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Ash Wednesday and Matthew

9-10ths_Penguin

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Those of you who participate in Ash Wednesday services where the congregation's foreheads are marked with ashes... how do you reconcile this practice with Jesus' words in Matthew 6:16-18?

16"Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.

17"But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.
Click to expand...

This is the NASB; other translations have "disfigure their faces" instead of "neglect their appearance" in verse 16. Either way, though, aren't the ashes an outward sign of your fasting that will be "noticed by men"?
 
W

Who

New Member
Many current practices in many "Christian" churches appear to have no Biblical foundation... this being one of them IMHO.
 
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