Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.  Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."  John 8:32    

The Spiritual
You Can Know God!
Now That I'm A Christian!
What We Believe
 (It's The Best)

Would you like to deepen your walk with Christ?  If so, a great time to start is during the Season of Lent.  During this 40 day period, journey with Christ from the time of his confrontation with Satan in the wilderness until his triumph over him on the cross.  Then, enjoy  Easter Sunday by the tomb, as the stone is rolled away and Jesus comes forth victorious over sin and death! (Matt. 28 1-7). 

Our journey begins with a short study of what the Season of Lent is really about.  Pastor Ken Collins, who has a very informative website at www.kencollins.com, gives us great insight into this Holy Season.  He states:

"Lent is the forty-day period before Easter. It begins on Ash Wednesday, the seventh Wednesday before Easter.  We skip Sundays when we count the forty days, because Sundays during Lent we rejoice and commemorate the Resurrection (when Jesus rose from the dead). Lent began this year on February 9th and it will end on March 26th, the day before Easter. The forty days represent the forty days that Jesus was in the wilderness/desert after his baptism.  Jesus retreated into the wilderness and fasted for forty days to prepare for his ministry.  It was for him a time of contemplation, reflection and preparation."  It should be the same for Christians today.  Matt. 4:1-11 speaks of Jesus' time in the wilderness:

¹Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.  ²After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.  ³.The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."  ⁴Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.' "  ⁵Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.  6"If you are the Son of God, " he said, "throw yourself down.  For it is written: " ' He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ' "  ⁷Jesus answered him, "It is also written: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "  ⁸Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.  ⁹"All this I will give you, "he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."  ¹⁰Jesus said to him, "Away from me, Satan!  For it is written: ' Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.' "  ¹¹Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him. 

By observing Lent, we can join Jesus in his "retreat to advance".  "Lent is a season of soul-searching and repentance. It is a season for thinking about what Jesus did for us and how we should live our lives for him.  Lent originated in the very earliest days of the Church as a time of preparation for Easter, when Christians rededicated themselves to God and when converts (new Christians) were instructed in the faith and prepared for baptism. By observing the forty days of Lent, the individual Christian imitates Jesus’ time in the wilderness for forty days. Lent has been observed in the church since the time of Jesus' first twelve apostles."¹

Lent begins on Ash Wednesday.

Ash Wednesday
The signing of the cross
If we count forty days (the time period for the Season of Lent) back from Good Friday (the day that Lent ends), the fortyth day will always fall on a Wednesday.  It is called Ash Wednesday because on that day at church the faithful have their foreheads marked with ashes in the shape of a cross.

In the Bible a mark on the forehead is a symbol of a person's ownership. By having their foreheads marked with the sign of a cross, this symbolizes that the person belongs to Jesus Christ, who died on a Cross.  This is in imitation of the spiritual mark or "seal" that is placed on a person when he or she becomes a Christian...when we are delivered from slavery to sin and the devil and become a slave of righteousness and Christ (Rom. 6:4a-18).

It is also in imitation of what takes place in Rev. 7:1-4, where we read of the servants of God (Christians past, present and future are symbolized) by the 144,000 believers:

"¹After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.  ²Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God.  He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea:  ³"Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God."  ⁴Then I heard the number of those who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.  Also see Rev. 14:1.

This is in contrast to the followers of the beast, who have the number 666 on their foreheads or hands (Rev. 13:16-18).

The reference to the sealing of the servants of God for their protection in Revelation is a parallel passage to Ezekiel  9:4 which states:

"Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it."

The significance of ashes being used
The signing of the cross is done with ashes because ashes are a biblical symbol of mourning and penance. In Bible times the custom was to fast, wear sackcloth, sit in dust and ashes, and put dust and ashes on one's head. While we no longer normally wear sackcloth or sit in dust and ashes, the customs of fasting and putting ashes on one's forehead as a sign of mourning and penance have survived to this day. These are two of the key distinctives of Lent. In fact, Ash Wednesday is a day not only for putting ashes on one's head, but it can also be a day of fasting. When a person fasts, he or she will not eat for at least one day while concentrating  on prayer during this time.

Two biblical examples of people putting dust and ashes on their foreheads are as follows:

"That same day a Benjamite ran from the battle line and went to Shiloh, his clothes torn and dust on his head." (1 Samuel 4:12)

"On the third day a man arrived from Saul's camp, with his clothes torn and with dust on his head. When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor." (2 Samuel 1:2)

A biblical example of fasting and the use of ashes can be found in Nehemiah 9:1:

"On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth and having dust on their heads."

Another significance for the use of ashes
Ashes are also used to symbolize death and so remind us of our mortality. Thus when the priest uses his thumb to sign one of the faithful with the ashes, he says, "Remember, man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return," which is modeled after God's address to Adam (Genesis 3:19; cf. Job 34:15, Psalms 90:3, 104:29, Ecclesiastes 3:20). This also echoes the words at a burial, "Ashes to ashes; dust to dust," which is based on God's words to Adam in Genesis 3 and Abraham's confession, "I am nothing but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27). It is thus a reminder of our mortality and our need to repent before this life is over and we face our Judge.

The ashes used on Ash Wednesday come from the burning of palm fronds which have been saved from the previous year's Palm Sunday, they are then blessed by a priest -- blessed ashes having been used in God's rituals since the time of Moses (Numbers 19:9-10, 17).  Ashes from the previous year's Palm Sunday are used because Palm Sunday was when the people rejoiced at Jesus' triumphal entrance to Jerusalem. They celebrated his arrival by waving palm fronds, little realizing that he was coming to die for their sins. By using palms from Palm Sunday, it is a reminder that we must not only rejoice of Jesus' coming but also regret the fact that our sins made it necessary for him to die for us in order to save us from hell.²

Holy Week
Thus far we have journeyed with Jesus into the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), where he was tempted by Satan and prepared himself for the next 3 ^1/2  years of earthly ministry.  During these years he preached the great Sermon on the Mount and he performed many miracles, including the healing of many people, but now we come to the most important week in Jesus' ministry.  It is called Holy Week.  As you   observe Holy Week, enter Jerusalem with Jesus on Palm Sunday, go into the upper room with him on Holy/Maundy Thursday, put yourself at the crucifixion on Good Friday.  And on Holy Saturday, contemplate the darkness of a world without a future and without hope apart from God and his grace,³ then...

Easter
Stand by the tomb as the stone is rolled away and Jesus comes forth victorious over sin and death! (Matt. 28 1-7).  Celebrate Easter/Resurrection Sunday by worshipping Jesus (Matt. 28:9)!  Thank him for your salvation and a secure future with him for eternity! (John 3:16; 5:24).  Jesus rose from the dead and we can say as the Apostle Paul said, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.  Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” (I Cor. 15:54-55).

Sources
1.The Season of Lent, Ken Collins, http://www.kencollins.com/holy-04.htm
2.Ash Wednesday, James Akin, Nazareth Resource Library, http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/ash_wed.htm
3.The Days of Holy Week, Dennis Bratcher, The Voice Christian Research Institute, http://www.cresourcei.org/cyholyweek.html
4. All Scripture references are from the New International Version (NIV).