Matthew 4:11b:
‘…and suddenly angels came and waited on him.’
Last week we reflected on the lull after the storm; the peace that descends when the raging is over. For Jesus, the temptations were over, the devil had gone and he was left but then, we read, ‘suddenly angels came and waited on him’. Jesus was rewarded for his faithful resistance to the lure of sin.
Most of us will know that in normal conditions, a vacuum caused by the outflow of what filled a space must be filled up again. So too in life, empty spaces do not remain empty for long and spare time quickly fills.
After the winter there are signs of spring in the natural world: snowdrops and other early garden flowers. Hedgerows start to bud and catkins appear. I love the primroses that pop up amongst the dead grass and straw of last year as if to say, ‘here is life again’. Those in the picture are in a ditch, and they brighten all around them with their yellow flowers.
The ministering angels seem to me like the heralds of spring, the sign of hope after the dark and empty days of winter. Pushing the devil away did not leave Jesus empty, but rather it created the space for God’s love and care to flood in.
The devil wanted Jesus to test and manipulate God just as he was being tested and manipulated. What a failure of an attempt and how gracious the alternative solution.
A prayer
Lord, we thank you that you come to us when we make the space for you and stop trying to manage how your love and care for us. Give us the grace to accept your loving kindness as it comes, for Jesus Christ’s sake, Amen.