What is Lent? Why Lent?
Posted by Pastor Pat on March 4, 2009
The historical intent of Lent is to place the modern reader into the storyline of the Bible. If we consider the biblical storyline and three corresponding “holy-days,” it is perhaps easier to understand why Lent is notable. First, the season of Advent celebrates the foretold and pre-figured Hero’s arrival. In Advent, God’s Hero arrives. Second, the season of Lent celebrates the foretold and pre-figured Hero’s work. It is not simply the Hero’s arrival that fulfills the promise; it is His work. Lent notes the Hero’s work by marking Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. Finally, the season of Pentecost celebrates the expansive and continuing legacy that His church is left with as a consequence of the Hero’s work. Pentecost marks the certainty of God’s promise and story in the carrying out of His mission in and through the church.
