In this gospel text we see the Jesus who identifies with our sin in His baptism, and then enters the desert, the cursed place, to do battle with Satan.  Just as the Israelites were tempted to unfaithfulness in the desert after passing through the waters of the Red Sea, so Jesus experienced a far more severe temptation, but without yielding.  In defeating this assault of Satan, Jesus, the true Israel, paves the way for a new exodus not just for His fellow Hebrews, but for the whole human race.