The traditional color for the season of Lent is purple.

In ancient times, to produce purple-colored garments was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, “Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon” in Asia Minor. And because it was so expensive to produce the dye and to make clothing dyed purple, these garments became status symbols. A child born to a reigning emperor was porphyrogenitos, “born in the purple”, which may have been a sign of their wealthy status or because the birthing apartment was walled in Purple.

To produce the color purple, people would use the mucous secretion from the hypobranchial gland of one of several predatory sea snails found in the eastern Mediterranean. These sea snails are called Murex brandaris, the banded dye-murex Hexaplex trunculus, and the rock-shell Stramonita haemastoma.

We can remember the story of the rich man named Lazarus in the parable of Lazarus (Luke 16:19). His wearing purple was a sign of his wealth and self-righteousness. As such, Purple is a kingly color, the color of royalty and the color of wealth. Purple is also, or has become, the penitential color for the Church.

 In Mark 15:17ff they mention putting a purple cloak on Jesus as follows:

“And they clothed him in a purple cloak, and twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on him. And they began to salute him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” And they were striking his head with a reed and spitting on him and kneeling down in homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they stripped him of the purple cloak and put his own clothes on…”

They would go on to mock Jesus and then to lead him to his own death on the cross. Although the soldiers looked to mock Jesus by clothing him in purple, he went on to his glory on the cross. As such, we use the color purple in Lent as a reminder that Jesus is royalty: Jesus is our true king.

Pastor Dave