Lent is forty days long because Jesus fasted in the wilderness forty days and forty nights before embarking on His public ministry.
Man of Sorrows by William Dyce
But Jesus did not select the length of His fast at random. Throughout the Old Testament, a stretch of forty days (or years) has always carried a deep meaning often related to punishment, penance, and/or preparation.
Here are a few examples:
- During Noah’s time, God sent rain for forty days and forty nights to punish the earth with flood
- In consequence of their lack of faith, the Israelites wandered in the desert forty years before reaching the Promised Land
- The people of Nineveh fasted and repented to avert the wrath of God which the prophet Jonah predicted would come upon them in forty days
- Both Moses and Elijah fasted forty days before or during important conversations with God
When the time came for Jesus to begin His public mission, He utilized this tradition. His mission was of an all-encompassing nature that taps into—and fulfills—all the biblical reasons for forty day events.
As the God-Man, He was embarking on His mission to be our Mediator—to converse with God on our behalf, as Moses and Elijah did in a prefigurative way.
As the one Man Who came to bear the punishment due to all men, He evokes the repentance of Nineveh that averted the punishment of God.
His time in the desert—reminiscent of the Israelites’ forty year sojourn—proffers the idea that He is deliberately taking on the punishment due to our faithlessness, which otherwise would keep us away from the Promised Land of Heaven.
The season of Lent is our great opportunity to enter into the desert with Christ. Do you have a plan for how to approach these days and gain the incredible graces they offer us?
One way to enter into the desert with Christ is by meditating on our own death. Lent is a time when we remember the death of Christ and the sacrifice he made to give us eternal life. Remember Your Death: Memento Mori Lenten Devotional will help you to meditate on your own mortality and the incredible gift of salvation in preparation for Easter. Available today from The Catholic Company!
