Ash Wednesday Reflection from Luke 15

LUKE 15:17   ". . . he came to his senses."

Some years ago then Vice-President Joe Biden made a speech on Ash Wednesday. He had been to church earlier in the day where his forehead had been marked in ashes with the sign of the cross. Two TV broadcasters covering the Vice-President noted the smudge on his forehead. They speculated on air to one another and to the multitude of people listening about the cause of the smudge. Perhaps, one of them said, it was a bruise from an injury. Neither of them was aware that it was Ash Wednesday. During a commercial break someone explained the sign of the cross and the significance of the day.

In 2017 Ash Wednesday comes on March 1. I grew up in a church that did not observe Ash Wednesday, so, perhaps, I could have made the same mistake in my youth. I don’t want to be hard on the two commentators. Their ignorance, however, does suggest something broader in significance to me. The idea of repentance is not as appreciated as I would hope. People—Protestant and Catholic—are more likely to enjoy Mardi Gras than Ash Wednesday.

Mardi Gras refers to the celebration that occurs before Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent. On a superficial level the idea of carnival does sound better than the emphasis on repentance that starts with Ash Wednesday and carries through the 40 day season of Lent (Old English word for spring). Who wouldn’t rather celebrate than fast?

However, the message of repentance, though solemn is a source of profound joy to a believer. In repentance we turn away from our acknowledged sin to ask forgiveness of God. The message of repentance is that we can change. In God’s grace we are invited to move toward him. The gift of repentance is God’s welcome. It is the prodigal son (Luke 15) coming to himself, rising from debauchery and making the return home to a father whose arms are open to embrace him.

Perhaps, to the reader’s surprise, I have stopped observing Ash Wednesday and Lent. Not because I am ignorant of the Church Year and not because I devalue repentance. it’s just the opposite. Repentance in my life is a daily theme, not a seasonal one. In these later years I see the wisdom of early Free Church teachers who recognized the beauty, the promise, the power, the wonder of God’s grace in offering us the gift of repentance. Many times a day I repent. Prompted by the Spirit, I “come to myself” (Luke 15:17), and I turn toward the Lord that I may return to him. This gift of repentance is too precious for one day or for one season.

Mark 1:9-15 A Reflection with Some Personal Additions

Jesus begins his ministry.

One finds not a spare word in these seven verses. Information, insight, and instruction fill the passage so tightly that once it is opened it is difficult to repackage into one theme. Messages abound: baptism, repentance, temptation, divine intervention, the reality of evil, the relationship of John to Jesus and the content of the Gospel! Mark squeezed all these important ideas into just seven verses.

Jesus traveled over eighty miles from Galilee to the wilderness of Judah to identify with John’s ministry in which John called people to repentance and baptism. Jesus’ personal intensity of purpose became a dramatic public demonstration as he gave witness with his whole body, descending into the waters of the Jordan in the arms of John and then coming out of the water as one lifted from death to life. Still more dramatic the heavens broke open; they were “torn” open, and the barriers between divine and human were bridged in the person of Jesus when God’s voice was heard. The full meaning of “Son of God” was not clear to the disciples of Jesus early in his ministry, but the message was clear that Jesus was pleasing to God the Father.

Mark pushed the action forward saying, “at once,” Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit. Jesus was affirmed by God, but often, as here in the wilderness, he faced challenges to his ministry. Especially he faced the reality of supernatural evil, personified in Satan. The “wild animals” of the wilderness were a true challenge as well and could symbolize the reality that ministry has many natural obstacles. Not every problem has its source in supernatural evil. Angels, the help of God, came to Jesus to minister to him and will come in some form, in some way to all who endure opposition to ministry in the Lord’s name. The wilderness journey was forty days. Just as Israel had been formed through forty years of wilderness life, so Jesus endured this necessary step in his progress toward God’s eventual purpose for him. In the Bible forty symbolizes completeness. God prepared him fully and will prepare the church and all its servants for the ministry God has called them to fulfill.

John was imprisoned. (v. 14) The officials foolishly believed they could silence the proclamation by killing John; instead, with the passing of John Jesus stepped fully into the public eye and preached the Gospel. As John had prophesied one far more powerful (verse 7) had appeared. 

Jesus brought good news: God’s kingdom or rule in the human heart was at hand for those who were willing to embrace the twin gifts of repentance and faith. Repentance was the gift of change; one can change again and again by turning toward God. Faith or trust in God was the gift that enabled the repentant to receive mercy and forgiveness and transformation through the presence of the Holy Spirit. Jesus proclaimed this Gospel in word and deed. Fulfillment of his ministry came with the cross and resurrection--the demonstration of God’s love and God’s power. What Jesus promised in his preaching he fulfilled. Then and now, all who have received the Gospel wait for Christ’s return and the consummation of all things to the glory of God.

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Richard Baxter. “Faith is not a collection of opinions. People who dispute . . . are frequently the least acquainted with God. . . . Concentrate on the important things. The least controversial are the most valuable for faith.” (The Saints’ Everlasting Rest)

Marriage. In 1969 I made plans to ask Judy on Valentine’s Day to marry me. However, I was so eager that I asked her on February 13. I was right to waste no time. Forty-six years later I continue to be grateful to God for my dear wife who has blessed me beyond all that I could have imagined.