In 2025, Ash Wednesday is 5th March, the beginning of the Season of Lent. Lent is a 40-day season (not counting Sundays), marked by repentance, fasting, reflection and ultimately celebration. The 40-day period represents Christ’s time of temptation in the wilderness, where He fasted and where Satan tempted Him.
During the Ash Wednesday service, worshippers can receive a cross of ashes on their foreheads.
There are three reasons why Christians receive ashes on Ash Wednesday.
- The ashes remind people of their sinfulness.
- The ashes remind people of their mortality.
- The ashes remind people that they have been redeemed.
Since ancient times, God’s people have used ashes as a sign of humble repentance. When one willingly receives ashes on their forehead, they are admitting that they are sinners in desperate need of salvation. The ashes demonstrate that without God, all people are spiritually dead. The ashes remind the wearer of their need to repent and confess in order to be turned back to God. They serve as a visible sign of our failure to love God as much as He loves us.
The receiving of ashes on Ash Wednesday also reminds people of their mortality, which is the direct result of God’s condemnation of our sin. God said to Adam, “You are dust and to dust you shall return” (Genesis 3:19). Often, people today feel as if they are invincible. It’s easy to feel like we’re at the top of the world, capable of doing anything that we desire. We keep ourselves busy doing “good” things, but fail to recognize that in reality we cannot save ourselves. And that’s why ashes are so important. They are the physical reminder that we are merely mortal, and that God alone is sovereign and reigns for all eternity.
Ashes also tell us the good news of the Gospel! The ashes are given in the shape of the cross. In receiving the ashes, we remember that our Lord Jesus took on the fullness of our humanity. He who was sinless became our sin. Jesus the Christ was crucified on a cross, for you. Then Jesus conquered death itself through His resurrection. In doing so, He has taken the ashes of our past and created in us new life, allowing us to live forever in the presence of God! Through the cross of Christ, the power of death has been destroyed. The cross-shaped ashes on our foreheads proclaim the good news that sin and death have been conquered through the cross of Christ.
Interestingly, the ashes Christians receive are traditionally made of the palm branches used previously on Palm Sunday, a day when people rejoiced and praised Jesus, only days before they turned on him and yelled “Crucify Him!” (Matthew 27:22) This serves as a powerful reminder that people are sinful, death is real, but Resurrection Day (Easter) is coming! Come, all are welcome. All are in need of salvation. Let the Lord use the ashes of your past to create in you a clean heart and new life in Him.
Adapted from Why do we receive ashes on Ash Wednesday?
What About You?
What is your experience of Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent?