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.
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