40 Days to the Cross

Reflections from Great Thinkers

Rebecca Van Noord and Jessi Strong

Editors

Lexham Press, 2014

40 Days to the Cross: Reflections from Great Thinkers

Copyright 2014 Lexham Press

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You may use brief quotations from this content in presentations, books, or articles. For all other uses, email Lexham Press for permission: permissions@lexhampress.com.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Lexham English Bible (leb). Copyright 2013 Lexham Press.

In excerpted passages from great thinkers, some Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version with Apocrypha (nrsv), copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Acknowledgments

Assistant Editors: Elizabeth Vince and Lynnea Fraser

Graphic Designer: Jim LePage

Introduction

Forty is a significant number in the Bible—it signals a state of waiting and preparation. Genesis shows us Noah and his family shut up in the ark, enduring the rains for 40 days and nights (Gen 7:17). Moses spends another 40 days and nights atop a mountain, neither eating nor drinking as he experiences the presence of God (Exod 34:28). Numbers 14 shows the Lord, fed up with the grumbling of the Israelites, condemning them to 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Mirroring the Old Testament, the gospel writers of the New Testament show Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness, fasting, and being tempted by Satan: “And immediately the Spirit drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him” (Mark 1:12, leb).

Following this pattern, Christians from many church traditions have marked the occasion of Jesus’ death and resurrection by a similar period of fasting known as Lent. The traditional calendar for Lent goes from Ash Wednesday to Easter, with exceptions for Sundays (always a feast day). This devotional follows that format—40 devotionals spanning 46 days.

Lent is a time of preparation—a season of prayer, fasting and repentance. It’s a time for reflecting on our shared experience of the suffering, death and glorious resurrection of Christ, the very center of our faith.

Many communities use lectionary readings to guide their communities through the season of Lent. This devotional is a supplement, not a replacement, for those readings. Each devotional begins with a confession from the Psalms so you can join with God’s people in confessing your sin and need for Him. Readings from the second half of Mark (Mark 8:27–16:20) focus your attention on the suffering, death and resurrection of the Son of God. You’ll reflect on these passages with thoughts from the early church fathers, medieval thinkers, and modern pastors. (Language in the excerpts has been updated ...