Lent, the 40 day period of preparation ahead of the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday, should be considered essential “spring training” for Christians as they prepare for the Easter season, Dr Donald Sweeting said.
Sweeting is chancellor of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Colorado.
“Christians measure time, not primarily by landmark dates, sports calendars or pagan markers, but by Jesus Christ,” Sweeting told Fox News Digital via email.
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Jesus, Sweeting said, is “the all-time reference point” in Scripture.
“Like ancient Israel, Christians believe that time is nearing its end and that God has intervened in the historical events of judgment and deliverance,” he said.
Dr. Donald Sweeting, chancellor of Colorado Christian University, revealed why Lent is a useful preparatory tool for Christians ahead of Easter. He shared his thoughts with Fox News Digital during Lent 2024. (Donald Sweeting/iStock)
While the Jewish calendar of biblical holidays was established in the Old Testament, “the New Testament does not present a Christian calendar per se,” Sweeting said.
He continued: “But it reminds us to sanctify our thinking about time, to always think of time with reference to Him. The Bible ends with reminders that God and his Christ are the Alpha and the Omega.”
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In the years following the New Testament, “the Church developed its own calendar of sacred days and seasons – Easter and Christmas being the principal days, each preceded by a season of spiritual preparation,” Sweeting said.
Lent, he explains, “is a heritage of the early church“.
He said “countless generations” have found it “extremely beneficial.”
Lent serves to “promote repentance and faithful discipleship” among Christians – and is “a legacy of the early Church.” (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, file)
“Like many special 40-day periods in the Bible (Noah, Israel, Jonah), especially Jesus’ 40-day ordeal in the desert, Lent reminds us of our union with Christ in baptism and through his death and resurrection,” Sucré said.
“We all need an intentional season of renewal.”
Lent, as long as it is “not trivialized or used in a superstitious or legalistic way,” serves to “promote repentance and faithfulness of disciples,” he said.
“Lent calls Christ’s followers to reexamine their hearts, reorganize their loves, and renew their minds,” Sweeting added.
And while self-examination and self-denial should be practiced throughout the year, “in the cycle of each year, we all need an intentional season of renewal,” he said .
Lent works by “helping us immensely in the coming season.” (iStock)
Sweeting continued: “The start of baseball season (which, surprisingly, often coincides with Easter), is necessarily preceded by spring training. Maybe that’s a good analogy. »
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Lent, he said, “is like spring training for Christians” – and it “helps us tremendously in the season ahead.”
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“And it continues to point to the One who claimed to be first and last, the beginning and the end, not only of our own personal season, but of time itself,” Sweeting said.
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