Lent is a season in the Christian Year or Calendar
when Christians practice self denial. They fast often throughout the period and
do soul searching or self examination. It begins on a Wednesday called Ash
Wednesday, a name which derives from the Jewish custom of sitting in sackcloth
and ashes, or of pouring ashes on oneself as an expression of sorrow and of
being humbled (2 Samuel 13: 19; Esther
4: 1 – 3; Job 2: 8; 42: 6;
Matthew 11: 21; Luke 10: 13).
Ash Wednesday begins at exactly forty week days
before Easter Sunday, that is, counting only Mondays to Saturdays and excluding
Sundays. For example, 2015 Easter Sunday is April 5. To get the date for 2015
Ash Wednesday, one will count forty days from April 4 backward, excluding the
Sundays. Forty such week days will take us to February 18, which is 2015 date
for Ash Wednesday. Lent is the period from Ash Wednesday to the Saturday before Easter
Sunday (at times called Holy Saturday), a total of forty week days.
Liturgical
colour for Lenten season is purple. The church uses that for its adorning and
Ministers use it for Stole colour.
In the observance of self denial Christians help
others and do good to them. They may for example, save what money they would
have spent on snacks and give it another who needs transport fare for a
journey. They seek out the needy and help them. Some denominations observe
solemnity in fellowship. They do not clap, dance or say, ‘Praise the Lord’, all
of which are considered expressions of joy and contrary to the spirit of the
sober season. In that same spirit, some do not take meat or partake in
pleasure.
The entire season is dedicated to somberness and
service, a reflection of the life of Christ who lived, suffered and died for
us. In His days on earth, He hungered, was thirsty, and suffered deprivations. He
was unjustly arrested, wrongly accused, humiliatingly derided, and denied
justice in His trial. Finally He was cruelly crucified on the Cross at Calvary.
He went through and bore all this for no wrong of His but for the sake of us
sinners. Thus the Bible talks of the Just (Christ) suffering for the unjust (sinners).
The season of Lent therefore ends with Passion Week (also called Holy Week),
the week we remember the sufferings and death of Christ. Passion Week this year
is March 30 to April 5, the latter date being Easter Sunday. The Sunday before
the beginning of Passion Week is Palm Sunday, also the last Sunday in Lent. It marks
Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem where He was hailed the son of David
who comes in the name of the Lord, only to be denounced a criminal and
crucified same week. Important days of the Holy Week are Thursday (called
Maundy Thursday) when the Lord celebrated the last supper with His disciples,
and Friday (Good Friday) when He was crucified. Some denominations hold services
on those days, celebrating the Lord’s Supper on Thursday evening, as did the
Lord. Some practice washing members feet prior to the Communion service that
Thursday as the Lord washed His disciples’.
The mockery of a trial that Jesus went through must
have taken place from Thursday evening after the supper when He was arrested,
through the unholy hours of the night before He was condemned and crucified
Friday morning by 9 am. This showed the injustice He suffered. How could a just
court rush through and conclude a trial of that magnitude so summarily? However,
in the end, the Lord triumphed. He rose from the dead, victorious over Satan,
sin, the world, death and the grave. Hallelujah! The Lenten season ends on Holy
Saturday introducing us to Easter Sunday which marks the triumph of Christ over
aforementioned enemies.
The lesson of Lent is that Christians should be
sober and vigilant, given that our adversary is unrelenting in his onslaughts
against the church (1 Peter 5: 8). We should be fully engaged in the practice
of Christian love and service, and not partaking in worldly passions (Romans
12: 9 – 21). We are to endure hardship as good soldiers of Christ (2 Timothy 2:
3), and persecution as our lot in Christ (Philippians 1: 29). In none of these
are we the losers, because as our Lord and Master triumphed, so shall we in the
end. As the Lord’s victory is permanent and eternal so shall ours be. Do not
measure your worth by what you have or don’t have, or by what experiences you
are going through presently. A person’s life does not consist of the abundance
of the things they possess, neither is your present the ultimate determinant of
your tomorrow. Your abundance is in God who supplies all your needs according
to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4: 19). Your tomorrow is in
the hands of Him who said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews
13: 5). Trust God as you continue to follow Him. He will not fail you.
May God give you grace to conform to His Son this
Lenten season and always, Amen.
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