February 14 has become synonymous with Valentine’s Day, and on that day many will take the time to show their love and appreciation for their significant other. This year, in the Christian calendar, February 14 marks Ash Wednesday – the day when we are reminded that ‘from dust we came, and to dust we shall return’. At first glance, the two celebrations seem poles apart – one focusing on the theme of love, and the other focusing predominantly on the theme of death. The more I have thought about this, however, the more I’ve realised how much the two have in common.
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent – the season in which, like Jesus, we turn our face towards Jerusalem (Luke 9.51) and journey towards the cross. That’s the focus on death. And yet, by dying on the cross, Jesus also shows us what it really means to love. He says it himself: ‘Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends’ (John 15.13). The act of looking towards the cross is something that we should seek to do daily, as reflecting on the death and resurrection of Jesus spurs us on to love others in a similar way to the way that Jesus loves us.
My challenge to you this Lent is to find new ways of daily celebrating your love for others, which is best exemplified by Jesus’ love for you. I hope that the end of the 40 days would be only the beginning, or a step along the way, of a lifetime of fulfilling the commands of God. Jesus says: ‘I give you a new commandment… just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples…’ (John 13.34-35).
Jess Piper, Curate