Then the devil took him into the holy city. He set him on the pinnacle of the temple,
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 5. In the text of Saint Luke this temptation is the third: but most commentators follow the order of S. Mat. In Palestine, all buildings had a flat roof, with a balustrade or a parapet. It was probably upon the parapet that the devil conveyed Jesus. The three temptations comprise the three principal sources of sin: 1. sensuality; 2. pride; and 3. concupiscence. 1 ep. John 2:16. We may hope to conquer the first by fasting and confidence in divine Providence; the second by humility; the third by despising all sublunary things, as unworthy a Christian’s solicitude. A.—the devil took him, and so forth [2] If we ask in what manner this was done, Saint Gregory answers, that Christ might permit himself to be taken up, and transported in the air by the devil, he that afterwards permitted himself to be tormented, and nailed to a cross by wicked men, who are members of the devil. Others think the devil only conducted him from place to place. The text of Saint Luke favours this exposition, when it is said, the devil led him to Jerusalem, to a high mountain, and so forth Witham.