THEOLOGICAL CLUE

The title of this day, Ash Wednesday - the rite for the imposition of ashes on the foreheads of the penitents and the central proclamation of the day, "You are dust, and unto dust you will return" provide the theological clue for preaching during Lent and Easter. Every person who is born here on the earth will, sooner or later, be claimed by death. The Genesis 3 story is certainly true in this respect; no one is exempt from death - even Jesus, the very Son of God, had to die, partly because his incarnation caused him to share fully in the human experience of life and death, as well as to atone for the sins of others and bestow salvation upon repentant sinners. The grip of death is destroyed and people are released in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter reverses Ash W…