The Temptations of Jesus

The temptations of Jesus is one of the passages that I sometimes slide into when meditating on Jesus' baptism. Naturally I was delighted to read the Pope's thoughts on this same passage. As with all scripture, it is so rich and layered and there is so much that applies to our own daily lives which are lived with the constant temptation to do what we like rather than what God asks of us. Here's just a bit of that section.

Moral posturing is part and parcel of temptation. It does not invite us directly to do evil -- no, that would be far too blatant. It pretends to show us a better way, where we finally abandon our illusions and throw ourselves into the work of actually making the world a better place. It claims, moveover, to speak for true realism: What's real is what is right there in front of us -- power and bread. By comparison, the things of God fade into unreality, into a secondary world that no one really needs.

God is the issue: Is he real, reality itself, or isn't he? Is he good, or do we have to invent the good ourselves? The God question is the fundamental question, and it sets us down right at the crossroads of human existence. What must the savior of the world do or not do? That is the question the temptations of Jesus are about. ...

Jesus of Nazareth by Joseph Ratzinger (a.k.a. Pope Benedict XVI)