A LENTEN ADVENTURE for 2024 - Friday March 22

 

Have you ever realized that the Scriptures mention almost nothing about the clothing that Jesus used in His daily life?  We know what His cousin, John the Baptist, wore.  Mark 1:6 says, “John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist.”  But nothing is said about Jesus’ clothing. Only one of the four Gospels mentions what Jesus was wearing when He was arrested, condemned and taken to be crucified. 

According to John 19:23,24 when Jesus was crucified, He was wearing:  a robe without seams, woven in one piece from the top. The robe “must have been Jesus’ finest possession.  Jewish tradition called for a mother to make such a robe and present it to her son as a departure gift when he left home. Had Mary done this for Jesus?  We don’t know. But we do know the tunic was without seams, woven from top to bottom.  Why is this so significant?” (ML)

Many times, the Scriptures describe our behavior and our character like the clothes we are wearing, as if we were dressed that way.  

Colossians 3:12 says, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”

1 Peter 5:5 says that we should submit to one another and be clothed in humility.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 says that we should be dressed with “faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet”.

Ephesians 6:11 says, “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”

Jesus’ robe was “seamless”.  “Garments can symbolize character, and like His garment, Jesus’ character was seamless. Coordinated. Unified. He was like his robe: uninterrupted perfection.”  (ML) This is why the soldiers could not divide the robe. Just like Jesus’ character remained whole until the end, the robe was “seamless” also and remained intact even when Jesus was crucified and the soldiers cast lots for it.  

“‘Woven … from the top.’  Jesus wasn’t led by his own mind; he was led by the mind of his Father. ” (ML)   John 5:19  and 30 say: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” And “… for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”  “The character of Jesus was a seamless fabric woven from heaven to earth … from God’s thoughts to Jesus’ actions … From God’s word to Jesus’ response. All one piece. All a picture of the character of Jesus.”   (ML)

1. “But when Christ was nailed to the cross, he took off his robe of seamless perfection and assumed a different wardrobe, the wardrobe of indignity. The indignity of nakedness.  Stripped before his own mother and loved ones. Shamed before his family. The indignity of failure. For a few pain-filled hours, the religious leaders were the victors, and Christ appeared the loser. Shamed before his accusers. Worst of all, he wore the indignity of sin. ‘He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree …’ (1Peter 2:24).” (ML)  Galatians 3:13 says that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” … “The clothing of Christ on the cross?  Sin – yours and mine. The sin of all humanity … While on the cross, Jesus felt the indignity and disgrace of a criminal. No, he was not guilty. No, he had not committed a sin. And no, he did not deserve to be sentenced. But you and I were, we had, and we did.” (ML)  Jesus took off his robe of perfection to take on the robe of our sin.  And in exchange …   

2. He offers us white garments without spot, a pure and seamless robe. Zechariah 3:4 speaks of the filthy garments of sin that have been removed “and I will put fine garments on you”.  Revelation 3:5ª says, “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white …” Revelation 19:7,8 says that in the wedding of the Lamb, the bride has prepared herself and she has been granted to wear “fine linen, bright and clean”.  Even though we come to the cross clothed in sin, we leave the cross clothed with garments of salvation, a robe of righteousness, adorned as a bride with her jewels  (Isaiah 61:10). Our new clothing is righteousness as our breastplate, a helmet of salvation on our heads, a belt of righteousness, and faithfulness as a sash around our waist (Eph 6:13-17; Isaiah 11:5). When we leave the cross we are dressed with Christ himself. Galatians 3:27 declares that all those that are baptized into Christ “have clothed yourselves with Christ”. And Romans 13:14 exhorts us to clothe ourselves with “the Lord Jesus Christ”.

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