Why is Lent 40 days long?
Because the church looked at the bible and decided that 40 was a typical length of preparation and testing: Noah’s flood lasted 40 days, the Israelites wandered in the desert forty years, Elijah fasted in the wilderness 40 days before encountering God, and Jesus spent 40 days in the desert before the devil came and tempted him. It is yet another church tradition, then, to discuss the root of humanity’s problems on this first Sunday out of Lent. Our problem is temptation, or more precisely, our willingness to give into temptation and turn it into sin. Thus, our scripture readings for today. Genesis brings us the story of original sin. God laid down one simple rule for mankind: don’t eat the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat it you will surely die. What follows is the first recorded debate of misquoted scripture: Satan misquotes God: “Did the big guy really say, ‘Don’t eat anything in the garden?'” And then woman misquotes God right back: “We may eat anyth
(Remember Lent is 40 days, not counting Sundays) Historically, it is based on the time Jesus spent in the wilderness fasting and praying and being tempted by the devil! See: Matthew 4:2 and Mark 1:13 and Luke 4:2. The number 40 is a very popular number in the Bible. Take a look at the following to help link “40” to Lent. Do you remember how long it rained on Noah?
Forty days is a traditional number of discipline, devotion and preparation in the Bible. What is a day of fast and abstinence? Catholics who are 18 to 60 years old are required to keep a limited fast. In this country, one may eat a single, normal meal and have two snacks, so long as these snacks do not add up to a second meal. Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2167 or kmoss@DaytonDailyNews.com. Copyright ©2007 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All rights reserved.
