Archive for March, 2009

Thomas, The Man’s Man

Sunday, March 29th, 2009
It is high time that someone stood up for a person who may be the most falsely maligned individual in all of history. For two thousand years people have ridiculed him and besmirched his good name. In fact, seldom is he ever recalled at all without people adding the insult of calling him Doubting Thomas. Today I am here to speak up for this constantly slandered soul. I now proclaim that Thomas, also known as Didymus, may well be the most honorable of all the disciples that were hand picked by the Master.
Yes, I know that other than Judas Iscariot, Thomas is the only one of the twelve looked down on by the world. But the world has bought into a lie. Yes, he had an incident we consider to be beneath a true follower of Jesus, because he was said to have doubted, but consider the facts. The Lord Himself had instructed His inner circle not to be taken in by false christs. In fact, our Savior had told them plainly, “If anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.” Matthew 24;24. So Thomas was just obeying his Teacher. And which of us did not require convincing before we accepted the truth. Maybe it was at our mother’s knee that we made the decision, but it was because she convinced us. And if we were adults when we were born again, I am sure you will agree that we didn’t decide willy nilly. Jesus wanted our belief to be sure so that it would be steadfast. Yes, Thomas wanted proof, just as we did, but more importantly, because Jesus had told him to demand it.
But what kind of man was this Thomas. I submit that he was the most courageous of the bunch. Decide for yourself what kind of man he was. At one point Jesus had announced that He was going to raise Lazarus, in the area where the mobs were looking for Him to kill Him. The other eleven warned Jesus not to go by saying, “But Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?” John 11:8.
“Then Thomas said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” John 11:16.  To me, Thomas, above all the rest, had guts. Give Peter and John all the accolades you will, but when it came crunch time, Thomas was the type of man you would want by your side. Yes, Thomas was a man’s man.
And on that day when Jesus came back to show Himself to Thomas, did Thomas hesitate? Not for a second. He saw the wounds. He instantly knew for sure it was the real Jesus and not an impostor that the Lord had warned him about, and immediately he said words that to this day send chills down my spine. Thomas fell to his knees and said, “My Lord and my God!” John 20:28.
After the most noble of them all uttered those haunting words, did Thomas ever once flinch from what his Master had asked of him? Not on your life. Thomas headed out and served our Lord Jesus by steadfastly preaching about our Savior in what is now Iran, Iraq, and India. He must have worn out several pairs of sandals trying to save as many people he could from eternal destruction.
Thomas was devoted beyond what any could hope for who today so self righteously malign him and think of him only as a doubter. And in the end Thomas remained loyal and noble. You see, this object of our scorn died a gruesome death, loving and serving his friend, his Master, and his Lord. The non believers in Madras, India, set him on fire trying to get him to deny Jesus. When, in excruciating pain, he would not budge on his story they finally and mercifully put him to death by spearing him with a javelin. How many who scoff are equal to that task? How many who unthinkably disparage him are worthy to untie his now blood soaked sandals? I can just imagine this hero of a man, as his charred and agonizing body was being run through with that spear. I can see him look up with adoration and utter through his pain, ”I am yours, ‘My Lord and my God.”
Doubting Thomas, my foot! We should all give this giant of courage, obedience, and honor, the highest respect possible, beyond virtually any human who ever lived. To me, Thomas is a hero among heroes. Doubting Thomas, my foot. This was a true man’s man.

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Treasure In John

Friday, March 27th, 2009
        There are times when I look down at my Bible in utter amazement at the pure genius that went into the creation of it. We hear about how intricately woven the human body is, but it is possible that the Creator was just as careful in the creation of His Word. It may well be the most complex of all His masterpieces, yet sadly the world as a whole has no clue.
        As we discussed in Unlocking God’s Secrets, from the beginning to the end of both Testaments Jesus is depicted in His four distinct characters: servant, king, man and God. We showed how the Holy Spirit intricately wove those four throughout the Bible in all sorts of ways, including the “types” of ox, lion, face of man, and eagle.
        We also looked at how God methodically used numbers throughout His Word to emphasize things, create shadows, and even tell complete stories, such as the number of 153 fish caught by the disciples (that revelation alone is worth reading the book). We studied the meaning that God gave to each number, such as the number five representing God’s grace, six meaning man, seven standing for perfection and divinity, and eight being the number for Christ Himself. But sometimes God even pointed out things numerically without even using the actual numbers. These fascinating gems were hidden from all but those willing to spend the time digging for them. And what treasures they are when brought to light.
        One such case can be found in the book of John. As was pointed out in my book, the four Gospels interestingly depict Jesus from four different angles. Matthew concentrates on the humanity of Jesus. Mark emphasizes His kingship. Luke points to the servant nature of Christ. And John’s Gospel brings home the fact that Jesus is God.
        When looking at John we might expect to see the actual number seven used abundantly, which quite frankly is not the case. But by digging deeper, the genius of God’s masterpiece becomes even more apparent. For instance, let’s look at the miracles John relates. There is the turning of water into wine, the healing of the man’s son, the healing of the man at the pool, the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus walking on water, His healing of the blind man, and the climactic miracle of the raising of the dead Lazarus. 
        Or maybe we should study the “I am” statements made by Jesus Himself. In the book of John, Jesus told us: I am living bread, I am the light of the world, I am the good shepherd, I am the gate of the sheepfold, I am the resurrection, I am the way the truth and the life, and I am the vine.
        Yes, the book of John is the depiction of Jesus as God; total perfection and completely divine. Count them yourself. There are seven miracles. And there are seven “I am” statements.
        The Bible, God’s Word, is the most perfect creation in all the world. Cherish it. Read it. Study it. Dig into it. And give it the reverence and awe it truly deserves. It was intricately and delicately woven specifically for you, because your Father incomparably loves you so very, very much.

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Our Two Days

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
        In the last posting we explored just a few of the instances in the Bible in which God used two days in shadows to represent two thousand years. Of course, the major clue for interpreting these hidden nuggets is found in 2 Peter 3:8, where we read, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day.” 
        Normally references to “two days” or the “third day” refer to Christ’s second coming to save His chosen nation, Israel. The New Testament is full of such pictures, such as in the story of Jesus raising the Hebrew, Lazarus, from the dead. The Bible says, “Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where He was two more days.” John 11:6. You, like most people, may not have noticed that phrase before, but the more we get attuned to shadows in the Bible, the more we realize that God is showing us that Jesus will stay in heaven for two thousand years before He returns to earth to redeem the Hebrew people, exactly as God had promised the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Of course the grandaddy of all of these “third day” pictures is the death and resurrection of Christ. Not only is that time period given to us in the Gospels, but also in places like Acts 10:40, “God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused Him to be seen.” 
        But what about us Gentiles? What about the church, the bride of Christ? Does God give us the same assurance in a two day shadow form as he does Israel? The answer is yes, but once again I have never seen it written about or any sermon preached on it. It is as if our scholars have never noticed it before. Once again, what a shame. The shadow I am referring to is found in the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.
        We all know the story. In fact you may have read it dozens of times. But were your spiritual eyes open? Mine weren’t for probably the first hundred times that I read it. It seems that God opens our eyes when He is ready for us to see what he has hidden within the scriptures.
        Before we look at this fantastic shadow, let’s first be clear that the Samaritans were not Jews. They were Gentiles. And the story of the Samaritan woman and her fellow townspeople is one of the very few accounts of Jesus dealing with anyone other than His fellow Jews. We might get a clue from that fact that this story is one directed to us, and as we shall see, it is. We’ll take up the story after Jesus told the woman about her past husbands and then responded to her statement about the coming Messiah by saying to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
        We then learn, “Many of the Samaritans from the town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. And because of His words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”  John 4:39-42.
        There actually are several shadows in that short story, but let’s concentrate on the “two days.” Anytime God uses the two days in reference to the Jews, He always is seen as waiting for that time period to pass before He acts, such as the case with Lazarus. In the case of the Samaritans, who represent us, though, Christ stays with them for the two days. That, of course has been the case. Jesus has stayed with us, His Gentile Church, in the form of the Holy Spirit. 
        In regards to the Jews, there eyes have been blinded for the past two thousand years. John 12:40 says, “He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts, nor turn and I would heal them.” This was done so that we Gentiles would have time to come to Him, and the past two thousand years is referred to in Luke 21:24 as “The time of the Gentiles.”
        Yes, Jesus has given us a chance for eternal life, and has even stayed with us in the person of the precious Holy Spirit for these past two thousand years, but the time is quickly drawing to a close. If the “two days” are counted in Jewish years, their end was 2005. If God is counting them in “Gentile” years, the two days is up 2032. Either way, and with countless other clues within God’s Word, we can know for a certainty that it is about time for the rapture of Christ’s Gentile Church, which will usher in the last seven years of tribulation designed to open their eyes and bring in His beloved Jewish nation.
        I, for one, could not be more ready. The thought of it excites me to no end. I can hardly wait. How about you? If not, read or reread Part Seven of Unlocking God’s Secrets and you, too, will be as excited as a bride-to-be waiting for that glorious day, the “third day.”

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Water Into Wine

Saturday, March 21st, 2009
        Today we are going to look at another incredible “shadow” that to my knowledge has never been written or talked about before. As you know, I believe firmly that the more we “search out the matter” of shadows, the more we find just how phenomenal God’s Word truly is. They prove unquestionably that no human mind could have ever come close to writing the intricacy that is our Bible.
        In Unlocking God’s Secrets we discussed how God used days throughout His Word as shadows of thousand year periods, primarily as predictors of the time of Christ’s second coming. For instance, the six days of work and one of rest in the creation story signifies the six thousand years before the thousand year millennial reign of Jesus, the same as does the scripture in Hosea 6:2 in which we read, “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.” Those two days, of course, refer to the two thousand year period from Christ’s ascension after He arose until His second coming; as do the two days mentioned in Exodus 19:10-11 which says, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of the people.”
        Unfortunately it seems that the relatively few scholars who do pay close attention to Biblical shadows normally quit looking beyond the Old Testament. What a shame that is, because shadows in the New Testament in my opinion are just as plentiful. In fact, my personal belief is that if we spend enough time in study and prayer about it we will find that every miracle and parable of Jesus is a shadow that will give us prophecy of things yet to come. I noted in my book, for example, that in the New Testament the beginning of the passage that talks about the transfiguration of Jesus into glory personified on the mountain top is almost always overlooked, although it starts out with the telling phrase, “After six days …” Matthew 17:1.
        The brand new shadow I want to share with you today is found in the very first miracle of Jesus, the changing of water into wine. How often the story is retold and written about, but no one ever looks beyond the obvious. Yes, the miracle itself is exciting, but the story God has hidden within it in the form of shadows is even more so. For brevity sake, we will look at only a few of the shadows in this astounding and intricately encoded story.
        Although you may have read this story a hundred times, you probably never noticed before that it begins in John 2:1 with, “On the third day …” Wow! Now you could kick yourself for not having seen that before. I know I was amazed how many times I overlooked it before I opened my eyes to the spiritual things God has for us in His unbelievably wonderful Word.        
        OK, so now that we are alert, let’s read a little more. “On the third day a wedding took place.” Wow, again. Now it makes sense. Yes, we know the wedding feast of the Lamb will occur in heaven after the two thousand years following Christ’s ascension, but before His second coming. “On the third day.”
        Oh how I wish I were writing a book right now instead of a brief blog article that is suppose to be only a few minutes long. There is so much to talk about. Instead, however, I will leave it up to you to start looking with spiritual eyes at the parables and miracles in the New Testament. Before I close, though, I do want to point out one of the other things I see in this, the first miracle of our Lord.
        John 2:6 tells us, “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing …” Remember, every word in the Bible is there for a reason. My personal feeling is that God is referring to the six thousand years the Jews have had a religion of ceremonies; not a relationship with His precious Holy Spirit. Of course, you know the miracle. With the water in those jars, Jesus made wine. And wine always represents that loving Holy Spirit. “On the third day ..” the Jews will be united with the Spirit of God. Jesus will turn ceremony into relationship for the Jewish nation, the apple of God’s eye.
        Oh, by the way, the story ends in verse 11 with, “He thus revealed His glory …” This is the same glory revealed in Jesus on that Mountain of Transfiguration. And it is the same glory you and I will see in person “on the third day.”
        Only God could have written our Bible. What a treasure of golden nuggets it is!

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God Is Love

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

        I heard about a true incident that must be shared. Some years back Jan Crouch of TBN started a little ministry called “Smiles For A Child” which started out giving little Barbee sized dolls and toy cars and trucks to children around the world who have very little hope for anything other than maybe an occasional morsel to eat. It started very similar to the idea of the shoe boxes that Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse gives out. Each Smiles For A Child doll or toy car has a note attached that says “A Gift From Jesus,” and has a few paragraphs about Jesus. This ministry has now grown to include totally supporting orphanages and children’s clinics around the world.
        In December Jan got a phone call from Doris Jeune, who, along with her husband, has a ministry that endeavors to help the most hopeless of children in Haiti, of which there are tens of thousands. In the phone call Doris told Jan that they were planning a Christmas party for a few thousand destitute children there in Haiti. She asked Jan if there were any way to get some of the dolls for the little girls and toy cars for the little boys. Due to the timing of the planned party there was no way to get the dolls and toys from California to Haiti in time; however, Jan knew that she did have about two thousand in a warehouse in Miami, so she promised those.
        The party did happen and all of the needy children were fed a good meal. They then passed out the dolls and cars. A doll to a girl, and a car to a boy. Then a doll to another girl, and a toy truck to a boy. This went on and on. Finally, Doris pulled the last doll out of the last box and handed it to the very last beaming child. There were no more dolls or toys. Miraculously there were no more empty handed children.
        That is amazing enough, but now for the rest of the story. Two thousand dolls and toy cars were sent from Miami. Two Thousand arrived in Haiti. The workers there counted them. But six thousand children attended the party. The last of the six thousand children got the very last doll. Like the loaves and fishes, God miraculously increased the number from two thousand to six thousand, so that the last little set of hands could hug a little doll, and every single child could have a “Gift From Jesus” and a smile.
        God is Love.

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Humor in Esther

Monday, March 16th, 2009
        A few articles ago we saw how Jesus was a practical joker when He sent the demons into the pigs and they ran into the lake and were drowned. When we “searched out the matter” we found that the biggest part of the joke was that the pigs were being raised to be used as sacrifices to idols. The deeper we dig into the scriptures the more we find that God truly does have a sense of humor. My favorite example is found in the book of Esther.
        On the surface, Esther is one of the strangest books in the Bible. I say that because nowhere in the entire book is God even mentioned. In fact, arguments raged for years with people saying that Esther should be eliminated from God’s Word. Of course, God’s will prevailed and Esther is now a permanent part of the Bible. Since we are becoming aware of the intricacies of the “shadows” that God placed in His scriptures, we can understand now why that book is so important to Him. Read the book with an eye for “types and shadows” and you will see that they abound. The most obvious is that Haman, the evil person who wants to destroy God’s children in the story, is actually a “type” of Satan.
        You may recall that in chapter 3, verse 9, Haman says to the King, “If it pleases the king, let a decree be issued to destroy them (The Jews), and I will put ten thousand talents of silver into the treasury for the men who carry out this business.”
        Verses 10 and 11 continue, “So the king took his signet ring and gave it to Haman son of Hammedatha, the Agite, the enemy of the Jews. ‘Keep the money,’ the king said to Haman, ‘and do with the people as you please.”
        It is here that I laugh out loud. The reason is the coding underneath the surface words. As you may know, high speed computers are now finding sentences, and even complete paragraphs, hidden under the surface text in equidistant letter sequence codes, or ELS in decoders’ parlance. That just means that words are spelled out by looking at the original Hebrew text and skipping letters by a certain number. Under the above verses 10 and 11, by counting every 6th letter ten times (think of 666), we find a phrase that cracks me up. And only someone as super intelligent as our God could create such an amazing book as the Bible with these hidden and coded messages throughout.
        The phrase God hid for those of us lucky enough to be alive at this period of high speed computers is truly a gem, for under the above scriptures about Haman wanting to kill all the Jews, spaced in six letter intervals, God wrote, “Haman and Satan stink.”

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The Love That Matters

Friday, March 13th, 2009
        There is a verse that causes many Christians to flinch. In it Jesus tells us,  “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:26
        Wow! Is Jesus really telling us to hate everybody in our family? Obviously there must be a mistake. And quite frankly, there is. The problem lies in the translation of the Greek word, “miseo,” into our English word, “hate.” Yes, “miseo” can mean “hate,” but it also has another meaning, which is “to love less by comparison.” The latter meaning is what Jesus unquestionably meant. I suppose the translators were going through some economic troubles like we are today and felt that it would be prudent to try to save some ink, but in the process they succeeded only in causing some difficulties.
        But knowing the correct translation should still make some of us flinch. Do we, in fact, love Jesus more than any of our other loved ones? Jesus says that unless we do we can not be one of His disciples. He did not say we might not. He said we can not.
        We must remember that Jesus told us in Matthew 22:37 that the most important commandment is, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Jesus did not suggest this. He commanded it. And He was repeating a commandment given in Deuteronomy 6:5. This is the number one commandment, above all others, and it may be the one that is broken by more people than any other. In fact, it is seldom even thought about.
        We would not even think of committing murder because we know that is breaking a commandment. We do not steal for the same reason. But the most important commandment is shattered to pieces continually by people who call themselves Christians.
        The answer is simple to state: build a relationship with Jesus and the Father through time spent in prayer and in God’s Word, and the loving part always follows. It always does.
        “But, Bob, I work all day. Come home and eat. Spend a few hours in front of the TV. And crash. There is no time for Bible study and relationship building prayer every day.”
        Then ponder this. We may need to consider that the question at this point may not be whether we love Jesus more than our family. The question may be even more basic than that. Do we even love Jesus more than a “Law and Order” rerun or the “American Idol” program or the evening news. Personally, I would not want that pointed out to me by our Lord on the day my spirit leaves this earthly body.
        The entire history of mankind has been about one thing, and one thing only, and that is to find a bride for Christ. Everything else in world history, and in our individual lives, is so incredibly incidental as to be totally meaningless. And as with every marriage, a deeply loving relationship is the key. Our real future, the long term eternal one, is our choice. This earthly life is not a game.
        “Wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”  Spoken by Jesus Himself in Matthew 7:13-14.

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Two Men

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
        By now you probably understand how fascinated I am with “Types and Shadows” in the Bible. There are thousands of them and quite literally they tell the same story as the surface writing does. It is extremely intriguing to see how intricately God told His story just below the surface of his Word. It proves conclusively to me that only a divine being like God could have written the Bible.
        Today we will look at a sampling of one that runs throughout the entire scriptures. I call it the “two men” shadow.
        As we discussed in an article last week, Joseph is a “type” of Jesus. There are so many similarities between the two that it is uncanny. Let’s look at the story about Joseph in prison with the two men who had dreams. One was a cupbearer to Pharaoh, and the other was his chief baker. You can read the story of their dreams and Joseph’s interpretations in Genesis 40. I’ll just skip to the chase and say that the cupbearer was restored to his position and the chief baker was killed.
        Like me, you may have read this account several times without seeing the hidden shadow. Once you see it, though, it will be as clear as one of those fuzzy pictures you stare at for a few minutes that then become a clear picture. Those two men represent the two thieves on the cross. They are a shadow of what was to come on Golgotha. One thief got to be in paradise with Jesus. The other did not. As I said, the entire story of Joseph is the story of Jesus.
        Shadows, however, often carry on beyond what we think to be the fulfillment. In this case, the types of the two men with Joseph come to fruition with the two thieves on the cross, but the shadow continues. As I noted in my book, those two thieves also represent you and me. We can either accept Jesus as Lord of our lives and enter paradise, or we can choose not to, and enter destruction. There is not a third position for us to take.
        We all know that Jesus said in John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” But have we also paid attention to His profound statement in Luke 11:23, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.”
        Are you gathering with Jesus?

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Jesus the Joker

Saturday, March 7th, 2009
        There is an episode in the life of Jesus that puts a grin on my face whenever I read it. You’re probably familiar with the story. It is the one in which Jesus met a man who had been demon possessed and lived in the tombs. The man was such a mess that he lived naked and had been driven by the demons to live in solitary places. When he met Jesus he started shouting, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most high God? I beg you, don’t torture me!’ For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man.” Luke 8:28-29.
        “Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’
        ‘Legion,’ he replied, because many demons had gone into him. And they begged Him repeatedly not to order them into the abyss.
        A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and He gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.” Luke 8:30-33.
        So, why does that make me grin? Is it because Jesus played a joke on the demons? Kind of, but it is funnier than just that. Think for a moment with me. Obviously those pigs were in no way used by Jews. Pigs were disgusting in the Jewish culture. They would never eat them. They had no use for them. So, what were those pigs there for?
        This is where searching out the matter can result in fun and surprises. The fact is that Jesus was in the region of the Gerasenes. This was not Jewish countryside. The people in that region worshipped idols made of wood and stone. And the way they worshipped these worthless gods was to sacrifice pigs to the idols. Yes, Jesus sent the demons into the lake, but at the same time He destroyed months and maybe years of pig production that was meant for the sacrifices to false gods. If it had been possible, I suppose some stone idols had pouty faces for a long time to come.
        I’ll bet Jesus had a grin on His face when He went to sleep that night. Talk about a practical joke! That one ranks as one of the best of all time.

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Clothes Make the Man

Wednesday, March 4th, 2009
       For those of you who enjoy seeing a mystery solved, today’s mini study should be a treat, for we will solve one that has eluded scholars for thousands of years. Actually, we will learn the hidden secret of several unresolved Biblical mysteries. Although I could write chapters about these ”shadows,” I will attempt to cover them here extremely briefly. Let’s first go all the way back to the story of Joseph and his master’s wife, and a verse which says, “She caught him by his cloak and said, ‘Come to bed with me!’ but he left his cloak in her hands and ran out of the house.” Genesis 39:12.
        She then lied to her husband, telling him that Joseph had tried to seduce her, and that the cloak he left behind was the proof. As we might imagine, a few verses later we find that, “Joseph’s master took him and put him in prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined.” Genesis 39:20.
        There have been a lot of sermons preached and books written about this episode, but never have I found any mention of the deep meaning of this story. Unfortunately, it is so easy to get caught up in the surface stories of the Bible without ever looking at the deeper and more important spiritual things that I believe God truly wants us to understand. This one actually is quite simple if we just go back to the beginning where we find Adam and Eve after they ate the forbidden fruit. They realized that they were naked and tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. Their nakedness represented sin. This picture is consistent throughout God’s Word.
        In Joseph’s case, the same is true. When Potiphar’s wife was left holding his cloak, he was naked. Joseph, of course, is a “type” of Jesus. Much has been written about that. But what has escaped any that I have read or heard was that this entire story is a complete shadow of what was to happen to Jesus, for like the Savior, though sinless, Joseph was accused of sinning and thrown into the king’s prison (the king being a “type” of God, and His prison representing hell). Obviously, this was what happened later to our Lord.
        Let’s fast forward now to one of the most seemingly out of place and mysterious passages in the Bible. When Jesus was arrested that monumental night in the garden, we read, “Then everyone departed and fled. A young man wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.” Mark 14:50-51.
        Quite honestly, I read that scripture countless times and I never knew what it was there for. The only time I had ever heard it mention was with the idea that the young man was Mark himself, and he was just trying to tell us that he had actually seen what had happened. That could be true. We don’t know. But I still felt there must be more to it than that.
        We are told that the Holy Spirit will instruct us, and I personally have come to rely on Him to do just that. With that in mind, a few months ago I asked Him to explain this scripture to me. I told Him that I wanted to know what the Father wanted us to understand about it. A few hours later the surprising answer came. The young man was a picture of Jesus himself. The moment He was arrested, just like Joseph, He was accused of sins He did not commit. His linen cloak was stripped from Him. The fact is that He took on Himself all of my sins. He took on Himself all of your sins. He was then going to be beaten and have to die a gruesome death because of our sins. And for three days He would have to go into hell, the King’s prison, as a just punishment for our sinful lives.
        Yes, clothes make the man. Complete nakedness speaks of sin. A white robe, which we will receive in heaven because of our making Jesus our Lord, tells of righteousness. And a linen robe goes even one step further and expresses total holiness. In Jesus case, His garment was linen. He was totally holy. But even more than that, we read of the soldiers casting lots for His clothes at the foot of the cross, and we read a word that God explicitly put in His description of that garment that He wanted us to pay attention to. It is spiritually even more meaningful. For we are told, “This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. ‘Let’s not tear it,’ they said to one another.” John 19:23-24.
        Yes, the garment of Jesus was linen, He was holy. So holy that there was not even a stitch on His garment. It was seamless. Not one sin that He died for was His. They were all yours, and they were all mine. He was divinely holy. His linen garment was seamless, and I believe that word speaks of a holiness that is so far above what we have previously considered that it is completely unimaginable to us. Beyond that, His garment was not torn. Praise God, that is right. And once He did what had to be done for us, His garment remained the same. It was not torn. Today He sits on high, in total, unimaginable holiness, adorned in a seamless linen garment. There is none like Him. How could we possibly not worship such an awesome Savior?

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