John Calvin Commentary Matthew 4:3

"And the tempter came and said unto him, If thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread." — Matthew 4:3 (ASV)

And when he, who tempts, had approached him. This name, ὁ πειράζων, the tempter, is given to Satan by the Spirit for the express purpose, that believers may be more carefully on their guard against him. From this, also, we conclude that temptations, which solicit us to what is evil, come from him alone: for, when God is sometimes said to tempt or prove, (Genesis 22:1; Deuteronomy 13:3), it is for a different purpose, namely, to try their faith, or to inflict punishment on unbelievers, or to discover the hypocrisy of those who do not sincerely obey the truth.

That these stones may become loaves. Here the ancients amused themselves with ingenious trifles. The first temptation, they said, was to gluttony; the second, to ambition; and the third, to covetousness.

But it is absurd to suppose that it arises from the intemperance of gluttony,³¹⁰ when a hungry person desires food to satisfy nature. What luxury will they imagine they have discovered in the use of bread, that one who satisfies himself, as we say, with dry bread, must be considered an epicure?

But not to waste more words on that point, Christ’s answer alone is sufficient to show that the design of Satan was altogether different. The Son of God was not so unskilled or inexperienced an antagonist as not to know how he might ward off the strokes of his adversary, or idly to present his shield on the left hand when he was attacked on the right. If Satan had attempted to allure him by the enticements of gluttony,³¹¹ he had at hand passages of Scripture fitted to repel him. But he proposes nothing of this sort.

³¹⁰ “Friandise ou gourmandise;” — “epicurism or gormandizing.”;” — “epicurism or gormandizing.”

³¹¹ “A friandise, ou a quelque excez de la bouche.” — “To epicurism, or any excess of the palate.”.” — “To epicurism, or any excess of the palate.”