Our Gospel reading gives us a very concise description of Jesus'
temptation by the devil. St Mark provides almost no details of how
Jesus was tempted by satan. We are told that the Holy Spirit “drove
Jesus out into the desert,” that He was tempted, and that He was
surrounded by wild beasts and angels. Mark does not tell us how satan
tempted Jesus, but we know from Matthew and Luke that Jesus was
tempted by food, by worldly power, and by putting His relationship
with God to a test.

This last temptation is perhaps the most interesting one. It is
easier for us to understand the temptation of food when we are hungry.
We can also understand the temptation to obtain power, the temptation
to impose our will upon others. It is far more difficult for us to
understand satan trying to tempt Jesus to throw Himself off of the
pinnacle of the temple. Most of us are pretty careful not to risk our
lives so readily.

But we see in the few details given us by Matthew, Mark, and Luke some
parallels to the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
Jesus was tempted with food, Adam and Eve were tempted with the
forbidden fruit. Jesus is offered dominion over all the kingdoms of
the world, Adam and Eve are tempted with becoming like God. Jesus is
assured that the angels will catch Him lest He “dash [His] foot
against a stone,” Adam and Eve were assured that “You certainly will
not die.”

That satan tries to tempt Jesus might seem odd to us. Doesn't satan
know that Jesus is God, that He is the Second Person of the Blessed
Trinity? Didn't satan just hear God the Father proclaim “This is my
beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” at Jesus' baptism in the
Jordan River? Didn't satan see the Holy Spirit descend upon Jesus?

Satan knows all of this, and yet satan tempts Jesus anyhow. Why? Why
would satan waste his time tempting Jesus? He knows that Jesus is
divine. But satan also knows that Jesus is fully human as well.
Satan must have thought that Jesus' humanity would be His achilles
heel. After all, satan toppled Adam and Eve through temptation, and
temptation has been satan's basic approach to destroying the lives of
men and women throughout the ages.

Temptation works so well on us because we are weak. We are weak
because original sin can blind us from seeing the true good. Original
sin can confuse us, it can help us make some truly tragic decisions.
Original sin trips us up because through it we have disordered,
misplaced, and unholy desires. It is through our desires where
temptation has its greatest power over us.

In the Letter of St James, we read: “Blessed is the man who perseveres
in temptation, for when he has been proved he will receive the crown
of life that [God] promised to those who love him. No one
experiencing temptation should say, 'I am being tempted by God'; for
God is not subject to temptation to evil, and he himself tempts no
one. Rather, each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by
his own desire.” (James 1:12-14).

In other words, temptation has much to do with our personal
weaknesses, it comes from our own desires, and God is not the One Who
tempts us. We can tempt ourselves, a brother or a sister can tempt us
knowingly or unknowingly, or satan can tempt us by exploiting our
desires and our weaknesses. In many cases, satan does not have to do
much tempting at all. Quite frequently, we ourselves and those around
us prove to be sufficient sources for temptation leading to sin.

Many of us might not be tempted by food, by obtaining power, or by
testing our relationship with God. So what good does Jesus'
temptation do for us? The Letter to the Hebrews gives us insight:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the
heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession.
For we have not a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our
weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are,
yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne
of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of
need” (Heb 4:14-16).

We have to remember that satan had forty days to tempt Jesus, and we
are told that Jesus was tempted in every way. This means two things
for us. First of all, we cannot stand before God and say that He does
not know or understand how we might have been tempted. Jesus was
tempted in every way. He knows what it means for each of us to be
tempted. Even though He never sinned, Jesus understands just how weak
we can be.

Secondly, Jesus being tempted in every way yet without sinning does
not cause Him to look on us with disdain. No, His temptation allows
Jesus to “sympathize with our weaknesses.” Because He is our
sympathetic High Priest, His victory over temptation is not our
defeat, but we can share in His victory. In our temptation, “we may
receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” if we turn to
Jesus.

Therein lies the key, turning to Jesus. That is exactly what it means
to “repent, and believe in the gospel.” We turn to Him for strength
against temptation, and we turn back to Him if we lose the battle
against temptation. We believe that He wants what is best for us and
we trust that He wants to forgive us more than we want to be forgiven.
Indeed, the Good News is that we do not face temptations alone.
Jesus has been there and He will be there for us in our time of need,
whether than need is strength against temptation or forgiveness.