THE WARDROBE OF JESUS

Sermon of the Week for October 17, 2010

The Lord Jesus Christ must have known that we are concerned about what we wear. I was invited to speak on a men’s meeting in another state, and supposed we would be dressing casual. When I got there every man was well dressed in suit and tie and wing tipped shoes, while I had on a red polo shirt. I felt out of place. I wasn’t dressed right.

         Jesus knew what we wear can be a problem, so He took care of the situation in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “And why are ye anxious concerning raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God doth so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not more clothe you, O ye of little faith?”

And now, Ladies and Gentlemen, that brings us to the theme of this message as we consider the Wardrobe of Jesus. The scripture mentions His wardrobe several times.

WHAT JESUS WORE AT BETHLEHEM

The wardrobe of the Lord Jesus when He was born in Bethlehem was very simple. Luke tells us, “She brought forth her firstborn Son; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”

The shepherds were told, “And this is a sign unto you: Ye shall find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

It appears from the message of the angels that the babe lying in the manger in swaddling clothes was a sign. What was the sign? As far as the manger is concerned it was a sign that there was no room for Jesus. There was no room for Jesus at Bethlehem where He was born. Later on there was no room for Jesus at Nazareth. When He preached in the synagogue and identified Himself as the Son of God they led Him out of the city to throw Him off a cliff, but He passing through their midst went His way. Finally there was no room for Jesus in the world any place, so they took Him out to Calvary and killed Him.

         There is no room for Christ today on Sunday the Day the Bible calls the Lord’s Day. Sunday has become Funday. The dominant cry today on Sunday is not “Praise God!” but “That ball is outta here!” or “Touchdown!” Forty years ago when this broadcast began most of the stations we were on carried religious broadcasting from eight PM until midnight, and on Sunday morning from six AM until noon. The radio stations know what people want; it is a matter of economics, and the people today don’t want Jesus. So, time for religious programs is shortened.

No room for Christ in Bethlehem when Joseph sought a place

For men were filled with other cares and would not give Him space.

No room for Him at Nazareth because He dared to give

The story of God’s blessed plan that all mankind might live.

Just room enough at Calvary where there was crucified

The One who dared to teach men love, our Lord and Saviour died.

Our prayer should be to give Him room in motive, word and deed

To thrust out all conflicting thought, and His commandments heed.

WHAT JESUS WORE DURING HIS MINISTRY

At this point we do not know what style of garment He wore, but we read in Matthew, “When He went to Gennesaret, they sent into all the region round about, and brought unto Him all that were sick; and they besought Him that they might only touch the hem of His garment and as many as touched were made whole.”

Matthew, Mark and Luke, tell of the woman with the issue of blood who was healed when she touched the border of His garment. She said, “If I do but touch His clothes I shall be healed.”

           One time at a funeral service a man who needed physical healing cried out, “Ed, Ed, tell me, how can I touch the robe of Jesus?” I told him I was glad he asked that question. And since the Lord is not here now physically there is no way we can touch His actual clothes He wore while on earth. The only thing mentioned in the clothing of Jesus now is when Paul tells, “As many of us as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.” Evidently, when a person believes in Jesus and His death on the cross, repents of his sins, and is immersed into Christ for the remission of sins, he puts on the garment of salvation, and God no longer sees the filthy rags of our mortal flesh that are now covered by the holy, sinless, blood of Christ.

One of the parables of Jesus speaks to this point when we learn when the King came in to behold the guests He saw there a man who did not have on this wedding garment. The King said, “Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth.” There is a gospel song that proclaims that message:

When Christ shall come with trumpet sound,

O may I then in Him be found.

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne.

WHAT JESUS WORE AT THE TRANSFIGURATION

Matthew, Mark and Luke tell of the Transfiguration of Jesus. While He was no doubt wearing the same clothing as usual, something happened at that time that warrants our attention. All three writers, Mathew Mark and Luke, tell how the Transfiguration affected His clothing. The clothes He wore became, white, dazzling, and glistening. When His divinity shone through the rags of His mortal flesh it affected the garment He wore.

Paul tells us, “Know ye not that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit.” We cannot help but wonder if that ought to have some effect on the clothes we wear. Do the clothes we wear indicate that we have been with Jesus, or hob-knobbing with the Devil?

WHAT JESUS WORE IN THE GARDEN OF GETHSEMANEE

When the Lord went to the Garden of Gethsemane, Luke tells us that He sweat great drops of blood as He prayed. Whatever garments He wore were dampened by great clots of blood. In these bloody garments, He was betrayed with the kiss of Judas, and led away for trial.

The bloody garments of Jesus in Gethsemane under-score the value of the wardrobe of Jesus. Peter tells us, “Forasmuch as ye know that we were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received from traditions from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

At the trial of Jesus He made appearances before King Herod, and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Herod arrayed Him in gorgeous apparel and the soldiers of Pilate put on Him a scarlet robe. The robe of Herod is defined as glistening, also white. Jesus wore first a white robe and then a scarlet robe.

When Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, and not under his jurisdiction he saw a way out of his problem. This is really no concern of mine; I will send Jesus to Herod. Pilate tried to dodge the issue.

None of us can dodge the issue. When you hear about Jesus, He becomes your problem, a problem that will not go away. You will face it sooner of later; if not now, then on the Judgment Day.

Herod had wanted to talk to Jesus for a long time. He wanted Jesus to do a few tricks for him. It seems to me there was a modern-day opera about the trial of Jesus and one of the lines used in that show has Herod saying to Jesus, “Come on Jesus I’m no fool, Walk across my swimming pool.”

Jesus would not say a word to Herod. How far gone does a man have to go before the Lord will no longer talk to him? Perhaps there are many today to whom God no longer listens. God tells us, “My Spirit shall not always strive with men.” The glistening white robe of Herod and the scarlet robe of Pilate remind us that Jesus was the Lily of the Valley and the Rose of Sharon. One writer, Walter Scott, said that Jesus is the Rose of Sharon, because that particular rose has no thorns.

A robe of purple and a crown of thorns, somebody fashioned them both-Somebody fashioned that gaudy gown, somebody platted that bloody crown-Somebody fashioned them both-A robe of purple and a crown of thorns and it was so long ago-They platted the crown He so meekly bore-They wove the vestments He so meekly wore-And it was so long ago-A crown of thorns and a purple robe and I read the words with a sigh-But when I think of mine own misdeeds-My soul awakes and my conscience pleads-And I say to myself, it was I.

WHAT JESUS WORE AT THE CROSS

When Jesus went to the cross they took off the scarlet robe and put His bloody garments back on Him. At the cross He was stripped of that garment and crucified naked. Part of the shame of His death on the cross was the shame of nakedness.

Adam and Eve knew the shame of nakedness. Before they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they had been clothed in the garment of immortality. The Devil told them to eat of that tree and they would become wise, and know all about good and evil. The Devil told them the truth. When they ate of that tree their eyes were opened, and they learned a lot of things they had never known before. They learned what it was like to be stripped of that sheen of glory, and to be naked, cold, ashamed, afraid, and worst of all, they found out what it was like to lose their immortality and become mortal.

Many today are greater sinners than Adam and Eve. At least when they were naked they were ashamed and today many pose naked and are proud of it. Some don’t get paid for it, but wear as little as possible anyway. As Paul says, “They glory in their shame.”

The soldiers who were in charge of this detail took the bloody garments and divided them into four parts; to every soldier a part. Since the outer garment of Jesus was woven throughout without seam, rather than trying to split it, they gambled over it and one of them went away wearing the robe of Jesus.

          Studdert Kennedy has a poem that speaks of gamblers at the foot of the cross: He was a gambler too, my Christ. He took His life and threw it for a world redeemed, and ere the westering sun went down, crowning that day with golden crown; He knew that He had won.

It is easy to see the parallel in the dividing of the robe of Jesus to the greater sin today, in the dividing of the Church of Christ, which is His Body. Paul tells us we are the body of Christ and severally members one of another, and Jesus prayed that they all might be one.

Another lesson revealed in the dividing of the wardrobe of Jesus, as it was divided into four parts, teaches us they all had a part, and so do we. Van Rembrandt, the famous Dutch painter, is known for inserting members of His own family in his paintings. One of his masterpieces is the soldier driving the nails through the hands of Jesus. Van Rembrandt painted his own face on that soldier. Anyone could see Rembrandt did it.

I don’t know what kind of a picture you can conjure up on the canvass of your imagination regarding the crucifixion of Jesus, but any picture that leaves you out of the picture is a false impression. The weight of your sin and mine was on the hand that held the hammer that drove the nails through the hands of Jesus, and riveted Him to those timbers of torture that we call the cross. We all had a part. Who crucified Jesus? I must confess, I did it.

The indifference of these gamblers at the cross is not any greater than many today. Studdart Kennedy has another poem that tell us about it:

“When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree

They drave great nails through hands and feet and made a Calvary.

They crowned Him with a crown of thorns, red were His wounds and deep

For those were crude and cruel days, and human flesh was cheap.

When Jesus came to our town, they simply passed Him by

They would not harm a hair of Him, they only let Him die.

For men had grown more tender they would not cause Him pain

They simply passed on down the street, and left Him in the rain.

Still Jesus cries forgive them, they know not what they do

And still it rains the chilling rain that drenched Him through and through.

The crowd went home and left the street without a soul to see

And Jesus crouched against a wall, and cried for Calvary.”

WHAT JESUS WORE IN THE TOMB

Clothing was provided for the burial of the naked, dead body of the Son of God. Joseph provided the tomb and Nicodemus brought spices, a mixture of myrrh and aloes about a hundred pound weight. It had to be a high-profile burial. There must be no doubt as to where Jesus was entombed. The burial of Jesus was in an expensive tomb, a rich man’s tomb. Under the circumstances the Lord lived He could never have afforded this kind of funeral, but the Father took care of that. Jesus was buried in a borrowed tomb. He would not need it very long. He would be giving it back to Joseph early on Sunday morning.

Nicodemus provided a clean linen cloth. Matthew and Luke say that the body was wrapped in the cloth; John says the body was bound in the cloth, and Mark says the body was wound in the cloth. It appears the Lord’s body was wrapped up, bound up, and wound up, and clothed like a mummy.

On the day of the resurrection Peter and John went in and found the linen cloth lying and the napkin on His face rolled up in a place by itself. It appears that Jesus came out of the wrappings like coming from a cocoon and left the garments undisturbed. The wrappings fell flat with all the spices still inside and Jesus was alive. He had said before, “No one taketh My life from Me, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.” And, He did it! Jesus is alive!

WHAT JESUS WORE ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS

In the first chapter of Revelation Jesus appears to John on the Isle of Patmos, in a Garment clothed down to the foot and girt about the breast with a golden Girdle. His head and His hair were as white as snow, His eyes were as a flame of fire, and His feet as burnished brass, His voice was as the sound of many waters, He held seven stars in His right hand, and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword. He announced to John that He was alive, and He was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death, and of Hades.

In this vision Jesus is clothed in a garment down to the feet. His wardrobe appears to be that of the High Priest. The writer of Hebrews tells us that we have a Great High Priest who cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but one who was tempted in all points like as we are, and yet without sin. Paul adds to this the fact that Jesus is the one mediator between man and God; Himself man, Christ Jesus.