The works of the Reverend and learned John Lightfoot D. D., late Master of Katherine Hall in Cambridge such as were, and such as never before were printed : in two volumes : with the authors life and large and useful tables to each volume : also three maps : one of the temple drawn by the author himself, the others of Jervsalem and the Holy Land drawn according to the author's chorography, with a description collected out of his writings.

§ He said, if thou be the Son of God.

He tempteth Christ under the notion of his two natures, twice in reference to his God∣head. To turn stones into bread, and to fly in the air, works of divine power; and once in reference to his manhood, to fall down and worship him for wordly preferment, an act of humane sinfulness and weakness. When the Devil doth twice use this expression, If thou be the Son of God; it argueth not that he was ignorant who Christ was, as some conceive, [for the miracle of his birth, his adoration by the Wisemen, his wisdom at 12 years old, the voice from heaven, and his saftety among wild beasts at this time, shew that im∣possible.] But concluding the thing it self to be so, he argueth from it to perswade Christ to act as the Son of God, and to do things miraculously. And the If in his speech is not so much of doubting as of assurance, as the If in those words of Lamech, If Cain shall be avenged seventy fold; and he forceth it as the consequence upon a thing undoubted, Seeing thou art the Son of God, as the voice from heaven did proclaim thee, it is very agreable to thy so being, that thou shouldst exert thy divine power, and command these stones into bread for the satisfying thy hunger. And so in the other temptation that carryeth the same front, Seing thou art the Son of God, it is very fit thou shouldest act according thereunto, and not go down the stairs as men do, but cast thy self headlong, and shew thy power. In both which temptations, though a close perswasive to distrust Gods provision for him in the wilderness, to rely too much upon second causes, and to presume without warrant upon a promise, be included, yet Satans main bent and aim is to move him to act accor∣ding to the dictate and direction of the Devil. And as he had perswaded Eve from the commandement of God, to follow his advice, so would he fain do Christ from that work and injuction which God had laid upon him, for the Ministery, and for mans re∣demption, to do things tending nothing at all to that purpose, but rather to vain-glory and self-exalting, and the Devil had had enough if he could have moved the Redeemer to have acted any thing upon his instigation. Ignatius Martyr, Hilary, and others of old; and Beza, Chemnitius, some others of late, suppose that Satan knew not yet the myste∣ry of the incarnation [no more than the Disciples did till after the resurrection] but that he proposeth this, if thou be the Son of God, as doubting of the truth of the thing,

and seeking to be resolved in it: nay, that by the phrase, the Son of God, is to be un∣derstood, and was so in Satans apprehension, only a very holy, and an extraordinary qualified man; as whereas the Centurion calls Christ the Son of God, Mat. 27. 4. Luke expresseth it only a righteous man, Luke 23. 47.

Answer 1. It is most true indeed, that the mystery of the Incarnation is a mystery most high and deep, and which created understandings cannot fadome, and that the Disciples were exceedingly ignorant of it, till more than flesh and blood revealed it to them: but yet for all this, the Angels good and bad might know the truth of the thing, though they could not reach the mystery of it: and the Disciples have some light of it before, though they had the more perfect understanding of it after the resurrection, as see Mat. 16. 16. The Devil was not ignorant of the Angels proclaiming him Christ the Lord, or Je∣hovah, Luke 1. 16, 17. & 2. 11. of an Angels and Gods proclaiming him, The Son of God, Luke 1. 35. & 3. 22. Of the Prophets calling him, Jehovah, Jer. 23. 6. And the mighty God, and Father of Eternity, Esay 9. 6. and an hundred such expressions as these, which could not but put him past all questoning, who it was with whom he dealt.

2. It is true indeed that the Church and people of God are called his Sons, but it will be hard to find this applyed to any one particular person, or single man in all the Scripture: That in 2 Sam. 7. 14. Psalm 89. 28, 27. is readily known to be spoken of Christ, and that in Luke 3. 38. we have explained before.

3. It is likewise true, that whereas the Centurion in Matthew, is brought in, saying, This was the Son of God, Luke hath brought him, saying, This was a righteous, or just man; but must it therefore follow, that he took him not for the Son of God, but that he called him so only because he was a holy man? In very many of the Evangelists, various expressions, we are not always to take the one to mean the other, but we must take them both in their proper sense to make up the full sense, as will fall to be observed in divers places: And so is it to be done here: The Centurion and his company upon the sight of the wonders that attend our Saviours death, concluded that not only he was a most holy man, but some rose higher, and sure, say they, He was the Son of God. Compare and examine the places.

Now the daring impudence of the Devil, thus to assault and assail him whom he knew to be the Son of God, will be the less wondrous and strange, if we consider [joyntly with his pride, desperate wickedness, and malice] the ground that he might think he had to undertake such an attempt as this, to go about to foil him, who his own heart told him was the Son of God: And that was from those words of God in the garden to him, when upon the denunciation upon him, that the seed of the woman should break his head; yet God tells him withall, That he should bruise his heel. Hence did his impudence take its rise to do and dare what he did and dared at this time; and the having this very passage in ones eye and consideration upon the reading of this story of the temptation, will help exceedingly to clear, inlighten and explain it. For whereas two main scruples may arise about this temptation, [besides this that we have in hand of the Devils daring to assault Christ thus] namely, how chance it was now, and not before, and why it is said by Luke after these temptations, that the Devil departed from him for a season; the con∣sideration of this thing doth give so much satisfaction to both these doubts. For, 1. it is indeed some matter of wonder that Christ should live to thirty years, and the Devil ne∣ver attempt to tempt him of long a time, but should now come to assail him, when he had a testimony from heaven that he was the Son of God, and when he had the fulness of the Spirit in him above measure, which were greater disadvantages to Satan than ever; but the reason was because that now Christ was offered to the Duell in an apparent man∣ner, which he never had been before, to try that mastery with the Devil about break∣ing and brusing head and heel: and the Devil having an assurance that he should bruise his heel, undertakes the combate, and dares be thus impudent. And 2. when he saw that he could not prevail with him this way to bruise him, namely, by temptation, he departs from him for a season, till he can find an opportunity for another way to do it, namely, by open and actual persecution.