Instead, he says, look the best you can, so your fasting is not evident to others, but only to your Father in heaven.
In Matthew 6, Jesus clearly instructs his disciples not to fast like the hypocrites, those who publicly disfigure their faces and make a public display to show everyone else that they are fasting. One of the reasons a number of Protestants rejected this practice was that is seemed directly to conflict with the gospel lesson that had been assigned for this day for centuries. It makes sense to do this, given the name of the day and the service but the truth is many Protestant churches have held the service without the use of ashes. More and more congregations are including 'The Imposition of Ashes' in their worship on Ash Wednesday.
