This Lent, we’re focusing on “Symbols of God’s Love”—things that show us God’s love in the story of Jesus’ suffering and death. Can you remember the symbols of God’s love we’ve covered so far? We started with ashes. That’s what we are. Dust. Yet, Jesus loves dust and died for dust. Then thirty silver coins. That’s how much Judas valued Jesus. But Jesus? He says we’re worth everything to him. Then friends. Jesus didn’t have any. We do. What a friend we have in Jesus! Finally, a crown. Jesus wore a crown of thorns, so we can receive a crown of glory in heaven. Today? A robe. Like that crown of thorns, Jesus was given a purple robe to mock him. “King Jesus?” They didn’t believe it. To them, he was king of nothing! So they gave him a purple robe.
But that’s not actually the robe we want to focus on tonight. There was another robe in play during Holy Week. Our robe. Do you know what I’m talking about? Listen to how the prophet Isaiah describes us, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). Did you catch it? We have a robe too. What’s our robe? “Filthy rags.” That makes me think of our daughter Faith after supper. What are her clothes like? Filthy. Stained. Dirty. Who am I kidding? That’s what my clothes are often like after supper too!
We have a robe: Filthy rags. Every sin is like a stain on our clothes. Every harsh word—there are so many of them, right?—every harsh word is like ketchup right here. Every bit of envy in our hearts is like syrup that sticks on everything. Every greedy thought is like when you take a drink, but it spills out the sides of your mouth and runs down your shirt and onto your pants… You hope that nobody else noticed. But God did. God always notices. He sees our robe. Filthy rags.
Except, that’s not actually what this verse is saying. Everything we just said about sin staining our clothes is 100% true, but that’s not actually what this verse says. Look at it again: “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” It doesn’t say that our sins are like filthy rags. What are like filthy rags? Even our righteous acts. Let that sink in. According to the Bible, even the very best things we do are like filthy rags. Is that true? Yes. This is what God wants us to know. To confess. Sin so permeates our lives that nothing we do is free from sin. Nothing we do is truly good. Every sin is a stain. And every outwardly righteous act is a stain too.
And if even our righteous acts are filthy rags, what chance do we have at making ourselves clean? Have you ever stood in the shower and scrubbed at something on your body, only to realize that it’s actually part of you? I have! You scrub and scrub, and then you realize that it’s actually a mole or a bruise or a scar, and no amount of scrubbing will make it go away. It’s you.
That’s the way it works with our sins. We can scrub as much as we want. We can try to change as many things as we can. But it’s still there. Filthy rags. That’s us!
And that verse ends with this: “Like the wind our sins sweep us away.” We like to think we’re so strong and self-sufficient. But do you know what we’re like? We’re like a leaf. Like a dry leaf from last fall that was blowing around in the wind yesterday. So much for great robes, huh? Jesus was mocked in his purple robe. We’re covered in filthy rags.
But there are more robes. Those filthy rags aren’t the end of the story. We need to go to the end of the Bible again. Remember how last week we went to Revelation to hear about another crown? “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you life as your victor’s crown” (Revelation 2:10). Revelation doesn’t just mention a crown. It mentions robes too. John looked into heaven, and here’s what he saw: “Then one of the elders asked me, ‘These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?’ I answered, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said, ‘These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:13-14). What are people in heaven wearing? White robes. How did they get white robes? They were made white in the blood of the Lamb.
God has a very unique way of doing laundry. He doesn’t wash clothes with regular detergent. Even the most expensive Tide pods won’t do the trick. What does God use to wash? Blood. “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). This is the hope that’s found at the cross. Jesus’ purple robe wasn’t the end of the story. That was just for sport. They took it off of him and put his clothes back on. Our filthy rags aren’t the end of the story either. God has washed them in the blood of Jesus. We’re forgiven. We’re washed. We’re saved.
Because there was an exchange at the cross. A clothes swap. Listen to our last verse: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). This is such an important verse. Let’s walk through it. There was one person who had no sin. Who was that? Jesus! But God made him to be sin for us. In other words, God put our filthy, sin-stained clothes on Jesus. But that wasn’t all. God took something from Jesus and gave it to us. “In him we might become the righteousness of God.” God took Jesus’ perfect robes of righteousness and gave them to you and me. His robes for mine.
Does that sound fair? Does that sound like a good deal? No way! To trade perfection for sin? To give up perfect robes for filthy rags? That’s the greatest injustice in the history of the whole world? Who would possibly do that? Jesus. Just Jesus. There’s a word for that. For the undeserved love that Jesus shows us sinners. What’s the word? Grace. His robes for mine.
He took our sin. He gave us his perfection. His robes for mine. That’s grace!
When harsh words come out of your mouth, soap won’t wash them away. But Jesus already has. His robes for mine. When envy sticks to your soul, no amount of scrubbing can heal it, but Jesus already has. His robes for mine. When greed runs all over your life, no detergent can make you clean, but Jesus already has. His robes for mine. When the devil comes to you and accuses you and tries to make your heart feel guilty all over again, you can tell the devil: “Devil, if you’re concerned about my sins, about my stains, you’ll have to go and talk with Jesus. I don’t have my sins anymore. I don’t have those clothes anymore. Jesus took them away!” His robes for mine.
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