"Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him."
(Matthew 27:27-28 NKJV)
In the course of the trial against him, Jesus is humiliated and mocked. Stripped of his garments, he is mockingly covered with a purple cloak to represent his being king. After mocking him, the soldiers clothe him in his clothes to lead him to the crucifixion site, where he is stripped naked again (v. 31). In Matthew's account he is stripped three times. He, who had left the glory of heaven to be born in a humble manger, is humbled to the end. In John's gospel we read that the soldiers “ took His garments and made four parts, to each soldier a part, and also the tunic. Now the tunic was without seam, woven from the top in one piece” (John 19:23-24). The soldiers made into four pieces “the robe,” or “the cloak,” that is, the outer garment, not the tunic, the chiton, which was the undergarment, worn in direct contact with the body. The ancient authors saw depicted in the robes and the tunic the mystery of the Church, the body of Christ, in its universality and integrity/unity, respectively. The garments, distributed in four parts, indicate universality: the body of the Son for all the brethren. The robe, on the other hand, indicates the mystery of wholeness/unity: the one given body makes each one a son, united to the Father and to the brethren.
After the fall of Adam and Eve, God provided them with garments of animal skins. Later through Jesus -- the sinless lamb -- he clothed each of us with grace and mercy. He waited for us, ready to welcome us and give us a new garment. Joseph was given by his father a long robe with sleeves or, according to another translation, of various colors (Genesis 37:3). It was an expression of esteem and love and a sign of his calling. Joseph was the son of old, his staff. In him Jacob had placed, perhaps, his hopes so much that he made him a tunic with long sleeves, that is, clothed him with the finest things. That particular robe was taken from him by his brothers when they decided to get rid of him and was returned to his father as proof of his false death. He ended up in Egypt, a slave in Potiphar's house, where he is the object of his wife's flattery. Another robe marks his life, and it is precisely the one he takes off and leaves in the woman's hands so as not to yield to her advances. It will be the evidence against him and that will cause him to be imprisoned. Apparently forgotten by his family and friendless, he is not abandoned by God, who in the very prison extols his gift of interpreting dreams. Taken to Pharaoh's court he will display his talent to the point of receiving a royal robe. What others took away from him is given back to him at a higher level. In fact, he will be the instrument to help those very brothers who had stripped him, even to the point of handing them a robe for the journey. What they had taken from him he does not deny to others.
I don't think there is any reservation in arguing that it is not the robe that makes the monk, although without that particular clothing we would have difficulty recognizing him. In recent times, the way many of those involved in Christian worship have been dressing has gradually conformed to social mores, to the point of reducing the religious service to something extemporaneous, for the “God looks at the heart” series. In an increasingly fluid world, forms are disappearing. Let me urge you not to trade in our robe. If you now think of the robe as your life or dignity, Joseph's story will take on a special flavor. Let no one feel covered, however, for in His eye we are always naked, and the church at Laodicea teaches. “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Let us go to Him, for Christ's precious sacrifice, and buy without money those white garments that cover our shame. Let us not, like the two progenitors in Eden, seek to sew clothes out of fig leaves, but let us entrust ourselves to His loving hands, letting Him clothe us like the prodigal son. He wants us to be children, and to be recognized as such.
Weekly Bible Reading Plan # 38
September 16 Proverbs 27-29; 2 Corinthians 10
September 17 Proverbs 30-31; 2Corintians 11:1-15
September 16 Ecclesiastes 1-3; 2Corintians 11:16-33
September 19 Ecclesiastes 4-6; 2 Corinthians 12
September 20 Ecclesiastes 7-9; 2 Corinthians 13
September 21 Ecclesiastes 10-12; Galatians 1
September 22 Song of Solomon 1-3; Galatians 2
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