Today, the story of the temptations of Jesus is intimately connected to His baptism; for it is there that the Lord enters into solidarity with sinners. The three Synoptic Gospels tell us that the Spirit’s first command leads Him into the desert to be tempted by the devil.

The descent of Jesus "into Hell", which the "Creed" refers to, took place in and after His death, but accompanies Him along His entire journey: He must recapitulate the whole of history from its beginnings, from "Adam" on; He must go through, suffer through, the whole of it, in order to transform it. It is a descent into the perils besetting mankind, for there is no other way to lift up the fallen humanity. Jesus has to enter into the drama of human existence, in order to find "the lost sheep", to bear it on his shoulders and to bring it home.

—Jesus, you are the "Priest" who is truly able to sympathize with my weaknesses: because You have been tempted in every respect as I am, yet without sin.