Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him…
Matthew 4:1-3a
“Repetition is the mother of all learning.” This ancient proverb is a quote I have learned well through my education and life. Repeating, whether vocab words, facts for a test, quotes, or parts of a sermon, is how I learn and remember things. Perhaps you are similar.
While Lent is a season we go through every year, we can still forget the basics of the season. As we begin the season of Lent, I thought I would employ that old proverb, “Repetition is the mother of all learning,” as we review the season of Lent. (As an aside, I am heavily indebted to my old professor, Dr. Timothy Maschke, who taught me about the Church Year and for his book, Gathered Guests: A Guide to Worship in the Lutheran Church, which helped to serve as the basis for this article. He helped to create a love in me for the seasons of the Church, and he opened my eyes to what they all pointed to: Jesus Christ.)
Name and Origins
Since Easter celebrates the most important event in Christ’s life, His resurrection, the Church did a period of preparation for it. In the early Church, baptismal candidates would be baptized at the Easter Vigil. The period before when candidates would be taught became known as Lent, which comes from the Latin word “spring.”
Length
In the year 325, we have the first specific and recorded reference to the number of days for Lent, which is 40. This was recorded at the Council of Nicea. Later, these 40 days became associated with other events in Scripture that involved the number 40, events like Jesus’ 40 days in the desert before His temptation and the wandering of the Israelites in the desert for 40 years. Technically, Lent is 46 days because the Sundays in Lent are not counted (more on that below). The season begins on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday (the day in which Christ’s body rests in the tomb).
Themes
The season of Lent is a time of repentance and preparation for Easter. To help keep with the solemn nature of Lent, and to reflect the theme of repentance, alleluias (which are a word of praise) and the Gloria in Excelsis are not sung. However, that does not mean that the Gospel is not proclaimed, not preached for the season, or brushed aside. As Lutherans, we still emphasize the Gospel as much as ever during this penitential time. This point is brought out in how we talk about the Sundays in Lent. In Lent, Sundays are NOT “of Lent” but “in Lent.” As a result, our Sundays keep an Easter tone and can be less solemn than our midweek services.
Color
The color for the season of Lent is purple. This color depicts royalty and self-discipline. To make the color purple, the cloth would be dyed in the blood of a snail to make it that color. Such a process was not only expensive, but also time consuming, and would require much self-sacrifice on the part of the maker in terms of time and attention. As a result, purple became the symbol of penitence. Purple also is an alternative color for Advent, which is also a time of preparation and repentance.
I hope this little article helped to shed some new light on Lent, and will aid your celebration of this season. Blessings to you as we begin the Lenten season!
Pastor Kooi
(Originally published in Emmaus Footprints, Vol. XXIV, Number 8, March 2023.)