The Devil Tempts Jesus – ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’

Luke 4:1-11

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” But he answered, “It is written,

‘One does not live by bread alone,
    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “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.’ ”

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

‘Worship the Lord your God,
    and serve only him.’ ”

Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Some years ago, upon hearing this Gospel passage read and I was caught by the ending of the passage: “At that the Devil left, and angels came and attended Jesus.” I immediately had a mental image of the angels tending to Jesus tenderly. It reinforced my trust in God and it reminded me of the times in my life that I had been helped by an “angel.”

More than 30 years ago, while still recovering from the trauma of a seriously broken leg, I was in New York City on business and needed to catch a train at Penn Station. That required that I take a long escalator down from the sidewalk. I was carrying a computer bag and a large briefcase which left no hands available to hold the rail. Since my injury, I always held the handrail when using stairs. So, I stood at the top of the escalator trying to talk myself into stepping on the moving stairs with both hands full. It was a long pause. I sensed a line forming behind me. A gentle voice from behind said, “Let me take that.” I did and she was right behind me with one of my bags. I barely had a chance to thank her at the bottom as we headed our separate directions.

Was she an angel? How do you define “angel”? The woman in this story was certainly a messenger from God telling me that I could trust God to have my back.

How have you seen God act in your life? Is Lent a time we can open ourselves to greater awareness of God present now?

~ Gerti Reagan Garner