*Ash Wednesday?*
-Eddy Joel Silsbee
Thanks to our Father in Heaven, whose power and might is countless.
When I left for the office in the morning on 14-02-2018 while in Muscat, many Indian women were returning home in clusters with ashes on their foreheads by the roadside. I found out that they used to gather together in their temple all night and return home in the morning to visit their husband after completing their special religious worship ...
As I continued driving, men and women came out of the building where the nearby Christian congregation was gathering, marking their foreheads with ashes and sharing greetings on a festival called *Ash Wednesday* !!
Although not related to the two events mentioned above, the incident of the Israelites who forget God after they grew and start prosper (2Chr. 12: 1) came to mind.
They mark this day that Jesus Christ started fasting forty days before He began His ministry.
If you ask on what date they celebrated Ash Wednesday last year, they could not tell without referring the calendar !! Because the date of such rituals is determined by the new moon and the full moon !!
You should know that all the festivals like Lent, Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, Good Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Day all are based on such new moon and full moon.
I remember the verses at Isaiah 1:13-14 “Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination to me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble to me; I am weary to bear them”.
*How are these dates determined?*
Each year, they mark the next Sunday as Easter from the date of full moon which falls after March 21.
The Friday and Thursday before Easter are marked as Good Thursday and Good Friday.
The 40th day backwards from that Sunday marks the beginning of the Lent days.
See the table below:
Ash Wednesday - 46 days before Easter
Palm Sunday - 7 days before Easter - i.e. the previous Sunday to Easter.
Good Thursday - 3 days before Easter
Good Friday - 2 days before Easter
Ascension Day - The 39th day after Easter
Note that Jesus did not spend forty days fasting with drinking milk, juice or buttermilk !!
Father God sent Christ to redeem us from sins and we are to Follow Christ’s Commandment. If we mistook the concept, then people may eventually start crucify themselves in the cross.
We must wither off human rituals and to cling to the Truth of Christ.
Rituals and habitude may help to suppress the body.
But will not lead us to Heaven !!
Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. Luke 13:24
Let us abstain from anything against the scripture.
May the peace of God be with you all. Rom 15:33
*Eddy Joel Silsbee*
Preacher - Kaniyakulam Church of Christ,
Whatsapp : +91 8144 77 6229
Email: joelsilsbee@gmail.com
https://kaniyakulamcoc.wordpress.com/2022/03/02/ash-wednesday/
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