HKB
THE TEMPTATION, AND FAST OF FORTY DAYS.
We are informed by the Matthew narrator that, after being baptized by John in the river Jordan, Jesus was led by the spirit into the wilderness "to be tempted of the devil."
"And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him he said: 'If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.' . . . Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto him: 'If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down.' . . . Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto him:' All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.' Then saith Jesus unto him, 'Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.' Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him."[175:1]
This is really a very peculiar story; it is therefore not to be wondered at that many of the early Christian Fathers rejected it as being fabulous,[175:2] but this, according to orthodox teaching, cannot be done; because, in all consistent reason, "we must accept the whole of the inspired autographs or reject the whole,"[175:3] and, because, "the very foundations of our faith, the very basis of our hopes, the very nearest and dearest of our consolations, are taken from us, when one line of that sacred volume, on which we base everything, is declared to be untruthful and untrustworthy."[175:4]
The reason why we have this story in the New Testament is because the writer wished to show that Christ Jesus was proof against all temptations, that he too, as well as Buddha and others, could resist the powers of the prince of evil. This Angel-Messiah was tempted by the devil, and he fasted for forty-seven days and nights, without taking an atom of food.[175:5]
The story of Buddha's temptation, presented below, is taken from the "Siamese Life of Buddha," by Moncure D. Conway, and published in his "Sacred Anthology," from which we take it.[176:1] It is also to be found in the Fo-pen-hing,[176:2] and other works on Buddha and Buddhism. Buddha went through a more lengthy and severe trial than did Jesus, having been tempted in many different ways. The portion which most resembles that recorded by the Matthew narrator is the following:
"The Grand Being (Buddha) applied himself to practice asceticism of the extremest nature. He ceased to eat (that is, he fasted) and held his breath. . . . Then it was that the royal Mara* (the Prince of Evil) *sought occasion to tempt him. Pretending compassion, he said: 'Beware, O Grand Being, your state is pitiable to look on; you are attenuated beyond measure, . . . you are practicing this mortification in vain; I can see that you will not live through it. . . . Lord, that art capable of such vast endurance, go not forth to adopt a religious life, but return to thy kingdom, and in seven days thou shalt become the Emperor of the World, riding over the four great continents.'"
To this the Grand Being, Buddha, replied: