Ash Wednesday-The Way it Had to Be (Lent 1, 2025)

“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus,
about seven miles from Jerusalem.” (Luke. 24:13)

We don’t know when these two men went up to Jerusalem for the Passover or the length of their stay.  We only know they’d been there.  We don’t know what their expectations were when they arrived, we only know that their expectations (whether long held or recently developed) were disappointed.  Their expectations kept them from understanding what happened. 

They didn’t know that it had to be this way.

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It’s a season of mourning over sin and how it necessitated the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Throughout Lent, we’ll be looking at the interaction of Jesus and two men on the Road to Emmaus. These two men were heading home from Jerusalem, deep in thought and debate, their mood was dejected, despite what ought to have been a mountain-top celebration like a typical Passover. 

But these two men are downcast, and it isn’t a case of their having post-holiday blues.  Whether part of their arrival or developed while in Jerusalem, their expectations dictated and disappointed. Their hopes in the end were dashed to the ground.

Principle: Expectations don’t determine Truth.

Questions for further thought:

How do our disappointments make us more open to hearing other views?
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How does public/shared grief differ from individual/private grief?
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In America, 9/11 was a time of public/shared grief.  How did people process it?
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Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and a time to recall our predicament of sin and engage in corporate grief over sin.  How do people honor Ash Wednesday and is it becoming more common or less common?  Why?
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How does Ash Wednesday cause us to recall The Way it Had to Be?

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, in a world in which people laugh at sin, minimize it, celebrate it and elevate it, thank You for this day on the church calendar where we are reminded of the severity of sin.  The insult so serious, the breach so catastrophic, and the result so ubiquitous that the only solution was Your crucifixion.  Remind us daily that this is the true cost of sin.  We repent of our actions, our inactions, and our thoughts which betray You and Your holiness.  Help us to live godly lives for our good and Your glory.  Amen.

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Lent begins today, Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, and will continue until Resurrection Sunday, Easter (April 20, 2025). I hope you’ll join me and be prepared to have your eyes opened. I know mine have been in writing this series, “The Way it Had to Be.”

The author gratefully acknowledges Grok XI for assisting with this year’s pictures.
Technology can be amazing.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2025 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

• Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
• A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 
• Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 
• ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
• Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
• Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
• Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
• Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
• The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.
• Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.
• “Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.
• “Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.