40 Days of Lent

By Ty Saltzgiver

Chapter titles: "Ash Wednesday", "Passion Week Begins", "A Snapshot of the Gospel", "We are Jesus' Joy", "Our Greatest Lover", "Letting Ourselves be Loved", "The Voice of Jesus", "Paschal Blood and the Covenant", "Jesus is Our High Priest", "Take Him In", "The Eucharist Meal", "Rhythm of the Mass", "Living as Jesus' 'Beloved'", "Don't Hide; Admit", "The Full Extent of His Love", "Maundy Thursday", "Man's Highest Achievement is to let God Help Him", and 23 more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ty Saltzgiver
• Release date: Dec 18, 2011
• ISBN: 9780961656294

Book preview

40 Days of Lent

Scripture and Reflections on Jesus' Passion, Death, and Resurrection

Published by Ty Saltzgiver at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 Ty Saltzgiver

About the Author

Ty Saltzgiver is a Senior Vice-President for

Young Life, an outreach ministry to High School and Middle School students.

He can be reached at [e-mail] or at saltresources.com

DAY 1

ASH WEDNESDAY

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time. I Peter 5:6

...then your heart becomes proud, and you forget the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and the house of slavery. Deuteronomy 8:14

Lent (an old English word for Spring) is the season each year in which we approach the crucifixion (Good Friday) and the resurrection (Easter Sunday) of Jesus Christ. It begins with Ash Wednesday and lasts forty days, not counting Sundays, because Sundays already commemorate Jesus' resurrection. Historically, as the Lenten season developed, 40 days was settled upon because of Jesus' 40 days in the wilderness of fasting, prayer and solitude with His Father in preparation for His ministry on earth.

It is then fitting for us to have a 40 day period to prepare to celebrate Jesus and to let His Death and Resurrection be central in our lives. Lent is a time for sacrifice and self-examination, for increased self-awareness and God-awareness, for spiritual refocus and renewing of our conversion, for seeing our own need for Grace, and for opening our hearts to be more captured by Jesus' love.

You may have known someone who has given up something as they observe Lent. For instance, one may abstain from eating chocolate or from drinking coffee, from something that is normally a daily part of their life. This is a discipline intended to make us aware of how earthly things can have power over us and to remind us that our true pleasure is in following Jesus. For some, the giving up helps them symbolically remember and share in Christ's suffering and to give up all things to Christ. In addition, during Lent at the moment of inner longing for the thing given up, we are reminded to turn our hearts toward Jesus in gratitude and in surrender.

Another Lenten discipline is to consider taking on something, which would help nurture our soul. For instance, beginning each day during Lent on our knees by our bed and/or taking a walk each evening in reflection, reviewing the day with God. Other possible commitments might be a certain reading, or a daily journaling, or anything which helps make us aware of Jesus' nearness.

The decisions of giving up or taking on are unique and personal to you and are between you and God. For goodness sake, if they are not helpful or become too great a burden, please stop them with no guilt. Lent is meant to be enlivening and deepening, not another legalistic rule of proving to God your worth or affection for Him.

In the Ash Wednesday service, which begins Lent, ashes are placed on one's forehead as the words are spoken, Remember, man is dust and to dust you shall return. Its purpose is to humble our hearts and remind us that life, and our life, passes away on earth. All of life is a gift from God (I Corinthians 4:7). Putting ashes on is an old sign of repentance and humility (see Job 42:6).

The desert fathers and mothers * speak of humility as the virtue most necessary to grow closer to Jesus Christ. Listen to St. Teresa of Avila: Humility must always be doing its work like a bee making honey in the hive: without humility all will be lost.

Again St. Teresa: Ah, my Lord! We have need of Thine aid, without which we can do nothing (John 15:5).

*Those (who lived mostly between 1000 - 1500AD) who pulled away from society and culture to be totally open and committed to God... people like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Sienna, Bernard of Clairvaux, Francis de Sales, Fenelon, to name a few.

DAY 2 - THURSDAY

PASSION WEEK BEGINS

When they brought the donkey to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, He sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields. Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted, Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest! Jesus entered Jerusalem and went to the temple. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve. Mark 11:1-11

I once heard the true story of a man researching successful churches or ministries to determine if there were any common denominators among them. He found himself before Bill Bright of Campus Crusade asking, What does Jesus Christ mean to you? Bill just wept and couldn't answer the question. He simply loved Jesus more than he could say.

This whole idea that Jesus loves me... that I am His Delight (Proverbs 8:30)... that I am the Apple of His Eye (Psalm 17:8)...that I am His Joy (Hebrews 12:2)... that He is literally dying to be intimate with me... is difficult to grasp, even more to accept, and finally to surrender to. But I do know this: looking at His suffering and dying for me, in some way that I cannot fully explain, stirs me and awakens me to want to love Him. More than that, Christ's passion for you and me wins in our hearts over any pursuit of false gods where we look for life and pleasure. Christ's Passion moves me like nothing else to move out of my little story into His much larger story and from the cultivation of my false self, to joining His helping my true self to emerge. His Passion proves to me that He is absolutely committed to me, that in no way is He holding out on me. Quite the opposite. He who did not spare His own son, but gave Him up for me...how much more, along with Him, will He not graciously give us all things (Romans 8:32).

His very public entry into Jerusalem as a marked man could be called courageous. Certainly it was most symbolic.

Many have said that the donkey is a lowly creature and Jesus' ride signified again his humility and his never grasping at an earthly title or position. He could have capitalized on the fever-pitch of nationalism, but He didn't. He rode a donkey. However, a study of the historical context reveals the donkey (ass, foal, or colt) is really a noble beast and a king might well have ridden on one before a crowd symbolizing, I come in peace. Zechariah foretold of this ride in just such a way (9:9), Behold, your king is coming to you... riding on a donkey. Jesus rode in peace, appealing for a rightful throne, yes; but not a throne of this world, rather to be enthroned in our hearts.

It isn't an accident that both Jesus' birth was announced by a heavenly host with the shepherds saying, Peace on earth, and His Passion was begun as He rode, coming in peace, and the crowd cried out Peace (Luke 19:38). Peace is the most asked for thing in our psychiatrists' offices. Peace came and comes in Jesus, not as the world gives peace, but only as He can (John 14:27).

They also screamed Hosanna. Most think this is a praise word, akin to Hallelujah, but it is not at all. It is a deliverance word, best translated in English, Help. However the crowd was so excited to be delivered from Roman rule and seemed less concerned about satan's rule.

Jesus, as Luke records (19:4-44) wept in love for these same folks saying, If you had only known this day the things which really bring you peace... but, you did not recognize the time of your visitation.

None of us will miss another