Human Judgment

Christ the Pantocrator

Monday after Cantate

“You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one” (John 8:15).

To judge according to the flesh is to judge according to the mere appearance of a thing, or to make a decision about a thing based on human reasoning. Speaking to the Jews in this passage, Jesus uses the term “flesh” as He does in Chapter six when He says, “the flesh (that is, the human nature) profits nothing.[1]” This is in contrast to how He uses the same word earlier in chapter six during the Bread of Life discourse to describe His own flesh as real food.[2] This is the way Paul uses the term “the flesh” in his writings. Paul writes in Romans, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;[3]” And, to the Galatians, “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.[4]” The term “flesh”, as Jesus uses it here refers to the sinful human nature, which lusts against the Spirit, which two are contrary to one another.[5] This is the standard by which the Jews are judging Jesus. They do not accept the works He does, like healing the sick, restoring sight to the blind, and raising the dead. They claim that Jesus is doing these miracles by the power of the devil, that He is transgressing the Law of Moses when He heals on the Sabbath, or that He blasphemes when He says that holy Scripture is about Him, He is the only way to the Father, and calls Himself God.

But in the same sentence Jesus says something we might find odd. He says that He judges no one. If Jesus had said that, rather than judging according to the flesh, He judged according to the Spirit, this would be more logical. But Jesus does not say that. He says, “I judge no one.” How can this be true, especially when we Christians confess that He will come again in glory to judge both the living and the dead?[6] It is God’s word that judges. Jesus alludes to this type of judgment when He tells them, “It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.[7]” They should believe what Jesus teaches because in accordance with God’s word, Jesus has two who “bear witness” on His behalf: Himself, and God the Father. God’s word is what judges those who refuse to believe Jesus. Jesus will later tell His disciples, “If anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive my words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.[8]” Christ offered life to His hearers, but their rejection would condemn them (The Lutheran Study Bible 2009, p. 1807).

Jesus says that He is the light of the world, but the Jews are blind to this light because they are judging Jesus, not by God’s Word as they believe in their legalism, but rather according to the flesh. This is not a problem that is unique to them. We people today are just as prone to reject Jesus as our ancient counterparts because of our sinful human nature, and chalk it up to being clever, sophisticated, and modern. But, we have the same sinful flesh to contend with as they, and therefore the same inclination toward sin and away from God. It is true of us as well: in us, that is, in our flesh, there is nothing good. Almost 100 years ago, a man named Pieper wrote about “modern theology”:

The moderns have nothing to offer but human doctrine. Refusing to accept Scripture as the Word of God, they have found it theologically unreliable and have substituted for it as the source of doctrine the human heart, the theological Ego…They are virtually demanding that theology be removed from the realm of divine truth into the sphere of subjective human opinion…we shall have to insist that what the Church needs is God’s theology and that the theology, the doctrine drawn by the theologian from Scripture…is divine doctrine (Christian Dogmatics 1957, p.53).

God’s word is true; it means what it says, and it does what it says. And it says that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day.[9] It says that Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.[10] It says that He was the one promised, even going all the way back to the Garden, to come and set the captives free, destroying sin, death, and the devil.[11] It says that when we eat His body and drink His blood as he tells us to, we have the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation.[12] It says that when we are baptized into Christ, we put on Christ,[13] our sins are washed away,[14] and we are saved all through the resurrection of Christ;[15] that baptism connects us to His death, and consequently to His resurrection, so it belongs to us.[16] So repent and believe the Gospel. Let’s not judge Jesus according to the flesh, and end up being judged ourselves by His word. Let’s not be too modern to receive the forgiveness of sins and inherit eternal life on the Last Day, for on that Day, all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out, some to everlasting life, and some to everlasting condemnation.[17]

Works Cited

Concordia Publishing House. 2009. The Lutheran Study Bible. Edited by Edward A Engelbrecht, Paul E Deterding, Roland Cap Ehlke, Jerald C Joersz, Mark W Love, Steven P Mueller, Scott R Murray, et al. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

Pieper, Francis. 1957. Christian Dogmatics. Edited by Walter W. F. Albrecht. Vol. 1. 4 vols. Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

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[1] John 6:63

[2] John 6:55

[3] Romans 7:18

[4] Galatians 5:24

[5] Galatians 5:17

[6] John 5:28-30

[7] John 8:17-18

[8] John 12:47-48

[9] 1 Corinthians 15

[10] 1 John 2:2

[11] Luke 4:16-22

[12] Matthew 26:28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-29

[13] Galatians 3:27

[14] Acts 22:16

[15] 1 Peter 3:18-22

[16] Romans 6:3-11

[17] John 5:29

Replacement Theology

The altar intended for use in a rebuilt Jewish temple.

Photo credit: The Temple Institute.

“Consider Abraham: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: ‘All nations will be blessed through you." So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith’ (Galatians 3:6-9).

In March 2015 a website called Breaking Israel News reported that construction of a stone altar which would berequired for renewed sacrificial service in a rebuilt Jewish temple had been completed. The altar was built by The Temple Institute, a non-profit organization in Jerusalem founded in 1987, “…dedicated to every aspect of the Biblical commandment to build the Holy Temple of G-d on Mount Moriah in Jerusalem (The Temple Institute n.d.).” Currently, the Al Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, Islamic holy sites, occupy the Temple Mount, where Jews and some Evangelical Christians envision a rebuilt Jewish temple. The Temple Institute, however, has accounted for this by designing the new altar so that it can be taken apart and reassembled, “when circumstances become favorable.”

“One thing that makes this altar unique is that it was designed to be disassembled and quickly reassembled in its correct position on the Temple Mount. According to the Temple Institute, ‘The people of Israel are required to build an altar exclusively on the site of the original altar on Mount Moriah, the Temple Mount. When circumstances become favorable, this new altar can be quickly re-assembled on the proper location, enabling the Divine service to be resumed without delay (Balofsky 2015).’”

The Divine Service mentioned in the Temple Institute’s statement is not the communion service with which Confessional Lutherans are familiar. Rather, the phrase refers to the animal sacrifices prescribed in the Old Testament.

“The base of the altar contains two portals for collecting the blood poured during animal sacrifices, in accordance with the Torah. It is also crowned with four raised corners, called horns by the Torah (Balofsky 2015).”

Religious Jews are not the only ones working toward the goal of a rebuilt temple on the Temple Mount. Evangelical Dispensational Christians such as Tim LaHaye believe that a rebuilt temple and the physical nation of Israel are integral to the plot of End-Times prophecy. Dispensationalists such as LaHaye believe that “God’s plan for history demands a consistent distinction between national Israel and the church which includes an ongoing plan for national, ethnic Israel that culminates in Christ’s millennial kingdom (Tim LaHaye Ministries n.d.).”

These Christians believe that New Testament prophecies associated with the Jewish Temple, such as Matthew 24–25 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1–12, were not completely fulfilled in 70 AD, when Jerusalem was razed by the Romans. This view is a core part of Dispensationalism, which teaches that the Jews remain God's chosen people. Dispensationalist theologians, such as LaHaye, teach that the Third Temple will be rebuilt when the Antichrist makes peace between the modern nation of Israel and its neighbors after a world war. The Antichrist is often identified as the political leader of a world-wide national alliance, often identified by leaders in the dispensational movement as the European Union or the United Nations. The Antichrist will proclaim himself to be God at the rebuilt temple and demand worship. At some point before, during, or possibly after these events, Christians will be raptured off the earth by Christ. There will be a great tribulation culminating in the battle of Armageddon, the final return of Christ, and the inauguration of the Millennial Kingdom on earth (though not necessarily in that order). At some point during these events the physical nation of Israel will be saved – converted to Christ – en masse.

The future salvation of the national Israel will result in much greater blessings to the Gentiles. It is called "life from the dead" (v. 15). This phrase is interpreted in three different ways. First, it can be seen as a literal resurrection, that is, a general resurrection from the dead leading to blessed eternal life. In other words, the conversion of Israel will signal the resurrection of the last day. The restoration of the Jews at once will bring on the end. The dead will be raised and the Messiah's kingdom will be set up glorious and incorruptible. Professor Ernst Käsemann says, "The conversion of Israel is . . . also the last act of salvation history" (Matthew 2011).

This article isn’t meant to be a survey of Dispensational teachings, though it is helpful to be familiar with the landscape of Dispensationalism when navigating through the wilderness of American Evangelicalism. The focus of this article is to examine what popular Evangelical teachers, such as Tim LaHaye, teach about Israel in relation to what the Bible says about Israel. American Evangelicals who are of a Dispensationalist flavor often accuse other confessional Christians of engaging in “replacement” theology. Replacement theology is popularly defined as the teaching that the Christian Church has replaced the Israelites as God's chosen people, and that the Mosaic covenant has been replaced or superseded by the New Covenant (Supersessionism 2015). Opponents of this Replacement Theology charge that this view leads to persecution of Jews by Christians, as they are no longer seen as favored by God. Attempts to cast so-called Replacement Theology in an unflattering light notwithstanding, it is taught in Holy Scripture and stands in direct opposition to what is taught by much of the Christian church in America today.

In Chapters 9-11 in the Book of Romans, St. Paul writes about his anguish concerning his countrymen – his people according to the flesh. St. Paul makes a distinction between the Israel of the flesh, and the Israel of God. Rather than teaching that there are two separate peoples with whom God deals differently and apart from one another, however, St. Paul laments that one group (physical Israel) is lost while the other (spiritual Israel, or the Israel of God) is redeemed through Christ.

I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the children by physical descent who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son” (Romans 9:1-9).

Lenski writes the following, regarding verse 6:

He [Paul] is clearing up what may cause a difficulty for earnest Christians when they look at the position assigned to Israel in God’s Word and yet see that Israel is lost. They may think that the Word of God has dropped away, that the outcome with regard to Israel proves it to be unreliable, non-dependable. Such would be mistaken regarding Israel and regarding the Word: regarding Israel because it does not include all the physical descendants of Abraham; regarding the Word because this is promise and itself excludes unbelief and unbelievers. Not the Word has fallen by the way, ‘it liveth and abideth forever’ (I Peter 1:23); but these Israelites, despite the Word and the promises which they had, have fallen by the way (Lenski 1945).

St. Paul cites all the things God has raised up for the salvation of men through the nation of Israel – the sonship, the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship, the promises – culminating in the very Messiah himself. But then he goes on to say that, “Not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.” In other words, not every Jew can claim to be an Israelite simply because he is a Jew. St. Paul emphasizes here, as he does in Galatians, that faith in Christ is what saves a person, not their physical lineage. Despite all of the things St. Paul mentions here, because they rejected Christ, they did not belong to God. Jesus makes this point to the Pharisees in a rather more pointed way:

[speaking to the Jews...the Pharisees], "If you were Abraham's children," said Jesus, "then you would do the things Abraham did. As it is you are determined to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. Abraham did not do such things. You are doing the things your own father does." "We are not illegitimate children," they protested. "The only Father we have is God himself." Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here. I have not come on my own; but he sent me. Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me! Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don't you believe me? He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God" (John 8:39-47).

The Pharisees are not Abraham’s offspring because they do not have faith in Christ. They have the physical blood line, but they reject the promise. This is what St. Paul is grieving in the opening verses of Romans chapter nine. St. Paul, who loves his fellow Israelites-by-blood, laments the fact that they are lost – cut off from Israel – because they reject God’s promised Messiah and do not repent of their sin.

Israel is the name God gave to Jacob in Genesis 32. This name later expanded from Jacob to all the 12 tribes of people who descended from him. Rev. Alexander Lange, preaching on Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, explains that God shows his love for his people Israel by calling them his “firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22). Jesus, the Son of God, however, is Israel reduced to one. Israel was to be a light to the nations by living in a special relationship to God. He would be their savior and they would be faithful and obedient. Israel, however, was not faithful and obedient to God and needed a substitute:

John [the Baptist] was calling Israel to repentance. Then God sent Jesus to John with a very special mission — Jesus would become Israel’s substitute. He would become Israel Reduced to One. He would be the Israel that Israel never could be. Jesus would succeed where Israel had failed. Just look at our text and see how Jesus reenacted Israel’s life (Matthew 3:13-17). Like Israel, Jesus passed through water. Having been baptized, he was anointed by the Holy Spirit, just like Israel. God announced that this man is his beloved, firstborn Son, just as he once did with Israel. After his baptism, Jesus wandered in the wilderness...just like Israel. He was tested...just like Israel. Unlike Israel, Jesus withstood all temptations. He did not whine when he grew hungry or worship false gods. He did not grieve God’s Spirit. Unlike Israel, Jesus was a faithful, obedient Son. Jesus carried out God’s mission perfectly. He was the Light of the Word. He drew people to himself and told people about God’s wonderful works and steadfast love. Jesus was the perfect fulfillment of Israel (Lange 2014).

St. Paul expressly teaches that there are not two peoples, Jew and Gentile, with whom God deals separately from one another. On the contrary, Israel is the Body of Christ – all those, Jew or Gentile, who have been brought to penitent faith in Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female are all one through faith in Christ. To be in Christ is to be a part of Israel.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:24-29).

St. Paul explains that, those who have been connected to Christ through baptism have been connected to his death, and will also be connected to his resurrection.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin (Romans 6:3-6).

Finally, Pieper has this to say regarding the physical nation of Israel:

It is the express declaration of the Apostle that the present state of Israel is not one of hardening of the heart, but there is a hardening only of a part of Israel, and Paul’s words (Rom. 11:32): ‘God hath concluded them all in unbelief that He might have mercy upon all,’ apply to the Jews till the end of the world. Walther says well: ‘True though it be that the Jews have crucified and rejected their own Messiah, still, according to the mystery unfolded by the Apostle, Jews shall be converted as long as Gentiles are converted. Not only will the door of grace remain open till the end, but there shall always be a number of both who actually enter the Kingdom of God’ (Pieper 1953).

Works Cited

Balofsky, Ahuva. "New Details Emerge on Rebuilt Altar of Jewish Temple." Breaking Israel News. March 23, 2015. http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/33583/new-details-emerge-rebuilt-holy-temple-jewish-world/#GuKaMp3WphwdHsCh.97 (accessed July 24, 2015).

Lange, Rev. Alexander J. "Israel Reduced to One." St. John's Lutheran Church - East Moline, IL. January 12, 2014. www.stjohnsem.org/TextSermons/.../Israel%20Reduced%20to%20One.rtf (accessed July 27, 2015).

Lenski, Dr. Richard C. H. The Interpretation of St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans. Columbus, Ohio: Wartburg Press, 1945.

Matthew, Rev. P. G. "The Salvation of the Jews." Grace Valley Christian Center. May 29, 2011. http://www.gracevalley.org/sermon_trans/2011/Salvation_of_Jews.html#f1 (accessed July 27, 2015).

Pieper, D.D., Francis. Christian Dogmatics. Vol. III. IV vols. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1953.

"Supersessionism." Wikipedia. June 23, 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supersessionism (accessed July 24, 2015).

The Temple Institute. "About The Temple Institute." The Temple Institute. https://www.templeinstitute.org/about.htm (accessed July 24, 2015).

Tim LaHaye Ministries. "Pre-Trib Doctrinal Statement." Tim LaHaye Ministries. https://www.timlahaye.com/Home/Content/517 (accessed July 24, 2015).

Fasting: Ashes and Ash Wednesday

When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you (Matthew 6:16-18).

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent. Lent is the 40 fast days before Easter. The name, as you probably figured out, comes from the practice of the ancient church of sprinkling ashes on the heads of penitents as a physical act of contrition and repentance for their sin. Ashes are a symbolic mark of humiliation, contrition, and mourning (Harrison, Bromiley and Henry 1990). During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxury as a form of penitence. Many churches strip their altars of candles, flowers, and other devotional offerings, while crucifixes, statues, and other elaborate religious gear may be veiled in violet.

I grew up in a congregation of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod that practiced the imposition of ashes on Ash Wednesday. That is to say, on Ash Wednesday, parishioners would line up during the worship service to have the pastor put ashes on their head. The people would approach the pastor, who was standing in the front of church. In his hand he held a silver vessel containing an unappealing black substance – the burned remnants of the palm fronds from the previous year’s Palm Sunday mixed with oil. As the people would come to the pastor, he would blacken his thumb with the ashes and make the sign of the cross on the person’s forehead. During this process he would tell each parishioner, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

I never realized, however, that this was "fasting." Growing up when and where I did, I also didn’t realize that what was to me a natural part of the Ash Wednesday worship service was, in other places, quite a contentious issue.

Later, attending college in what is referred to by some as the “Bible Belt,” I met many people, Christians and non-Christians, who were shocked by the worship practice I shall refer to as the Imposition of Ashes. Lutherans were few in number in Murray, Ky. All my friends were some flavor of evangelical protestant. Knowing that I professed to be a Christian, when the inevitable discussion would arise, many would quote this passage of scripture to me. “Jesus said, ‘…do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting.’ This practice is not Biblical.” I had to admit that I had not thought about it in that way before. It certainly seemed logical, when cast in that light. My only allies on campus were the Roman Catholics, who also practiced this tradition. This only made my position worse. Most of the evangelicals thought of Lutherans, if they thought of them at all, as “Catholic light.” They tended to think of Roman Catholics as some kind of non-Christian cult.

Jesus, however, doesn’t forbid fasting. In fact, it seems as if he sort-of expects his followers to fast. Jesus begins by saying, “When you fast…” The issue with fasting is not, “Should it be practiced?” Jesus takes it for granted that his followers would fast. When Jesus was lead by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil, he himself fasted forty days and nights[1]. This issue is, rather, does our fast merely make an outward show of repentance, or do our hearts feel true sorrow and humility. In his commentary, Paul Kretzmann explains Jesus’ words this way:

Again the Lord emphasizes the contrast. A mere outward show of repentance without change of heart does not befit the followers of Jesus. Fasting they may practise [Sic.] indeed; that is a laudable custom and may be productive of good. But in doing so, all ostentation must be avoided. It is the heart that should feel the sorrow and humility, not the body. Therefore the usual daily washing and anointing should not be omitted, in order that men might not even know the conditions (Kretzmann 1921).

Fasting was an integral part of the Jewish religion. The problem Jesus had with “fasting” was not the practice, but rather that the hypocrites turned this profitable practice into a work of self-glorification. It is clear from Matthew’s Gospel that the hypocrites were neglecting their daily washing etc., in order to give the impression that the fast was taking a great toll on them.

They neglected the daily care of the face, to make the effect of the semiweekly fast appear all the more harrowing. It was an empty show in order that they might play a more important figure and get the reputation of greater holiness. They have all the reward they will ever get. They need expect nothing from the Lord (Kretzmann 1921).

Fasting, such as that undertaken by some during the Lenten season, and including the Imposition of Ashes, is neither commanded nor forbidden by Holy Scripture. The decision whether or not to do these things has been left by God to the individual Christian. This issue – what is referred to by theologians as “Adiaphora” – was important to Luther and the reformers. While they wished to see many of the historic practices of the church retained, they objected to Rome’s assertion of its authority in these matters of Adiaphora, and to require them as necessary for salvation. Luther writes the following to the congregation at Esslingen, in a letter responding to his critics when they accused him of requiring works (particularly private confession):

…Likewise I prevent no one from fasting, making a pilgrimage, eating meat, observing days, etc., if only it is done of one’s own accord, and not done as though he had to do it in conscience and as though omitting it would be a mortal sin, as the Pope with his blind leaders raves… (Pieper 1953).

In the Augsburg Confession Philipp Melanchthon writes Article 26 to address complex rules and regulations devised by the Church commanding fasting:

First, the chief part of the Gospel – the doctrine of grace and of the righteousness of faith – has been obscured by this view[2]. The Gospel should stand out as the most prominent teaching in the Church, in order that Christ’s merit may be well known and faith, which believes that sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, be exalted far above works. Therefore, Paul also lays the greatest stress on this article, putting aside the Law and human traditions, in order to show that Christian righteousness is something other than such works (Romans 14:17). Christian righteousness is the faith that believes that sins are freely forgiven for Christ’s sake. But this doctrine of Paul has been almost completely smothered by traditions, which have produced the opinion that we must merit grace and righteousness by making distinctions in meats and similar services. When repentance was taught, there was no mention made of faith. Only works of satisfaction were set forth. And so repentance seemed to stand entirely on these works (McCain, et al. 2005).

This view of fasting and human tradition presented in the Book of Concord is distilled by Pieper in his work, “Christian Dogmatics”:

Scripture instructs Christians to regard teachers who pretend to know more than Christ’s Word contains as bloated ignoramuses (1 Tim. 6:3 ff.). And those who attempt to impose what the Word of Christ leaves free, e.g., forbidding to marry or commanding to fast and abstain from food and drink, are properly regarded by the Christians as arrogant deceivers and disseminators of doctrines of devils (1 Tim. 4:1-5; Col. 2:20-23). The Pope may impose a fast on himself, but on no one else in the world (Pieper 1953).

Working to curb one’s sinful desires through the application of bodily discipline can, at times, be appropriate and necessary (McCain, et al. 2005). It should never be taught, however, that such outward activities earn God’s favor. Only the Lord can look into people’s hearts and know if their actions stem from penitence, or if they are simply putting on a show for men. Like many other historic practices of the church, the Imposition of Ashes has been retained in the Lutheran Church because it is profitable, and not as a work to merit righteousness. It has been the Lutheran view, from the time of the Reformation until today, that the Church should not do away with good traditions and practices, but only those things that take away from the Gospel.

The Imposition of Ashes is one of those good traditions. It seems to get people’s attention, and not just because of the strange black mark on the forehead. Hearing the pastor’s reminder that you are dust – perishable – is humbling. Hearing him tell every man, woman, and child that they will return to that dust someday is sobering. As a young person I remember looking around at all my friends and neighbors, young and old, rich and poor, thinking that, no matter what our earthly differences might be, we were equal in one aspect – we would all die. We would all die, and there was nothing within our power to change that fact. We were, in fact, dead already, in our sin[3]. We could not ignore our sin.

After leaving church on Ash Wednesday, sometimes people would forget that they had a weird, nasty smear of ashes on their forehead. They would inadvertently scratch their foreheads sometime and be reminded by the residue on their finger that they were dust, and to dust they must one day return. Before going to bed, looking in the mirror, one would once again be reminded they were marked with the black stain of sin, and that they were dust, returning to the dust from whence they came.

Those ashes, however, are drawn on the forehead in the sign of a cross. Not as if the cross is some kind of magic sign to ward off evil, but also as a reminder. The cross reminds us that the guilt of mankind’s sin has been paid for by Christ’s death. The blood of Christ shed on the cross has justified us. We did not participate in Christ’s saving work at all. It happened, as St. Paul wrote, while we were still powerless:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him (Rom 5: 8-9).

Fasting can be good training for our will, but God does not command particular times, places, or forms of fasting (Luther 1991). There is nothing we have to offer, no work we can do, no ceremony we can perform, in order to merit God’s forgiveness. God has given us forgiveness as a gift, through Christ Jesus, and he sends His Holy Spirit to us to create faith in our hearts through the means of his Word and Sacraments. He enables us to do works that please him – not in order to earn his grace – but to glorify his most holy name. Fasting, and other traditions like the Imposition of Ashes, can help us to look at our sin, confess it, and acknowledge our need for a savior. These traditions, used properly, and not imposed as a law, focus us on Christ and Him crucified.

Works Cited

Harrison, Everett F, Geoffrey W Bromiley, and Carl F Henry, . Wycliffe Dictionary of Theology. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 1990.

Kretzmann, Paul E. Popular Commentary of the Bible: New Testament. Vol. 1. 2 vols. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1921.

Luther, Martin. Luther's Small Catechism. Translated by Concordia Publishing House. Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1991.

McCain, Paul Timothy, Robert Cleveland Baker, Gene Edward Veith, and Edward Andrew Engelbrecht, . Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions. Translated by William Hermann Theodore Dau and Gerhard Friedrich Bente. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2005.

Pieper, D.D., Francis. Christian Dogmatics. Vol. 3. 3 vols. Saint Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 1953.

End Notes

[1] Matthew 4:1-2

[2] Not only the people, but also those teaching in the churches, have generally been persuaded to believe in making distinctions between meats, and similar human traditions. They believe these are useful works for meriting grace and are able to make satisfaction for sins (AC XXVI 1).

[3] Ephesians 2:1