“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
my soul shall exult in my God;
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
he has covered me with the robe of righteousness”
Isaiah 61:10 ( RSV)
“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”
Galatians 3:27 (RSV)
The Father of the prodigal made a feast and ordered his servants to bring the finest robe and put it on his son. This was the son who just came home after living in a pen full of swine. He was in urgent need of a bath, but his father wanted to first shower him with love, and rejoice over his return. The bath could wait until later.
God loves us and receives us just as we are. He does all the deep cleaning later, and through the years He works on our transformation.
He sees all of us as His own, and it doesn’t matter where we’ve been.
He loves us and only cares that we’re finally back home.
Paul said that if we were baptized into Christ, we put on Christ, as someone puts on a garment. Putting on Christ is like putting on the garment of salvation. We put on Christ as the prodigal son put on his dad’s finest robe. We wear His robe by grace, and God isn’t finished with any of us yet.
Since we are all prodigals, clothed in Christ, God desires that we keep coming home to receive more of His grace and forgiveness. The robe is a symbol that we are new creatures in Christ. We are showered with many good things that come from God, who has reconciled us to Himself through His son.
It’s hard to comprehend this kind of love, that God would place His finest robe on us, especially if we’ve spent any parts of our lives with swine. Yet, Jesus willingly switched places with us.
He, who knew no sin, wore our sins on the cross, so that we could wear His robe of righteousness forever.
(2 Corinthians 5:21)
It’s incomprehensible but that is the essence of the gospel. If we feel undeserving, it’s because we are, and so was the prodigal son.
So, now we put on Christ, like a robe, but we don’t wear Him in secret, we wear Him publicly, showing Him to the world. People often say their faith is very private to them, but the father of the prodigal celebrated his son’s return with a huge party. He gave his son a robe to wear publicly and a party to share with everyone. His father never intended for it to be a private matter.
Redemption is too great a gift to be kept private, it was meant to be shared with others. Jesus is waiting for many more prodigals to return, so that He can place His garment of salvation and robe of righteousness upon them.
Lord, thank you for your extravagant love for us, as you are the father of many prodigals. In taking our place on the cross, and then clothing us in your robe of righteousness, we rejoice with gratitude for our salvation. Amen.