I Lent

 

February 22, 2026

 Gen. 2.15-17; 3.1-7; Matthew 4.1-11

 

+ Since we’re now well into Lent, let’s do a little Lenten discipline exercise, shall we?

 

I want you to think about something for a moment.

 

I want you to take a moment, right now, and think about something I imagine none of us want to think about.

 

Things like sin and repentance and temptation.

 

But, hey, it’s Lent.

 

This whole season is about thinking about things we don’t normally want to think about.

 

This morning, right now, I want you to think about someone in your life you knew to be a bully.

 

Now I know.

 

You’re immediately probably going to think instantly of a certain someone who kind of dominates our lives right now.

 

But I want you to think about someone in your own life who you viewed or currently view as a bully.

 

Someone maybe in junior high or high school.

 

Maybe a sibling.

 

Or a spouse. Or ex-spouse.

 

Maybe a parent.

 

Or a boss.

 

Or just a neighbor or a guy at the bar or a Karen on the street or at a restaurant.

 

Or maybe it was a priest.

 

Or a Bishop.

 

Think about that person.

 

And think about not only what emotions thinking about that person causes in you right now, but also think about how you responded to that person.

 

How did you respond?

 

Did you respond in anger?

 

Did you ignore them?

 

Did you avoid them?

 

Did you give into your fear?

 

Or did you stand up to them?

 

There’s no right or wrong way to respond.

 

But it is interesting what emotions thinking about such things cause within us.

 

Bullies are a part of our lives, whether we want them to be or not.

 

They are manipulative.

 

They are thuggish.

 

They can often be violent—not only in deeds, but also in words.

 

They wreak havoc.

 

They disrupt and cause upheaval.

 

They are chaos personified.

 

In our Gospel for today, we find a big bully.

 

Satan.

 

He’s being manipulative.

 

He’s being smooth.

 

And he’s being a bully.

 

Or trying to anyway.

 

And he’s trying to bully Jesus.

 

He’s trying to coerce and manipulate Jesus, to make him give up his Messiahship, to give up his tole as God’s Son.

 

When Satan tempts Jesus in the wilderness, he tries to appeal to Jesus’ pride.

 

He knows that Jesus knows he is exactly who is.

 

Satan knows that Jesus truly does have the power to reign and rule, that he has all the power in the world, given to him by God.

 

And Satan further knows that if he could harness that power for himself—for evil—then he will have that power as well.

 

I think what’s really interesting about this story is not so much what it says about Jesus, but what it reveals about Satan.

 Let’s be clear, the Devil in this story is a bully, plain and simple.

 And bullies don’t care about others.

 Satan sure does not care about Jesus.

 In fact, Satan resents Jesus.

 He despises him.

 He’s jealous of him.

 Bullies only care about themselves---about who they are and who they are in relation to others.

 Maybe that’s not right either.

 I don’t think they even care who they are in relation to others.

 Because others don’t matter.

 Others are simply things.

 They’re not people.

Others are there simply to fulfill what the bully needs.

And what is it the bully needs?

The bully needs to show and to prove that they are someone.

That they are important.

That they are in control.

And let’s face it, that’s never going to be satisfied.

Which is why bullies bully again and again.

Bullies are experts in aggression, intimidation and deceit.

And they do so to gain power.

And in doing so they become tyrants.

When bullies reign, oppression becomes the norm.

You know who isn’t a bully in our story?

Jesus.

And Jesus shows us how to stand up to bullies.

He does so with a strength Satan the Bully only wishes he could have.

Jesus stands up to Satan the bully with self-confidence and self-assurance.

Jesus knows who he is.

He knows he is the Son of God—the Messiah.

He is loved by God. 

And God loves him.

Jesus doesn’t allow himself to be manipulated and or coerced into something.

In responding to Satan in the wilderness, Jesus models how to stand up to bullies and tyrants.

Because we are followers of Jesus, this is important to us.

Because Jesus shows us the way forward, this is the way for us to deal with bullies as well.

We should always stand up to the bullies in our life with self-assurance.

 With confidence.

 With the holy self-assurance of confidence that we, too, are children of God.

 That we too are loved by God.

 That we too are anointed.

 That we too don’t need to bully in return.

 After all, you can’t follow Jesus and be a bully too.

 So, this Lenten season, let’s truly join Jesus and stand up to the bullies and tyrants in our lives.

 This Lent, let's give up giving in to bullying and tyranny.

 Let Jesus’ example of standing up to the powers of this world be the way for us to move through not only the wasteland of Lent, but also the wasteland of our world and our society right now.

 

Let us do so, like Jesus, with confidence and strength.

 

Let us remind ourselves that are beloved and anointed children of our loving God.

 

If we do so, we will prevail over the powers of bullies and despots.

 

We will rise above the dark forces that tempt us and threaten to hurt us and bring us down.

 

What better way to make this season of Lent a time of holy renewal in our lives?