Just curious. Where's Lent in the scriptures?
{^_^}
Genesis: It was in Adams and Eves belly buttons were it first showed up.
BigMack
Moses stayed on the Mountain of God forty days (Exodus 24:18 and 34:28), the spies were in the land for forty days (Numbers 13:25), Elijah traveled forty days before he reached the cave where he had his vision (1 Kings 19:8), Nineveh was given forty days to repent (Jonah 3:4), and most importantly, prior to undertaking his ministry, Jesus spent forty days in wilderness praying and fasting (Matthew 4:2).
Lent is a period of prayer and fasting. Christ used a forty day period of prayer and fasting to prepare for his ministry, which culminated in his death and resurrection, and thus it is fitting for Christians to imitate him with a forty day period of prayer and fasting to prepare for the celebration of his ministry's climax, Good Friday (the day of the crucifixion) and Easter Sunday (the day of the resurrection).
I don't expect you'll find the word "Lent" in scriptures. Nor will you find explicit references to any of the liturgical seasons. As a result, we would not consider observance or even recognition of the church calendar to be necessary for salvation.
Nonetheless, we observe the "seasons" of the church year in our worship and in our daily practices. The calendar starts with Advent, then Christmastide, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide, Ascensiontide, and finally Trinitytide. Through the liturgical seasons, we follow Jesus' birth, showing forth, passion and death, resurrection, ascension, public earthly ministry, and the anticipation of his coming again.
The model for our Lenten exercises is Jesus' retreat to the wilderness for forty days after his baptism and prior to the start of his public ministry. During this season we abstain from various earthly pleasures and make a special effort to examine our lives and to bring them into conformance with Jesus' commandments.