Ash Wednesday ashes

While you will find references to “ashes” in the Bible, you will of course not find any mention of Ash Wednesday. Christians have, in God-given freedom, established a church calendar, including Ash Wednesday.

As a church custom, the imposition of ashes (as it is called) is an adiaphoron. God has not commanded it nor forbidden it. In Christian freedom, we may utilize the practice or forego it. The custom of putting ashes on the foreheads of Christians on Ash Wednesday has been in use for centuries. While it is a practice that many still associate only with Roman Catholicism, it has grown in popularity with Protestant churches in recent years.

The purpose of imposing ashes on the foreheads of worshipers on Ash Wednesday is to have a visual reminder that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and death means our bodies return to dust from which Adam was made (Genesis 3:19). As ashes are biblical pictures of repentance (Job 42:6; Matthew 11:21), the use of ashes eventually became associated with Lent, a penitential season of the church year. When the ashes form the shape of a cross on the foreheads of worshipers, there is also a visible reminder for others about the precious cross of Christ. If practical, this year’s palm fronds from Palm Sunday worship services are burned to become ashes for next year’s Ash Wednesday observance.