03/07/2026
A Lenten Message From
The Rt. Rev. Mark Cowell
Before Jesus entered His adult ministry, immediately after His baptism, Jesus was led into the desert. There, he spent 40 days and nights preparing for His mission, His ministry. While there, He was tempted by the devil.
Two points about these temptations. First, during all these temptations, Jesus keeps the Old Testament Law. And Jesus is keeping the law at a time when not keeping the law would be easy or desirable.
I have told you before that it was very important for this author Matthew to point out that Jesus was the same God that the Jews already worshipped. Matthew wanted to make this point clear, salvation began with the Old Covenant. Jesus was not a new God, nor was Jesus rewriting the law. Instead, Jesus was the consummation of the law. Instruction for proper behavior in the kingdom of God had already been given the Jews and it could be found in the writings of the Old Testament. Every response Jesus gave when resisting the devil’s temptations comes from the law as previously given. By demonstrating that, Jesus reaffirms the Old Testament’s authority for governing the life of a disciple.
The second point is that we, today, can learn from examining this part in Jesus’ life because we can connect it to our own struggle with our relationship to God and our relationship to humankind. We struggle as we too are challenged, as we too are frustrated, as we too are tempted by the devil. But we are supported in that struggle by this account of Jesus’ own temptations.
This account helps us put things in order. It shows us that we too will be tempted. At some point, we will all be hungry; we all have appetites we wish to fulfill. At some point, we will all doubt God’s existence or power; we will all want to put God to the test. At some point, we all want earthly power, earthly riches and earthly dominion; we all want control. But when we are tempted, there is a right answer, there is a correct choice. The pathway has been mapped out for us already by one who also faced those same temptations. We have that connection through Jesus, and so we know that the law, the word of God, is our help and our salvation in times of temptation. It is our map of proper behavior in the Kingdom.
Lent is a time for straightening out our relationship with God. The best method for straightening out this relationship is by reflection, and by abstinence, and by prayer. At some point, we must decide whether we are going to be Holy people as we are called to be. We can continue to live as we have lived, pretending that we don’t know what is expected of us, acting as if we have unlimited time in which to change, and we can continue to follow our own agendas or follow no agenda at all. Or, we can get with the program, we can give our life to Christ, we can answer with our lives the mission God has given us to do. Lent is the time to get back on track.
We should not be surprised if there are many obstacles or temptations that come up in the way of our seeking that Holiness. We will be tempted to turn aside? Absolutely. Happens to everyone. Happened to Jesus. But we need to get through that. Jesus has given us the perfect example of how to handle those temptations when they arise. By experiencing the frailty that it is to be human, through this connection to us, Jesus has shown us how to keep our connection to God, how to resist the temptations, how to respond, and how to live.
The Rt. Rev. Mark Cowell
Sixth Bishop
Episcopal Diocese of Western Kansas
