What to Wear

Exodus 28 is the style section of the book of Exodus.  In it God gives Moses precise instructions on the clothing the priests are to wear when serving in the Tabernacle.  When reading through the descriptions and directions on how to make the various items of clothing,  it becomes apparent that God has every detail figured out.  From the material to be used for the ephod-yarn of gold, blue, purple and scarlet, to the placement of the twelve precious gems in the breastplate-every aspect of the uniform of the priests is laid out. 

It was these clothes, designed by God, that were worn by the High Priest when he entered the Most Holy Place to offer the sin offering for the himself and for the people of Israel on the Day of Atonement.   On this day all the sins of the past year were placed on the sacrificial animals, a bull and two goats.  The bull and one goat were offered as blood sacrifices; the second goat was sent into the wilderness bearing away all the sin and rebellion of the people.   The garments and sacrifice commanded by God were precise, exact and not to be altered.  Even the garments worn by the High Priest were to remain in the Tabernacle, as God instructed the priest to change out of the garments, wash and put on his regular clothing.  

What then of our High Priest, because we do have one.  In Hebrews 4:14-16 we are told that our High Priest is Jesus, the Son of God.  The High Priest who has gone through the heavens, who understands our weakness, who was tempted but remained without sin, this is the One who enters the most holy place.  As High Priest, He entered the ‘greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made,’ Hebrews 9:11.  As with the priests of old, He also entered the holy place with blood, but not animal blood; He entered with his own blood.  He was at once priest and sacrifice. 

Think of our High Priest and Sacrificial Lamb, Jesus.  When He offered up the sacrifice of Himself for us, He was not wearing priestly robe.  He was not clothed.  The scripture tells us he was stripped naked, a humiliating experience for anyone.  Yet our High Priest/Sacrifice wore nothing save his humanness.  He was naked before God and mankind as He offered Himself.  And I am reminded that the first Adam was naked before God and unashamed until sin spoiled him and shame became real.  Jesus, the second Adam was naked before the world and bore the shame that all people know.  In His nakedness, our High Priest offered us His robes of righteousness, His garments of salvation.  The adornment of our High Priest was humiliation; so that the chains of sin and death we all wear might be eliminated and we could wear the garments of salvation.

A Mother's Faith

“On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee, Jesus’ mother was there, and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”  “Dear woman, why do you involve me?”  Jesus replied, “My time has not yet come.”

His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.””  John 2:1-5

The first recorded miracle of Jesus takes place at a wedding celebration. It is a familiar passage to many and rather delightful.  All the apostles and some family members are enjoying the celebration together; even the mother of Jesus is there to enjoy the party.

 But the bad news is that the wedding festivities are about to be throttled.   The wine has run out! For the host family there will be embarrassment at this oversight.   Help is needed and needed fast. It is as if only Jesus can save the celebration from an abrupt end and the hosts from awkwardness.  

I love how Jesus’ mother, Mary, behaves in this passage.  She is truly a mother who knows her son and believes in Him.  When she notices the supply of wine has been exhausted, she strolls up to Jesus and tells Him the problem.  Why would she seek Him out, why inform Him?  Does she expect Him to run to the corner liquor store and buy a couple more cases of wine?  No, it is more than that.  This is the woman that has been watching this Person grow up; the one human who has known Jesus like no other.  Recall the words of Luke in the account of Jesus’ birth; “But Mary treasured up all these things (the birth, the shepherds, the angel chorus) and pondered them in her heart.”  Again after Jesus’ time in the temple when He was 12 years old, we are told the same thing:  “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”  Mary seems a thoughtful person who would consider the experiences she had been through and only then make up her mind.   This child she birthed was no ordinary child, to be sure, and Mary saw much of what He was, what was evident.  More important, she believed in Him.  

Jesus’ reply to Mary’s request is straightforward, not rude.  He is on His own schedule, not ours. We ask, He responds when the time is right.  Often, this is neither easy nor pleasant, but we are not God.  When Mary asks for help, Jesus lets her know that He is not ready then.  Does Mary go off in a huff?  Does she go to plan B?  When we ask for help from God and He says wait, do we respond with a pouty face and long sighs?  Do we get angry or frustrated? Do we turn our back on Him and attempt our own way?

 Mary shows a way for us, when the right time is not our time.  Her faith in the power of Jesus, for it is faith that is evident, leads her to tell the servants to follow any directions given by Jesus.  What could she have in mind?  Did she even know what to expect?  I think what she did know was Jesus.  She had enough experience with Him to know He could do something and perhaps might.  I think that throughout the time she had pondered all the events of His life, she knew enough to not give up, to continue to hope.  She knew He was able. 

I come away thinking my faith could stand to ponder more about Jesus.  My faith needs to remember and hold in my heart all the things I know of Jesus and all the experiences He has already carried me through.  Then, when He says ‘Wait,” I can wait and also be ready at the same time.   

Abiding

The verb abide has often confused me, not in the meaning of it, but in the doing.  Defined as to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy): - abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for).  It simply  means don’t move.  That part is not difficult.  What is difficult is doing the abiding, the staying.  For instance, when Jesus says, “Abide in Me and I in you,”   I wonder what that would like like and how it plays out.  Because Jesus is not a place, He is God who is not physically present with us, just how do I abide?

I came across a passage in Exodus that helped me understand, a bit better, what abiding looks like.  It says this: “Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb.  You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. “ Exodus 12:21-22

Commanded by Moses to paint the doorframe of their homes, the people are then to remain inside the home, to abide in the home.  Remaining inside a house with lintels painted in blood affords them protection from the death that is without.  Inside is life, outside is death; inside there is hope of deliverance, outside is misery; inside is community in the ritual meal, outside is collective sorrow for  the deaths in every Egyptian home.    Those who were abiding were sheltered from all the terror around them. 

The people were protected from the punishment God meted out to Egypt; they were spared the sorrow and the horror of the unknown.  All this came about because they remained, they abided in their homes. 

Picturing this gave me a better understanding of how abiding plays out in my life.  To remain in Jesus, to remain in the relationship which He has begun with me means knowing what that relationship is and Who He is.  It means listening to Him and talking to Him.  My role is to learn of Him, from Him, even as He has told us; “Take My yolk upon you and learn from Me…” Matt 11:28.

Some of the things that belong to those who are abiding in Jesus are listed in the first chapter of Ephesians, and it is a glorious catalogue!   We are told that in Christ we have every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.  What does that mean?  I am not sure, but it sounds good to me!  Next we learn that we are chosen.  Have you ever been left out, or that last one picked for a team?  You can endure that a bit better knowing that you were picked out by God before the world even began.  God had His eye on you, being one who abides in Jesus.  What were we chosen for?  We were chosen to be holy and blameless.  I know myself pretty well and I know that I am not holy at all and far from blameless, but being in Christ changes that because it is Christ who stands in for me, His life is now mine.   The next thing in the list is the fact of our adoption as children of God.  We have a new family, a new name, a new home.  And this is all because we are in Christ.

The list goes on to include redemption, forgiveness, knowledge, an inheritance.  How much more can we receive?  How marvelous is it that abiding in Jesus provides so many great gifts.  Yet think what we are protected from when we remain in Him.

We do not have to bear our own sin before the holy God of the Universe. We are protected from the just punishment of our sin and treachery.  We are no longer on the outside where the danger lurks, we are in Christ, in the new home, with the new Father.

We are not helpless before the enemy of our souls, but have all we need to stand firm before a defeated enemy. 

We are not in ignorance any longer about the truth of God and love and reality.  We are walking with eyes that see truly now and a mind that is the mind of Christ.

We are not in fear any longer.  There is no need to dread what happens because we are in Christ and He has promised to be with us through all things. 

We are not striving to prove ourselves because in Christ we are made new, we are accepted because of Him, not because of what we are or can do.  We are freed from the chains of performance and loosed to joy.

All this and more is ours because we are abiding in Jesus. As we remain in the close relationship to our Lord, we gain what we could never earn.  We fulfill the destiny for which we were made.   He asks us to take on His yoke and learn from Him.  Yoked to Jesus, remaining in that relationship, walking with Him and seeing His ways and what He gives to us simply because He loves us that is abiding.    Yes, I think staying in the house with the blood painted doorframe is a plan, because that is where life is.