Prologue
The 40 days of Lent from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday are counted by NOT including Sundays. While the Lenten days are days for spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical fasting, the Sundays are "the Lord’s Day†and a time of celebration. Accordingly, each Friday during the Lenten season, a different devotional will be posted here to help focus our mediation on the cross of Jesus. You may be using any number of devotional tools during Lent, but perhaps on each Sunday, we might come together as a faith community in spiritual oneness and meditate in unity. Each Sunday, we will consider a different one of the components of the cross of Jesus which led to His death for our sins. May the Lord Jesus be near to us as we pilgrimage together during the Lenten season. And may we arrive at Resurrection Sunday on 12 April with hearts that explode with new understanding of the precious Treasure that is Jesus.
The 40 days of Lent from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday are counted by NOT including Sundays. While the Lenten days are days for spiritual, emotional, psychological and physical fasting, the Sundays are "the Lord’s Day†and a time of celebration. Accordingly, each Friday during the Lenten season, a different devotional will be posted here to help focus our mediation on the cross of Jesus. You may be using any number of devotional tools during Lent, but perhaps on each Sunday, we might come together as a faith community in spiritual oneness and meditate in unity. Each Sunday, we will consider a different one of the components of the cross of Jesus which led to His death for our sins. May the Lord Jesus be near to us as we pilgrimage together during the Lenten season. And may we arrive at Resurrection Sunday on 12 April with hearts that explode with new understanding of the precious Treasure that is Jesus.
6. INRI
John 19:20-22 records,
And Pilate posted a sign over him that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.†The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. Then the leading priests said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘the King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’†Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is.â€
And Mark 16:15 challenges:
[Jesus] said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe:
The sign that was posted over Jesus’ head as He hung dying, was affixed to the cross to specify the terms of His accusation. It was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The sign posted in our Lenten celebration this morning displays only an acronym—the letters I, N, R and I.
• The first “I†stands for the Latin word “Iesus†(YÃY-soos) meaning “Jesusâ€,
• The “N†signifies the word “Nazarenus†(Nah-zah-RÃY-noose) meaning “Nazarethâ€,
• The “R†represents the Latin “Rex†meaning “King†and
• The final “I†is for the word “Ioudaeorum†(You-day-ÓR-um) meaning “Jews.â€
The four letters together then are an acronym for the inscription that John’s Gospel records—“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.â€
John tells us that the sign, like the cross was displayed in a place where “many people could read it.†And some Jewish leaders who saw it protested that the inscription was inaccurate and needed to be changed. This sign challenges us in at least two ways:
1) The truth about Jesus must be displayed publicly—even globally. We post a sign over Jesus by the way we live and speak. We cannot wait for people to ask us about the crucified and risen Christ—we must display Jesus intentionally. We must go to the marketplace.
2) The message we display about Jesus must be true. We must be people grounded in the Word of God, not consumed by our circumstances. What we proclaim about Jesus cannot be calculated by political correctness, withheld for fear of offending or tamed because of our pride or uncertainty. The truth about Jesus must be displayed with confident humility—or meekness—with Pontius Pilate as our example. We cannot change the truth about Jesus—what is written is written.
The sign challenges us to become the sign—living as marketplace displays of the uncompromising truth about Jesus—global Christians, public followers and people of the truth.
John 19:20-22 records,
And Pilate posted a sign over him that read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.†The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it. Then the leading priests said to Pilate, “Change it from ‘the King of the Jews’ to ‘He said, I am King of the Jews.’†Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written. It stays exactly as it is.â€
And Mark 16:15 challenges:
[Jesus] said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe:
The sign that was posted over Jesus’ head as He hung dying, was affixed to the cross to specify the terms of His accusation. It was written in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. The sign posted in our Lenten celebration this morning displays only an acronym—the letters I, N, R and I.
• The first “I†stands for the Latin word “Iesus†(YÃY-soos) meaning “Jesusâ€,
• The “N†signifies the word “Nazarenus†(Nah-zah-RÃY-noose) meaning “Nazarethâ€,
• The “R†represents the Latin “Rex†meaning “King†and
• The final “I†is for the word “Ioudaeorum†(You-day-ÓR-um) meaning “Jews.â€
The four letters together then are an acronym for the inscription that John’s Gospel records—“Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.â€
John tells us that the sign, like the cross was displayed in a place where “many people could read it.†And some Jewish leaders who saw it protested that the inscription was inaccurate and needed to be changed. This sign challenges us in at least two ways:
1) The truth about Jesus must be displayed publicly—even globally. We post a sign over Jesus by the way we live and speak. We cannot wait for people to ask us about the crucified and risen Christ—we must display Jesus intentionally. We must go to the marketplace.
2) The message we display about Jesus must be true. We must be people grounded in the Word of God, not consumed by our circumstances. What we proclaim about Jesus cannot be calculated by political correctness, withheld for fear of offending or tamed because of our pride or uncertainty. The truth about Jesus must be displayed with confident humility—or meekness—with Pontius Pilate as our example. We cannot change the truth about Jesus—what is written is written.
The sign challenges us to become the sign—living as marketplace displays of the uncompromising truth about Jesus—global Christians, public followers and people of the truth.
Thoughts on Seeking God during the Lenten Season
What is Lent?
Lent is the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday (Sundays are not counted) that has been observed by much of the Church since the 2nd century A.D. These 40 days have been used in the Church in various ways, but all with the goal of focusing on Jesus. Corporately in some churches, Lent was set aside as a time of teaching and study to prepare Christians for participation in the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Additionally, individual Christians have used the Lenten season as a time for fasting, primarily from food, in imitation of Jesus’ 40-day fast in the desert. But there are other worshipful and edifying ways to utilize the season of Lent as well.
Commonly, Lent is associated with fasting (self-denial) – and often limited to fasting from food in particular. While food-fasting (foregoing designated mealtimes in favor of focused time with God) in its various implementations is the kind most often referred to in Scripture, it is certainly not the only fasting which can be practiced (Isaiah 58:6-9). So in addition to the historical spiritual disciplines below, consider those things in your life which may be inhibiting your relationship with God – not only sins, but also “good†things that receive more priority in your life than they should. How might you “fast†from these things? For example, in the digital age, surely there is a case for most of us to consider the place that mobile devices have in our daily lives and to lessen the space allowed for social media in order to make more “soul space†for God.
Spiritual Disciplines
Lent is a time to focus on spiritual disciplines – especially those which we might not regularly practice. Spiritual disciplines are devotional practices which point us to Jesus and assist us as disciples in the practical application of faith and developing Christlike patterns for living. It is important to keep in mind that the practice of spiritual disciplines is not to gain the approval of God, but rather to draw nearer to the Father Who already loves and approves of us (James 4:8; Jeremiah 31:3).
Historically, the list of (Lenten and all) spiritual disciplines is divided into disciplines of abstinence (things we remove from our lives) and disciplines of engagement (things we add to our lives).
Disciplines of Abstinence (self-denial) – Solitude, Silence, Fasting, Sabbath, Secrecy, Submission, Sacrifice, Slowing
Disciplines of Engagement – Word, Worship, Prayer, Soul Friendship, Meditation, Service, Tithing, Giving
For explanations of these disciplines and more information:
What is Lent?
Lent is the 40-day period between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday (Sundays are not counted) that has been observed by much of the Church since the 2nd century A.D. These 40 days have been used in the Church in various ways, but all with the goal of focusing on Jesus. Corporately in some churches, Lent was set aside as a time of teaching and study to prepare Christians for participation in the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Additionally, individual Christians have used the Lenten season as a time for fasting, primarily from food, in imitation of Jesus’ 40-day fast in the desert. But there are other worshipful and edifying ways to utilize the season of Lent as well.
Commonly, Lent is associated with fasting (self-denial) – and often limited to fasting from food in particular. While food-fasting (foregoing designated mealtimes in favor of focused time with God) in its various implementations is the kind most often referred to in Scripture, it is certainly not the only fasting which can be practiced (Isaiah 58:6-9). So in addition to the historical spiritual disciplines below, consider those things in your life which may be inhibiting your relationship with God – not only sins, but also “good†things that receive more priority in your life than they should. How might you “fast†from these things? For example, in the digital age, surely there is a case for most of us to consider the place that mobile devices have in our daily lives and to lessen the space allowed for social media in order to make more “soul space†for God.
Spiritual Disciplines
Lent is a time to focus on spiritual disciplines – especially those which we might not regularly practice. Spiritual disciplines are devotional practices which point us to Jesus and assist us as disciples in the practical application of faith and developing Christlike patterns for living. It is important to keep in mind that the practice of spiritual disciplines is not to gain the approval of God, but rather to draw nearer to the Father Who already loves and approves of us (James 4:8; Jeremiah 31:3).
Historically, the list of (Lenten and all) spiritual disciplines is divided into disciplines of abstinence (things we remove from our lives) and disciplines of engagement (things we add to our lives).
Disciplines of Abstinence (self-denial) – Solitude, Silence, Fasting, Sabbath, Secrecy, Submission, Sacrifice, Slowing
Disciplines of Engagement – Word, Worship, Prayer, Soul Friendship, Meditation, Service, Tithing, Giving
For explanations of these disciplines and more information:
Additional Options:
- Follow another online Lenten devotional.
- Sign-up to be a part of ECB’s weekly prayer and fasting discipline.
- Use the Sunday devotional meditations found in the ECB App.