His great work as teacher was done in Galilee; here He called His apostles; here He formed His Sacred College; here He propounded His improvements on the Mosaic Law as then understood by the Pharisees.

From Galilee He sent forth The Twelve and The Seventy-Two.

This is one reason why the Synoptists confined their Gospels chiefly to the work done from Capharnaum in Galilee. S. Matthew and S. Peter, whose words S. Mark embodied, were present at all the scenes related in the first and second Gospels.

S. Luke's aim was somewhat different as we have remarked in our notes on his work. S. John came last and filled up as many of the gaps as he thought expedient.

1He retired into Galilee.-Several events recorded by the other Evangelists, such as His first miracle in Cana, His conference with Nicodemus, &c., happened before Jesus retired to Galilee. There is some difficulty about the two Herods. The best accounts say that he of Galilee and he of Judea were brothers. Herod of Judea put John in prison, and Herod of Galilee, although his brother was not his friend.

In Capharnaum.-This town on the confines of the old tribal districts of Zabulon and Nepthali, and situated between the two Galilees, seemed

to have been the centre of Our Lord's missionary labours. It was on the highway from the East by Damascus to the West by Carmel and Sidon. Merchants were continually passing there and carrying the news of the strange events of the Gospel to the ends of the world.

3 The words of Isaias ix. I. are not exactly quoted. Be it remembered once for all that the Evangelists quoted the sense and not the words of the Old Testament. The duty of reconciling both is a work of supererogation begotten of fetish reverence for the words instead of the sense of the Scriptures. These two tribal districts were the outskirts of Judea, and half of Galilee was mixed with pagans. "Can anything good come from Galilee?" became a proverb. Here then Our Lord began His public preaching-in the most obscure part of the Jewish dominionsand His light shone through their darkness.

Spirit of Nationality. A great many good things and great many evils arise from this. Our Lord showed the

love of his country.

Ist. He was born among Jews.

2nd. He laboured among them.

3rd. Though they slew him he prayed for them.

The evils of despising any nation or portion thereof he

banished.

Ist. His mother was of the most despised portion.

2nd. He lived in Galilee and was called a Galilean.

3rd. Nearly all His apostles were Galileans.

Because Galilee was despised He made it be honoured.

Capharnaum, so favoured by Our Lord, does not exist now. Two wretched villages on the north-west border of the Lake of Genesareth claim the honour of a starving existence upon the ancient site, and each pretends to have been the residence of Our Lord.

Ancient fame is of little use if our practices are not in keeping with it. A very telling discourse could be made upon the present state of Judea and all the South and East Mediterranean Coast, so favoured in antiquity. Africa alone had once 700 bishops. Italy and a few other countries are following their footsteps. "They knew not the time of their visitation."

17. Exindè cœpit JESUS prædicare et dicere: "Pœnitentiam agite, appropinquavit enim regnum cœlorum.”

18. Ambulans autem JESUS juxtà mare Galilææ, vidit duos fratres, Simonem qui vocatur Petrus, et Andream fratrem ejus, mittentes rete in mare (erant enim piscatores):

19. Et ait illis: "Venite post me, et faciam vos fieri piscatores hominum."

20. At illi continuò relictis retibus, secuti sunt eum.

21. Et procedens, indè, vidit alios duos fratres, Jacobum Zebedæi et Joannem fratrem ejus, in navi cum Zebedæo patre eorum, reficientes retia sua: et vocavit eos.

22. Illi autem statìm, relictis retibus et patre, secuti sunt eum.

17. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say: Do penance, for the kingdom

of heaven is at hand.

18. And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, 2 Simon who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, (for they were fishers.)

19. And he saith to them: Come after me, and I will make you become fishers of men.

20. And they immediately, leaving their nets, followed him.

21. And going on from thence, he saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

22. And they immediately, leaving their nets and their father, followed him.

1 Began to preach.-It is remarked by several that as long as John was preaching Our Lord did no more than send him messengers, and show John's messengers the works performed by him. As soon as John was in prison Our Lord began to preach, and his opening theme was the same as John's. "Do penance for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand." Our Lord was not founding his church on preaching, but rather on teaching as a lawgiver and doctor. For this reason he called his disciples, who afterwards became apostles, and gave them his traditional teaching. He taught the multitudes by word of mouth, sometimes in parables and mysteries, and He explained the difficulties to the vocati afterwards. They were to be the preachers and founders of the Church after His Ascension into Heaven. He taught them, and they taught us. This light will guide us in understanding many things.

2 Simon who is called Peter.-The call of these apostles is so interesting that it is well to take in S. Luke's description in order to supplement S. Matthew's.