Questions to Guide Your Reading

Pope Benedict XVI, "The Temptations of Jesus"

1. Why according to Pope Benedict is the story of the temptations in the desert intimately connected with the story of the Baptism?

2. What are the three temptations Jesus undergoes in the wilderness, and what is Pope Benedict's interpretation of each?  (Note: This would be one of those longer questions.  Please don't imagine that you can answer this question in two sentences.)

3. In class, I mentioned that Matthew and Luke have a different ordering of the three temptations.  Explain what the difference is, and why Luke may have decided to put the temptation on the pinnacle of the Temple last?