Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.Imagine that you come home one day, and there is a loved friend waiting on your doorstep to tell you that they have won the trip of a lifetime, and they are taking you with them.
How would we feel – Excited? Grateful? Joyous?
And then they tell you that this trip is to one of the least hospitable places on earth. That there shall be no food and only just enough water. Not only that, but on that trip you will be accompanied by the person you find the most difficult and unkind in all of the world. At that person would be badgering you, teasing and testing you all holiday.
How would you respond?
Perhaps joy would turn to ashes in our mouths.
Ashes are a symbol of Lent. We make them from the Palms that have proclaimed Christ’s Praises the year before. But once they have been through the fire, all that remains is ashes.
