Jesus, as we know, is fully divine and fully human. And being human meant that he could be tempted (or tested), as in today's Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent.
Notice that each temptation, on its surface, seems good.
First, it's not bad that Jesus would want to eat. Second, it would be good if Jesus had temporal power over the world. Third, it is not bad that the Father would protect Jesus.
But Jesus knows that bodily comfort, power, and the need for protection, are all things that he must be relinquished in order to fulfill the Father's mission. Other people might be called to give up other things; this is what Jesus was called to give up.
The most difficult temptations are usually not those that are clearly bad (e.g., to kill someone or to steal something outright) but more subtle ones, which seem good on their surface but end up moving us away from what God asks of us and desires for us. St. Ignatius Loyola called this the Angel of Darkness appearing as the Angel of Light.
Key to discernment in these cases is honesty about one's true motives and a hard-nosed look at where these temptations would lead. Also key is knowing that Jesus was himself tested, and is with us, through the Spirit, as we resist sin and temptation and strive to do good and follow God's desires for us.
--Fr. James Martin,
Facebook, March 6, 2022
Image source: Duccio de Buoninsegna, The Temptation on the Mount (ca. 1308-1311), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Duccio_-_The_Temptation_on_the_Mount.jpg
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