"He (Jesus) made us one with him when he chose to be tempted by Satan. We have heard in the gospel how the Lord Jesus Christ was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. Certainly Christ was tempted by the devil. In Christ you were tempted, for Christ receive his flesh from your nature, but by his own power gained life for you; he suffered temptation in your nature, but by his own power gained victory for you" (St. Augustine).

Jesus came to show us how to deal with the Tempter. First, the Son of God became man and took on our flesh. He was like us in all things but sin. Secondly, he strengthened himself through a period of prayer, reflecting on his relationship with  the Father. Thirdly, when the Tempter confronted Jesus, the doors he chose were threefold: hunger, self-exaltation and power. At each door, Jesus chose to be faithful to God's word, to exalt God and not himself; to unmasked the Tempter for who he was, a fake. Fourthly, at each future temptation, Jesus refused to be separated from the Father who loved him. Fifthly, when the ultimate temptation was to walk away from the cross, Jesus used his passion and death to be the sword of defeat for the devil. How do we deal with temptation?