LENT
First Word
- Lent is the annual solemn religious observance and commemoration of Holy Week, marking the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It observes the tradition and events in
the Bible beginning with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
on Good Friday,
His death, burial and culminates in the joyful
celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection.
- It is observed by Anglicans, Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and other Christian denominations lasting for a period of
approximately 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday. – Lent is a season that starts with Grief and
ends with rejoicing and celebrating.
- Lent is when we make a small sacrifice of our own
to recall the incomparable sacrifice that Christ made on the cross so that
we might experience the miracle of the resurrection.
Terminology
- Exploring LENT we need to understand the meaning of a number of
other terms:
- Easter - The culmination of
the Passion Week of Christ, preceded by Lent, a forty-day period
of fasting, prayer, and penance.
- Lent – Comes from the Latin term Quadragesima; a translation of the
original Greek; meaning the “fortieth” day before Easter.
- Ash Wednesday – First day of Lent - It gets it name from
the practice of placing ashes on the forehead as a celebration and reminder
of human mortality, and as a sign of mourning and repentance before God.
- Palm Sunday – The sixth Sunday of Lent – Marks the beginning
of the HOLY WEEK. – Jesus rode into
- Spy Wednesday - or Holy
Wednesday – The day Judas spied on Jesus in the Garden
- Maundy Thursday – or Holy Thursday – Commemoration of the Last
Supper of Christ. NYOBS
05.11 - LORD’S SUPPER – THE MYSTERY OF THE FOURTH CUP
- Good Friday – Jesus crucifixion and burial – NYOBS
18.18 – THE WAY OF THE CROSS
- Holy Saturday – Commemorates the full day that the body of
Jesus lay in the tomb.
- Easter Sunday – The day of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Mark 11:7– Jesus
riding on a donkey as their King
7 When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their
cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the
road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. NIV
Matt 21:9 – Palm
Sunday – Blessed is He who comes – name Lord
9 The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed
shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" - "Blessed is he who
comes in the name of the Lord!" - "Hosanna in the highest!" NIV
1 Cor 10:16 – Maundy Thursday – Communion with Christ.
16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not
the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it
not the communion of the body of Christ? KJV
Luke 23:20-21 – Good
Friday - "Crucify him! Crucify him!"
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again.
21 But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify
him!" NIV
Duration
- Lent is traditionally
described as lasting “approximately” forty days, in commemoration
of the forty days that Jesus spent in the desert enduring the
temptations of Satan while fasting before He begin his public ministry.
- Lent runs from Ash Wednesday through Maundy
Thursday until Easter, some 40 days with breaks in fasting on Sundays.
- In most Western
traditions Sundays are not counted as a part of Lent since Sundays
are always the weekly anniversary of the Resurrection and are exempt from
fasting or the abstinence of eating meat; thus the period from Ash
Wednesday until Easter consists of 40 days when the Sundays are excluded.
- Different
Denominations calculate the 40 days differently
- Some fast by just
giving up meat, poultry and dairy products, eating only “vegan” or just vegetables.
– Some just eat less than a full meal while others eat nothing during the
daylight hours. Many fast during
the Passion Week while others fast for only three days.
- I must confess that I
had certainly heard of LENT, but never actually knew what it was or even
observed it; I though it was just something that Catholics did.
Matt 4:1-3 - Jesus
fasted for 40 days
1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be
tempted by the devil.
2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was
hungry.
3 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son
of God, tell these stones to become bread." NIV
Purpose
- The purpose of Lent
is the spiritual preparation of the believer through 40 days of prayer,
repentance for sins, self-denial and giving of time and money. Many Christians will commit
to fasting or giving up certain types of luxuries as a form
of this remembrance
- The book “Why Do
Catholics Do That” says that fasting keeps the Devil at bay sighting the
scripture on fasting to cast out demons. (I
personally think this scripture is talking about FAITH being built up by
fasting not about more authority over demons)
- The book goes to say
that “it reminds us for the need for acts of penances to serve as punishment
for sins and acts of charity to make up for them. Basically, the idea is to do good things
to balance out all of the bad, as well as avoiding more bad things”. (Scripture
says regardless, we all fall short, but are justified by His grace. – There is no way to “balance
out” sin on our own)
Mark 9:22-29 – Faith is
the Subject – Not demon authority
22 "It has often thrown him into fire or
water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help
us."
23 "`If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything
is possible for him who believes." (Faith)
26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and
came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
28 And when he was come into the house, his disciples
asked him privately, why could not we cast him out?
29 And he said unto them, this kind (of Faith) can come forth by nothing, but by prayer and fasting.
KJV
Rom 3:23 -24 – All have sinned and fall short – We need a Savior
23 for all have sinned and fall short of
the glory of God,
24 and are justified freely by his grace
through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. NIV
Activities
- There are traditionally forty days in
Lent which are marked by fasting, both from foods and festivities, and by
other acts of penance.
- It is the giving up of something that
might be considered a vice and adding something that brings you closer to
god; giving of money and time to others.
- The three traditional practices that bring
you closer to God are:
- PRAYER - humility towards
God
- FASTING - denial towards
self – NYOBS 24.25 FASTING
- GIVING - blessing towards others
– NYOBS .04.30 – THE TITHE
- Veiling of crosses and other religious
objects with a violet color
of fabric – The Catholic Church says violet
is the Church’s color of mourning and the color of penance. – I always thought
it was the color of the robe that they put on Jesus; a symbol of Royalty.
- The Stations of
the Cross
are often observed as a devotional commemoration of Christ carrying
the Cross and of his execution – This is called The Via Dolorosa; “The way of the Cross”. This
devotional practice representing the gospel story is commemorated by
walking through the Traditional FOURTEEN “Stations” or events of
remembrance as fixed in the 18th century. See NYOBS 18.18 – THE WAY OF THE CROSS
- Benefits
of Prayer, Fasting and Giving – You will find joy
in the Lord – God will hear and answer your prayers – For an “over the
top” definition; read Isaiah 58:8-14 below.
Isa 58:6-7 – Fasting and
Giving
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I
have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of
the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the
hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter-- when you see the
naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? NIV
Zech 7:5-10 – Administer
justice – Show mercy and compassion
5 "Ask all the people of the land and the
priests, `When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months
for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?
9 "This is what the LORD Almighty says:
`Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one
another.
10 Do not oppress the widow or the
fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of
each other.' NIV
Isa 58:8-14 – Benefits of
fasting
8 Then your light will break forth like the
dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness
will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
"If you do away with the yoke of
oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the
hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in
the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched
land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and
will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken
Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
13 "If you keep your feet from breaking the
Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a
delight and the LORD's holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going
your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the LORD,
and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast
on the inheritance of your father Jacob." The mouth of the LORD has
spoken. NIV
Matt 27:27-29 – They stripped
him and put on a scarlet robe
27 Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into
the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him.
28 They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on
him,
29 and then twisted together a crown of thorns and
set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of
him and mocked him. "Hail, king of the Jews!" NIV
LENT is when we make a
small sacrifice of our own to recall the incomparable sacrifice that Christ
made on the cross so that we might experience the miracle of the resurrection.
In the multitude of counselors,
there is wisdom.
Prov 11:14
I
am grateful for those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical
information, and scripture verses.
Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further that I
otherwise ever could have.
Guide Post - Lent – Max Lucado
Harpers Bible Dictionary – Harper & Row
New International Version
Bible - NIV
Why Do Catholics Do That? – Kevin Orlin Johnson
Wikipedia
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