John Calvin Commentary Matthew 4:11

"Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him." — Matthew 4:11 (ASV)

Then the devil leaves him. Luke expresses more: when all the temptation had been finished. This means that no truce or relaxation was granted to Christ until he had been fully tried by every kind of contest.

He adds that Christ was left for a season only. This is intended to inform us that the rest of his life was not entirely free from temptations, but that God restrained the power of Satan, so that Christ was not inopportunely disturbed by him.

In the same way, God usually acts towards all his people: for, after permitting them to be sharply tried, he lessens, to some extent, the violence of the conflict, so that they may take breath for a little while and gather courage.

What immediately follows, the angels waited on him, I understand as referring to comfort, so that Christ might feel that God the Father took care of him and fortified him by his powerful assistance against Satan. For the very solitude might aggravate the dreariness of his condition when he was deprived of the kind support of people, and was with the wild beasts—a circumstance that Mark expressly mentions.

And yet we must not suppose that Christ was ever forsaken by the angels. But, to allow an opportunity for temptation, the grace of God, though present, was sometimes hidden from him, as far as his human experience was concerned.