When thinking of Jesus spending forty days in the desert, we normally concentrate on His temptations. Meditating on Jesus' temptations is important: we see Jesus defeating the devil in the desert, a sign of His eventual total victory over the devil by His paschal mystery. It is, however, just as important to realize that Jesus went into the desert primarily to fast and to pray. His baptism consecrated Him for His life's mission. He began that mission by reliving the desert experience of Israel. Just as Israel had to go through the desert to get to the Promised Land, so Jesus went into the desert to open up for us the way to the true Promised Land, Heaven. It is not then likely that He went into the desert simply to be tempted. At least, He would not have waited passively for temptation to come: through His forty days in the desert, He would have readied Himself for the long struggle of His ministry by entering into deep and prolonged prayer to His Father in heaven. We see throughout His life how He frequently went to pray at critical moments of His life. Prayer did not keep Him from temptation but it obviously strengthened His human will to resist the devil.