Lent, the 40-day interval of preparation previous to the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, ought to be considered as a vital “spring coaching” for Christians as they put together themselves for the Easter season, mentioned Dr. Donald Sweeting.
Sweeting is chancellor of Colorado Christian College in Lakewood, Colorado.
“Christians measure time, not primarily by Hallmark dates, sports activities calendars or pagan markers — however by Jesus Christ,” Sweeting informed Fox Information Digital through e mail.
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Jesus, mentioned Sweeting, is “the reference level forever” in Scripture.
“Following the instance of historic Israel, Christians consider that point is shifting towards His appointed finish and that God has intervened in historic occasions of judgment and deliverance,” he mentioned.
Dr. Donald Sweeting, chancellor of Colorado Christian College, revealed why the Lenten season is a useful preparatory instrument for Christians forward of Easter. He shared his ideas with Fox Information Digital throughout Lent 2024. (Donald Sweeting/iStock)
Whereas the Jewish calendar of biblical feasts was established within the Previous Testomony, “the New Testomony doesn’t set forth a Christian calendar per se,” mentioned Sweeting.
He continued, “But it surely does remind us to sanctify our enthusiastic about time, to all the time preserve pondering of time in reference to Him. The Bible ends with reminders that God and his Christ are the Alpha and Omega.”
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Within the years after the New Testomony, “the church developed its personal calendar of holy days and seasons — Easter and Christmas being the first ones, with every preceded by a season of non secular preparation,” mentioned Sweeting.
Lent, he defined, “is an inheritance from the early church.”
He mentioned that “numerous generations” have discovered it “to be immensely useful.”
Lent serves to “promote repentance and devoted discipleship” amongst Christians — and is “an inheritance from the early church.” (AP Photograph/Gerald Herbert, File)
“Like lots of the Bible’s particular 40-day seasons (Noah, Israel, Jonah), particularly Jesus’ personal 40-day trial within the wilderness, Lent reminds us of our union with Christ in baptism and thru his loss of life and resurrection,” mentioned Sweeting.
“All of us want an intentional season of renewal.”
Lent, so long as it’s “not trivialized, or used superstitiously or legalistically,” serves to “promote repentance and devoted discipleship,” he mentioned.
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“Lent requires Christ followers to re-examine their hearts, reorder their loves, and renew their minds,” Sweeting added.
And whereas self-examination and self-denial ought to be practiced all year long, “within the cycle of yearly, all of us want an intentional season of renewal,” he mentioned.
Lent works by “serving to us immensely within the coming season.” (iStock)
Sweeting continued, “The start of baseball season (which surprisingly usually coincides with Easter), is essentially preceded by spring coaching. Maybe that’s a great analogy.”
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Lent, he mentioned, “is like spring coaching for Christians” — and works by “serving to us immensely within the coming season.”
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“And it retains pointing to the One who claimed to be the primary and the final, the start and the tip, not simply of our personal private season, however of time itself,” mentioned Sweeting.
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