Lent: Jesus’ Resolution for You

By Rev. George F. Borghardt

It was such a good idea.

You gave something up for the new year. You needed to do it. You almost had to do it. So you resolved never to do it again. It was great!

Until, suddenly, you did it again. But it only happened once. You easily justified it. Then, next thing you knew, you were right back to where you before you made that resolution. “Don’t worry,” you say to yourself, “I’ll start again on Ash Wednesday! I’ll give it up for Lent, which is right around the corner.”

Well, hold up.

Lent isn’t supposed to be your New Year resolutions 2.0, self-improvement program. That’s not why the Lord gave you a Lent! Lent is about Jesus being tempted for you and overcoming temptation in your place. Lent is Jesus riding into Jerusalem, headed to have a sign hung above His head which said how much He’s for you: Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. Lent is Jesus betrayed into the hands of sinners, beaten, mocked, rejected by His people. Lent is nails being driven into His hands and feet, and Him hoisted above the earth. Lent is Jesus dead—God dead—in your place. Lent is Jesus buried and hallowing your grave, making it a holy resting place for you and those whom you love.

Lent isn’t about you changing; it’s about God changing. God repented of punishing you. He relented from giving you what you deserve. He took all the punishment due you and cast the full weight of it onto His Son. And His Son died as the propitiation—the sacrifice for your sins and the sins of the whole world.

The real problem about you isn’t just that you eat a little too much junk food or have some bad habits you really should stop doing sometime. The thing that will get you tossed into hell is your sin! Your sins are the reason for the suffering and death of Christ. Jesus does a Lent for you because He alone can save you. Your sins crucified the Lord of Glory! Your sins should bring the wrath and hatred of God upon you. If you have any doubts about this, look at Jesus on Good Friday. He took God’s punishment for you and it killed Him. God died to save you. And then God rose again on Easter.

Lent is all done by faith! That’s what Lent is for you— it’s about you receiving Jesus. And that’s where fasting and giving up stuff is a Gospelly gift for you, too! It’s about preparing for Jesus’ resurrection. Get rid of everything that would make this life about you! Repent of your sins! Fix your eyes on Jesus!

Stop doing your sins. Turn from them. Die to them. Don’t hide from them—confess them. Don’t just give them up for a few weeks—stop doing them for all time. Never go back to them. Run from them like you would from something that is going to kill you, because left alone with your sins, they will kill you.

But you haven’t been left alone in your sins. God has acted! He has sent His Son who Lented in your place to save you from...well...you! Lent is about Jesus doing that saving. You are on the receiving end of His doing Lent for you.

And what you give up is given up, not because you need to change something about yourself. Give it up to help you fix your eyes on Jesus as the One who has saved you. You fast from Monday to Saturday, remembering that He died for you. You don’t give up what you do in Lent on Sundays because that’s when you remember the Lord’s resurrection. But whether you are fasting or Sunday-not-fasting, you are doing everything for the Lord.

If, after all that, you still need to change something about yourself, just change it. Do that thing you want to do, or need to do to turn from sin. Make whatever change in your life that you have to make. Stop doing that thing, eating that thing, drinking that thing, being that thing. Improve. Restart your New Year’s resolution. And even better than changing for yourself is to change for others. Be the person you want to be for the sake of others. They really could use a Jesus-died-for-you-and-rose-againfor-you neighbor. Be that one for them as they are that neighbor for you in Jesus.

But Lent is always all about Jesus for you and Jesus in your place. It’s about Christ taking on all that is you so that you would be the child of God that Adam was created to be. It’s about Jesus’ Lent for you, received by faith alone. So be repented. Believe He has forgiven you. Fix your eyes on Jesus. That’s Lent: a new year, a new life in Jesus.

Rev. George F. Borghardt is the Senior Pastor at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in McHenry, Illinios. He also serves as the president of Higher Things.