Realignment, Lent And Passover: Are They Linked?

Realignment? From the Western perspective I grew up in, I am not sure any of these words ever connected for me, certainly not in the same sentence. What do realignment, Lent and Passover have to do with each other? Please let me attempt to explain.

As I grow in my walk with the Lord I learn new things all the time. So many Western traditions of Christianity focus on the New Testament and the Western or Gregorian calendar that currently unites our world. Until fairly recently that calendar universally used BC to mark dates Before Christ and AD to mark dates Anno Domoni. This is Latin for “Year of the Lord,” or any day after the coming of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

What was before the Western or Gregorian calendar? More than one option, but for our purposes I’ll go with the Hebraic calendar. Genesis 1:14 lays out it’s foundation right from the beginning. “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years,” Today we would call it a Lunar calendar. The Feast of Passover is a celebration on this Hebrew calendar.

Passover originated when God was about to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt. The final plague was to kill the first born of the Egyptians. For the Hebrews to not be touched by that plague, God told them to slaughter a lamb and put some of the blood on their door posts. This identified the houses that the plague was to “pass over.” And it worked.

Lent is part of the Christian calendar. This calendar is partly in sync with both calendars. Lent is the season leading up to Easter. Easter is a single day that most often lands in the week long Passover celebration. Why is that? The Bible is full of references to Jesus being the Lamb of God. The Hebrew celebration of Passover is a remembrance of God saving them from Egypt, is also a foreshadowing of how Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as The Lamb of God, followed by his literal resurrection, redeems us. Easter marks the ressurrection of Jesus. The Hebrews walked freely out of Egypt after the Passover. Now, through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can walk into our permanent, Eternal Freedom!

Finally, the realignment part. Paying attention to times and seasons in any way can be refreshingly grounding for us. Lent is the season that leads up to the remembrance of the sacrifice of The Lamb and to the celebration of the resurrection that completely satisfies the payment we owe for our disobedience.

These next few weeks offer us an opportunity to reflect on our current position in relation to God. Have we kept true to what we understand our calling to be? Personally, I believe I am largely on track, but at the same time it does not take long for me to see my need for some tweaks that I can make to realign myself.

This understanding of Lent as an invitation to realign ourselves with God’s love and plans for us. It can be refreshing. It is not about deep introspection that might open the door to accusation from the enemy. It is about allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us into a more intimate relationship and purpose. The One who loves us so much that the Son of God died, enabling us to spend eternity in their loving presence, wants a deeper relationship with us.

For me, I want to approach this Lent with thankfulness, joy and praise. The anticipation of celebrating access to our eternal home on Easter makes me hungry for realignment with God and His purposes. I plan to take time to reflect, but not from the perspective of lack. This year I trust the lens of victory and hope to show me where I need to realign.

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
    to the house of the God of Jacob,
that he may teach us his ways
    and that we may walk in his paths.” Isaiah 2:3