The number 40 is very important in the Bible. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights. Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. Jesus was tempted in the wilderness for 40 days. Jesus ascended into heaven 40 days after the resurrection. In the first century, a.d. converts to the faith went through an intense 40 day educational period in the Christian faith. That 40 day period culminated in the baptism of the convert on Easter Eve.

For hundreds of years the Church has celebrated the 40 day period know as Lent. It begins with Ash Wednesday and ends on Maundy Thursday. The period of Lent is a time for reflection and meditation. It is a time for us to consider all that God has done for us in the suffering and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ.

In Genesis 3: 15, we have the first promise of the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah reveals to us four passages which clarify the work and the sacrifice of the Messiah. Those passages are Isaiah 42: 1-4, Isaiah 49: 1-6, Isaiah 50: 4-11, and Isaiah 52: 13-53:12.

No one summarizes the sacrifice of Jesus, the Son of God, better than Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his book “The Cost of Discipleship”:

“Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks' wares. The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolations of religion are thrown away at cut prices. Grace is represented as the Church's inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost! The essence of grace, we suppose, is that the account has been paid in advance; and, because it has been paid, everything can be had for nothing. Since the cost was infinite, the possibilities of using and spending it are infinite. What would grace be if it were not cheap?... Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate. Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; for the sake of it a man will go and sell all that he has. It is the pearl of great price to buy which the merchant will sell all his goods. It is the kingly rule of Christ, for whose sake a man will pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble; it is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.

Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner. Above all, it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: "ye were bought at a price," and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the Incarnation of God.”

During this season of Lent, let us reflect and meditate on the cost of God’s grace. That cost is seen in the one who was arrested,
humiliated, beaten, crucified, put to death and buried. Take time each day to go to a quiet place, read your devotional and give
thanks to God for the price Jesus paid to free us from sin and death.

Veritas - Curt