The True Mark [Ash Wednesday; 2 Peter 1:2-11]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

The Jesus speaks to you this evening, through St. Peter, saying:

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The mark that we just put on ourselves is a funny thing. Not only does Jesus tell us to not make it so anyone can tell we are fasting, but He also tells us to not mark ourselves in Leviticus 19. So what is a poor, young Christian to do?

We can say that marking ourselves fits under the category of fasting. As our Small Catechism teaches us about receiving the Lord’s Supper worthily, Dr. Luther says: “Fasting and bodily preparation is, indeed, a fine outward training; but he is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: Given, and shed for you, for the remission of sins.”

We must figure this out, because there are plenty of famous markings in the Bible, like Cain. The Lord put a mark on Cain. Was it good? Was it bad? The Bible tells us God gave it to him to protect him from being murdered, but it was still a part of being excommunicated. Good? Bad? A bit of both?

There is also the mark or the sign that is received on the forehead or hand that the Beast gives out in Revelation 13:16. This of course is bad, and even the plagues in Egypt, done by Moses, were also called signs or marks. 

However, St. Paul says that he is also marked, from Gal. 6:17, “From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.” This is still not helpful yet, as Jesus is not walking around giving any one His marks. Furthermore, the marks of Jesus are the marks of spear, nail, and thorn (Jn. 20:25).

In this light, our “cross of ashes” teaches us two things. The first is that it is a sign of sin. Our Lord says in Deut. 28:46 that “All these curses…shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever.” Jesus also says that whoever practices sin is of the devil (1 Jn. 3:8). What does this also do? It aligns us with the Beast of Revelation, in our sin.

You must remember that this is only an outward sign that reflects inward things. The mark of the Beast is such that only those who worship the Beast will have one. Cain received a mark, not because he was evil, but because he was siding with and believing in evil, rather than God.

So just because the Ash Wednesday cross is not on our foreheads 365/24/7, does not mean that its not there. It also means that it is not something that we get to get rid of simply by washing our face. The only way to get rid of it is to appeal to the One Who gave the sign.

This, then, is our second lesson from the Ash Wednesday cross: that it shows us our savior. Sin may be a sign, but God also sets His own sign. In Isa. 66:18-19 the Lord says, “…the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, and I will set a sign among them...And they shall declare my glory among the nations.”

So when Jesus tells Thomas to look at the marks or signs of His crucifixion, He is teaching us to see the signs of sin and death made upon God Himself. That the sign of sin is not a sign of victory but of defeat, because the innocent Son of God bore on His Body our marks. Thus, the scary, evil marks in Scripture have their end, not on us, but on Jesus.

In Jesus’ fatal marks, we see the resurrection, because even though sin means everlasting death, it could not keep Jesus. In Jesus, even the mark of the Beast comes to an end. There is nothing to take. There is nothing to believe in. Any power the mark may have had is sealed away when Jesus was buried and sealed in the tomb.

It is for this reason that Jesus only speaks of one mark, when He says that evil signs and made up signs are for deceiving and killing (Mt. 26:48), for there will only be one sign, the sign of Jonah (Mt. 16:4). This is why any mark we make on ourselves, whether it is a mark of humility, devotion, or otherwise, is superfluous. While we can make marks on ourselves in sin, that does not erase the possibility of forgiveness.

Joel explains this very well in the Old Testament reading heard this evening. “Rend your hearts” he says. Do marks or signs rend hearts? Do scars or tattoos permanently mar or scar our spirits? No. God is not going to have a checkpoint at heaven’s gates for tattoos or ash crosses. He is going to be checking hearts.

Checking hearts for the sign that He alone gives: the cruciform sign. This sign is only received, it can not be made. The Lord says in Revelation 7:3, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” This, of course is the cruciform seal, given at baptism.

So it is that we remember, as we are marked with the cross, our baptism in the name of the Father Son and Holy Spirit, even though we hear the words, “Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return.” For in baptism we are taken out of the realm of dust, into the realm of living water. In baptism, the sign of sin and death on our foreheads is changed into the sign of the cross, on which the Son of God died to redeem you.