Aldersgate United Methodist Church

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Mercy on the Wilderness Road

Pastor Sue McNicol

Scripture: Matthew 4:1-11

The Testing of Jesus

4 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tested by the devil. ² He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterward he was famished. ³ The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” ⁴ But he answered, “It is written,

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

⁵ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, ⁶ 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.’ ”

⁷ Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

⁸ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, ⁹ and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! for it is written,

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

¹¹ Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

Ah –the “temptation in the wilderness” story, with the devil dropping by to challenge Jesus’ faith and from where (and whom) he finds his strength. And then we hear of angels beaming in to “wait on” Jesus. It reads more like a Marvel Comic with action figures…so much so, that I spent a moment indulging modern technology and asked AI (known commonly as an artificial intelligence image generator) to create a comic book-style image for us this morning using today’s message from Matthew 4. Within 30 seconds, the machine-learning type program generated this image based on my simple written request. Pretty impressive graphics, interesting depiction of the main characters, and well…a fun misspelling of “ministered” in the closing line.

The whole temptation in the wilderness story is a bit surreal, much like our graphic illustration. Matthew tells us the tempter came to Jesus in the wilderness at the end of his forty days, which may suggest Jesus was exhausted, hungry and maybe even a little delusional, making him a prime target for this temptation encounter. We all may interpret and envision this encounter differently and that’s the beauty of biblical interpretation. Was Jesus facing his own inner temptations – the basic wants of the human ego? Things like belonging, safety, dominion, possessions – things we too can relate to wanting. These are things that often help us define ourselves and speak to the question “Who am I?” Those things that define who we are, and who we aren’t. Where do I belong and how do I fit in the world?

Going a bit further, Jesus’ encounter in the wilderness addresses the question “Where does our power reside?” We all desire power and seek to understand our power as it relates to our existence. Just ask someone in their professional life – we hear statements like “I’m in charge of that!” or “It’s not in my job description.” And in our personal lives and spiritual lives we constantly strive to make things turn out the way we want. Each of us in our own way desire power: to affect the world around us, “to turn stones into bread,” to make things turn out the way we want. We desire security: protection from harm and the fantasy of being able to make it through life unhurt, to fall off a cliff and be unharmed. We desire belonging: to fit in, to “own” our place, to be admired, to “possess” everything, to have all the kingdoms of the world. Having such desires is not bad or immoral. They are part of how our brains work and how the human ego appears in real life situations. Jesus’ triumph is not that he isn’t tempted as well, but that he knows he can only find security, power and belonging in God. Efforts to secure these for himself lead him away from God and away from authentic life.

Consider for a moment that Matthew may have taken a shortcut in retelling the story (given the gospel is believed to have been written around 70 AD) and perhaps he did a quick story wrap up by stating “and suddenly angels came and waited on him.” It seems more likely God might have supports – an angelic presence – with Jesus throughout the wilderness journey (and beyond), and not just suddenly appear after he defeats temptation. Maybe the angels are there all along and Jesus was distracted and didn’t notice them or turn to them for support even in the depths of his journey. How often do we feel alone in our wilderness experiences and struggle to notice God’s presence, or seek the counsel of our wise saints and sages (living or otherwise)?  

Have you even experienced an awakening of sorts – a moment or event in which you suddenly see something that may have been visible for quite some time, but unexpectedly you see it with fresh eyes? It may be something mundane – like noticing your entire wardrobe is in shades of blacks and blues and browns – and this is suddenly evident to you when you need to find something RED to wear for Pentecost Sunday (that may have happened to a pastor I know). But it might also be a more profound awakening – like really seeing yourself - seeing your reflection in the mirror, as others see you. This happened to me in my early 20’s. I was going through a serious health crisis, pretending all was well and I was doing “fine.” Suddenly one morning I saw the truly unhealthy me in my reflection while going through my getting ready routine. It was startling – and it startled me into action and accepting help. It was an experience I have recalled many, many times since - as a reminder to stay in touch with my true self.

Maybe the angels were there all along. We are surprised by God (or angels), not because God suddenly shows up, but because we finally take the time to notice and invite God into the conversation of our lives. I’ve heard it described as “us needing a bit or bridle to turn in God’s direction” just as a horse sometimes needs coaxing and direction. The challenge at times is recognizing where our guidance and direction comes from and to have strength and wisdom to discern God’s direction for our lives.  

In our scripture reading today Satan is presenting various temptations, disguised as promises, which (Tiberius) Caesar also does in Jesus’ time - prosperity, security, and domination. These are the same temptations, disguised as promises, offered by an authoritarian ruling leader(s) which proclaims, “only I can provide these things.” An Emperor who speaks like this is “leading us into temptation,” - essentially taking the place of God. Matthew is not only describing our inner struggle with the misleading threat/promises of our ego; he’s also describing our struggle with empire and domination—and making it clear that the most faithful response is to say “No.” Simply put, the faithful response is to follow God and live by God’s teaching.

Lent is a season to confront how our desires for power, security, comfort, safety and belonging mislead us. My use of AI to generate visual aids for us today is a perfect illustration of why we must think and discern for ourselves, and create our own personal relationship with God, the God of our hearts understanding. If we rely simply on an understanding generated by institutions, media, societal norms – God is not fully present to us and through us. (Full disclosure time – these AI generated pictures are a bit disturbing to me.) They don’t reflect how I see and understand God through Jesus’s ministry in my mind’s eye. For some of you, these images may be precisely how you relate to God and illustrate teachings familiar to your visual experience of God.  Afterall, let’s keep in mind that AI generates material compiled from billions and billions of sources already in existence, which is precisely why Jesus, and Satan and the Angels are depicted this way. But what AI cannot do is know or understand what makes up the essence of each of us. And to me, that’s a beautiful thing. The image of God in my mind’s eye is just that – mine. And yours is yours. God know us (not human made systems) and we know and see God in our own – very personal and deeply spiritual way!

Lent is not only a season in our church calendar, but a way to continually practice turning to God again and again— turning to God now, and again when we struggle with temptation (traps and pitfalls), and when we find ourselves deep in the wilderness. Lent is a way into the story – one that is being written and rewritten every day by God’s grace– and our continual movement and awareness as disciples. Invite God to paint an image of grace and mercy on the canvas of your heart, for only you to see, and step into a relationship generated by God’s unique love for you (there’s nothing “artificial” about that). May the words of your heart be transformed by your creator into images of love for you alone. Start creating (speak to God in your journal pages, or on you morning walk and see what unfolds). It may be your greatest adventure yet. Lord only knows!  Amen.