This Sunday I am returning to St Andrew’s Church, Clayhidon, following our Ash Wednesday Service. You will be very welcome to join us at 10am for Holy Communion.

There are angels in the Easter story too.

The Easter angels may not be as flamboyant at the Christmas ones, there is no singing, no heavenly choirs, no grand announcements or lifesaving warnings. No visions or messages spoken in dreams, but they are there. Hidden away without dazzling lights, golden wings, or halos made from tinsel, dressed in civvies and disguised as servants, being held back behind God’s outstretched arms.

We begin Lent with the classic gospel passage (found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but this year we are focusing on Matthew), where Jesus is kicked out into the wilderness following his baptism and affirmation by God and the Holy Spirit, to fast to the point of temptation. As Jesus is seemingly at his weakest, the devil summons him and tempts him in every possible way. To begin with the devil tries to tempt Jesus to break his fast by turning stones to bread: we know this is something Jesus can easily do, he will create feasts of bread and fish within his ministry several times; Jesus will take compassion to feed others, but he resists the temptation to feed himself. The angels look on bemused. They know how hungry Jesus is, know how physically weak he is, and that he will need to keep his strength up if he is to fulfil his ministry.

The devil then tempts Jesus to throw himself from the highest pinnacle of the Temple, quoting Psalm 91, reminding him that he has angels at his beck and call. ‘Yes,’ we can almost hear the angels say, ‘we can do this, we will catch you, go on, just show him.’ But Jesus doesn’t.

‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and, “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”

Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’

Matthew 4: 6-7

It does seem an odd sort of thing to ‘tempt’ Jesus to do. It certainly wouldn’t work on me! The devil hasn’t taken Jesus to any old high spot, he has taken him to the Temple. There is significance in this. The devil is tempting Jesus to make a spectacle of himself, to become some kind of daredevil superstar, and to prove to the world that he is indeed heavenly. Who else has angels to catch them? The devil is also asking him to minimise the Temple, to use the holiest of holies as a stage setting for a piece of drama. Jesus is Jewish, he has experienced all the most spiritual and significant moments of his life in the Temple: here he was blessed and prophesied over by Anna and Simeon, here he came on pilgrimage with his parents, here he sat with the elders as a teenager in preparation for his Bar Mitzvah and showed wisdom ahead of his years (and challenging his parents with the exact amount of torment a teenage boy has to wield). The devil is trying to cajole Jesus into besmirching, belittling the Temple, mocking God. Jesus is no first century David Blane, and spectacle for the sake of spectacle is not his thing. Once more the angels hold back.

Finally the devil takes Jesus to a very high mountain, perhaps the mountain on which he will one day meet with Elijah and Moses where he will be transfigured by the presence of his Father. Here the devil tempts him with power; but not ultimate power, he will first have to worship the devil, he will become second to him.

Jesus is tempted with food when he is hungry, fame when he is as yet unknown, and fealty from the nations ahead of his time. It is tempting, is it not?

This week we have seen how these temptations have played out amongst the richest and most powerful men in the West. Fame and power and food for their perverse passions, at the cost of everything. The cost of victims abused in their childhood, the cost of status and respect, the cost of freedom (if justice is served properly), the cost of lives. I will not name these men, their names are spoken too often, but you know who I am referring to: princes and principalities who have trespassed over the lives of others, thinking themselves above humanity, beyond God.

Jesus, however, doesn’t break. Each time he is tempted he replies with scripture. Not verses taken out of context contorted to absolve himself of doing what he knows to be wrong, but as a holy barrier between himself and temptation, a holy reminder that he is God’s beloved son and needs to act accordingly.

Jesus struggles through his ‘Lenten’ experience, and comes out the other end both weaker and stronger. Finally the angels can tend to him. No longer are they held back by God the Father, willing his beloved son to do the right thing, trusting that he will. Angels come. There is a theory that the ‘angels’ are actually Bedouin who know how dangerous it is to be out in the wilderness without water. Angels in disguise, or perhaps Bedouin in disguise? There will be more angels as the story unfolds, we may need to keep our eyes peeled for them though. Angels don’t always sparkle and shine, sometimes they are simply there willing us on to do the right thing.

You can read the Gospel Passage here

If you are looking for something special to support you through your Lenten journey, why not try a Retreat in a Box? ‘Ashes to Ashes’ can be purchased here.