The Wedding Garment
By Meri Matti
A few years ago I attended a Debutante and Squires' Ball at my children's High School. The young people being honoured for raising funds for their chosen charity, were about to be introduced one by one.
The entrance parade began with each squire or debutante being escorted into the beautifully decorated hall by an opposite-gender family member – usually mother or father. There was an animated buzz of conversation as each young person was recognised and commented on. Each young squire was handsome and debonair in his dark tuxedo and it was amazing how each young woman had managed to look unique and stunning even though, as a debutant, she could dress only in white.
After more than half the parade had passed, an astonished silence hit the audience. The couple who had just entered were both attired in white. The debutante's escort, her tall older brother, was wearing an elegant white tuxedo, perfectly complimenting her youthful grace. After the brief silence, the sudden buzz of comment and admiration made the pair grin in amusement and delight at the effect they had caused. Their mother, sitting on her own in the crowd, almost burst with pride and love.
So many major occasions in our lives call for us to wear beautiful and distinctive garments. This is the time of year when our Matrics, both male and female, are focused on that stunning outfit for the Matric Ball. Weddings stand out as being the occasion in life for dressing in very special finery. The New Testament mentions an unusual wedding in Matthew 22:1-14 . Family and friends decline the invitation for a variety of spurious reasons, so strangers from off the streets are invited instead.
The first time I read this parable, I was startled at the harsh treatment given to the guest who wasn't wearing the festive garment provided by his wealthy host. Later I came to realise the symbolism of the wedding garment, and to relate it to something else in an even more famous parable – that of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 .
It came from understanding the exact state the son must have been in when his father greeted him. How long had he been living and working with the pigs before he couldn't take it any more? He must have had to sell every single possession for food as he wasn't allowed to eat the pig slops. How many weeks, if not months, was he in those pigsties without ever being able to take a bath? All he owned were the bits of ragged clothing not good enough to sell which barely covered his emaciated, stinking body. At last, he headed for his family home – just as he was – good for nothing!
His father, running to meet him, must have encountered the stomach-turning smell a good distance away, but it didn't stop him as he hugged and welcomed his tattered, starving off-spring. Not willing to embarrass his son by taking him past family and staff, even to get to a washroom, his father called for a robe to cover his disgraceful state. Not just any robe though – the finest robe! It's difficult to imagine!
In this parable, it is so easy to see ourselves when we first came to accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour – to ask for His sacrifice to pay for and cover our sins. We are taught that, as we rise up from the waters of baptism, we are not only free from sin, but clothed in our Brother's righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). But what do we think happened to the younger son (representing us) in the months and years after his return? He would never again get into such a filthy state and of course would continue to wear expensive clothing provided by his loving father.
In the confusion and turmoil of our race through this Christian life, we can too easily begin again to feel unworthy of the tremendous sacrifice made to forgive that sin we've just committed – again ! We can lose sight of the fact that, our repentance and God's earnest desire to grant us forgiveness, keeps us fully clothed in the exquisitely beautiful robe of Christ's righteousness.
That mother, bursting with pride and love as she watched her two children astounding the ballroom, could have remembered any number of heartaches they had caused her in the past few years, but not one of those memories came to her mind. What she was watching at that very moment more than made up for all the hurts of the past! What does this tell us about our merciful, loving, heavenly Father?
We should never hesitate to repent quickly of the sin that so easily besets us. If we do, we would be like the guest who walked into the wedding feast still dressed in his dirty street clothes, despising the beautiful garment freely provided for him.
In God's sight we are even more lovely than the debutante and her brother. We are clothed in the dazzling robes of our Saviour Brother's righteousness, willingly designed for us since the foundation of the world. Let's glory in wearing them, knowing how much pleasure it gives our Abba Father as He watches our life-parade. He is preparing His Son's Wedding (Revelation 19:7-9). We have our invitations – we must always be ready for our entrance parade on the arm of our Brother, Jesus Christ!
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