On Lent

On Lent
by Pastor Kingsbury

Because of the unfortunate tendencies and practices of Roman Catholicism, Lent can be perceived as a denial of the Gospel instead of an embrace of it. This season in the Church year is widely thought of as a time in which to take on oneself the sufferings of Christ by giving something up, such as chocolate. When one does so, our Savior’s work on our behalf is simultaneously regarded as incomplete and trivialized.
Instead, Lent is a forty-day period of preparation for Easter, at which time we celebrate Jesus Christ’s Resurrection and God’s public declaration of his completed work for his people. One prepares for this Good News by repentance, putting off the sins which hinder and striving to live righteously in dependence on the Holy Spirit. Accordingly, the Gospel readings for Lent this year bring the Gospel into clear focus.

  Matthew 4:1-11: Jesus is tempted by and defeats Satan.
  John 3:1-17: God’s love for the world is shown by sending his Son to redeem.
  John 4:5-42: Jesus presents himself as Messiah to the Samaritan woman.
  John 9:1-41: Jesus heals the man born blind.
  John 11:1-45: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.

Lent (the name comes from the old Saxon word for “spring”) actually begins forty-six days before Easter because it contains six Sundays; since the Lord’s Day celebrates Christ’s resurrection and thus is a feast day on which fasting or other acts of repentance are inappropriate, other days must be added. Throughout Scripture, the Lord uses forty units of time to test people. Mankind was tested for forty days in the Noahic flood; Israel was tested for forty years in the desert. These tests were failed, but Jesus passed the forty-day test he endured at the beginning of his ministry. Because he passed that test for us, we are not tested by God. Instead, we seek to more fully appreciate and lay hold of Christ’s work for us by putting off our sins and living for his glory.
Lent, then, is most especially not a “Sunday-only” season of the Church year. Throughout its weeks, take special care to examine your life and “lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily entangles us, and run with patience the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2) Amen.