Chp 3 in Pope Benedict XVI’s book, Jesus of Nazareth, concerns the temptations of Jesus — and this chp reveals his theological and canonical method.
“Jesus has to enter into the drama of human existence, for that belongs to the core of his mission; he has to penetrate it completely, down to its uttermost depths, in order to find the ‘lost sheep,’ to bear it on his shoulders, and to bring it home” (26). And it is an “anticipation that condenses into a single expression the struggle he endured at every step of his mission” (27).
He finds an apt analogy in Barabbas and Jesus on trial — “two messiah figures, two forms of messianic belief stand in opposition” (40). The Cross stands as an alternative power.
The temptations are about this: “God is God, that God is man’s true Good” (45).