nd doubteth of
anything, and therein desires to be satisfied, without great love or
extreme hatred of the thing that is tempted or tried. David tempted;
that is, tried himself if he could go in harness. (I Sam. xvii.) And
Gideon said, "Let not thine anger kindle against me, if I tempt thee
once again." So the Queen of Sheba came to tempt Solomon in subtle
questions. This famous queen, not fully trusting the report and fame
that was spread of Solomon, by subtle questions desired to prove his
wisdom; at the first, neither extremely hating nor fervently loving the
person of the king. And David, as a man not accustomed to harness, would
try how he was able to go, and behave and fashion himself therein,
before he would hazard battle with Goliath so armed. And Gideon, not
satisfied in his conscience by the first that he received, desired,
without contempt or hatred of God, a second time to be certified of his
vocation. In this sense must the apostle be expounded when he commands
us to tempt; that is, to try and examine ourselves, if we stand in the
faith. Thus much for the term.

Now to the person tempted, and to the time and place of his temptation.
The person tempted is the only well-beloved Son of God; the time was
immediately after His baptism; and the place was the desert or
wilderness. But that we derive advantage from what is related, we must
consider the same more profoundly. That the Son of God was thus tempted
gives instructions to us, that temptations, altho they be ever so
grievous and fearful, do not separate us from God's favor and mercy, but
rather declare the great graces of God to appertain to us, which makes
Satan to rage as a roaring lion; for against none does He so fiercely
fight as against those of whose hearts Christ has taken possession.

The time of Christ's temptation is here most diligently to be noted. And
that was, as Mark and Luke witness, immediately after the voice of God
the Father had commended His Son to the world, and had visibly pointed
to Him by the sign of the Holy Ghost; He was led or moved by the Spirit
to go to a wilderness, where forty days he remained fasting among the
wild beasts. This Spirit which led Christ into the wilderness was not
the devil, but the holy Spirit of God the Father, by whom Christ, as
touching His human and manly nature, was conducted and led; likewise by
the same Spirit He was strengthened and made strong, and, finally,
raised up from the dead. The Spirit of G