Here Comes Lent!

The meaning of Lent

Suitable for Whole School (Pri)

Aims

To explore the meaning of Lent.

Preparation and materials

• You will need a box of Celebrations, and a stone and a bread roll that are approximately the same size.
• Have available an image of the Judean wilderness and the means to display it during the assembly. An example is available at: https://tinyurl.com/ym2rrzs2

Assembly

1. Show the box of Celebrations to the children.
   
   Ask the following questions.
   
   - What do we celebrate each year when we remember the day that we were born? (Answer: our birthday.)
   - Whose birthday do we celebrate at Christmas when we give presents to each other? (Answer: Jesus.)
   - What do we call the celebration of the time when Jesus was raised from the dead? (Answer: Easter.)
   - Can you think of any other celebrations that we enjoy? (Examples might include weddings, baptisms, christenings, Eid, Diwali and so on.)
   
   
2. Although celebrations are times of feasting, fun and, often, present-giving, they are also ways to remember something important or special. Sometimes, they celebrate something that happened a long time ago - maybe even before we were born.
   
   
3. Ask the children, ‘Do you know what is celebrated during Lent?’
   
   Explain that at this time of year, starting on Ash Wednesday, Christians remember something important that happened to Jesus. It was something that was very hard for him, and it wasn’t a time of celebration then. It lasted 40 days and 40 nights - that’s almost half a term of school. However, although it wasn’t a celebration, it was an important time in Jesus’ life, which is why Christians remember it.
   
   
4. Jesus was a carpenter until he was 30, after which time he was baptized by his cousin, John. John the Baptist showed people how to live as God wanted them to, thinking of others and not always pleasing themselves.
   
   When Jesus was baptized, something amazing happened. As he came up out of the water, heaven opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and landing on him. A voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’ (Matthew 3.16-17)
   
   After this, we might have thought that Jesus would have had a party to celebrate, but instead something unusual happened.
   
   
5. The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting for 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was understandably hungry! The desert was a hard place to stay, not like home.
   
   Show the image of the Judean wilderness.
   
   In the wilderness, the days were very hot and the nights very cold. There were no people, no shops, no houses and no beds. There was no food, no fun, no celebration. At the end of the 40 days and nights, Jesus heard a voice.
   
   The devil came to him and said, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.’ (Matthew 4.3-4) After 40 days without food, Jesus was hungry, and he knew that he could turn a stone into bread.
   
   Show the stone and the bread roll to the children.
   
   However, Jesus also knew that the special power that God had given him was to be used to help other people, not himself.
   
   
6. The voice went on to tempt Jesus to do other things too, but Jesus refused because he knew that he wanted to listen to God and do what God wanted.
   
   
7. During Lent, some Christians decide to do something special, such as going without some meals, like Jesus did. Some may give up eating a particular food, such as chocolate, or give up a bad habit. Others decide to do something special for other people every day during the Lent period. This is a way of saying thank you to God and remembering Jesus’ time in the wilderness.

Time for reflection

Sometimes, people give up something during Lent and donate the money that they save to charity. For example, if they give up eating chocolate, they save the money that they would have spent on it and donate it to a good cause.

Ask the children, ‘Is there anything that we could do to help others during Lent this year?’

Prayer
Dear God,
Help us each day to learn what is right.
Please protect us when we are tempted to do wrong things.
Please help us to be strong and live good lives, caring about other people.
Amen.