Ash Wednesday is a day that stands out in the church calendar. This annual ritual of bearing ashes on our foreheads might sound quite strange. I thought it might be helpful to walk through a few of the places in the Bible where dust and ashes are mentioned to perhaps give some background to the symbolism of this day and the season ahead.
Dust
Dust enters humanity’s story quite early. Indeed, dust is the very vehicle by which the human story begins, as God says:
Genesis 2:7 “Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”
Dust was a symbol for life. But, the man and the woman fall into sin, and the man receives this curse—words many of us will hear today.
Genesis 3:19 “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Dust now becomes a symbol for death. Strangely, a previous curse also mentioned dust. The serpent is cursed to eat dust.
Genesis 3:14 “The Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.’”
What does it mean that the serpent will eat dust? That he will eat life? Eat death? Both?
As dust gets mentioned, it remains frequently connected with death, yet there is often the underpinning reminder of dust being a part of our origin story.
Psalm 22:15 “You lay me in the dust of death.”
Psalm 104:29 “When you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.”
Ecclesiastes 3:20 “All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return.”
Ashes
When mentioned alone (without dust), ashes are a sign of repentance and grief. Here are a few examples.
Esther 4:1 “When Mordecai learned all that had been done, Mordecai tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes.”
Jonah 3:6 “The Word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.”
Jeremiah 6:26 “O daughter of my people, put on sackcloth, and roll in ashes; make mourning as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for suddenly the destroyer will come upon us.”
The use of ashes was not a pleasant one. They accompanied sackcloth. Imagine the scratchiest burlap sack you can, then imagine nothing but that. Now imagine covering yourself in sitting or rolling in ashes, maybe even ashes that might not have entirely cooled down.
Dust and Ashes
When dust and ashes are mentioned together in the Scriptures, life, death, and repentance all seem to come together in a way. A few examples are below:
Genesis 18:27. “Abraham answered and said, ‘Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.’”
Ezekiel 27:30 “They cast dust on their heads and wallow in ashes.”
1 Samuel 2:8 “He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap.”
As we enter the season of Lent today, we do indeed remember our mortality. We remember our sin. But we do not enter this season without the promise of the season to come. Easter always beams in the background.
Here are a couple of beautiful examples that show us that dust and ashes will transform into resurrection and life.
Daniel 12:2: “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life.”
1 Corinthians 15:47-49: “The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”
As we trace ashes and dust upon our foreheads and hands, we remember both images. We remember that we have borne the image of Adam, borne the image of sin, borne the image of death. But, we trace those ashes in the shape of a cross, a reminder that we do and will bear the image of of Jesus. We bear the image of forgiveness. We bear the image of salvation. We bear the image of eternal life.
As you wash the ashes from your forehead later today, remember these words that perhaps were traced upon you at another time in your life, a time when water and the Word washed off the dust and ashes of your sin.
In baptism, I say this to those being baptized: “Receive the sign of the cross both upon your forehead, and upon your heart, to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.”
Remember those words. Remember you are dust. Remember you won’t stay dust because you bear the image of Jesus.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for sharing.
Stay Curious.
Andy
thanks for this one! loved it.