What Exactly is Lent & Ash Wednesday?
Calendars are a part of our daily lives. We need to know the date every time we fill out a form. Sometimes we just want to know how close the next fun event on the calendar is. You have memorized certain important dates too, like your favorite holidays and birthdays.
If I asked you build a regular calendar from memory you could probably do a pretty good job. Maybe you wouldn’t remember exactly how many days go into each exact month, but you’d get pretty close. But what if I asked you to make a church calendar from memory?
Many people are unaware that there even is such a thing as a “church calendar.” While you might not be very familiar with it, you might already know some of it. The church calendar is the collection of important dates, celebrations and seasons that are connected to Christian belief. The church calendar includes things like: Christmas, Easter, Palm Sunday, and Advent.
The church calendar was developed by the church over the course of history as a way to create a rhythm and cycle to christian worship. Just like we find value in having traditions and celebrations that repeat on a yearly cycle, like birthdays. It’s a way to connect Christians to the story of the Bible throughout the year.
Lent & Ash Wednesday
Maybe you are more familiar with the term Advent which is associated with Christmas. Many families will use and Advent calendar as a fun way to count down the days to Christmas. Advent is used to refer to the season of time leading up to Christmas.
Just like there is a season leading up to Christmas, there is a season leading up to Easter. That season is called Lent. It’s meant to be a season of focus and anticipation for the story of Jesus on the cross. Each year the first day of Lent is marked by the day called Ash Wednesday.
The whole Christian faith is focused on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It’s fitting that there be an intentional way to focus our hearts on the truth of Easter for more than just one day.
The Importance of 40
Lent starts 40 days before Easter Sunday. Well almost 40 days. Lent does not traditionally count Sundays towards the Lent season and sometimes the calendar doesn’t line up exactly. So its generally 40 weekdays between the beginning of Lent and Easter.
You might wonder why it’s 40 days and not some other number? The number 40 has a lot of significance in the Bible. Here are just few examples of where the number 40 shows up.
Noah on the ark for 40 days
Moses on Mount Sinai for 40 days
The Israelites wandering in the desert for 40 years
Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days before starting His ministry
The number 40 has important symbolism tied to the themes of repentance, transformation, and new birth. It often marks a significant pause before something important is about to happen.
Lent is meant to be a season set aside to pursue God, repent from sin, and remember our need to a savior. For that reason many Christians have fasted from certain types of food or other things during the time of Lent.
What is with Ash Wednesday?
Just like Easter marks the end of Lent with a celebration of our salvation in Jesus, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent with a somber reminder of our need for a savior.
Many churches, including Conduit, will have a special Ash Wednesday service. The service includes themes related to repentance and our need for salvation. Traditionally during the service participants will come forward and receive ashes in the shape of a cross on their foreheads.
The ashes are not magical. But they do symbolize an internal posture of repentance and turning toward Jesus.
Ashes are mentioned early in scripture in connection with the nature of mankind. After Adam and Eve sin by eating the forbidden fruit God says this as part of the consequences of sin.
Genesis 3:19 (NIV)
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.”
It’s a reminder that we are created beings and that we are simply not God. Through the rest of the Bible, people will often cover themselves in ashes as a way of mourning or repenting from their sins. For Christians we get to participate in this symbol now as a way of reminding ourselves of our need for forgiveness and new life in Jesus.
I contribute nothing to my salvation, except for the sin that makes it necessary.
Do all Christians Celebrate Lent & Ash Wednesday?
Not every church or christian denomination observes Lent or Ash Wednesday. Many denominations left behind older Christian traditions in an effort to be as faithful as possible to the Bible alone.
While Lent and Ash Wednesday will not be found in the Bible, the themes in them will be. These days certainly are not any sign of salvation or faithfulness to Jesus. There is nothing wrong with a Christian tradition that does not observe these.
On the other side of the coin, there is nothing wrong with Christians who do observe them. Rather I would say, why would you want to miss out on something that connects us to the Gospel and the history of Christians through out the world?
The ritual of ashes and the discipline of fasting will not save you. You should not think that observing these days earns you anything in the sight of God. BUT these things done along with a right heart of wanting to seek Jesus, can be very meaningful.
1 John 1:8–9 (NIV)
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Ash Wednesday and Lent is a beautiful way for Christians to join together in seeking Jesus and remembering the work He did on the cross for us. It involves us in the story of salvation reminds us to pick up our cross and follow after Him.
