Just by writing that all down, it is clear how silly it is. My world might be smaller than theirs, but then my mistakes are not the grist of tabloid headlines and heated bar discussions. My family might be unhappy with me, but the guy pumping gas next to me has nothing to say about me or my life. I am protected in many ways by my very anonymity.
One of the dilemmas of Christian doctrine is the duality of Jesus: fully human, fully divine. So when Jesus acts, it is God acting. At the same time, when Jesus gets hungry, it is Joseph's boy having a second helping of fish. When theologians talk about this it is called Christology: what does it mean for Jesus to be the Anointed One? How is Jesus God? How is Jesus human?
That was a long introduction to the story of the temptations in the wilderness. Our tendency when reading the story is to dismiss Jesus' response to power and fame and even bread with an unspoken flick of our hand because, in the end, Jesus was God. How hard could it be for him to say No?
When we take this path, Jesus' feet never really touch the dust of our roads. This is the Jesus who never feared, never cried as a baby, never worried about tomorrow. Even if he was 'human' it wasn't human like you and me. If our Jesus is this kind of Emmanuel (God with us) than he wasn't really 'with us' but just floating through our world. This Jesus never really walked with the masses, so when I call on his name in distress or in repentance, how could this Jesus relate to a very real me?
Of course we could take the other fork in the road and diminish his divinity, making him human just like we are human. Stand in this corner too long and you will be convinced that Jesus wasn't quite as good as everyone said he was, or, [and this is the most dangerous place] since Jesus could do it, we can too. We just have to try a little harder, work longer, be more committed. In the end we don't have a Savior, we have a Very Good Role Model.
In the wilderness, Jesus is confronted with the kinds of temptations we all face: the temptation to fulfill our own lusts without regard for others; the temptation to trade our God given call in this world for a little status and a few gold stars, and the temptation to grab all the power we can while we can. It is not too difficult to translate these temptations into the reality of our lives.
We watch as Jesus figures out how to face these temptations - again and again leaning on God. In the end he was still hungry, still unknown, still powerless in this world's accounting of power. But he understood a little bit more about trusting in God, following God's lead and perhaps being a part of building a new creation. We watch as Jesus acts in perfect harmony with God (and with his true nature) - bringing the presence of God into our midst.
Jesus chose God's lead. It didn't 'solve' his problems but it made him a part of God's solution for all of creation.
Still having trouble wrapping your head around all that? Me too.
Lean on God. See where it leads you.
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