At that time Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert
to be tempted by the devil.
Jesus did not need to let himself be tempted at all. That he did so was as a part of his condescension to share in our human nature. Among other things, it gives us the assurance that he is sympathetic to our condition, "one who has similarly been tested in every way, yet without sin" (see Hebrews 4:15). He experienced what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden, yet was victorious. He was in the desert and hungry, yet did not sin in the way that the
generation sinned, complaining, putting God to the test, and turning to
idols.
For if, by the transgression of the one,
death came to reign through that one,
how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace
and of the gift of justification
come to reign in life through the one Jesus Christ.
Jesus was obedient where humanity had failed. Yet his obedience was not instead of our own, but rather, to make our own obedience possible. Adam and Eve's sin had real consequences. It brought spiritual death into the world, and as a consequence of that spiritual death, many were made sinners. But Jesus, through his obedience, brought life into the world, and made many righteous.
The woman saw that the tree was good for food,
pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom.
The woman wickedly stretched out her hand to take the fruit, and Adam, though close, said nothing. Jesus, on the other hand, resisted the temptation to satisfy his hunger in a way that was not part of God's plan. He refused to grumble or complain about that plan in the way that the people of Israel had in the desert. He may well have been hungrier than any of them. But he knew that man cannot live by bread alone. He who was himself the word of God would not now deviate from it, no matter what his he may have physically desired on a human level. In doing so he was triumphant over an entire category of sin, the lust of the flesh (see First John 2:16), not only for himself, but in such a way that it would later avail for all united to him who would eventually face such temptations.
Then the devil took him up to a very high mountain,
and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their magnificence,
and he said to him, ""All these I shall give to you,
if you will prostrate yourself and worship me.”
The devil tried to appeal to the lust of the eyes (again, see First John 2:16), by showing Jesus what he believed he wanted but tempting him to obtain it in the wrong way. Jesus was not meant to inherit Satan's domination over the world, but to receive authority that was a gift from his Father. Satan provoked Jesus to obtain via idolatry what he was meant to receive only through his Passion, death, and resurrection. At a superficial level, the offer looked good, just as the fruit of the forbidden tree looked good to Eve. Achieve the results, but avoid the suffering? It is nothing if not relatable. But obtaining even a good thing in the wrong way would spoil the results. Jesus having authority over the world, as is now the case, is a very good thing. But if he had merely accepted it is a gift from the Evil One we can imagine that it would not have led to our salvation. One cannot serve an idol without becoming bound by that idol, after which any power one may possess is illusory, a puppet show of the devil. But Jesus refused to turn to idols as the Exodus generation had done. He refused to succumb to something less than his Father's will in order to enter into his messianic reign.
Then the devil took him to the holy city,
and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,
and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.
The people God had liberated from Egypt put him to the test in the desert, trying to force him to prove he was present with them. For Jesus, the fact that God was with him was at the very core of his identity. It was this identity, above all, that the devil sought to attack. Though Jesus did want others to believe that the Father was present with him, he refused to force his Father to reveal it by means that were not part of the divine plan. In Eden, Eve found the fruit of the forbidden tree desirable for gaining wisdom, and succumbed to what we call the pride of life (see First John 2:16). She forgot about her royal identity as created in the image of God and desired greatness apart from him and his plans for her. She fell due to pride where Jesus triumphed due to humility.
Jesus is present for us in a way that Adam failed to be present and protect his own bride. His obedience has refashioned human nature to which he has united himself. We are joined to this renewed nature in our baptism and are meant to embrace that transformation throughout our lives. Jesus makes this possible by helping us to understand our own royal identity rooted in the Father in a new and deeper way, since we "have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”" (see Romans 8:15). He renews our own minds so that we can recognize and reject the lies of the Evil One. Jesus himself, through every action of his life, answered the plea of the Psalmist's heart:
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Michael W. Smith - Here I Am To Worship
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