This sermon is based upon a message from Evangelist Tom Gilliam of Winterville GA from the "Glorious Garmets of Christ Series" and credit should be noted as to his authorship to the meat of this message.
“The Robes of Diversity Jesus wore”
Luke 23:11-12 And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate.
John 19:2 And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe,
First I want to share with you the meaning of diversity: carries with it the idea of difference by similarity for a purpose and to say the Jesus wore two robes for a short period of time before he was crucified on Calvary’s cross. Want you to know the terribleness of these two robes for a lost world but more importantly to share the encouragement of his wearing these diverse robes at a time that seemed to be filled with chaos. The people of the world at that time had gathered like a bunch of rabid dogs who have got a scent of blood and worked themselves into a frenzy not stopping until they rip something to pieces. This moment in time was like a huge stone that had been carried to the top of a mountain and pushed off, that keeps building momentum and it seems like nothing can stop it until it all comes crashing down. This whole thing seems like it’s out of control and they just can’t stop themselves until they have murdered Jesus of Nazareth, Mary’s little baby boy all grown up now. First thing that I want to bring to our attention are the COURTS that Jesus found himself in during those few hours leading up to his crucifixion on the cross. Jesus found himself tried in 4 COURTS during that short period of time but I want to share with you that those courts only represent 2 GROUPS OF PEOPLE.
John 18:12-13 Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, [13] And led him away to Annas first; for he was father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
The first court was in the home of Ananias the former JEWISH high priest of the nation of Israel more than likely at the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem and even more likely the high priest at the time Jesus found his way into the temple at 12 years of age and amazed all the professors, all the experts on the Word of God. Believe that Ananias would have remembered Jesus from those days gone by and from the recent tales of his life as he healed the sick and cast out demons and controlled nature with merely a word from his lips. Ananias now has the living Son of God in his wicked control and decides to shame him a little bit.
The second court Jesus finds himself in is found in Matthew 26:57 where all the religious leaders of the JEWISH nation are assembled, the court of Caiaphas. He is the present high priest of the day, the renowned preacher of the day, the one everyone wants to romance because of the position of power he has at his fingertips. This is the court where they can find nothing in him to convict so they get two false witnesses to lie then Jesus finds himself in the 3rd COURT appearance in Matthew 27:2 as he is delivered to Pontius Pilate the GENTILE KING of the day in the judgment hall for his interrogation and according to the gospel as soon as the Gentile finds him under the jurisdiction of Herod, the JEWISH KING of the day, he is sent to the 4th court.
Want to remind you that Jesus has been up all night long and is weary with no sleep. Want to remind you that Jesus has fought the forces of Hell in the Garden of Gethsemane as it were his sweat became great drops of blood from the stress of the events about to transpire. Want to remind you that he has been betrayed by two of his closest friends, by Judas with the kiss of death as the soldiers are brought in to arrest him and by Peter sitting by a fire in the court of Caiphas who has cursed him. Yet this is but a light affliction compared to what awaits him on Golgotha’s hill. I tell you the world seems upside down and everything turned inside out as chaos is going on. Everything is out of order when an innocent man has four trials in one night and is found innocent but is still faced with death. Yes the dogs have got a scent of blood and they won’t stop until they rip him to pieces, the stone has begun to build momentum and it won’t be stopped until it all comes crashing down as the world is whipped into the frenzy of a mob that won’t stop until they have stained their hands with the blood of an innocent man!
Want to talk with you about the ROBES OF DIVERSITY Jesus wears during this moment of chaos and unbridled frenzy. The scriptures tell us that Herod puts upon the back of Jesus a gorgeous robe. From the Greek we should know that this word means a WHITE ROBE, CLEAR AND WHITE AS SNOW GARMET. Then Pilate places on him a PURPLE OR SCARLET ROBE.
What’s the big deal about that Brother Mike?
It looks like it’s out of control, that the dogs have cornered the source of the scent of blood and are baring their teeth to rip him to pieces, that the stone has been rolled down the mountain and nothing can stop it, that everything is out of control at the frenzy of killing this innocent man! I want you to see the CHARACTERISTICS OF THESE ROBES.
(1) White robes were worn by Jewish kings. The Lord Jesus in the gospels said to consider the lilies of the field for Solomon in all of his glory was not clothed as beautifully as one of these little white flowers. Jewish kings always wore white! Psalm 68 says that when God scattered kings of that the hillside in Salmon was WHITE AS SNOW. Yet Jesus was not only robed in white but also PURPLE OR SCARLET which is the characteristic of GENTILE KINGS. Gentile kings always wore PURPLE. Revelation 18 says that the great whore of Babylon will fall and the merchandise that was so gorgeous and useful will be destroyed as the kings fall and kingdoms perish. Jewish kings always wore white and Gentile kings always wore purple or scarlet.
Want to also share with you the REPETITION OF THESE ROBES OF DIVERSITY as they represent the only two people groups that God recognizes on the earth. Now you and I we look at all kinds of people and classify them as black, white, yellow, red but GOD ONLY SEES TWO groups of people on earth. He doesn’t see the rich and poor or smart and stupid or beautiful and ugly but only sees TWO. God only has two groups of people, JEWS AND GENTILES. There are only good people and evil people in God’s eyes and you might say well now preacher I’m not really good and I’m not really evil but won’t create another category of people just because you want him to. God only sees righteous and unrighteous people and you may say well I don’t really fit into either one of those groups but God won’t create another group just for your convenience. Well preacher I have a problem with that because that just isn’t the way I think it ought to be, TAKE IT UP WITH GOD WHEN YOU MEET HIM! Amen! God only sees two groups of people in this place we call earth, the saved and the unsaved, the born again and the lost and you are either all the way on your way to heaven or the last stop in your destination is hell. God only has two groups of people and no matter how hard we want a THIRD GROUP, that’s just the way it is!
From these interrogations that are repetitious or similar we see each of these groups, the jews and the gentiles repeating the offenses of the other. John 18:22 And when he had thus spoken, one of the officers which stood by struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, saying, Answerest thou the high priest so? John 19:3 And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. Both groups struck him in the face with their open palms. They smacked him full in the face as a sign of humiliating him! Smacking someone in the face is usually done in anger and frustration as a way to humiliate someone but they didn’t stop there. Matthew 26:67 Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands, Matthew 27:30 And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head.
Both Jew and Gentile are both guilty of smacking him in the face and now of spitting in his face. One group is no less guilty than the other! Looks like chaos has set in, the dogs have got a scent of blood and won’t stop until they rip something to pieces, the stone has been rolled down the mountain and nothing will stop it from crashing but they didn’t stop there beloved. Both Jew and Gentile have smacked him in the face, both Jew and Gentile have spit in his face and now both Jew and Gentile continue to be just as guilty as the other as they have shamed him. Matthew and Luke both say that they mocked him. Means that they jeered and derided him or to make him become the butt end of a joke, the punch line of their jokes. The more I think about these circumstances, it doesn’t seem like there is any way to bring this out of control situation under control as the world is in chaos, the dogs have gotten the scent of blood and the stone is rolled down the mountain, THERE DOESN’T SEEM ANY WAY FOR THIS THING TO BE BROUGHT BACK UNDER CONTROL AS THE WORLD CRIES OUT FOR THE BLOOD OF AN INNOCENT MAN! We’ve looked at the robes of diversity and the revelation of the diversity and you might say what’s the big deal about all of this preacher? I mean what difference does all this make with the cost of tea in China?
One more thing to tell you of the PERCEPTION OF THESE ROBES OF DIVERSITY. Herod, the Jewish king gives a white robe to Jesus and then sends him back to Pilate. If you’ll look at any map of the city of Jerusalem you’ll see that the palace of the Jewish king was clear on the other side of Jerusalem meaning they paraded Jesus through the streets wearing the white robe of a JEWISH KING. Robed as the king of the Jews, even as we know that Pilate recognized the wearing of the white garmet hence he put the sign over his head, Jesus the King of the Jews. But hold on because God is trying to say something! Pilate then puts a PURPLE robe on Jesus and you might ask why the significance of this? In the Song of Solomon the bride says that her shepherd lover comes to her as WHITE AND RUDDY not ruddy and white just like Paul said to take the gospel message first to the JEW THEN TO THE GENTILE! Glory! Jesus is the king of the JEWS and the king of the GENTILES. It looked like this thing was out of control but God is dotting his eyes and crossing his tees. Kind of like when you would take the rabbit ears on your television set and put some of that Reynolds Aluminum foil on them to clear up the static. I THINK I SEE SOMEBODY IS BEHIND THIS THING! Amen! Why did you think the scribes and pharisees protested so much at the mockery of putting the sign king of the Jews over his head as he hung on a cross?
The name of God was so HOLY that a Jew wouldn’t even speak his name, Yahweh, and that also applied to writing his name down. They left out the vowels of Yahweh so that they wouldn’t blaspheme God’s name by reading it. When Pilate put the sign above his head it was transcribed into the languages most popular of the day to fit on the sign using the manner of the scribes to record the Word of God. The sign they put over his head read, YHWH, the name of God to the Jews. God hung on the cross in human flesh through the personage of his one and only son Jesus! Whew! God was behind this thing and he’s going to hold me and you accountable for killing his boy and even though you may not like it, you can take it up with him when you see him face to face. How pure was this sacrifice? 3 Times God made Pilate say the same thing. The number of DIVINE FULLNESS, DIVINE NUMBER OF TOTALITY and DIVINE COMPLETENESS!
You be the judge in what he said...
John 19, I FIND NO FAULT IN HIM AT ALL! Sinless and PURE as a perfect, complete sacrifice for the sins of mankind. Jesus said in John 10:17 Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. NO MAN TAKES MY LIFE FROM ME BUT I LAY IT DOWN THAT I MIGHT PICK IT UP AGAIN! It looked like it was out of control, like the dogs had got a scent of blood and there was no controlling them until they ripped him to pieces, the stone had been rolled down the mountain and there was not stopping it until it crashed to a halt...
BUT GOD WAS BEHIND IT THE WHOLE TIME! By reading the word of God you see example after example of kings conferring their authority by handing over their robe. They relenquish their power by the giving of their robe. Joseph was given the robe of Pharoah in Genesis, Jonathon gave David his robe in 1 Samuel and when Daniel read the handwriting on the wall, the king gave him his robe as a symbol of handing power to Daniel. Example after example after example and the greatest part of these robes of diversity is the POWER conveyed to Jesus when he said in Matthew 28:18 ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME! Glory to God. You could go to hell this morning and talk to Herod and to Pilate and they would deny it would every breath they take but hey gave Jesus power over the JEWS AND THE GENTILES through these robes of diversity! He has been given all power to become the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS and as we read in Revelation 19 when he comes back he is wearing a WHITE ROBE for the JEWISH PEOPLE because power was given to him and that white robe is DIPPED IN BLOOD, SCARLET FOR THE GENTILE PEOPLE BECAUSE POWER WAS GIVEN TO HIM OVER US! Glad today that he’s my king and my lord and I can say as the songwriter,
ALL HAIL THE POWER OF JESUS NAME LET ANGELS PROSTRATE FALL BRING FORTH THE ROYAL DIADEM AND CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL. BRING FORTH THE ROYAL DIADEM AND CROWN HIM LORD OF ALL!
Want to close with this story of a man who was a sculptor and wanted to make a full body statue of Jesus with his hands lifted up like he was showing us the way and his face lifted up to gaze upon our eternal home. After he completed the statue, it had to set but a heavy fog crept into the room where the statue was curing causing the material to droop bringing down the arms of Jesus at the stone he was kneeling and causing the head to fall down on his chest. It was a total loss! As the man stooped down and got on his knees for leverage to haul out the statue, he realized that he could clearly see the face of Jesus only when he knelt down and looked up. You could only see the face of Jesus by kneeling down and looking up.
HAVE YOU KNELT DOWN AND LOOKED UP INTO THE FACE OF JESUS? HE’S NOT THE GOOD MAN UPSTAIRS OR THE GENTLE JESUS MEEK AND MILD OR SOME CELESTIAL SANTA CLAUS BUT HE IS THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS WORTHY OF OUR WORSHIP AND PRAISE! Does he know you today? Are you his today? Don’t try to create that third category you wish existed so much because God only sees two groups of people today, the saved and the lost. You may say I don’t really know if I’m saved, let me say to you beloved that if the Holy Spirit is stirring your heart you need to come and kneel down so you can look up to see the face of Jesus. Romans 8 says the Spirit itself bears witness to our spirits that we are the sons and daughters of God. If you don’t have that witness in your heart, you’re lost. You don’t have to smack him in the face by rejecting him because you’re already guilty of that. You don’t have to spit in his face by rejecting him because you’re already guilty of that and you don’t have to mock him by rejecting him because you’re already guilty of that. Your sins and mine nailed him to the cross and one day we’re going to have to pay for that unless we come to him when he calls us to be saved.
You can be forgiven today for everything if you’ll only come! Your life seems as if it’s only chaos and your world is out of control but the king of kings and lord of lords can give you PEACE LIKE A RIVER. The hounds of hell may have caught a scent of blood on the air and have worked themselves into a rabid frenzy at the prospect of ripping your life to pieces but one word spoken to your heart from the king of kings and lord of lords will bring JOY OVERFLOWING TO THE DEPTHS OF YOUR SOUL as you’re born into the family of God. The stone may have been pushed down the mountain and your life is careening down at hellbent speed and it looks like there’s NO HOPE AS YOU BRACE FOR THE CRASH BUT ONE TOUCH FROM THE NAIL SCARRED HANDS OF JESUS AND HOPE WILL SPRING ETERNAL IN YOUR LIFE! Amen. He wore those robes of diversity for you beloved...how will you respond?
Will you reject him or embrace him today?
