Why Not Sunday?

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."
—2 Corinthians 5:17

If you were to pull out a calendar and count, you would discover that there are 46 days between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. Yet we talk about the 40 days of lent. The reason for this is simple. We do not count Sundays as part of Lent. This begs the question, why do we not observe the Lenten fast on Sundays? Because of the Eighth Day.

In six days, according to the book of Genesis, God created all that was. God gave instructions to the Israelites that they also should work for six days, but set the seventh day apart for God. This was the origins of the seven-day week.

Jesus was crucified on Friday, “rested” in the grave on Saturday (the Sabbath), and was resurrected on what some ancient theologians call “the eighth day of creation;” for it was in that resurrection that all things were created anew. Through that resurrection on Sunday, we, who are in Christ, have become new creatures! All that was old has passed away! BEHOLD! The new is come.

Just as the seven-day week was as a reminder of the initial creation with a “Sabbath day” observed on Saturday, so too, we now celebrate the new creation of the resurrection by observing "The Lord’s Day" on the eighth day, Sunday.

That is only part of the answer, however. Lent is a solemn and holy season, a time for repentance, self-examination, and self-denial. But Sunday is a weekly observance of the resurrection, it is meant to be a time of rejoicing in Christ’s victory, and renewing our hope and faith in God.

It is easy to get tunnel vision during a season of introspection. When we begin to focus on our sinfulness, sometimes it is all we can see. Even as we focus on repentance and humility, remember that we are an Easter people, and everything we do is shaped by the resurrection.

Homework this week: Continue to observe the Lenten fast (of whatever you gave up for Lent). But do not get consumed by the heaviness of the meditation. Remember to celebrate the resurrection, and your re-creation as a new creature in Christ.

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