Ash Wednesday is the day in the Christian Church Year marking the beginning of the season of Lent. In the Church today, Lent is a time of reflection on our own sinfulness and need for a Savior. Christians realize and repent of our sinfulness, and our complete inability to save ourselves. We look forward to Easter, rejoicing in the coming of Jesus Christ who, we believe, atoned for the sins of the world.
40 Days of Lent
By the fourth century in Jerusalem, candidates for Baptism prepared themselves by fasting for forty days. It is during this time the candidates for Baptism underwent the "scrutinies" (questioning by the Church) in preparation for their Baptism at the Easter Vigil.
There is symbolism to the 40 days of Lent, taken from several Biblical texts:
- Elijah's fast to Mount Horeb (1 Kings 19:8)
- 40 years of wandering by the Israelites (Deut. 2:7)
- 40 day stay of Moses on Mt. Sinai (Deut. 9:9)
- 40 day fast of Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:2).
After Constantine legalized Christianity in 313 A.D., Lent became a time of preparation for all Christians before celebrating the highest festival in all Christendom – Easter. Shortly thereafter at the Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. we have the first mention of the 40 days of Lent.
The Tithe of Lent
The time of preparation and fasting was for six weeks, not including Sundays. The 36 days, or six weeks of preparation for Easter is thought to be a tithe (10%) of the entire year of 365 days.
So why does Lent continue for 40 days and not 36? In the sixth century, four days were added to Lent in Rome to come to the symbolic and Biblical number of 40 in the Western Church. The Eastern Church has always maintained 8 weeks of Lent, excluding Saturday and Sundays.
Sundays "in" Lent not "of" Lent
Sundays were excluded because Sunday is always a festival day in the life of the Church celebrating Jesus Christ's victory over sin, death and the devil. Thus in the Church today, Sundays in the Lenten season are "in Lent" not "of Lent."
Ash Wednesday Begins Lent
Ash Wednesday was originally a time of expulsion for the "penitents" a sort of temporary excommunication for those undergoing church discipline. The time of penance could last several years and included various stages.
By the eleventh century the rite of public penitence for those undergoing church discipline had largely disappeared. Ash Wednesday signaled a time of repentance and reception of ashes for the entire Christian church.
Ashes: "For dust you are and to dust you shall return …" (Gen. 3:19)
In the third century Tertullian mentions the imposition of ashes as a sign of public repentance.
The ritual act of the imposition of ashes is an act of remembrance that looks both backwards and forwards. It remind us of our own frail, sinful mortality. It reminds us of our first parents' sin: the Fall of Adam and Eve, for which we need a Savior. It reminds us of the first Gospel promise of a Savior in Genesis 3:15, who was and has come, and we remember to look forward to His triumphal return.
Receiving ashes, in the sign of a Cross, reminds us of our sin and its curse of death. But it also reminds us to look forward to our redemption from the bondage and curse of sin, to the resurrection of the body in the Last Day when sin, death and the devil are finally and forever conquered.
It's All About Jesus
The Liturgical Church year is utilized to focus on the life, ministry and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Lutheran Worship notes, "It is a time for the discipline of learning and growing in faith, for repentance and for prayer, even for fasting to practice self-control and to heighten one's awareness of Christ."
Lent is not a time of self-absorption and new moral resolutions that always fail. Rather it is a time to focus on Christ and what He has done to free us from the bondage of sin. Having been freed from the compulsion of the Law – "You must do this, you must observe that to be saved!" – we are free to love and serve our neighbor joyfully in Christian love.
Sources:
- Maschke, Timothy. Gathered Guests: A Guide to Worship in the Lutheran Church. St. Louis: CPH, 2003.
- Pfatteicher, Philip and Carlos Messerli. Manual on the Liturgy: Lutheran Book of Worship. Minneapolis:Augsburg Publishing House, 1979.
- Precht, Fred, ed. Lutheran Worship: History and Practice. St.. Louis: CPH, 1993.
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