Today is Ash Wednesday. Did you know the ashes represent creation and the curse. One in the same! With this focus on our own mortality and sinfulness, Christians can enter into the Lent season solemnly while also looking forward in greater anticipation and joy to the message of Easter and Christ’s ultimate victory over sin and death. It marks the season of drawing closer to God and our need for his love and grace.
There are three C’s that describe Ash Wednesday: Creation, Curse, and Cry!
Creation: we were made from Dust
Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Curse: Ashes also symbolize grief, in this case, grief that we have sinned and caused division from God.
Genesis 3:19 “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.”
Cry: our cry to be pure and clean again by God’s grace and mercy!
One great example of a cry is Psalm 51. In that psalm, we find three C’s of ash Wednesday by King David. First the Cry for compassion and grace. He cries out for cleansing, blotting out, and washing away of his sins. David chose these three terms to cover all aspects of his body. Cleansing was used to make his defiled body from sin pure and clean again. Blotting out refers to a heart issue and asks for forgiveness of his sins. Lastly, washing his dirty body, mind, and heart to make them as clean and pure as snow. This cry is deep and heartfelt!
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