40 Days to the Cross: Reflections from Great Thinkers

by Rebecca Van Noord; Jessi Strong

Publisher:

Lexham Press

, 2014

A Lenten Devotional

Immerse yourself in the season of Lent with 40 Days to the Cross. Reflect on the suffering, death, and resurrection of Christ with writings from great thinkers—including early church fathers, medieval writers, and influential pastors. This devotional will guide you through a time of confession, reading, and reflection during the 40 days leading to Easter.

Christians from many church traditions have marked the occasion of Jesus’ death and resurrection by a period of fasting known as Lent. The traditional calendar for Lent goes from Ash Wednesday to Easter, with exceptions for Sundays (always a feast day). 40 Days to the Cross will help you contemplate our shared experience of Jesus’ death and resurrection—the very center of our faith.

Key Features

40 Days to the Cross: Reflections from Great Thinkers:

• Includes curated writings from great theologians: Excerpts are organized into a devotional format that relates them to daily readings from the Gospel of Mark.
• Connects you to a spectrum of influential Christian thinkers: Reflections come from church fathers like Augustine, John Chrysostom, and Jerome; medieval Christians such as Thomas à Kempis and Thomas Aquinas; and later pastors like John Newton and Charles Spurgeon.
• Doubles as a journal: Response questions prompt you to journal within the resource.

Contents

Top Highlights

“Lent is a time of self-examination that should lead us to the end of our self-sufficiency and to full dependence on Jesus.” (source)

“Let us not therefore suppose that it is a trivial sin to mind the things of men—since we ought in everything to mind the things of God.” (source)

“Forty is a significant number in the Bible—it signals a state of waiting and preparation.” (source)

“Do you truly wish it? Look, then, to the cross. Behold the amazing gift of love.… Sit down like Mary, and gaze upon a crucified Jesus. Then will the world become a dim and dying thing. When you gaze upon the sun, it makes everything else dark; when you taste honey, it makes everything else tasteless; so when your soul feeds on Jesus, it takes away the sweetness of all earthly things—praise, pleasure, and fleshly lusts all lose their sweetness. Keep a continued gaze. Run, looking unto Jesus. Look, till the way of salvation by Jesus fills up the whole horizon, so glorious and peace-speaking. Then will the world be crucified to you, and you unto the world.” (source)

“Isaac is saved, but Jesus, the God of Isaac, dies. A ram is offered up in Isaac’s room, but Jesus has no substitute. Jesus must bleed. Jesus must die. God the Father provided this Lamb for himself from all eternity. He must be offered in time, or man must be damned for evermore.” (source)

Product Details

• Title: 40 Days to the Cross: Reflections from Great Thinkers
• Editors: Rebecca Van Noord and Jessi Strong
• Publisher: Lexham Press
• Publication Date: 2014
• Format: Logos Digital

About the Editors

Rebecca Van Noord is the former editor-in-chief for Bible Study Magazine and coauthor of Connect the Testaments: A Daily Devotional.

Jessi Strong is senior writer for Bible Study Magazine. She has also developed content for Faithlife Study Bible and Lexham Bible Dictionary.