INTRODUCTION TO LENT 2022 (March 2 – April 17)

Lent is the 40 days plus 6 Sundays that takes us on a journey to the Cross and the Resurrection. These events mark the central facts of the Christian faith – that Jesus, the Son of God, died and rose again. As we will discover the Cross and the Resurrection shaped Jesus’ life before the showdown in Jerusalem. Late in chapter 9, about 40% of the way into the gospel of Luke, we are told that Jesus was already setting his face towards Jerusalem.

This Journey to Jerusalem was not Jesus’ journey alone. It was also the disciples’ journey. The disciples followed Jesus as he headed towards Jerusalem, and they too were marked by the journey. Not only was walking the road to Jerusalem an exercise in discipleship, but Jesus along the way spoke to the disciples, giving them insights into what was happening and preparing them for the time when he would not longer be with them physically. Thus, a question we will ask often this Lent in various ways is: what do learn from Jesus’ and the disciples’ journey about what it means to follow Jesus?   

You are invited to join the journey to Jerusalem, that our discipleship might be nurtured and deepened.

A note on the passages selected – passages that will be preached on during the sermon series in Luke do not appear in the devotional material. And a few times not every verse of a section is included in order to make the reading more manageable as devotional material.