In 2024, Lent begins on Wednesday, Feb. 14 (Ash Wednesday) and concludes on Thursday March 28 (the Thursday before Easter Sunday). The word ‘Lent’ comes from an Old English word meaning ‘spring season’ from the Old Dutch ‘lente’ or the German ‘lenz’ that referred to the ‘lengthening’ of the days in this season from winter to spring.  The observance dates back to around 325 at the council of Nicea when a 40-day time of fasting before Easter was established. The dates for the time of fasting have been altered several times, as have the fasting requirements.  Currently, the most-followed dates are 46 days, as the 6 Sundays in the season are not fast days.  

Depending on which source you read, it may have originally been a time of fasting before a candidate was baptized.¹  As baptisms in the church began to be done primarily on Easter Sunday, then a more official fasting period was recognized.  It became a 40-day fast, following the 40-day fasts of Elijah, Moses, and Jesus.  The requirements for the fast have also varied tremendously through the years, originally requiring only 1 meal a day after 3 pm with no meat, fish, or dairy.  Currently, in the Catholic Church, only Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are mandatory fast days.  And now, ‘giving something up’ for Lent has replaced the food fast for most who follow the tradition.

We will talk in the coming months about traditions that are contrary to scripture, and how Jesus said “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” (Mark 7:8) to the Pharisees.  But not all traditions are contrary to scripture.²  I believe any time that you set aside for God is good.  And there are, as mentioned above, Biblical models for a 40-day fast.  This year, the 40-day fast of Jesus in the wilderness will begin this Saturday, Feb. 17 as his baptism in the Jordan was Feb. 16 in 27 A.D.  In that year, the sacrifice of the Passover lambs would have been April 11 (remember the dates of Passover and Easter vary every year.)   Jesus would have concluded his 40-day fast on March 28, which is, coincidentally this year the conclusion of Lent on the Thursday before Easter.³

While Jesus’ 40-day fast in the wilderness is not a preparation for the Passover/Easter event, this year the dates do overlap.  So this year, whether your church tradition observes Lent or not, we can all observe this time of preparation.  Jesus’ time in the wilderness was a preparation for his year of ministry.  We can follow with him and use this time to prepare to follow him through his ministry in the 4 Gospels.  

This Friday, our study will be on Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, on the day it happened in 27 A.D.  Then we will follow Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days.  We will take that time to examine the idea of wilderness in the Bible, the ideas of testing and tempting, and the idea of fasting.  Then on March 28, when Jesus’ 40 days ends, we will discuss the 3 temptations as recorded in Matthew and Luke.

1. The Didache, a 1st Century Christian text, recommended that the candidate for baptism and ‘others that were able’ to fast and prepare for the sacrament of baptism. (Didache 7:4)

2. During the time of the Reformation, many theologians pushed hard against any Catholic traditions including Lent.  This is very interestingly like the hard push against anything Jewish in the 300s and following, when at the same Council of Nicea it was forbidden to share a meal with Jews or worship on a Saturday.  John Calvin in Institutes of the Christian Religion (1536) said “Then the superstitious observance of Lent had everywhere prevailed: for both the vulgar imagined that they thereby perform some excellent service to God…”  In both instances, the church, I feel, overreacted and ‘threw the baby out with the bath water.’  They were so against the Jews and later the Catholics that they renounced everything Jewish or Catholic.  And because of this, for hundreds of years, the Church missed out on the Jewish roots of our faith and the rich history of our faith that was maintained by the Catholic Church.  Sorry, Mr. Calvin, I have to disagree with you here.  Now that being said, let’s not make the same mistake of throwing Calvin out with the bath water.  I own a set of Calvin’s commentaries and find his thoughts very useful (sometimes).

3. For those of you who are detail-oriented and count the days, we will have 41 days instead of 40 because this year is a leap year.  Jesus’ calendar in the 1st Century had a ‘leap month’ and this 13th month comes into play in the year Jesus is crucified.  We’ll talk all about how this works when we get there next year.