February 22, 2026 – Lent 1
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Matthew 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.
We called her Freda the Witch. We called her that because she seemed so mean. We called her that because there were dark rumors about Freda and her husband - the kind that gave a twelve-year-old pause before provoking her.
But I did provoke her, or at least my dog did. You see, Pepper was an outside dog, a wild mut. At night he would turn him loose to roam the whole neighborhood. And in the mornings, we would often find his gifts on the back steps: rabbit ears, frog legs, the tail of a squirrel.
But Freda didn’t want my dog in her yard at night, which was her right. And she warned me that I would be sorry if I didn’t keep him where he belonged. But I didn’t listen.
One morning soon thereafter, Pepper didn’t come home. We looked for him all day, roaming the neighborhood and calling his name, but to no avail. Then, along about dusk, two kids knocked on our door while we ate our dinner, and asked if we had a black and white dog. They asked because they had seen a dead dog on the road to the gravel pit near our house. And we all knew that it was Pepper.
My father told me to put on my shoes and get the shovel out of the garage. It was dark by then and the road to the gravel pit was darker still. And I was afraid. “Let’s go in the morning, dad,” I pleaded. But he was undeterred. Because he had another motivation beyond just burying the family dog. And so, with shovel and flashlight, we set off, the gravel crunching under our feet, mosquitos swarming our heads. And I was so angry at my father for forcing me into all that darkness.
We found Pepper right where the kids said he was. My dad said that he had been poisoned. And we all suspected that Freda the Witch had done it. And so, we dug a hole, and said a prayer, and buried our dog. And then we headed back home.
We walked in silence for a while. But then my father asked me why I was so afraid of so many things. I didn’t know then. And then he told me that eventually I would have to learn to face my fears because that was the only way to vanquish them. Instead of avoiding the darkness of life, I would need to go deeper.
That’s what Jesus did. Today’s lesson begins with one of the strangest verses in all of the New Testament: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” This was the same Jesus who taught to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” How odd that we are taught to pray for deliverance from evil while at the same time, it seems, the Spirit can lead us into some dark places, where we must confront our fears.
The wilderness of Judea was an awful place, harsh and barren and full of danger. But you don’t have to make a trip to the Holy Land in order to understand that the wilderness represents any place that is dark and foreboding. It is any place of testing. And it is any place where at the end, we have gained some clarity.
And I suspect that that was the reason that the Spirit led Jesus there. He needed clarity of purpose. Because what he was about to face would take all the fortitude he had. And so, the Spirit led him there, where he fasted and prayed for forty days and forty nights.
Well, that’s a very long time to be without food. And when it was over, Jesus was famished. But he was also in the wilderness, far away from any village where he might find something to eat. And it was in that precise moment of desperation that the devil appeared. That’s when the devil always appears.
In Greek, the word for devil can be translated as “one who attacks, misleads, diverts, discredits, slanders and deceives.” That’s why the devil is sometimes referred to simply as The Deceiver, that voice that confuses our perceptions and makes the truth of God seem like foolishness.
So, this Deceiver-in-Chief laid out these three tempting propositions to Jesus, all of which, I might add, on the surface seemed perfectly reasonable.
“Jesus,” he said, “use your magic powers to turn these stones into bread to fill your belly.” “Jesus,” he said, “throw yourself off the pinnacle of the Temple like a superhero and wait for the angels to catch you.” “Jesus,” he said, “worship me and I will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.”
All of these temptations are variations on an old theme: the abuse of power. All of these temptations appeal to an overblown egocentrism, and a narcissistic worldview where I want, what I need, and what I say… trumps everything else.
How sad that some things never change. The Deceiver still uses the same lines and we humans still believe the lies. And when enough humans believe the lies it’s enough to make you fear for the future of our race. It’s enough to make this whole world into a wilderness.
And so, in every generation, we want someone, anyone to save us from this present darkness, to get us out of this wilderness. But the history of God’s people in all times and in all places is not that we are magically saved from the darkness. Instead, we are saved through it.
Why else would the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness, except to prepare him for all that was to come?
I was so angry at my father for making me walk down that dark road to bury my dog. But my dad was right. Because I was afraid of too many things. And the only way for me to vanquish that fear was to confront it.
For some of us today, the journey into darkness is a very individual journey. For others, it’s more corporate. It’s your family or your friends that are being led into the wilderness. Some would say that our nation is in a wilderness. Or that the planet itself is. But whether it is you alone or with everyone else, the temptations are always the same. Will we grab at selfishness and self-aggrandizement and the abuse of power? Or will we resist the Deceiver, and those old, old lies that never produce what we want or what we need?
In the season of Lent, we are invited into a closer imitation of Jesus, who was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness. In Lent, we spend 40 days in the shadows, seeking clarity of purpose and newness of life. In Lent, we must choose again whether we will curse the darkness or let it do its perfect work.
Cursing the darkness is easier, but it’s full of despair. But the way of Jesus is ultimately bright with angels, who suddenly appear with food and drink and courage for all the days of our lives yet to be.
First Congregational Church of Cheshire
© the Rev. Dr. James Campbell
Matthew 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.
We called her Freda the Witch. We called her that because she seemed so mean. We called her that because there were dark rumors about Freda and her husband - the kind that gave a twelve-year-old pause before provoking her.
But I did provoke her, or at least my dog did. You see, Pepper was an outside dog, a wild mut. At night he would turn him loose to roam the whole neighborhood. And in the mornings, we would often find his gifts on the back steps: rabbit ears, frog legs, the tail of a squirrel.
But Freda didn’t want my dog in her yard at night, which was her right. And she warned me that I would be sorry if I didn’t keep him where he belonged. But I didn’t listen.
One morning soon thereafter, Pepper didn’t come home. We looked for him all day, roaming the neighborhood and calling his name, but to no avail. Then, along about dusk, two kids knocked on our door while we ate our dinner, and asked if we had a black and white dog. They asked because they had seen a dead dog on the road to the gravel pit near our house. And we all knew that it was Pepper.
My father told me to put on my shoes and get the shovel out of the garage. It was dark by then and the road to the gravel pit was darker still. And I was afraid. “Let’s go in the morning, dad,” I pleaded. But he was undeterred. Because he had another motivation beyond just burying the family dog. And so, with shovel and flashlight, we set off, the gravel crunching under our feet, mosquitos swarming our heads. And I was so angry at my father for forcing me into all that darkness.
We found Pepper right where the kids said he was. My dad said that he had been poisoned. And we all suspected that Freda the Witch had done it. And so, we dug a hole, and said a prayer, and buried our dog. And then we headed back home.
We walked in silence for a while. But then my father asked me why I was so afraid of so many things. I didn’t know then. And then he told me that eventually I would have to learn to face my fears because that was the only way to vanquish them. Instead of avoiding the darkness of life, I would need to go deeper.
That’s what Jesus did. Today’s lesson begins with one of the strangest verses in all of the New Testament: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” This was the same Jesus who taught to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” How odd that we are taught to pray for deliverance from evil while at the same time, it seems, the Spirit can lead us into some dark places, where we must confront our fears.
The wilderness of Judea was an awful place, harsh and barren and full of danger. But you don’t have to make a trip to the Holy Land in order to understand that the wilderness represents any place that is dark and foreboding. It is any place of testing. And it is any place where at the end, we have gained some clarity.
And I suspect that that was the reason that the Spirit led Jesus there. He needed clarity of purpose. Because what he was about to face would take all the fortitude he had. And so, the Spirit led him there, where he fasted and prayed for forty days and forty nights.
Well, that’s a very long time to be without food. And when it was over, Jesus was famished. But he was also in the wilderness, far away from any village where he might find something to eat. And it was in that precise moment of desperation that the devil appeared. That’s when the devil always appears.
In Greek, the word for devil can be translated as “one who attacks, misleads, diverts, discredits, slanders and deceives.” That’s why the devil is sometimes referred to simply as The Deceiver, that voice that confuses our perceptions and makes the truth of God seem like foolishness.
So, this Deceiver-in-Chief laid out these three tempting propositions to Jesus, all of which, I might add, on the surface seemed perfectly reasonable.
“Jesus,” he said, “use your magic powers to turn these stones into bread to fill your belly.” “Jesus,” he said, “throw yourself off the pinnacle of the Temple like a superhero and wait for the angels to catch you.” “Jesus,” he said, “worship me and I will make you rich beyond your wildest dreams.”
All of these temptations are variations on an old theme: the abuse of power. All of these temptations appeal to an overblown egocentrism, and a narcissistic worldview where I want, what I need, and what I say… trumps everything else.
How sad that some things never change. The Deceiver still uses the same lines and we humans still believe the lies. And when enough humans believe the lies it’s enough to make you fear for the future of our race. It’s enough to make this whole world into a wilderness.
And so, in every generation, we want someone, anyone to save us from this present darkness, to get us out of this wilderness. But the history of God’s people in all times and in all places is not that we are magically saved from the darkness. Instead, we are saved through it.
Why else would the Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness, except to prepare him for all that was to come?
I was so angry at my father for making me walk down that dark road to bury my dog. But my dad was right. Because I was afraid of too many things. And the only way for me to vanquish that fear was to confront it.
For some of us today, the journey into darkness is a very individual journey. For others, it’s more corporate. It’s your family or your friends that are being led into the wilderness. Some would say that our nation is in a wilderness. Or that the planet itself is. But whether it is you alone or with everyone else, the temptations are always the same. Will we grab at selfishness and self-aggrandizement and the abuse of power? Or will we resist the Deceiver, and those old, old lies that never produce what we want or what we need?
In the season of Lent, we are invited into a closer imitation of Jesus, who was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness. In Lent, we spend 40 days in the shadows, seeking clarity of purpose and newness of life. In Lent, we must choose again whether we will curse the darkness or let it do its perfect work.
Cursing the darkness is easier, but it’s full of despair. But the way of Jesus is ultimately bright with angels, who suddenly appear with food and drink and courage for all the days of our lives yet to be.
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