Complete Works of Saint Jerome, Vol. VII

wheat into his barn: but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable." Or because the Holy Spirit is fire, as the Acts of the Apostles teach, when upon His descent, it sat like fire upon each of the believers (Acts ii, 3); and in the mind of the Savior saying: I am come to cast fire on the earth: and what will I, but that it be kindled? (Luke xii, 49). Or because we are baptized in the Spirit in the present, and in fire in the future. The Apostle also agrees with this sense: Every man's work, of what sort it is, fire shall try (I Cor. iii, 13).

(Ver. 13-15.) A "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to the Jordan, unto John, to be baptized by him. And John stayed him, saying: I ought to be baptized by thee, and comest thou to me? But Jesus answering, said to him: 'The Savior received baptism from John for a threefold reason. First, that since He was born as a man, He might fulfill all the justice and humility of the Law. Second, that by His own baptism, He might confirm the baptism of John. Third, that by sanctifying the waters of the Jordan, through the descent of the dove, He might show the coming of the Holy Spirit in the washing of believers.'" Or "in this manner" original: "sine modo" he spoke well, to show that Christ is to be baptized in water, and John by Christ in the Spirit. Or otherwise, "in this manner": that I, who have assumed the form of a servant, may also fulfill its humility. Otherwise, know that you are to be baptized by my baptism on the day of judgment. "In this manner," says the Lord Jesus, I have another baptism with which I am to be baptized (Luke xii, 50). You baptize me in water, so that I may baptize you for my sake in your blood.

(Ver. 16.) "For so it becometh us to fulfill all justice. Then he suffered him. And Jesus being baptized, forthwith came out of the water." He did not add "the justice of the Law or of nature," so that we might understand both: if God received baptism from a man, let no one disdain to receive it from a fellow servant.

(Ver. 16, 17.) "And behold the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him. And behold a voice from heavens, saying: 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' The mystery of the Trinity is demonstrated in baptism: the Lord is baptized, the Spirit descends in the likeness of a dove, the Father's voice is heard giving testimony to the Son." The heavens are opened not by the unsealing of the elements, but to the spiritual eyes; by which Ezechiel also records they were opened to him at the beginning of his volume. The dove also sat upon the head of Jesus, so that no one might think the Father's voice was directed to John, and not to the Lord.

(Chap. IV. — Ver. 1.) D "Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert." There is no doubt that it was the Holy Spirit. For it follows: "To be tempted by the devil." He is said to be led, not as if unwilling or captive, but by the will to fight.

(Ver. 2, 3.) "And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterwards he was hungry. And the tempter coming..." In this number, the sacrament of fasting is shown, as with Moses on Mount Sinai (Exod. xxiv, 18), and Elias by Mount Oreb (III Kings xix, 8). The body is permitted to be hungry, so that the occasion for tempting may be given to the devil.

(Ver. 3.) B "Command that these stones be made bread." It is fitting to say to one who is hungry: Command that these stones be made bread: but you are held by two contradictions, O devil. If stones can be made bread at His command, then you tempt in vain one who is of such power. But if He cannot do it, you suspect the Son of God in vain. If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

(Ver. 4.) "Who answered and said: It is written. 'Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.'" The testimony is taken from Deuteronomy (chap. viii, ver. 3). The Lord answered thus because it was His purpose to conquer the devil by humility, not by power. At the same time, it must be observed that if the Lord had not begun to fast, there would have been no occasion for the devil to tempt Him, according to that: Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear: and prepare thy soul for temptation (Eccli. ii, 1). But even the very response of the Savior indicates that it was a man who was tempted. Not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God. If anyone, therefore, is not nourished by the word of God, that person does not live.

(Ver. 5.) C "Then the devil took him up into the holy city." This taking up that is mentioned did not come from the weakness of the Lord, but from the pride of the enemy, who thinks the Savior's will is a necessity. From this passage, it is understood what is written in another place: They went into the holy city, and appeared to many (Matt. xxvii, 53).

(Ver. 6.) "And set him upon a pinnacle of the temple, and said to him:..." So that the one he had tempted through hunger, he might also tempt with vain glory. If thou be the Son of God. In all temptations, the devil acts so that he might understand if He is the Son of God: but the Lord tempers the response so that He leaves him in doubt. Cast thyself down, for it is written. The voice of the devil, who always desires that all should fall downward, says Cast thyself down; he can persuade, he cannot precipitate. He hath given his angels charge over thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest perhaps thou dash thy foot against a stone. We read this in the ninetieth psalm; but there the prophecy is not about Christ, but about a holy man. The devil, therefore, interprets the Scriptures poorly. Certainly, if he knew it was truly written about the Savior, he ought also to have said what follows in the same psalm against himself: Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk, and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. Regarding the help of the angels, as if...