Today Marks the Start of a New Season

What is Lent?

In the early church, Lent was a time of preparation through fasting for new believers who were baptized at Easter.  Today, it has become a shared season on the Christian calendar of repentance and discipline in preparation for Easter as Christians focus their hearts on Jesus’s sacrifice and await the celebration of His resurrection.

Lenten practices have evolved over time, but many Christians still observe it by fasting, typically from food or a habit (i.e., watching TV or using social media).  Lent also includes practices like prayer, generosity, and Scripture reading.  The point is self-discipline to focus on Christ.

The season is a liturgical tradition rather than a biblical mandate.  Lent itself isn’t commanded in Scripture, but its practices—fasting, prayer, repentance—are rooted in the Bible.

Why is it called “Lent?”

The word comes from an Old English term lencten, meaning “springtime” or “lengthening of days,” pointing to renewal.

When is Lent each year?

In most Western traditions, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter Sunday).  While the date changes each year, Ash Wednesday always falls 40 days (excluding Sundays) before Easter Sunday.

On the “Day of Ashes,” some Christians wear ashes in the shape of a cross on their forehead to symbolize human mortality (“For you are dust, and you will return to dust”) and/or mourning.

Why 40 days?

The number 40 reflects key biblical moments of preparation and testing—including Jesus’s 40 days of fasting in the wilderness (Matthew 4), Israel’s 40 years in the desert (Joshua 5:6), and Moses’ 40 days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 34).

Sundays aren’t counted in the 40 days because they’re always considered celebrations of Jesus’s resurrection (The Lord’s Day), so they’re not treated as days of fasting or penitence.

Topics like Lent and whether or not Christians can/should practice it have the potential to cause division in the church.  When you’re tempted to split with a brother or sister over secondary and tertiary issues, remember that we have a higher calling to unity in Christ and love for one another.

“Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:1-3).

 

Rev. Dr. Kenneth L. Beale, Jr.
Chaplain (Colonel-Ret), U.S. Army
Pastor, Ft. Snelling Memorial Chapel